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Survey:What kind of products do you want in 2019?From S.M.S.L

Willem

Major Contributor
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Jan 8, 2019
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I would like a Chromecast Audio replacement. Perhaps a few additional features would be nice, but they are not crucial. Seamless compatibility with the Cast protocol is necessary, of course, and may preclude inclusion of some of these extra features.
Such features could be:
1 More digital output options such as coaxial.
2 Less jitter on the digital output.
3 A built-in sleep timer.
4 An option to upload an REW or similar room eq curve instead of the current very limited tone control of the CAA (already an imprevement comapred to the original firmware that did not allow any).
 

Eric Auer

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May 18, 2017
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15-30W Stereo integrated Amp with 3-5 inputs including phono.
And Remote.

Eric
 

Hemi-Demon

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Jan 17, 2019
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a D1 with MQA (that does not degrade the sound) and a balanced amp along the lines of the 789, maybe in one body.
 

confucius_zero

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Nov 22, 2018
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SINAD 120 DAC at the 200$ price point. that's all.
 

Hemi-Demon

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Mixed the dac and the amp?


for me, yes. others not sure about the increase in cost for a single dac/amp unit. Especially if you add dual 9038 pro's. I would only say the dual, one box system, if you can engineer an amp better or at least comparable to the 789.

a usb C device with full MQA unfold, along the lines of the nextdrive spectra X, with a 9038 mobile chip, and the same slim dongle form factor for phones. I would buy that immediately
 

maxxevv

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for me, yes. others not sure about the increase in cost for a single dac/amp unit. Especially if you add dual 9038 pro's. I would only say the dual, one box system, if you can engineer an amp better or at least comparable to the 789.

That's gonna be expensive.

And at that price bracket, not so sure if the target audience exists (other than you of course) in wanting an integrated solution. Or if there is, whether its a viable market size ??
 

Stein

Member
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Oct 8, 2018
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A nice all in one unit featuring 108+ sinad and great bit linearity on the dac portion, great performance on the amp portion(Within reach of the JDSLabs Atom), digital volume control to avoid channel imbalances, and a remote if possible.

If it's priced at 250$, it will be unbeatable
 

rajapruk

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Sep 22, 2018
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View attachment 20524

The 77th get the award. I will send the gift to you directly.

In 2019, SMSL will release more product , like the amp using thx aaa technology, the VMV SMSL D2 DAC, the headphone amp with MQA function and more. Thanks to all the guys here.

Ooh nooo that’s so close! I wrote #76 and #78 and was quoted in #77.
 

CaptObvious

Member
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Jul 17, 2018
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View attachment 20524

The 77th get the award. I will send the gift to you directly.

In 2019, SMSL will release more product , like the amp using thx aaa technology, the VMV SMSL D2 DAC, the headphone amp with MQA function and more. Thanks to all the guys here.


VMV SMSL D2, any chance you can spoil us with early information? AKM4499? ????
 
OP
SMSL-Mandy

SMSL-Mandy

Senior Member
Audio Company
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Aug 31, 2018
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VMV SMSL D2, any chance you can spoil us with early information? AKM4499? ????
NO the akm4499. Hope you looking forward to it. It will be revealed in May. Thanks. I want to keep some secret of VMV D2.
 

Eric Auer

Member
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May 18, 2017
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for me, yes. others not sure about the increase in cost for a single dac/amp unit. Especially if you add dual 9038 pro's. I would only say the dual, one box system, if you can engineer an amp better or at least comparable to the 789.

a usb C device with full MQA unfold, along the lines of the nextdrive spectra X, with a 9038 mobile chip, and the same slim dongle form factor for phones. I would buy that immediately

The LG V40 does this already with no need for a external device.
If more phones go in this direction there would be little market for a dongle.

Eric
 

artnoi

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Dec 9, 2018
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Location
Bangkok, Thailand
<$300 balanced dac+ thx amp unit with proper output impedance and performance? it doesn’t have to be as powerful as Massdrop THX one, I think I saw THX selections based on power.

edited: add more features
 

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I'd like to see SMSL continue to improve on its existing mobile products:
  • 2nd generation IQ:
    • Because of its charge pump circuit design, the 9018Q2C has its limitations with respect to noise floor, even in the dual mono configuration of the IQ. The PCB can probably be optimized for better performance than what it has now if a few traces were altered, with additional blocking caps and buried PCB layers. However, the integrated SoC modality simplifies design cycles significantly.
    • If SMSL continues the SoC route, I don't know if the ES9218p can be configured to work in dual mono mode (doesn't seem like it, but without NDA-level insight, no one would know), but I think the CS43131 can be configured in dual mono mode.
    • The other way is to go with the combination of separate DAC and amplifier ICs. The advantage is that the company can take advantage of higher volume orders for DAC chips used in its higher-end desktop units and get good discounts on chips like the AK4497 or ES9038Q2M.
    • There is precedence for ES90[X]8Q2M (x2) + ES960[X] (x2) as a DAC/amp combination, but there is no precedence for an AKM-based system. The AK4205 is on par with the ES960[X] as the best performing IC amplifier chip based around a charge pump system. Its output power is low, but its noise characteristics look great. If the AKM ecosystem is chosen through and through, then it can be paired with AK4497 (x2) or AK4492 (x2).
    • Add an output for the 4.4 mm TRRRS Sony 'Pentaconn' plug. The 3.5 mm TRRS 'PRO' plug is being promoted in China, but I don't see it gaining any traction. Only HiFiMAN and the nearly-defunct LH Labs have chosen it as an output plug for balanced output.
    • Easier cycling of digital filters, and selectable synchronous/asynchronous clocking (if ESS is chosen as the DAC).
  • 2nd generation iDEA:
    • Swap out the 9018Q2C with the ES9218p. It will improve its output power and remove the need for an external LDO. This is probably the most straightforward 'upgrade' because it can be a 1-to-1 swap with the 40-QFN package. It would be a minor PCB layout revision.
    • Change out the micro USB socket for a Type-C socket.
  • 2nd generation i2/iCON:
 
Joined
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I'd like to see SMSL continue to improve on its existing mobile products:
  • 2nd generation IQ
  • 2nd generation iDEA
  • 2nd generation i2/iCON

Continuing the list, I think the following would also be good:
  • Bluetooth 5.0/LDAC compatible send/receive features on the IQ, and add simple play/pause, forward/reverse track playback controls to the unit, so that streaming playback can be controlled on both the streaming transmitter (probably a smartphone, but can also be a computer) and the IQ.
  • Move the USB input to the back of the unit, so there isn't clutter at the front. The front of the unit should be reserved for volume controls and analog output.
  • If possible, charging/power can be moved to another USB input, separate from the USB data input. Doing so isn't practical for USB DACs that use only USB rail power, but if the IQ has its own battery, it should have separate power/data inputs to further isolate the data input from noise.
  • Looks like the new ES9281/9280PRO codec DACs can easily be implemented in a dongle-sized unit: https://www.stereophile.com/content/mqa-advances-and-more-encountered-ces --- hopefully they can be introduced at an attractive sub-$100 price point (preferably even less).
My suggestions are all based around practical and reasonable improvements to a preexisting product range.

Of course, it'd be nice to see a THX-AAA IC implemented as well, but I don't want to see a product that has been haphazardly put together, like the stuff from Monoprice. That's why I'm sticking with suggestions from ESS and AKM, because it seems SMSL has preexisting relationships with these two companies, and can leverage technical support from these respective companies as well.
 
Last edited:

Jimster480

Major Contributor
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Jan 26, 2018
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Tampa Bay
I would like a Chromecast Audio replacement. Perhaps a few additional features would be nice, but they are not crucial. Seamless compatibility with the Cast protocol is necessary, of course, and may preclude inclusion of some of these extra features.
Such features could be:
1 More digital output options such as coaxial.
2 Less jitter on the digital output.
3 A built-in sleep timer.
4 An option to upload an REW or similar room eq curve instead of the current very limited tone control of the CAA (already an imprevement comapred to the original firmware that did not allow any).
I can get behind something like this.
Chromecast technology but with a much better DAC.
I personally have no use or care for a Bluetooth connected device.
I want a box that has chromecast support, but maybe also with a Optical / Coax input so that I can use it with a Tv.
I need a box exactly like this for my bedroom.... and if it had an external volume control they just win the world over.

Streaming DAC/Devices are all the rage right now as everyone uses their phones to control the devices in their houses.
Denon has a streaming DAC but it uses the Heos interface which is more hit and miss.... a device with chromecast would really win as all the music services support chromecast.

It has to be decently priced though... I'd say like $200 is a good target since the chromecast audio is a cheap device overall.
 

Graph Feppar

Active Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2018
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I want true LOSELESS wireless Wi Fi headphone amplifier. I mean the same type of thing like Fiio BTR3 or Radsone ES100 except WiFi and loseless 16bit 44100Hz 1411kbps instead of Bluetooth and SBC/AAC/aptX/LDAC.

I funk king hate bluetooth audio, the compatibility is nightmare and total chaos, the range suck balls, even glitching Tamagotchi can jam the signal. Its low power low bandwidth piece of carp, the bluetooth bit error rate in densely populated urban area where the 2.4 GHz band is saturated to death is so bad its borderline useless.

The LDAC is snakeoil bullschmidt, SBC is horrible, AAC is for Apple users only and the aptX and aptX HD are OK but you must use the stupid Qualcom IC and pay the premium price for it. There are apps like Soundwire which allow for realtime loseless WiFi streaming to Android. Thats nice but I dont want to have smartphone hanging from my neck when I am headbanging to Slayer.

If you could somehow make device that...

1. Weight 50g or less.
2. Allow loseless redbook grade signal ( 1411kbps ) reception via WiFi.
3. Have dual band capability ( 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz ).
4. Can be used as USB DAC with headphone amp.
5. Removable battery. ( I dont want to trow it in trash when battery gets old/bad )
6. Can recieve signal from Windows 10 PC and also from Android smartphones.
7. Driverless operation, I dont care about Hi Res audio, I rather have wider compatibility.
8. Volume control buttons.
9. Tiny display to show signal strenght and battery energy.
10. Balanced 2.5mm output would be nice.
 
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