SMSL M400 Balanced USB MQA DAC Review

[Gradius]

Theres a new USB driver we can get?

The drivers are made by Thesycon. They released since 12/04/2020 (over a month ago):
https://www.thesycon.de/usbaudio/TUSBAudio_history.txt

The manufacturers are begin too lazy in not release (or update) them. All they need to do is rebranding them.

Another example is Topping, also didn't update the driver, and worse. I sent e-mail couple days ago asking for it, so far ZERO reply.

 

[Gradius]

Sent email to Thesycon with some ideas... let's see.

 

[mkawa]

is anyone else having trouble with stuttering and audio corruption on usb (via amazon music) on macos? i'm afraid i have a bum unit

 

[misterdog]

Try a different source/cable. Try a local file.

 

[ShiZo]

is anyone else having trouble with stuttering and audio corruption on usb (via amazon music) on macos? i'm afraid i have a bum unit

No, Tidal was messing up for a while before an update though.

 

[ShiZo]

The drivers are made by Thesycon. They released since 12/04/2020 (over a month ago):
https://www.thesycon.de/usbaudio/TUSBAudio_history.txt

The manufacturers are begin too lazy in not release (or update) them. All they need to do is rebranding them.

Another example is Topping, also didn't update the driver, and worse. I sent e-mail couple days ago asking for it, so far ZERO reply.

can that be used with the m400?

 

[Gradius]

can that be used with the m400?

Thesycon is the common driver provider for products that have XMOS chips.

The manufacture then just rebrand it.

"The concept of our driver is that ASIO always is preferred over Windows sound devices. That means if an application plays sound through Windows sound devices and ASIO is started with a different sample rate than this application is interrupted because ASIO can change the sample rate. If ASIO is started with the same sample rate than the audio data of the application and ASIO is mixed.

WASAPI exclusive mode is a mechanism of Windows. In shared mode multiple applications can play at the same time and Windows mixes this signals. In exclusive, only one application uses the sound device and takes control over the sample rate. No other application can use the sound device during this time. But this is independent from ASIO. ASIO is still preferred over Windows sound devices used in exclusive mode. This is because the driver can't detect if the Windows sound device is used in exclusive mode or not."

Source:
https://www.matrix-digi.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=28

More infos:
https://www.thesycon.de/eng/usb_audiodriver.shtml

 

[ShiZo]

Thesycon is the common driver provider for products that have XMOS chips.

The manufacture then just rebrand it.

"The concept of our driver is that ASIO always is preferred over Windows sound devices. That means if an application plays sound through Windows sound devices and ASIO is started with a different sample rate than this application is interrupted because ASIO can change the sample rate. If ASIO is started with the same sample rate than the audio data of the application and ASIO is mixed.

WASAPI exclusive mode is a mechanism of Windows. In shared mode multiple applications can play at the same time and Windows mixes this signals. In exclusive, only one application uses the sound device and takes control over the sample rate. No other application can use the sound device during this time. But this is independent from ASIO. ASIO is still preferred over Windows sound devices used in exclusive mode. This is because the driver can't detect if the Windows sound device is used in exclusive mode or not."

Source:
https://www.matrix-digi.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=28

More infos:
https://www.thesycon.de/eng/usb_audiodriver.shtml

Can you link the generic driver?

 

[Gradius]

Can you link the generic driver?

No can do. Isn't something for end-user. All the information is on the link.

 

[Veri]

Can you link the generic driver?

Cannot work, needs to be signed for a manufacturer which costs fair bit of licensing. There is an XMOS generic evaluation driver but it beeps every few minutes, so unusable in practice.

 

[THIBAULT]

Wait.. The new m400s have the rca fixed?

Hi,
do you have any information on the procedure to improve the RCA problem on the 1st models of the M400?
Regards

 

[THIBAULT]

View attachment 88857
About the measurement after the upgrade.

Hi Mandy,
how to upgrade my M400 bought in may, (for the RCA problem) ?
Regards

 

[thegeton]

is anyone else having trouble with stuttering and audio corruption on usb (via amazon music) on macos? i'm afraid i have a bum unit

You might try a reclocker and the shortest USB cable possible.

 

[SMSL-Mandy]

Hi Mandy,
how to upgrade my M400 bought in may, (for the RCA problem) ?
Regards

send it back for a change. Could you give me your order number?

 

[raif71]

send it back for a change. Could you give me your order number?

Is there a SN range for the units that are affected by the 'RCA problem' ?

 

[THIBAULT]

Bonjour,
j'ai un des premiers M400. Quelle est la procédure pour améliorer le problème sur les RCA.
Cordialement
Bonjour,
J'ai l'un des premiers M400. Quelle est la procédure pour améliorer le problème sur RCA.
Sincères amitiés

send it back for a change. Could you give me your order number?

Hi, my order number is 1483. Regards.

 

[SwissBear]

Hi @SMSL-Mandy,

I’m on contemplating the purchase of SMSL M400.

Could you please help me understand how this DAC is handling the clock signals of its I2S input. Is it reclocking them according to its own internal clock (internal clock is master) or is it just processing them as they are (I2S clock is master) ?

Thanks,

Pierre

 

[Veri]

I’m on contemplating the purchase of SMSL M400.

Could you please help me understand how this DAC is handling the clock signals of its I2S input. Is it reclocking them according to its own internal clock (internal clock is master) or is it just processing them as they are (I2S clock is master) ?

I believe pretty much every single DAC with I2S input, feeds it straight to the DAC. Other inputs are first converted to I2S and go to receiver/reclocking/...

 

[SwissBear]

I believe pretty much every single DAC with I2S input, feeds it straight to the DAC. Other inputs are first converted to I2S and go to receiver/reclocking/...

Hi @Veri, thanks for your response.
Looking at the drawings of some implementations, I also tend to understand that the I2S is not going through either of the circuits in charge of clocking (USB or SPDIF). So I would infer from that that there is no reclocking of the I2S flow. But a confirmation of @SMSL-Mandy would be appreciated

 

[MeMe]

Would the I2S input work with HDMI audio source?