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SMSL M500 - Owners' Thread

Roddy

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Not sure how you got that from what I said?
Sorry, I had a feeling the way I worded it would cause confusion. I'm saying I set the DAC to 40 and control volume digitally through Windows.

Does it matter if I uses Window's master volume, or the volume of the app/website I'm using? I suspect not.

Should I set the headphone out volume to max?

I have my speakers at half volume. Is that OK?
 

Jimbob54

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Sorry, I had a feeling the way I worded it would cause confusion. I'm saying I set the DAC to 40 and control volume digitally through Windows.

Does it matter if I uses Window's master volume, or the volume of the app/website I'm using? I suspect not.

Should I set the headphone out volume to max?

I have my speakers at half volume. Is that OK?

Personally I do it the other way round and use the M500 to control the volume with PC (or other source) at or near max as I use the remote from a distance away - but from a sound quality perspective, I suspect it doesnt matter for our humble ears , go with convenience for your set up.

But I wouldnt use the headphone out at full volume on the M500 in case something glitches in the set up and you accidentally get full volume from the PC, through to full volume on the M500 to your ears.
 

Roddy

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I upgraded to Xmos 5.0, but thought it sounded brighter. Also, it didn't fix the occasional crack in audio quality, which turned out happened to speakers outside the dac as well, so I went back to 4.67. I didn’t bother with USB driver 2.06 as guys in this very thread say it benefits Linux only.
 

Veri

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I upgraded to Xmos 5.0, but thought it sounded brighter. Also, it didn't fix the occasional crack in audio quality, which turned out happened to speakers outside the dac as well, so I went back to 4.67.
You mean the USB software driver? That really should have zero sound influence, all it does is push data to the device. Between v4.67 and 5.00 there's only bugfixes, most notably fixing incompatibilities with newest Windows 10.. as is always the case.. :p
 

Roddy

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You mean the USB software driver? That really should have zero sound influence, all it does is push data to the device. Between v4.67 and 5.00 there's only bugfixes, most notably fixing incompatibilities with newest Windows 10.. as is always the case.. :p
I see. Placebo, then.
 

seki97

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Hey, I just got the smsl m500, seems a pretty good machine, but can someone explain to me which filter does what? I really can't find any info... I've read that hybrid filter cuts frequency above 18k, what do the other ones do? Thanks!
 

Jimbob54

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AdamG

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Hey, I just got the smsl m500, seems a pretty good machine, but can someone explain to me which filter does what? I really can't find any info... I've read that hybrid filter cuts frequency above 18k, what do the other ones do? Thanks!
Welcome Aboard @seki97.
 

seki97

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Thanks guys, I see these filters are really subtle, can't hear any difference in fact, I'll leave the stock one
Anyways, I tried playing a lot of different .dsf files from foobar, and they work fine, but when I play them the dac shows PCM 352KHZ instead of dsd... is this some king of bug? I'm using asio of course
 

Toku

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Thanks guys, I see these filters are really subtle, can't hear any difference in fact, I'll leave the stock one
Anyways, I tried playing a lot of different .dsf files from foobar, and they work fine, but when I play them the dac shows PCM 352KHZ instead of dsd... is this some king of bug? I'm using asio of course
Your foober has the output setting of the DSD file set to PCM. So all DSD files are converted to PCM and sent to the M500.
 

bill bo

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I just got my M500 a few days ago and noticed it gave a thumping, pop sound when changing sources through the right speaker only. I notified Apos about it and they started being catty about it. Can I provide a video clip or sound clip of the problem? No! The specs are:

SW 1.7 HW 1.3
2020 5-30

At first, I thought it was a version 1 but near the beginning here it showed V2 as HW 1.3.

So far, the poping and thumping have been rather subdued and only from the right channel. I used Apos because of their "supposed" two-year warranty. I wanted to get a clean-sounding unit for the long-haul but now wonder if there is such a thing as a "clean" M500. Apos promises a lot but does not give it away easily.
 

RichFo

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I have had my M500 for almost a year, and I have a couple intermittent problems. I use an older 2012 Mac mini as a Roon core, and I play a mixture of my own low res files, 24bit files, DSD files, and streaming from Qobuz. Roon does a nice job in integrating all different sources into one library, and I like to put it on random play all day long. Both problems occur when it is switching from one format to another i.e. 24/96 FLAC to DSD. The first problem that I have is that it occasionally just goes into loud static, the second is that it goes silent for the duration of the one song, then comes back when it goes to the next song. Both problems are fixed if I turn the M500 off, then on again. It normally occurs when switching to a DSD file, the DAC just doesn't seem to make the switch, and doesn't know what to do. AFTER the On/Off, it will play the DSD file, then might, or might not switch back out of DSD for the next song. Has anyone else had this problem of their M500 not switching when the source material changes?
 

snickery

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I just joined the club today.

Black M500 via Amazon shipped with:
SW 1.7 HW 1.3
2020-5-30

Is this the latest firmware? Seems this thread talks about the version numbers for the USB chip.

Also the remote forced me to RTFM to get it to work. Hit button 'C', hmm OK. Works now.

No problems so far listening to a mix of PCM up to 192/24, as well as some MQA via TIDAL. I did hear brief startup up glitches when a new album starts via MQA. Codec transitions are hard, I get it, but still...

Otherwise happy so far!
 

Blew

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Also the remote forced me to RTFM to get it to work. Hit button 'C', hmm OK. Works now.

I wish some of these basic functions were available on the unit itself. I have to keep the remote on top of it just to be able to change outputs and navigate the menus. I really don't need to do that remotely as the unit sits on my desk within arm length at all times. It's one of the few complaints I have about it.

I'm on firmware v1.6 and hardware v1.3. Is there a safe way to upgrade to v1.7? The firmware isn't available on the SMSL website and I've read about issues in upgrading using undocumented methods.
 

Lupin

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I just joined the club today.
Is this the latest firmware? Seems this thread talks about the version numbers for the USB chip.
It doesn't really matter what the latest firmware version is as you can't flash it yourself anyway, not without flashing tools, the actual firmware file and taking apart the device at least. Only thing you can upgrade is the driver/frmware of the XMOS interface and that (should) have zero influence on the actual SQ.
 

snickery

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Thanks @Lupin & @JSmith - I'll happily ignore the FW stuff then :)

I wish some of these basic functions were available on the unit itself.
What functions are you missing?
I can do the same things via the UI, its just slow as you have to tap in/out of menus. In is one press of the knob, out is hold press the knob. The remote is quicker though, as it as one button presses to switch inputs and outputs.

I did notice some strangeness jumping between Roon playing MQA & 96KHz PCM, and a BlueJeans video conf call with it connected to a Mac Mini. I lost all the interfaces and needed a reboot. Not sure if that's the fault of the M500 though as it could likely be a bad app on the Mac side crashing the driver. In my experience video conferencing apps tend to bad stuff from time to time. The M500 is using a standard USB core audio driver, so I wouldn't expect it to be flakey.
 

Blew

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What functions are you missing?
I can do the same things via the UI, its just slow as you have to tap in/out of menus. In is one press of the knob, out is hold press the knob. The remote is quicker though, as it as one button presses to switch inputs and outputs.
o_O Ok I didn't realise you could press the knob in! :facepalm: Thanks! Now I can put the remote away :D
 

snickery

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o_O Ok I didn't realise you could press the knob in! :facepalm: Thanks! Now I can put the remote away :D

Ha, all good. I barely read manuals and initially had some futile attempts at mashing my fingers against the keypad. I had to read the manual to figure the 'C' button hit was needed to make the remote work. That's the only way I learnt that volume knob on the device is also can be pushed in.

And I find the remote easier to use though. Less presses than the M500 itself.

Seriously though UX ... but then again, my expectations were not high with the M500 on that front!
 
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