SMSL DP5 - New Streamer / DAC / Headamp combo unit

[Jukka]

Welcome to 2020 (cancelled)!

A manufacturer that omits dsp in 2020 from a digital preamp is stuck in 1990.
A manufacturer that omits digital out in 2020 from a digital preamp is stuck in 1980.

Recipe:
Leave the headphone and analog stuff etc to a dac of choice. SMSL has plenty of good dacs.
Utilize usb for audio (in and out) and control (hw volume). Also others for backwards compatibility.

With digital out, we could use dsp of choice and go multiway.

 

[Hemi-Demon]

Just a few issues. The headphone jack is useless. Does SMSL not read any of the complaints about that volume knob? A Bluetooth OUTPUT would be nice for TV use, maybe that is included and I am not reading the advertisement correctly. Why do all these dacs have AES inputs? I have literally never seen anyone use that input. The USB port should be able to handle larger drives, I mean WTF is 4TB max? In saying all that, if this was $400 it would be more attractive, imo. Oh well.

 

[A Surfer]

4TB, that must be an immense amount of music, simply hundreds of hours. Personally I would find that beyond overkill, but I value being able to easily find things that I want to hear over having so much music that I might listen to, but won't. I have the same knob on my M200 and it is fine. Seriously, it isn't meant to be used constantly but really, why on earth would you be using a physical knob on the unit when you have a remote control? I did have a USB converter box that seemed nice and it provided AES to the DAC so while not common, AES is a respected connection option.

Anyway, what our priorities are differ and there is no right or wrong, but I find the compromises being made here reasonable. As a fairly well appointed one box solution, ignoring the headphone section which clearly was more intended for task use than full blown critical listening, this seems like a nice entry. The price could be a little lower, but we don't know what the bill of goods was and I would not be shocked if the pandemic drove up the cost.

Not saying it is going to fly off the shelves, but I do hope enough people find it useful. Nice to see companies add to their product lineup as it stimulates competition in the industry which is always good for consumers.

 

[Magnifico]

one with an extensive library will kill this limit with ease....but it´s not the limit....it´s 2020 for gods sake.
4TB is 2013

I once liked SMSL a lot but they lost me.....don´t like any of their new products really....everything fine and all....but nothing WOW anymore plus the raised prices....I tend to choose other manufacturers

 

[A Surfer]

All good, but for price to performance considerations, I have to say SMSL has made me a believer.

 

[Mamoles]

I'm interested. I currently use a SMSL M500. It plays files from my NAS with Minimserver.
My streamer is a Chromecast Audio with ethernet connected to the M500 with optical out. I use Bubble upnp as a remote.
Files higher than 96khz are downsampled because of the Chromecast Audio limitation with its optical output.
Would the DP5 be a good pick to replace M500 and Chromecast Audio ?
By the way, I can't see any other product like that under 1000 €.

 

[Wolvebain]

By the way, I can't see any other product like that under 1000 €.

The Roon-ready Matrix Audio Mini-i 3 ($749) and Mini-i Pro3 ($899USD) maybe?
Link: https://www.matrix-digi.com/en/products/489.html

It would have been great if the SMSL DP5 offered LMS Squeesebox support as well...
That way it can work for both LMS, as well as a Roon endpoint.


Eager to see the ASR reviews...

 

[Mamoles]

The Roon-ready Matrix Audio Mini-i 3 ($749) and Mini-i Pro3 ($899USD) maybe?
Link: https://www.matrix-digi.com/en/products/489.html

It would have been great if the SMSL DP5 offered LMS Squeesebox support as well...
That way it can work for both LMS, as well as a Roon endpoint.


Eager to see the ASR reviews...

I've seen them but i want to use DLNA. Don't want to go for Airplay and Roon.

 

[Wolvebain]

I've seen them but i want to use DLNA. Don't want to go for Airplay and Roon.

Cool..
I think that is also covered/sorted with the MA player app.

But yeah, we need reviews of both!

 

[Jukka]

Would the DP5 be a good pick to replace M500 and Chromecast Audio ?
By the way, I can't see any other product like that under 1000 €.

How about this Arylic product? You can keep the M500 as dac if you wish.

 

[Wolvebain]

How about this Arylic product? You can keep the M500 as dac if you wish.

That looks brilliant!!!!
Wish it had Roon\LMS support tho, but still: Great item!! Will dig around for more info and reviews

 

[Mamoles]

How about this Arylic product? You can keep the M500 as dac if you wish.

Thank you for your help.
I found this on it's description :
"The S50PRO can easily join an existing audio system in order to add some or all of its own features. For this purpose, it uses an SPDIF output circuit (coaxial & optical) which allows it to attack an external DAC at a sampling frequency of 48kHz / 16bit. "

As a pure streamer to my DAC, my Chromecast audio sends files up to 96kHz/24bit
The DP-5 would let me play 192kHz file through the network.

 

[Jukka]

Thank you for your help.
I found this on it's description :
"The S50PRO can easily join an existing audio system in order to add some or all of its own features. For this purpose, it uses an SPDIF output circuit (coaxial & optical) which allows it to attack an external DAC at a sampling frequency of 48kHz / 16bit. "

As a pure streamer to my DAC, my Chromecast audio sends files up to 96kHz/24bit
The DP-5 would let me play 192kHz file through the network.

Okey, that's a shame. I recently came across this brand. While their products don't cover my needs, I found them still quite good for other uses. Also reasonably priced compared to some others.

There is always the Raspberry Pi, you could plug it to dac with usb, if free ports left. I really wonder, why won't dac makers add more usb-ports?

 

[Mamoles]

Okey, that's a shame. I recently came across this brand. While their products don't cover my needs, I found them still quite good for other uses. Also reasonably priced compared to some others.

There is always the Raspberry Pi, you could plug it to dac with usb, if free ports left. I really wonder, why won't dac makers add more usb-ports?

Thank you for your help.
Raspberry will not work with DLNA. I don't want to use Volumio.
I'm addicted to Bubble Upnp

 

[Mamoles]

Thank you for your help.
Raspberry will not work with DLNA. I don't want to use Volumio.
I'm addicted to Bubble Upnp

I've read on another thread that PI 4 could be compliant with DLNA, depends on what you install on your SD card.
I might give a try with a PI 3 but i don't know if it is powerful enough.

 

[Jukka]

I've read on another thread that PI 4 could be compliant with DLNA, depends on what you install on your SD card.
I might give a try with a PI 3 but i don't know if it is powerful enough.

If you play uncompressed high resolution files from network to usb on RPI3, you most likely get glitches, because lan and usb share some bandwidth. RPI4 is better in this regard with no problems.

 

[Jukka]

Thank you for your help.
Raspberry will not work with DLNA. I don't want to use Volumio.
I'm addicted to Bubble Upnp

Raspberry should work with DLNA, because that's only a protocol (software). It's all up to what you install on it. If you dislike Volumio, you can try others, but you will need something. All streamers have some software to run the streaming business.

 

[Mamoles]

If you play uncompressed high resolution files from network to usb on RPI3, you most likely get glitches, because lan and usb share some bandwidth. RPI4 is better in this regard with no problems.

Thank you for useful tips !
Will try Moode on an Pi 4.

 

[cheungtsw]

I would like to have smsl m400 or topping d90 with a lan input.

 

[Derek Hughes]

How about this Arylic product? You can keep the M500 as dac if you wish.

I bought the Arylic. It’s advertised as up to 24/192 but it only puts out 16/44. I tried it with a couple of DAC’s which showed the output rate so I went back to the manufacturer who confirmed it. “it will decode up to 24/192 but only put out 16/44” was there response to me when I questioned them on Amazon.