New SMSL M300

[Veri]

thank a lot, I will give them a try.
BTW, is this problem with Mac OS (not auto-switching sampling rate) DAC specific? In another word, is it the case that other DACs might do the auto-switching on Mac OS right out of the box?

No this is normal behavior on OSX. Actually, on Windows too.

 

[SMSL-Mandy]

Just got my M300 MKII yesterday and I am listening to it with SP200 through XLR. Very good first impression, build and feature wise.

But one question. I used the USB to connect my macbook pro to M300. The sampling rate shown on the M300 screen is always 44.1 khz, regardless what music files I am playing. Does anyone know what is happening here?

Check the computer's driver display

 

[shinewu]

For those who are interested in saving some money, the official store of SMSL on Aliexpress has reduced the price of the first gen M300 to $167. That's like insane. I am very attempted to get one. As far as I can tell, the difference between first gen and mk2 are:

1) sound filters (no need),
2) bluetooth (can live without) and,
3) DC 5V input, this is my major concern. Do I need to supply extra power through USB?

Or should I just go with m500, which is essentially future proof for me and has a sufficient amp to drive my hifiman sundara?

 

[Veri]

Or should I just go with m500, which is essentially future proof for me and has a sufficient amp to drive my hifiman sundara?

The newest M500 seems like a really solid bet, as you say it comes with a a decent amplifier to boot.

 

[shinewu]

Well, I guess I can wait till 11.11 and see if there is big sale on SMSL stuffs. Normally they do. I currently have a TempoTec HD Sonata Pro and a SDAC + SMSL VA-2 desktop setup. Both are pretty decent at driving Sundara.

 

[FireLion]

And the culprit is definitely the M300. I hook up the Magni with my SMSL M3 and the sound comes out very good.

I swapped the stock cable for a single heavy Duty usb cable with ferrite choke and no noise with IEM's. It seemed bad with that horrible stock cable.

Single USB is all that is needed, the dual makes no sense. Mine is like the one linked below.
edit: https://www.mycablemart.com/store/c...xYH5TAEnnILqOOm1UoVzGspTEfuV99hhoCzNQQAvD_BwE

 

[igorpadrao]

I swapped the stock cable for a single heavy Duty usb cable with ferrite choke and no noise with IEM's. It seemed bad with that horrible stock cable.

Single USB is all that is needed, the dual makes no sense. Mine is like the one linked below.
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Mi...micro+usb+cable+ferrite&qid=1597681542&sr=8-4

Thanks for the Rply, FireLion. Turns out I have sold the unit and later I will buy another balanced DAC. If the buyer complains about the noise I will suggest him to try a better cable. Thanks.

 

[Magnifico]

FireLion your observations may be valid for you but mine told a different story.
Using both USB-connections is superior to me.
Power cable doesn´t matter much, if you have a decent power strip like this: https://www.brennenstuhl.com/de-DE/...3m-h05vv-f-3g1-5-1xmaster-4xslave-4xpermanent
USB-Power from those is filtered. I´m not saying it´s the same as those expensive special linear power supplys...but it definetly did the trick.
Plus Using a decent USB-B cable with a ferrit core did the final Step. Sound was clearly the best for me in this figuration.
Most black background ever achived with this one.

But finally the form factor killed me and got a D70. Already very dark/black background is now even much much darker than before. Crazy dark was my feeling when heard the first times.
Whatever ASR measured on D70...It clearly has the edge to M300 so I decided to keep D70 not M300.
With It´s own power supply imbedded it´s much easier to handle. Any power plug will do because D70 does filtering on it´s own...obviously.

 

[FireLion]

FireLion your observations may be valid for you but mine told a different story.
Using both USB-connections is superior to me.
Power cable doesn´t matter much, if you have a decent power strip like this: https://www.brennenstuhl.com/de-DE/...3m-h05vv-f-3g1-5-1xmaster-4xslave-4xpermanent
USB-Power from those is filtered. I´m not saying it´s the same as those expensive special linear power supplys...but it definetly did the trick.
Plus Using a decent USB-B cable with a ferrit core did the final Step. Sound was clearly the best for me in this figuration.
Most black background ever achived with this one.

But finally the form factor killed me and got a D70. Already very dark/black background is now even much much darker than before. Crazy dark was my feeling when heard the first times.
Whatever ASR measured on D70...It clearly has the edge to M300 so I decided to keep D70 not M300.
With It´s own power supply imbedded it´s much easier to handle. Any power plug will do because D70 does filtering on it´s own...obviously.

Nice, I did get a idefender too just in case. I appear to have no issues with noise once I swapped the cable where as before I could hear a bad static noise. I do here some noise when adjusting the volume pot but otherwise I am fairly happy with it.

It also looks like the revised the power delivery with the MK2.

 

[FireLion]

@SMSL-Mandy I noticed the RCA works perfect but I have a grounding issue using XLR. Is this why the MK2 came out?
I feel like I have a gimped piece of equipment, if the RCA works just fine with no background noise then so should the XLR.

The noise is there when you raise the volume, not with RCA. what I did above just improved it but it's an issue with the DAC it seems. In fact the RCA sounds fantastic but then I lose out on extra power and no balanced system.

 

[SMSL-Mandy]

@SMSL-Mandy I noticed the RCA works perfect but I have a grounding issue using XLR. Is this why the MK2 came out?
I feel like I have a gimped piece of equipment, if the RCA works just fine with no background noise then so should the XLR.

The noise is there when you raise the volume, not with RCA. what I did above just improved it but it's an issue with the DAC it seems. In fact the RCA sounds fantastic but then I lose out on extra power and no balanced system.

Try to change the better cable. Our previous research found that a lot of noise is because of the cable and Insufficient voltage o the USB plug-in in front of the computer. It will be much better if it is plugged into the USB plug behind the desktop. The cause of the noise is not the M300 itself.

 

[DUKE-DUKE]

Intenta cambiar el mejor cable. Nuestra investigación anterior encontró que una gran cantidad de ruido se debe al cable y al voltaje insuficiente del complemento USB frente a la computadora. Será mucho mejor si se conecta al enchufe USB detrás del escritorio. La causa del ruido no es el M300 en sí.

Hello.

I am interested in buying the SMSL M300 MKII, but it is important for me to know: are the xlr outputs of the SMSL M300 MkII really balanced or are they just for decoration / convenience? Do they send a truly balanced signal to the amplifier?

Thank you very much.

Regards.

 

[Veri]

Hola.

Estoy interesado en comprar el SMSL M300 MKII, pero es importante que sepa: ¿Están las salidas xlr del SMSL M300 MkII realmente equilibradas o son solo para decoración / conveniencia? ¿Envían una señal verdaderamente equilibrada al amplificador?

Muchas gracias.

Saludos.

Please translate back to English when posting, thank you

 

[DUKE-DUKE]

Por favor, traduzca de nuevo al inglés al publicar, gracias

Hello.

I am interested in buying the SMSL M300 MKII, but it is important for me to know: are the xlr outputs of the SMSL M300 MkII really balanced or are they just for decoration / convenience? Do they send a truly balanced signal to the amplifier?

Thank you very much.

Regards

 

[Veri]

Hello.

I am interested in buying the SMSL M300 MKII, but it is important for me to know: are the xlr outputs of the SMSL M300 MkII really balanced or are they just for decoration / convenience? Do they send a truly balanced signal to the amplifier?

Thank you very much.

Regards.

There is not really such a thing as "fake" balanced for a DAC. If it has XLR output (or 4.4mm/2.5mm for example) and it has >= 4Vrms output it will be balanced, no worries on a single ended amplifier the connectors are sometimes added for convenience that's true. Not so on a DAC, it either has the extra voltage or it doesn't.

 

[DUKE-DUKE]

There is not really such a thing as "fake" balanced for a DAC. If it has XLR output (or 4.4mm/2.5mm for example) and it has >= 4Vrms output it will be balanced, no worries on a single ended amplifier the connectors are sometimes added for convenience that's true. Not so on a DAC, it either has the extra voltage or it doesn't.

Hello again.

As you rightly say, there are amplifiers that being single-ended incorporate xlr jacks, but only for convenience without being balanced in real operation.

So it is clear to me that the SMSL M300 MKII does offer truly balanced XLR outputs, I say this because the amplifier to which I plan to connect the m300 mkII does meet that condition and it would be absurd for me to use an XLR output without it being truly balanced, losing that quality.

Thank you very much for your answer and best regards.

 

[MalinYamato]

are you buying this DAC as an enthusiast loving the particular sound of its particular DAC chip, or do you buy it because it's a good enough DAC for the price?

 

[DUKE-DUKE]

are you buying this DAC as an enthusiast loving the particular sound of its particular DAC chip, or do you buy it because it's a good enough DAC for the price?

For the two things you mention and for some other features that the device offers and that I particularly value, it has everything I need, no more and no less.

I like the behavior and overall sound of the AKM4497 chip better than the ESS SABRE ones, the XLR outputs option, the display, the remote control and of course the quality/price ratio it offers.

Regards.

 

[gethyper]

It’s a nice unit, but mine failed after just a year and with very light use. It’s stuck on an error screen and the factory reset doesn’t do anything. Definitely would not recommend this unit based on my experience and the negative reviews both here and on Amazon.