The presence of modern components in a DAC does not guarantee that it is a complete and good engineering design.The 2024 DAC should not have such childhood diseases. This is what I want to say.
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New S.M.S.L. M300 SE 120$
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Pops, clicks, crackles, volume knob skipping - this is not a romantic point of view. It's not subjective. I came across such facts in the operation of this DAC. Even if the measurements are good, but the DAC of this model works like that, with such shortcomings, then who needs it?
topping has its own issues with vol. ctrl.
i use a m300 and a c100 and the vol. ctrl. is fine on both
but i use them as attenuators... i max out the vol. at 40 and then use the analog vol. on my preamp
my m300 is a very early v1.0 not upgraded one
i dont hear no clicks on vol. changes.
i use a m300 and a c100 and the vol. ctrl. is fine on both
but i use them as attenuators... i max out the vol. at 40 and then use the analog vol. on my preamp
my m300 is a very early v1.0 not upgraded one
i dont hear no clicks on vol. changes.
Bad translation. There is no clicking sound when changing the volume. That's not what I said. With a slow, slow change in volume, there are misfires. The volume knob turns slowly, and the number on the display does not always work. Doesn't always change. Sometimes it misses.Incorrect translation distorts the meaning of what is said.
I have a new version with filters.
Why turn it up to 40? There seems to be a pure DAC mode there. For your use case.I used it in pre-amplifier mode. Changed the volume. Therefore, volume work is important to me.
renaudrenaud
Major Contributor
Is it the general case?
My understanding is the SE is working correctly, but could be wrong.
For my part I use it in my living room many hours a day and don't have any problem. Just one sample of course. Very happy with it and so small form factor I put it in my bag last holidays to enjoy my headphones.
I have several amplifiers and several DACs. When the m300se is used with one of the amplifiers, the unpleasant phenomena I described occur. They do not arise when working with others. But even without an amplifier and without a source, my M300se DAC shows DC voltage surges on the multimeter. I wrote this already. I don't know. This is a marriage or a general case. My other DACs do not have this phenomenon.
For example, this m300se DAC with the Topping pa3s amplifier works for me without these problems. (I think the amplifier dampens and smoothes out these surges...) And with another class AB amplifier, this DAC works with pops and clicks. This is the design of the DAC. Incompatibility with some amplifiers occurs.
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It works correctly with some amplifiers. He makes mistakes with others. But the volume knob does not work very clearly when turned slowly. There are failures.It is during a slow, slow turn.
kodreaming
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Really like the idea of the machine and fits my need perfectly but the random static sound just drive me crazy. Had to return it...still looking for another option...
I'm currently choosing between the C100 ($100) and the M300Se ($125). What would you recommend?
The recent evolution of DAC products is remarkable. If you replace FIIO d03k with the latest DAC product, you will definitely experience a change in sound quality.
However, I do not recommend the M300SE you selected due to its performance. The DAC chip used by the M300SE is CS43131, which is a headphone output DAC for USB dongles.
I recommend SMSL SU-1 as an upgrade from FIIO d03k. Although it is a very small and inexpensive DAC, it has high sound quality. Although it is an SMSL product, it is sold by Shenzhen Audio. I'm currently using two of these.
S.M.S.L SU1 AK4493S Digital to Analog Convertor (DAC)
shenzhenaudio.com: professional headphone, earphone, amplifier, dac, decoder, hifi player, cable supermarket. you will find good price here.
As a former m300se owner, I do not recommend this DAC. (I wrote about the reasons earlier in this thread). I had a hard time getting rid of it. Now I have Su-1 and Topping E30ii lite DACs. Great DACs. No problem with them. Work with different amplifiers and sound sources. Forum member Toku's advice is correct. I fully support his advice.
sunjam
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I just got a new M300SE and it has issue when playing MQA file on Windows. It is flipping between MQA and non-MQA mode when playing a MQA file. As a result, the sound output is on and off. It happens for all the players I use (Tidal native program, foobar, Audivana). I tried ASIO, WASAPI exclusive but it doesn't help. I tried both the latest SMSL driver and windows native USB drivers too.
However, when I plug it into a Mac (M1), it can play MQA files without any issue.
Just wondering if it iis a known issue. Is there any fix?
Moreover, when I pay 768kHz file, it pops quite a lot on windows. Is there anything I can do? Foobar is very bad; using HQPlayer helps a bit but it still pops ocassionally. Any idea on how to fix it? Thanks.
However, when I plug it into a Mac (M1), it can play MQA files without any issue.
Just wondering if it iis a known issue. Is there any fix?
Moreover, when I pay 768kHz file, it pops quite a lot on windows. Is there anything I can do? Foobar is very bad; using HQPlayer helps a bit but it still pops ocassionally. Any idea on how to fix it? Thanks.
Many DACs that support MQA have such playback behavior. The severity of the symptoms varies, but it is not a problem unique to the M300SE.
PCM768kHz playback is very delicate, and may behave like that depending on the playback environment and settings. I think this is probably a problem specific to the M300SE. It may be necessary to modify the FW.
sunjam
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Thanks a lot for your reply. It seems that I somehow nailed down the issue. It's the XMOS driver. All the MQA / pop sound issues are related to the driver...
I strongly belive that it might be related to driver issue as my Mac has no issue at all (and it does not need any driver). So, I uninstalled the XMOS driver again and use the Micosoft native one to try one more time. Luckily, it fixes all the issues this time except the Windows driver does not support ASIO (which is not a big deal).
Initially, I thought the Microsoft driver was also having the issue because it had issue when playback MQA. It turns out that it was related to the Foobar setup. I need to disable "Use Event" (under Preference -> Advanced -> Playback -> Exclusive output overrides -> Use Event) otherwise it will have the MQA/non-MQA flipping issue.
Now, it seems everything is working fine.... No MQA issue, no pop sound even for 768kHz PCM. For DSD, I need to use DOP but it is ok as it can support up to DSD256 with DOP.
Hopefully this info can help other people who face similar issues with their DAC
Acutally, I do have some other questions related to this DAC:
1. Why we need to install the XMOS driver? Is it for ASIO support only?
2. I believe that the CS43131 only supports up to 384kHz (based on the offical CS datasheet for the chip). How come SMSL can make it to support 768kHz? The DAC does show 768kHz on the display but does it really support it? Is it possible that they just somehow down sampling the 768kHz PCM to 384k and then feed the data to the CS43131 chip? or there are speical version of CS43131 that support 768kHz sampling?
By the way, what does "Use Event" do in the Foobar setup?
Thank you for your detailed experience report. We will consider it for future reference.
Regarding the USB driver, for example, when I connect Topping E30ll to my Windows 11 PC,
Without a driver, it will be authenticated as a USB device named "Speaker (E30 ll)".
In this state, when played by the Windows 11 audio system, all files of PCM44.1~768kHz DSD64~DSD512 will be resampled to the preset sampling rate and output as PCM files. Naturally, DSD cannot be played.
For Foober2000, if you select Speaker (E30 ll) [Exclusive] in "Output", the original PCM44.1~768kHz will be output without being resampled. DSD is converted to 44.1kHz and output.
ASIO output is obviously not possible.
When you install Topping's USB driver, it will be certified as "Speaker TOPPING USB DAC". The difference from when there is no driver is,
The "E30 ll" part of the Foober2000's "Output" display will now display "Topping USB DAC". If you select "Speaker (Topping USB DAC) [Exclusive]" for Output, all files will be output as original PCM44.1~768kHz without being resampled. DSD can be played from DSD64 to DSD256. (DoP mode? DSD512 is not possible)
Also, the ASIO output "Topping USB Audio Device" selection has been added to the "Output" column, allowing operation in ASIO mode. Select this to play all files.
In my explanation, I am connecting E30 ll, but it should be the same with M300SE.
When using a player such as Foober2000, you can play PCM44.1~768kHz and MQA without a driver by selecting [Exclusive] mode. The only thing that cannot be done is native playback of DSD.
I am also wondering about the operation of PCM705/768kHz of CS43131 of M300SE. I previously asked a question about this on ASR, but there was no response. In my opinion, it's probably down-converted with an XMOS XU316 chip.
The same goes for the Topping D70 Pro OCTO with CS43198.
I don't really understand the history and differences between WASAPI's Push Events. However, the only knowledge I have is that Event has a lighter load from the PC's perspective, and Push is superior in terms of sound quality.
Regarding the USB driver, for example, when I connect Topping E30ll to my Windows 11 PC,
Without a driver, it will be authenticated as a USB device named "Speaker (E30 ll)".
In this state, when played by the Windows 11 audio system, all files of PCM44.1~768kHz DSD64~DSD512 will be resampled to the preset sampling rate and output as PCM files. Naturally, DSD cannot be played.
For Foober2000, if you select Speaker (E30 ll) [Exclusive] in "Output", the original PCM44.1~768kHz will be output without being resampled. DSD is converted to 44.1kHz and output.
ASIO output is obviously not possible.
When you install Topping's USB driver, it will be certified as "Speaker TOPPING USB DAC". The difference from when there is no driver is,
The "E30 ll" part of the Foober2000's "Output" display will now display "Topping USB DAC". If you select "Speaker (Topping USB DAC) [Exclusive]" for Output, all files will be output as original PCM44.1~768kHz without being resampled. DSD can be played from DSD64 to DSD256. (DoP mode? DSD512 is not possible)
Also, the ASIO output "Topping USB Audio Device" selection has been added to the "Output" column, allowing operation in ASIO mode. Select this to play all files.
In my explanation, I am connecting E30 ll, but it should be the same with M300SE.
When using a player such as Foober2000, you can play PCM44.1~768kHz and MQA without a driver by selecting [Exclusive] mode. The only thing that cannot be done is native playback of DSD.
I am also wondering about the operation of PCM705/768kHz of CS43131 of M300SE. I previously asked a question about this on ASR, but there was no response. In my opinion, it's probably down-converted with an XMOS XU316 chip.
The same goes for the Topping D70 Pro OCTO with CS43198.
I don't really understand the history and differences between WASAPI's Push Events. However, the only knowledge I have is that Event has a lighter load from the PC's perspective, and Push is superior in terms of sound quality.
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