SMSL R1

The SMSL R1 impressed me with how sturdy it is for the price—full metal build, nice physical controls, and you even get a balanced headphone output. Sound quality can be really good, but I did hear a noticeable noise floor/static on the regular headphone jack, which is why I don’t love it as a gaming headset DAC/amp.

Pros

+Excellent build quality for a budget unit (metal chassis)
+Balanced headphone output included
+Easy EQ presets plus bass/treble sliders

Cons

-Noticeable noise floor/static on the standard headphone jack in my testing
-Not my pick for gaming headset + mic use
-5V power input didn’t sound as clean as USB to me

What Ryan Ho says

“All right, so this is a test of the VZR model 1 through the SMSL R1”

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SMSL R1

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Highlights

+Excellent build quality for a budget unit (metal chassis)
+Balanced headphone output included
+Easy EQ presets plus bass/treble sliders

Recommended by

Ryan Ho