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New SMSL M300

Gyroscopics

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In next couple of days, my brother will bring over his Audio Research amp and Sonus Faber speakers and we will do more listening sessions with M300. I'll report back the results. I'm also interested in comparing the unit against D50.

Looking forward to your test results.
 

Panelhead

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Wonder how long before they offer a model using two AK4499.
 

Veri

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Wonder how long before they offer a model using two AK4499.
Two AK4499? Considering these are $75 chips excluding any other components (and it will take a lot of components to implement right); I feel like what you're theorising at will be one very pricy machine. Very pricy. Like, high-end pricy.

Also, the first AK4499 devices are a while off yet. Lucky manufacturers and designers are only just getting their hands on them. Consumer devices will take many more months.
 

amirm

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A previous (Sanskrit 10th) product did really poor with power from PC, so I suppose one could be nervous whether or not SMSL did better on the M300. Hard to know for sure without any testing. So far no review here on the M300.
A little bird has told me the same issue is there with M300....
 

Panelhead

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I purchased a Sanskrit 10th for someone as a gift. Took someone on this sites advise and included a iPhone charger and a cable to power with the 5w supply. Have plenty laying around the way we go through phones.
Is there a power input on the M300?
 

Hugo9000

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I purchased a Sanskrit 10th for someone as a gift. Took someone on this sites advise and included a iPhone charger and a cable to power with the 5w supply. Have plenty laying around the way we go through phones.
Is there a power input on the M300?
The SMSL M300 has a single USB input, which also is the sole source of power.

Here is the rear panel:
SMSL M300 rear panel.jpg
 

frogmeat69

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Amirm, if no powered hub is used do you think that a device like this could improve the situation https://ifi-audio.com/products/idefender3-0/. For example I would connect the M300 to my pc with this dongle, but I would route the power through the iFi device with a external cellphone charger?
Would do basically the same as a hub, I'm sure. But a hub most likely would be cheaper.
 

biosquid2

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Just got this DAC in today. Powering it with a 5V DC, 2A wall wart and feeding it digital via coax from a DDC. Works great! Compared to the Yulong DA10 (which also uses an AK4497 chip), I get no muting issues or pops with PCM audio via SPDIF inputs.

For those interested, I powered down the unit by unplugging USB power altogether, and also switched the unit to standby by pressing the face button--there were absolutely no pops or thuds sent to my speakers. From my experience, fairly decent for a ~$200 DAC w/ balanced outputs.
 

Belgarathian

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@amirm

Do you have this inbound?
 

Veri

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In this head-fi promotional video the Topping D70, SMSL D1, SMSL M300 and near the end Matrix Element X have a quick AP measurement shot that looks pretty in line with what @amirm measured.

M300 timestamp:

Around 0.0005% THD, distortion peaks around -110dB but overall it seems to have higher noise floor than reference DACs resulting in lower SINAD.
Seems quite faithful to stated 0.0004% THD in the specifications :) so not bad.
 

artismo

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You guys want to buy one to send me for testing or should I ask for a sample from SMSL?
I heard about the new M500 and casually asked SMSL to send you one for testing. Apparently it will be available in a few days. I’m not saying my request to them has any weight, but hopefully it will get some wheels turning.
 
Last edited:

SMSL-Mandy

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I head about the new M500 and casually asked SMSL to send you one for testing. Apparently it will be available in a few days. I’m not saying my request to them has any weight, but hopefully it will get some wheels turning.

Yes, we will release the M500 this month, and I will send a new item to amir for testing too. Thanks.
IMG_8079.jpg
 
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