DAC SMSL PS200 pro measurements and review

[FanatNsk]

Differences between the PS200 and PS200pro​

Appearance​

Measurements in RightMark Audio Analyzer (RMAA) at 1.7Vrms​

500mV multitone measurements in REW​

Jitter Test in REW​

IMD test CCIF in REW​

THD 2Vrms with ADC sensitivity of 2.7Vrms​

Video Review​

 

[tccalvin]

Great stuff. The only issue I can see is the lack of digital volume control. Make sure you use this with a source that can digitally lower the output volume so that you can avoid inter-sample clipping.

 

[Jack Plug]

I recently acquired this device and was disappointed that the appropriate driver does NOT permit ASIO playback. I uninstalled said driver and replaced it with an old(er) SMSL SU-8 driver and bingo!! all good. The SU-8 finally failed on me after many years of excellent service.......

 

[Max_1]

Something problem with XMOS USB Audio driver v5.74.0 (2025-05-07)?

 

[FanatNsk]

Something problem with XMOS USB Audio driver v5.74.0 (2025-05-07)?

I had problems with the old driver, after installing version 5.74.0 everything works stably.

 

[Max_1]

Приветствую, земляк. Не забыл включить Always On?

 

[FanatNsk]

By the way, I have a discount coupon for purchasing this DAC.

AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c3HiS06r

Official Store: https://www.aoshida-audio.com/products/smsl-ps200pro
Coupon Code: FanatNsk-PS200Pro
Discount: 2% (Valid for 3 months)

Note: the coupon code is ONLY available for ordering from official store.

 

[FanatNsk]

Приветствую, земляк. Не забыл включить Always On?

It works on Windows 10 without any XMOS driver installation via ASIO4ALL.

 

[Max_1]

Да, работает. По дефолту. Но лучше поставить драйвер от XMOS. Там есть много тонких настроек.

 

[dobson156]

Slightly tangental question; but could I run this straight into a Quad 303 power amp? That is, can I get rid of the middle man pre-amp?

That has an input sensitivity of 0.5Vrms and the ps200 pro apparently has an output sensitivity of 2.0Vrms. If I permanently reduce the output level of the DAC am I lowering its effective resolution and am I able to lock it at the lower output without simply just dragging the volume slider down in the host device (i.e my macbook).

 

[Hubi74]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[FanatNsk]

Slightly tangental question; but could I run this straight into a Quad 303 power amp? That is, can I get rid of the middle man pre-amp?

That has an input sensitivity of 0.5Vrms and the ps200 pro apparently has an output sensitivity of 2.0Vrms. If I permanently reduce the output level of the DAC am I lowering its effective resolution and am I able to lock it at the lower output without simply just dragging the volume slider down in the host device (i.e my macbook).

Regular music, even at full volume, rarely exceeds 0.5-1Vrms, and some dance tracks with powerful bass can output 1.5Vrms. So, assuming you set the DAC volume to half, the worst-case scenario is that a signal of 0.75Vrms will be fed to the input. According to the quad 303 specification, the input sensitivity for the RCA line is 0.695Vrms, for the XLR input 1.5Vrms - I think setting a little less than half the DAC volume will be enough for safe use, or you can connect to the XLR inputs via a special RCA->XLR cable. Reducing the volume will reduce the dynamic range, but not drastically. You'll still get around 80-100dB, assuming regular music has a dynamic range of up to 60dB, and vinyl records have a dynamic range of 40dB. Of course, if you prefer DSD, the dynamic range can approach 100dB.

 

[dobson156]

Regular music, even at full volume, rarely exceeds 0.5-1Vrms, and some dance tracks with powerful bass can output 1.5Vrms. So, assuming you set the DAC volume to half, the worst-case scenario is that a signal of 0.75Vrms will be fed to the input. According to the quad 303 specification, the input sensitivity for the RCA line is 0.695Vrms, for the XLR input 1.5Vrms - I think setting a little less than half the DAC volume will be enough for safe use, or you can connect to the XLR inputs via a special RCA->XLR cable. Reducing the volume will reduce the dynamic range, but not drastically. You'll still get around 80-100dB, assuming regular music has a dynamic range of up to 60dB, and vinyl records have a dynamic range of 40dB. Of course, if you prefer DSD, the dynamic range can approach 100dB.

I'm on about the old Quad 303, it definitely doesn't have XLR. It doesn't even have RCA, it's a DIN connector which has an adaptor to RCA

 

[artismo]

Just a quick question, how did you disassemble it? I removed the two rear screws and checked under the rubber feet. The Amazon listing in Japan says “4 high spec dual opamps” instead of the global description of “4 opa1612”. Japan has strict advertising laws and I worry that this is just legal hedging on their part via careful wording. I just hope this isn’t a “silent revision”. I asked them directly on Amazon Japan, so we will see.

 

[artismo]

Solved: got a T6 to fit the end screws and used an 2.0 Allen key/or T10 (can’t remember) and tore the sucker down gently. No silent revisions, all opamps are OPA1612 in Japan.