SMSL M400 & M200 new dacs!

[mk05]

Same question for me. Have never had a proper DAC with MQA decoding. Curious to see whether there's a benefit but the price difference between the D90 MQA/M400 and the M200 is just too much... There are others but I like those two's form factor to stack with my SP200.

Right now, I'm considering using one of those LG v-series phones as all-in-one MQA solution that I can wirelessly stream to DAC>Amp>Speakers. Used V30s can be found for cheap.

So for me, I need to understand if the LG V phones have decent performance to be an actual MQA DAC ie signal/internal noise/etc, if wireless bluetooth connectivity to DAC (substituted as preamp) is a viable solution in terms of bitrate or data transfer rate, and if what I just wrote even works at all. Ha!

 

[Daemon85]

i feel obligated to say that the noise issue is on my side, i havent located where the problem is, but there was no noice when using my partners laptop.
thx for the help from people responding to me

 

[ModDIY]

Hello Daemon85,

What power do you use with the DAC ?? Just by the USB cable?

 

[Daemon85]

Hello Daemon85,

What power do you use with the DAC ?? Just by the USB cable?

I use both the USB and the regular power cable.
I tried only USB now and that doesn't work

I've updated the drivers too and that doesn't change anything

the usb static is probably ground loop and i will try to solve it, xlr might fix it, but thats another $100 dollars for the cables i want and not completely sure thats its the solution..

edit, looking at ferrite choke for the usb cable, will buy tomorrow and see how it works

 

[Forsaked]

I use both the USB and the regular power cable.
I tried only USB now and that doesn't work

I've updated the drivers too and that doesn't change anything

the usb static is probably ground loop and i will try to solve it, xlr might fix it, but thats another $100 dollars for the cables i want and not completely sure thats its the solution

Or just order 3-5$ XLR cables, try if they fix the issue and if thats the solution, order the cables you want?

 

[sq225917]

Ok. I have mrdogs m400 in situ at my house, currently listening to Abbey Road. Plugged into a 2011 17 macbook pro playing alac via itunes and connected via a real usb 2.0 certified Hama cable with foil and braid shield.

It is by a decent margin the best sounding dac I've had in a good few years. Better than Brooklyn and mdac by a chunk of change. It's probably as good as my firewire Weiss 202 was.

The bass was a little soft to start with but has fleshed out with 24 hours on the clock.

The remote is cheap, the volume pot doesnt reek of finely engineered class and beautifully damped precision, but so what?

It gives a remarkably open window into the recording, effects placement, steteo separation and timbre are all utterly first class. It's completely lacking in grain and digital glare.

I look forward to Amirs review and measurements.

 

[SMSL-Mandy]

Ok. I have mrdogs m400 in situ at my house, currently listening to Abbey Road. Plugged into a 2011 17 macbook pro playing alac via itunes and connected via a real usb 2.0 certified Hama cable with foil and braid shield.

It is by a decent margin the best sounding dac I've had in a good few years. Better than Brooklyn and mdac by a chunk of change. It's probably as good as my firewire Weiss 202 was.

The bass was a little soft to start with but has fleshed out with 24 hours on the clock.

The remote is cheap, the volume pot doesnt reek of finely engineered class and beautifully damped precision, but so what?

It gives a remarkably open window into the recording, effects placement, steteo separation and timbre are all utterly first class. It's completely lacking in grain and digital glare.

I look forward to Amirs review and measurements.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...surements-of-smsl-m400-dac.13662/#post-413937
Wolf l7 has a measurement here.

 

[THIBAULT]

Hello, I just received my SMSL M400 dac. I listen to Tidal on Audirvana, from my PC connected by USB. When reading MQA files, it appears on the screen "A mini dump has been generated. Do you want to display it in Explorer". If I click yes or no, Audirvana closes. This only applies to MQA files. With my Audioquest Dragonfly dac in the same configuration I did not have this problem. Thank you for your feedback. Regards

 

[Fimbul]

Hello, I just received my SMSL M400 dac. I listen to Tidal on Audirvana, from my PC connected by USB. When reading MQA files, it appears on the screen "A mini dump has been generated. Do you want to display it in Explorer". If I click yes or no, Audirvana closes. This only applies to MQA files. With my Audioquest Dragonfly dac in the same configuration I did not have this problem. Thank you for your feedback. Regards

I take it this happens under Windows? A minidump is a kind of very detailed and technical error report in Windows, that's usually saved under C:\Windows\minidump\. You might want to send that to the Audirvana support. You will not be able to read or understand the report yourself, if you are not an IT specialist.

 

[THIBAULT]

Hi, thank for your answer. But it's not saved under C:\Windows\minidump\

 

[Fimbul]

Hi, thank for your answer. But it's not saved under C:\Windows\minidump\

Then it seems to be a proprietary report and might be saved somewhere in the Audirvana directory. However it may be, I'd get in contact with Audirvana. This sounds like a software problem or something that Audirvana needs to figure out with SMSL.

 

[THIBAULT]

Then it seems to be a proprietary report and might be saved somewhere in the Audirvana directory. However it may be, I'd get in contact with Audirvana. This sounds like a software problem or something that Audirvana needs to figure out with SMSL.

Thank you for your advice, I will contact Audirvana for this problem. Otherwise I am very satisfied with the M400, the audio quality is superb. Regards

 

[THIBAULT]

Thank you for your advice, I will contact Audirvana for this problem. Otherwise I am very satisfied with the M400, the audio quality is superb. Regards

The problem is solved. Audirvana automatically detects if the dac is a mqa decoder. In fact it was necessary to remove the automatic search and to choose mqa decoder manually ..... it's an oddity ... Regards

 

[ModDIY]

Hello everyone, I received my DAC M200.

From the unpacking I liked how it was well done. Then I was surprised to find a SMPS of 5vdc 4.5 A.

So I plugged it into the USB and LibreElec input (Raspberry PI 4) and the application recognized there. It plays well but I did not listen seriously (plugged via a buffer into amplifiers (2) and speakers)

The only problem is that the remote control does not work. I inserted new batteries that I have measured, but don't work. I have to check on the dac .... anyone have an idea?

 

[1000ROUNDZ]

Hello everyone, I received my DAC M200.

From the unpacking I liked how it was well done. Then I was surprised to find a SMPS of 5vdc 4.5 A.

So I plugged it into the USB and LibreElec input (Raspberry PI 4) and the application recognized there. It plays well but I did not listen seriously (plugged via a buffer into amplifiers (2) and speakers)

The only problem is that the remote control does not work. I inserted new batteries that I have measured, but don't work. I have to check on the dac .... anyone have an idea?

Have you pressed C on the remote first?

 

[ModDIY]

Now it working....I haven't read the manual yet, I will.

No pop or click when I open or off the DAC ... Wow and my 2 amps are the maximum, I didn't stuck ear on speaker, but already I love

 

[ModDIY]

Some pictures of unpacking..

 

[Abodh]

Got it few days ago!
I already had SU-8v2+THX-789 for the reading/meditation room and needed one more DAC+AMP for my office; now that i spend most of the time in home office.

THX made it easy for the amp part but I have been going back and forth on believing "All DACs sound same".
I was about to pull the trigger on DX7Pro to end this madness of reading reviews.
But then after reading so many reviews over three weeks; I bought M200 and M500 (Since reviews and measurements telling me they are up there among some top DACs) to compare them myself.

I have been listening to Amazon HD+Tidal on following setups back and forth all day.
SU-8v2 > THX > LCD-4 / LCD-2C
M200 > THX > LCD-4 / LCD-2C
M500 > THX > LCD-4 / LCD-2C
Oppo-HA2-SE > THX > LCD-4 / LCD-2C

So far I have come to these weird conclusions:
1. With THX and LCD-4s its irritating to listen to anything that is not Hi-Res. I can hear YouTube compression artifacts, patches and cracks.
2. All the DACs sound surprisingly same with Oppo sounding weakest in terms of punch but still thick and wide during A/B testing.
3. I noticed DACs need some burn-in !!!! Both M200 and M500 sounded distorted/cheap during first few hours even to Oppo. I was able to feel the edginess when listening to the whole album. It wasn't noticeable during A/B testing.

M500 is a keeper for sure. M500 has 7V on XLR out, and that's some serious power! I could run LCD-4s (200ohm) on 789 low gain and still have plenty of headroom.

But I am hoping to like M200 and save some $$$.
But Amazon HD dosen't want to cooperate with it. Roon has no problem taking exclusive control. May be Amazon app is getting confused between three SMSL devices.
Also I am not sure about the three sound color filters on it, they don't make any audible difference like SU-8.
Su-8 filters can really fix the balance of your setup if it is too clinical or too warm or lacking dynamics, which is unique and perfect.

 

[misterdog]

I noticed DACs need some burn-in

Indeed, I was wondering whether there is any measurable difference after a week of burn in, are tests done fresh out of the box.

Given how the sound of DAC's change after burn in, then from a purely objective point of view it should measure differently.

 

[BDWoody]

Given how the sound of DAC's change after burn in, then from a purely objective point of view it should measure differently.

It's more that people claim to hear differences...

I'll bet there isn't one on the analyzer. What would be 'breaking in?'