SMSL M400 Balanced USB MQA DAC Review

[Aloen]

Hello all! I recently received my M400 and was wondering what would cause the display to not have the Hi-Res badge when playing 44.1khz/16 bit media from Tidal/Roon? The MQA is working fine, just wondering why HiRes isn't working.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Hello all! I recently received my M400 and was wondering what would cause the display to not have the Hi-Res badge when playing 44.1khz/16 bit media from Tidal/Roon? The MQA is working fine, just wondering why HiRes isn't working.

Because 44.1/16 is not 'high rez'. I don't know off the top of my head what does constitute high rez per their spec, but its more than 44.1/16.

 

[Aloen]

Because 44.1/16 is not 'high rez'. I don't know off the top of my head what does constitute high rez per their spec, but its more than 44.1/16.

Ah, got it. High Res is above 44.1/16. While I have you, would you happen to know the proper settings for an M400 in Roon? Should MQA mode be set to Render/Decode/Both? When I set it to Decoder Only the MQA light on the M400 is Blue, when it's set to Render only the MQA light on the M400 is red? I'm not even sure what the colors mean..

 

[Toku]

Hello all! I recently received my M400 and was wondering what would cause the display to not have the Hi-Res badge when playing 44.1khz/16 bit media from Tidal/Roon? The MQA is working fine, just wondering why HiRes isn't working.

44.1khz / 16 bit is not Hi-Res.
Hi-Res refers to playback of 44.1kHz / 24bit or higher, which exceeds the quality of CDs.

 

[Aloen]

44.1khz / 16 bit is not Hi-Res.
Hi-Res refers to playback of 44.1kHz / 24bit or higher, which exceeds the quality of CDs.

Yeah, I figured it out. New to all of this , when I turn off the MQA settings on the M400 it shows as Hi-Res and it makes sense to me now.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Ah, got it. High Res is above 44.1/16. While I have you, would you happen to know the proper settings for an M400 in Roon? Should MQA mode be set to Render/Decode/Both? When I set it to Decoder Only the MQA light on the M400 is Blue, when it's set to Render only the MQA light on the M400 is red? I'm not even sure what the colors mean..

I'm afraid I don't use Roon or MQA, so can't help you there. I do have an M400 and am happy with it.

 

[Aloen]

I'm afraid I don't use Roon or MQA, so can't help you there. I do have an M400 and am happy with it.

No worries, I'm pleased with it so far as well!

 

[IowAudio]

Almost got the m400 but went with the m200 instead. SINAD of -116db, less than half the price and plenty of features it pairs well with my VTV hypex252. Be nice if SMSL and Topping start making affordable amplifiers that can keep up with their crazy good DAC performance.

 

[Lupin]

Almost got the m400 but went with the m200 instead.

I've been there to.
I couldn't get myself paying almost 3x as much as the M200 just for a nicer chassis and display. M400 scores 5 points higher SINAD which absolutely nobody is going to be able to hear when were talking SINDAD >115.
In the end I got the M200/SP200 stack for my secondary setup which is over the threshold of transparency so no need to spend extra.

 

[misterdog]

Though I have M400 and the Gustard X16, The X16 has several measurements which beat the M400 yet the M400 remains in my system as the better sounding DAC.

>Benchmark AHB2 > Quad 989 ESL's.

 

[ShiZo]

Though I have M400 and the Gustard X16, The X16 has several measurements which beat the M400 yet the M400 remains in my system as the better sounding DAC.

>Benchmark AHB2 > Quad 989 ESL's.

I really like mine too aside from the broken rca.

 

[misterdog]

broken rca

Though some might argue that anyone chasing the ultimate performance would appreciate the extra 4dB of SINAD and question why anyone would still be chasing RCA output.

Some might also argue that 5.3 V on full XLR output exceeds the 'normal' 4V 'only chasing increased SINAD' though I have never seen the AES specify 4V as a standard.

Every hobby has experts with opinions though.

Quad Electrostatic loudspeakers have a rolled off HF from 17Khz, never heard anyone refer to them as 'broken' though.

 

[ShiZo]

Though some might argue that anyone chasing the ultimate performance would appreciate the extra 4dB of SINAD and question why anyone would still be chasing RCA output.

Some might also argue that 5.3 V on full XLR output exceeds the 'normal' 4V 'only chasing increased SINAD' though I have never seen the AES specify 4V as a standard.

Every hobby has experts with opinions though.

Quad Electrostatic loudspeakers have a rolled off HF from 17Khz, never heard anyone refer to them as 'broken' though.

Originally m400's rca was broken. I dont like roll off so it's a real problem for me.

I use it with xlr but if i want to pair it with an l30 for example, I'll have roll off no matter which filter i choose.

I have a d90se on the way and i wish i could continue to use the m400 rca for a second system. But i guess ill have to grab another topping dac.

I don't mind roll off if i as the user can control it.

 

[hmscott]

The D90 MQA RCA output sounds better to me than the XLR output, to both the A90 and TA-20. Once I killed the USB Power borne "noise" from my PC/GPU with an iDefender+ to interrupt the USB power connections, then I was able to compare XLR and RCA outputs, and found the RCA output to my listening taste. Both sound great, YMMV.

I would love to compare the D90SE against the D90 MQA, maybe someday I'll get a chance.

I'm looking forward to your D90SE review!

 

[Veri]

The D90 MQA RCA output sounds better to me than the XLR output

Well 'Ok' but ShiZo is talking about the original v1 M400 which showed a non-oversampling kind of 6db+ roll-off on the RCA output (a deliberate effect SMSL first said but then they fixed it, new units have a sticker that indicates that).

 

[rex4539]

I have been listening to my SMSL M400 for 3 weeks now.

MacBook Pro with Audirvana, connected via USB, output to Meze Audio 99 Classics.

Pros:
Sounds ok.
Supports most resolutions.

Cons:
Very slow resolution change.
Sometimes getting hiss when playing DSD files. Switching off the device and switching back on fixes it. Flaky firmware.
I once saw some numbers above the hi-res logo. Flaky firmware.

One interesting observation. I tried switching between all the PCM/DSD filters but did not hear the slightest change. And I really tried to listen for details in various recordings. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong...

 

[Veri]

One interesting observation. I tried switching between all the PCM/DSD filters but did not hear the slightest change. And I really tried to listen for details in various recordings. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong...

Pretty normal these settings might as well be defaulted but they're there for people who like to fiddle and tweak with things.

 

[Lupin]

One interesting observation. I tried switching between all the PCM/DSD filters but did not hear the slightest change. And I really tried to listen for details in various recordings. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong...

I always use the filter which its set on when it comes out of the box. Can't for the life of me hear the difference between different filters so I completely stopped worrying about it.
I spend hours on it when I got my first DAC that offered filter settings, never could make out any difference and I'm not afraid to admit that.

 

[sq225917]

I can just hear a difference between slow and sharp fast on my a18, can't hear any difference between the others.

 

[A Surfer]

I can just hear a difference between slow and sharp fast on my a18, can't hear any difference between the others.

Multiple trial, blind listening tested? If not, you can't say that you can hear a difference with any confidence.