SMSL SAP-II PRO Headphone Amplifier Portable High Fidelity AMP 3.5mm/RCA 6.35mm Black

I bought this amp as a peripheral amplifier for monitoring when recording music, as my focusrite interface could never seem to muster the volume I need now and again.In any case-- I figured it wasn't a huge outlay for something that can output a watt into a 100ohm load- which I was initially thinking was going to be another case of exaggeration by a marketing department someplace.As it turns out- I don't think it's an exaggeration at all. I made the mistake of playing music loudly through my interface and monitors, and at a certain point, the music I was playing had a really big sub-bass hit, and my cans almost took flight (!)... I realized they were plugged in and the volume was super high... they were physically rattling on the tabletop. Lucky that I didn't blow them up... but sure convinced me that this amp has some power!I burned the 'lil SAP in for a solid 5 days of running music through it before really making a judgement as to how it sounded. It sounded a little raggedy up front having just listened at first to see what it did-- but lost that sheen pretty quickly playing into a set of beyer 770 pros hung over the arm of a soft chair for a few days. I was definitely surprised at how nicely it settled in after that time-- solid bottom end, loads of headroom, no shrill grainy top end. Absolutely serviceable and pleasant, and it's great to have an easily transportable 'reference system' in case i'm working someplace I can't bring my monitors that gets loud enough to really hear what's going on!Beyond the basic serviceability of the thing, it really is a solid feeling piece of gear, and if I were to go out of town for a while- I"d be happy to listen to my grados or my beyers with it and an mp3 player as a very decent portable system.With a solid source- you'd be hard pressed to go wrong with this amp and have much to complain about. Is it a high dollar, uber-fi tube equivalent? No. But it doesn't cost hundreds of dollars, and it ISN'T a tube amp. It's a solid, clean, solid state device that performs admirably at being a wire-with-gain. That said-- I sure don't MIND listening to it either. I'd recommend it for anybody looking for a solid honest monitoring chain for recording though.. hard to beat it with a solid set of interconnects for really knowing what's going 'to tape'.

So far so good! Powerful little headphone amp for a great price. I use the rca input to connect a PS4 Slim via hdmi audio extractor and the 3.5mm input to connect any other device with a 3.5mm output. The sound quality is fantastic and the unit is easy to operate.I read some reviews stating audible clicking noises or problems with switches, volume knob, and inputs but I’ve had no such issues. Amp feels solid.

Just what I was looking for. Quality sound, fair price, easy to operater.

I paired these with Sennheiser 598cs and they sound amazing. Very clear with this amp, powerful bass but not overwhelming.EDIT:This amp at very low volume would not output sound from the left side. Tested my Sennheisers on an Onkyo amp and they worked fine. Returning... might be fine for others but I am a gamer and i need to hear faint sounds if they are there.

Great amp for the price, great finish . A loudness control would have been helpful but their absence does not compromise the amplifier 's performance.

Powerful. Black background. Did I mention it is powerful?

Very nice

Good quality'''''

UPDATE:This morning I woke up to see the amp was powered on (blue power led was illuminated and headphones were powered) despite it being switched off. For some reason the power switch has stopped working and the amp stays powered on regardless of what position the power switch is in. The switch still has a tactile click and feels normal but the only way to power down the amp is to physically unplug the device. It hasn't had much use either so it's surprising to see this kind of mechanical failure; it would be an easy fix to replace the switch but I'm within the return window so there's no point in messing with it. I'm going to try something else from another brand.SMSL has a reputation among audiophiles of making some good devices but at the cost of poor quality control. Many people complain that a lot of duds make it out of the factory and I guess this is another example. SMSL needs better quality control which is a shame because otherwise they have some respectable products at reasonable prices.Original review:This is a great little headphone amp. The sound quality is clear and it drives everything I've thrown at it. The balance sounds even through the volume range and it doesn't produce any spurious noise at the volume levels I've tried. The sound is neutral to my ears and I'm impressed with the audio quality.The included 24v power adapter works well and seems to be good enough quality (it's about as large as the amp). It's power cord has some proper length to it with enough cord to reach to the middle of my desk while bundled in a cable management cluster. The power adapter shown in the photographs of this listing is inferior and is not the same as the 24v adapter that I actually received... a 24v version is now the included adapter. There are a couple reviews in this listing that include photos of the actual power adapter that is now included. I read people were complaining that the original adapter was cheap and under powered so SMSL switched over to a higher voltage 24v unit, and I'm sure glad they did.A great feature of this amp are the dual inputs on the back of the enclosure (RCA and 3.5mm). A switch on the front controls the source, and is the only switch other than power on/off. The output is a single front 6.35mm earphone jack, however a nicely constructed gold plated 6.35mm to 3.5mm adapter is included. The volume control knob has a nice response without being too sensitive, but it's important to note the knob is made from plastic and feels cheap. Considering the rest of the amp is milled aluminum it's disappointing that SMSL's engineers used plastic for the knob. I would have also liked some more feedback when turning the knob.The enclosure is a typical Chi-Fi milled aluminum box with thick rubber feet. It feels solid and looks discrete on my desk. The amp does generate a fair amount of heat but nothing unusual; the aluminum enclosure does a fine job at passively radiating the heat. All the input and outputs have good tension on the cables and the control switches have a satisfying click when flicked. When powered on a blue LED illuminates around the volume knob; and while I'm normally not a fan of blue indicator leds, I like this application since the light is diffused behind the knob so it's not distracting or glaring on the eyes.Overall I'm impressed with this little amp. For the $90 I paid I feel like it's a good value. The sound quality is clean and neutral, it has dual inputs and a 6.35mm output, includes a 24v adapter, it's well made and feels durable. My only complaints are minor: I don't like the fact the volume knob is plastic. And I wish the version with the silver enclosure was more accessible as I was only able to find black on Amazon.If you're looking for a affordable headphone amp then this is a strong contender based on the competition at the time of writing this review. Dual rear inputs and 24v power sets it above many of its competitors. The simple design is easy to operate and the sound quality is surprisingly good considering the amp is sub-$100. Using the amp is an enjoyable experience and I'd recommend it to others. Several reviews and tests of this amp can be found online, and they tend to all come back with very positive results. In terms of sound quality this headphone amp easily competes with basic amps that are double or even triple the price.

der leider nur die große 6,3 mm-Ausgangsbuchse hat. So muss ich noch einen Adapter auf 3,5 mm-Klinke zwischenschalten.Positiv sind Klang, auf jeden Fall genügend Lautstärke und die Möglichkeit, per Schalter auf der Vorderseite das Gerät ganz auszuschalten. Eine blaue Leuchtdiode hinter dem Lautstärkeregler zeigt an, wenn es eingeschaltet ist - leider ist das Licht aber kaum zu erkennen.Handliches Format, Verarbeitung macht einen sehr guten Eindruck.Angeschlossen per Cinch an einen Sat-Receiver und einen hochwertigen Audio Technica ATH 50x.

Not an expert opinion, but in the short amount of time spent researching what DACs are for, a telling feature of a lower-end DAC is when you hear the electrical "buzz" when it's powered on.I keep the gain on this very low, enough that I don't hear that noise. The noise can be heard, but I think to a degree all DACs will produce that humming sound.Serves as a desktop 3.5MM jack extension for me to plug my headphones into so I don't need to reach beneath my desk, behind the computer to plug/unplug.Bought this 5 years ago, and still works today.

The On and Off switch was not working.

Have only had this for a few months now. Initially I was fairly happy with it and the improvement in sound quality from the regular headphone input of my audio interface was noticeable, but not overwhelmingly so. For the price I was reasonably satisfied. After about 5 weeks, the power on/off switch stopped working so that it was continuously on unless I manually disconnected the power cable from the unit. When I plug the power cable back in now, sparks literally fly. Will have to now try to get warranty support and will update.