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AOSHIDA SMSL C200 Review (DAC & Amp)

Rate this DAC & HP Amp

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 9 2.7%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 3 0.9%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 58 17.6%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 260 78.8%

  • Total voters
    330

Joffy1780

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I may put a clip on fan pointed above mine to be safe. Cheap insurance. I can't see this being good long term, all the heat trapped inside. What was SMSL thinking by not putting a vent on it?
They likely realise it is not necessary.
 

TheShield

Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2022
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They likely realise it is not necessary.

Lets hope. I reached out to support last week requesting a remote to be shipped to me. Haven't got a reply back yet. Alarming lack of support. I will give it a bit more time, otherwise I will buy another one and take the remote out of that one and return it.
 

TheShield

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I seem to be having this issue and Im wondering if any other C200 users have had this problem too? Im going to order another one and send this one back.

EDIT: Forget about ordering another one as the sale is over and I would be paying more. If anything, I would go with another brand.

When I have sound playing, it will randomly just stop playing sound out of the headphones. And the only way to get it working again is my powering off the C200 and re-connecting the phone to it through Bluetooth.

It's very annoying. It's happened 3 times already in the 5 days of having it under light use.

Is there any way to do a hard reset or power cycle on the C200?
 

hifime

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2024
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I seem to be having this issue and Im wondering if any other C200 users have had this problem too? Im going to order another one and send this one back.

EDIT: Forget about ordering another one as the sale is over and I would be paying more. If anything, I would go with another brand.

When I have sound playing, it will randomly just stop playing sound out of the headphones. And the only way to get it working again is my powering off the C200 and re-connecting the phone to it through Bluetooth.

It's very annoying. It's happened 3 times already in the 5 days of having it under light use.

Is there any way to do a hard reset or power cycle on the C200?
Several people in this thread reported this exact problem, including me. One person thinks it's static buildup. Mine seems to have fixed itself. I thought it was because I had cables plugged into both 6.5mm and 4.4mm jacks, but apparently not. Did I change something in my setup without remembering? Don't know.

In any case, make sure yours is well ventilated and not hot.
 

TheShield

Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2022
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Several people in this thread reported this exact problem, including me. One person thinks it's static buildup. Mine seems to have fixed itself. I thought it was because I had cables plugged into both 6.5mm and 4.4mm jacks, but apparently not. Did I change something in my setup without remembering? Don't know.

In any case, make sure yours is well ventilated and not hot.

Thanks, good to know this. Thought i had a defective unit. It's well ventilated, I may stick it on a riser so air can flow underneath it. I wonder if power cycling the unit would do anything.
 

TheShield

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Has anyone found a good capable TRS to XLR adaptor to get the balanced output for headphoenes?
 

hifime

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Feb 18, 2024
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Thanks. So if I use that two of those slim TRS to XLR adaptors, and then two XLR to a single 6.3mm headphone adaptor, then I will get 100% balanced output to my headphones? Has anyone tried this?
The TRS out is 4Vrms at 100ohms impedance, that's .16W. (P=V^2/R, 4^2/100 = .16W

see the specs here https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/799.html

Versus 1.3W for the headphone out. So I don't think you need to bother doing what you're trying to do.

If you really really want to get true balanced out for some reason, you need to get another DAC/amp combo, or get an amp with balanced input and balanced headphone out.
 

staticV3

Master Contributor
Joined
Aug 29, 2019
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Has anyone found a good capable TRS to XLR adaptor to get the balanced output for headphoenes?
Please do not use the rear TRS ports to drive headphones.
They're Line out ports. They're not designed for that.

Thanks. So if I use that two of those slim TRS to XLR adaptors, and then two XLR to a single 6.3mm headphone adaptor, then I will get 100% balanced output to my headphones? Has anyone tried this?
6.3mm cannot physically carry a balanced (differential) Stereo signal.

It can do single-ended Stereo or balanced Mono.

In the first place, what you're trying to achieve (differential headphone out) is completely pointless. It won't sound any better than single-ended.

Just use the single-ended 6.3/4.4mm headphone outs.
 

TheShield

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The TRS out is 4Vrms at 100ohms impedance, that's .16W. (P=V^2/R, 4^2/100 = .16W

see the specs here https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/799.html

Versus 1.3W for the headphone out. So I don't think you need to bother doing what you're trying to do.

If you really really want to get true balanced out for some reason, you need to get another DAC/amp combo, or get an amp with balanced input and balanced headphone out.
Please do not use the rear TRS ports to drive headphones.
They're Line out ports. They're not designed for that.


6.3mm cannot physically carry a balanced (differential) Stereo signal.

It can do single-ended Stereo or balanced Mono.

In the first place, what you're trying to achieve (differential headphone out) is completely pointless. It won't sound any better than single-ended.

Just use the single-ended 6.3/4.4mm headphone outs.

Thanks, good to know this. I’m just going to stick with the C-200, it seems to be a good enough amp for my new 660s2.
 

DeDovla

Member
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Mar 11, 2024
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There is a new XMOS driver v5.68 on SMSL website for C200 (and almost certainly other SMSL devices). I am not aware that a changelog exists, however I installed this driver and everything works as it did with v5.58 driver. Just be sure to do the xml hack so you can set your streaming options to always on as installing this driver will hide the option and set it to default.
 

TheShield

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There is a new XMOS driver v5.68 on SMSL website for C200 (and almost certainly other SMSL devices). I am not aware that a changelog exists, however I installed this driver and everything works as it did with v5.58 driver. Just be sure to do the xml hack so you can set your streaming options to always on as installing this driver will hide the option and set it to default.

What’s the benefit to installing this new driver?
 

MrOtto

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2020
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Are TRS and RCA output active at the same time, could connect a sub to the RCA output?
Could not find anything about this in the manual.
 

Lupin

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Feb 11, 2021
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In the first place, what you're trying to achieve (differential headphone out) is completely pointless. It won't sound any better than single-ended.
Sadly the myth that balanced is the be all and end all for sound quality just doesn't want to seem to die.

What’s the benefit to installing this new driver?
Unless you experience USB connection/transfer problems with a source... nothing.
It's just an USB driver that facilitates the USB connection/transfer between the XMOS interface and computer/source. It doesn't do anything on the actual DAC side of things. Personally, I don't understand how/why people keep claiming that the sound quality improved after updating the USB driver. :oops:
 

DeDovla

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Unless you experience USB connection/transfer problems with a source... nothing.
It's just an USB driver that facilitates the USB connection/transfer between the XMOS interface and computer/source. It doesn't do anything on the actual DAC side of things. Personally, I don't understand how/why people keep claiming that the sound quality improved after updating the USB driver. :oops:
I did not claim the sound changes, I just pointed out that there's an update available for people that were not aware and like keeping their drivers up to date.

On another note, I am not able to find a changelog from SMSL regarding this driver. JDS Labs uses the same (or similar) driver for their DACs and this is their changelog for the driver versions (could be aplicable to SMSL as well). At least it gives people the idea of what these driver updates bring to the table.

EDIT: As I saw someone post the exact same changelog for this version for the Topping E50 XMOS driver I think it's safe to conclude that this changelog from JDS Labs is accurate even for SMSL products.
 
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TheShield

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Sadly the myth that balanced is the be all and end all for sound quality just doesn't want to seem to die.


Unless you experience USB connection/transfer problems with a source... nothing.
It's just an USB driver that facilitates the USB connection/transfer between the XMOS interface and computer/source. It doesn't do anything on the actual DAC side of things. Personally, I don't understand how/why people keep claiming that the sound quality improved after updating the USB driver. :oops:

Okay thanks. I won't bother updating it. Figured if it's not broke, don't mess with it.
 

Lupin

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I did not claim the sound changes.
My apologies if it came over that way.
I didn't mean to say you are claiming sound difference but (many) other people... somehow all in the subjective camp, claim that there are.
 

TheShield

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How many of you leave your C-200 on all the time? Or do you power it off every time? I usually put all my electronics in sleep mode or I leave it on 24/7 and never shut it off. Any disadvantages to leaving the C-200 on all the time?

The wear and tear on the capacitors of shutting it off and on long term would concern me. Is it better to just leave it on 24/7? The downfall to leaving it on 24/7 is that there will always be a bit of heat inside.

But then I read that if you leave it on, you risk potential voltage spikes coming through and frying your amp and headphones. True? If so, then this alone would make me shut it off each time. I’ve always heard that a cold amp could take time before it stabilizes and the sound is optimal. Not sure if true or not.

But the hot and cold cycles would likely not be good long term. Just like with PCs and computers, it’s best to put it into sleep mode vs shutting it on and off every time. I haven’t turned any of my computers off for over the past 20 years.
 
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hifime

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Feb 18, 2024
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How many of you leave your C-200 on all the time? Or do you power it off every time? I usually put all my electronics in sleep mode or I leave it on 24/7 and never shut it off. Any disadvantages to leaving the C-200 on all the time?

The wear and tear on the capacitors of shutting it off and on long term would concern me. Is it better to just leave it on 24/7? The downfall to leaving it on 24/7 is that there will always be a bit of heat inside.

But then I read that if you leave it on, you risk potential voltage spikes coming through and frying your amp and headphones. True? If so, then this alone would make me shut it off each time. I’ve always heard that a cold amp could take time before it stabilizes and the sound is optimal. Not sure if true or not.

But the hot and cold cycles would likely not be good long term. Just like with PCs and computers, it’s best to put it into sleep mode vs shutting it on and off every time. I haven’t turned any of my computers off for over the past 20 years.
I just end up doing what is most convenient. Leave it on during the day. Shut it off when I go to bed.
 

TheShield

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Nov 14, 2022
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I'm contemplating sending the C-200 back. The audio just randomly stopping is getting very annoying. I'd say about 50% of the time I walk up to the C-200 it just stops playing music. And then I have to power off the unit and "sometimes" it will auto connect with my phone. The other times, I have to turn the C-200 on and off about 80-90 times before it will even manually connect. Look at all the wear and tear on the capacitor. I just spent 15 minutes trying to get it to re-connect and finally about the 10852th time of turning the C-200 on and off over and over again, Im starting to think that this C-200 is a total POS. You get what you pay for. I will be looking for a device where I don't have to deal with issues like this.

Maybe go with Fiio, they will have better quality control. I will start researching again what DACs are better for quality. I will pay more to not have to deal with BS issues like this. It takes all the fun out of owning the device.

I mean good chance this unit craps out anyways, so why bother. May as well get my money back. Maybe I get another Topping DX3 Pro+.
 
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