SMSL M400 & M200 new dacs!

[Veri]

That’s what I was dreading. On Audiophonics store the sp400 price is 600 euros....!!! Maybe the -14% reduction in preorder will be # import tax

Yep, most likely. Benefit from audiophonics = easy return in case of technical or other problem. Benefit from the other stores = cheaper price. Tough choice!

 

[THIBAULT]

Yes tough choice but it's on sale now after so much waiting ..... ,-) I'm gonna think about it. Regards

 

[xup]

Hmm. I just ordered an A90 for my Diana Phi. I suspect that should be a good combo because it has a lot of power and current.
People have been saying the Drop THX 789 isn't as good with the Phi, but then again, it's not as powerful and, well, people say a lot of things.
Now, question is, do I try and change my order to this one? It seems to have even more power than the A90.
Decisions, decisions...

 

[xup]

Input impedance: 47kohm. It's a lesson for Topping A90 and pre-amp.

Isn't the Topping lower (which is better)?
Sorry if I missed something.

 

[xup]

Actually, seems power is pretty close between them at 32Ω. 6.4W (A90) vs 6W (SP400). At 16Ω it's a different story though.

 

[bgtip]

Is the SMSL SP400 true balanced amp, or is it like SH-9?

 

[SMSL-Mandy]

Now is the early bird -14% discount with DHL shipping from China on Nov,30th If order now.

If need sends from the EU warehouse, it may need to take about 10 days. About Dec,10th in stock on our EU warehouse.
Thanks

 

[SMSL-Mandy]

Is the SMSL SP400 true balanced amp, or is it like SH-9?

Sp400 is a true balanced amp.

 

[THIBAULT]

Hi,
is it possible to use a SMSL remote for 2 devices ? Can we use the button A,B and C for a dac and an amp ( Sh9 and Su9 or m400 and sp400) ? Thanks. Regards.

 

[Aardappel]

Hi everyone,

I have a quick question on the SMSL M200, hoping someone can answer this. Having looked into the SMSL SU-8 a lot of people have been reporting a peculiar phenomenon. When plugged in to a variable source, such as Netflix where the streaming quality sometimes jumps around whilst watching a movie depending on internet speeds, apparently the SU-8 can pause all sound for a few seconds as the bitrate etc. of the source changes. This would be very annoying and an absolute no-go for my partner, especially for the amount of money we are putting into a sound system. Can anyone confirm that this issue has been resolved with the M200?

Cheers

 

[Veri]

Can anyone confirm that this issue has been resolved with the M200?

Cheers

Hard to say. The SU-8 uses an Altera FPGA programmed to do reclocking, it is non-configurable so you can't configure how strict it needs to get locked to input signal. I can't find any internal pictures of M200, can't compare easily. You could try and ask their customer support.
Some other devices that would have no problem:
-Topping E30 or Liquid Spark DAC. Both use a standard input receiver that should play nicely.
-SMSL SU-9, its DPLL (digital phase lock loop) to the signal can be configured, the default is already quite low and should work well.

 

[Aardappel]

Hard to say. The SU-8 uses an Altera FPGA programmed to do reclocking, it is non-configurable so you can't configure how strict it needs to get locked to input signal. I can't find any internal pictures of M200, can't compare easily. You could try and ask their customer support.
Some other devices that would have no problem:
-Topping E30 or Liquid Spark DAC. Both use a standard input receiver that should play nicely.
-SMSL SU-9, its DPLL (digital phase lock loop) to the signal can be configured, the default is already quite low and should work well.

Really appreciate your response! It is incredible how much research one has to do in selecting individual components (DAC, power amp, volume control etc) to make sure you end with a system that can be used well. I want to get a Purifi EVAL1 based power amp, and trying to find an affordable balanced DAC with volume control and a remote is turning out to be quite a challenge, especially as I also need to add a passive volume control (like this JBL Nano Patch+) between the DAC and amp to make sure the speakers don't blow up in case the DAC defaults to 100% volume after a power failure for example... I might just go unbalanced DAC and use a modified RCA to balanced XLR cable (like the one from March Audio) just because that opens up a whole lot more DACs to choose from, do you see any issues with that approach?

 

[Veri]

Really appreciate your response! It is incredible how much research one has to do in selecting individual components (DAC, power amp, volume control etc) to make sure you end with a system that can be used well. I want to get a Purifi EVAL1 based power amp, and trying to find an affordable balanced DAC with volume control and a remote is turning out to be quite a challenge, especially as I also need to add a passive volume control (like this JBL Nano Patch+) between the DAC and amp to make sure the speakers don't blow up in case the DAC defaults to 100% volume after a power failure for example... I might just go unbalanced DAC and use a modified RCA to balanced XLR cable (like the one from March Audio) just because that opens up a whole lot more DACs to choose from, do you see any issues with that approach?

Cable like the one from March audio should work fine:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...d-amps-with-home-cinema-avr.15088/post-475223

 

[Aardappel]

Cable like the one from March audio should work fine:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...d-amps-with-home-cinema-avr.15088/post-475223

Just one thing that I don't understand at the moment. An RCA unbalanced DAC such as the E30 you mentioned has an output Voltage of 2V RMS at max volume. The Purifi EVAL1 power amp has max volume at an input Voltage of 1.5V. It would therefore be better to add a passive inline attenuator such as the Schiit Sys passive preamp which measures well to make sure that the E30 can run at a higher volume (with lower distortion, right?) and to make sure that if for some reason the volume was maxed out on the DAC my speakers won't explode (safety). With this setup though [E30 DAC - RCA to Schiit Sys - March Audio 'balanced' RCA/XLR to Purifi EVAL1 amp] there would be an unbalanced RCA connection from the DAC to the Schiit, followed by the 'balanced' RCA/XLR connection to the amp. Does the unbalanced RCA connection between the DAC and the Schiit negate the 'balanced' RCA/XLR connection?

Would it be better to spend more to go full balanced? Even in this case it would be silly as a typical balanced DAC has 4V RMS out so I would need to 'kill' so much of the gain just to be able to safely connect it to the Purifi amp.

 

[Veri]

Just one thing that I don't understand at the moment. An RCA unbalanced DAC such as the E30 you mentioned has an output Voltage of 2V RMS at max volume. The Purifi EVAL1 power amp has max volume at an input Voltage of 1.5V. It would therefore be better to add a passive inline attenuator such as the Schiit Sys passive preamp which measures well to make sure that the E30 can run at a higher volume (with lower distortion, right?) and to make sure that if for some reason the volume was maxed out on the DAC my speakers won't explode (safety). With this setup though [E30 DAC - RCA to Schiit Sys - March Audio 'balanced' RCA/XLR to Purifi EVAL1 amp] there would be an unbalanced RCA connection from the DAC to the Schiit, followed by the 'balanced' RCA/XLR connection to the amp. Does the unbalanced RCA connection between the DAC and the Schiit negate the 'balanced' RCA/XLR connection?

I'm pretty sure that in reasonable use of your Purifi amp, you will not run into constraints. If in doubt you can e-mail the manufacturer of the amp or ask the question in one of the Purifi threads.

 

[Aardappel]

Hard to say. The SU-8 uses an Altera FPGA programmed to do reclocking, it is non-configurable so you can't configure how strict it needs to get locked to input signal. I can't find any internal pictures of M200, can't compare easily. You could try and ask their customer support.
Some other devices that would have no problem:
-Topping E30 or Liquid Spark DAC. Both use a standard input receiver that should play nicely.
-SMSL SU-9, its DPLL (digital phase lock loop) to the signal can be configured, the default is already quite low and should work well.

Hi @Veri do you know if the new SU-9 has the same re-clocking 'issue' as the SU-8? The SU-9's measurements are fantastic and the output impedance and Voltage would work well with an unbuffered Purifi power amp, hopefully it doesn't have that deal-breaking re-clocking issue!

 

[Veri]

Hi @Veri do you know if the new SU-9 has the same re-clocking 'issue' as the SU-8? The SU-9's measurements are fantastic and the output impedance and Voltage would work well with an unbuffered Purifi power amp, hopefully it doesn't have that deal-breaking re-clocking issue!

The SU-9's lock to input is fully user configurable so you can ease or stricten it. No issue for sure

 

[A Surfer]

Hi @Veri do you know if the new SU-9 has the same re-clocking 'issue' as the SU-8? The SU-9's measurements are fantastic and the output impedance and Voltage would work well with an unbuffered Purifi power amp, hopefully it doesn't have that deal-breaking re-clocking issue!

Does the re-clocking lead to audible issues? I haven't heard of any SU-8 owners reporting issues from re-clocking. I owned it for about 8 months and didn't hear anything off. How does the SU-8 re-clocking cause audible issues and what does it sound like? Or does it cause some other kind of issue?

 

[Veri]

Does the re-clocking lead to audible issues? I haven't heard of any SU-8 owners reporting issues from re-clocking. I owned it for about 8 months and didn't hear anything off. How does the SU-8 re-clocking cause audible issues and what does it sound like? Or does it cause some other kind of issue?

Oh no, the issue is is that the Altera FPGA re-clocks the incoming signal into a super clean dejittered output, but the locking is often troublesome on jittery sources like (smart) TVs, chromecast etc. Since you can't play around with the lock/DPLL strength, if it doesn't work well there's nothing you can do, as opposed to SU-9 where it is configurable. There was never an audible issue, rest assured.

 

[Maxon]

Hello everyone, I use an online translator. I registered recently, but I've been reading the forum for a long time. Recently purchased the SMSL M200 DAC. That sounds good to me. Before that, I had an external e-MU0404 USB sound card with very high inclusions. I continue to use it as a measurement tool. This is all I led to the fact that the frequency response on the RCA M200 connectors of course measured. A little later, I'll post my modest frequency response and 6 AK 4497 filters. I started these negative measurements after reading reviews about my older brother (M400), about its frequency response where there is a decrease of 20 kHz below 5 dB. This made me pull my counter out of the pantry again. M200 owners are asked to exhale, in our DAC with the best frequency response!, But not as much as we would like. What's up? Yes -0.5 dB at 20kHz is not a problem, but there is an opinion that 0.5 dB for the 21st century is somehow offensive, unless of course the manufacturer has compromised on some problem that we do not know about... for example, strong harmonics after 20kHz...