SMSL M500 DAC and HP Amp Review

[gvl]

And here is the M500 XLR output performance at full volume:

View attachment 37228

Hmm, does the higher output elevate noise floor?

Edit: I suppose this is really a question about the dynamic range being better than the seemingly noise dominated sinad number. The DX7 Pro seems to be more consistent between the dashboard and the DR.

 

[SEKLEM]

What was max voltage from unbalanced before onset distortion?

 

[w1000i]

What was max voltage from unbalanced before onset distortion?

I think it should be half the balance !

 

[amirm]

What was max voltage from unbalanced before onset distortion?

Unbalanced only goes up a notch to 2.5 volt I think. It does not clip there.

 

[amirm]

I think it should be half the balance !

It is less though.

 

[w1000i]

Unbalanced only goes up a notch to 2.5 volt I think. It does not clip there.

Using adapter to use XLR to RCA will keep the Voltage, right ?

 

[amirm]

Using adapter to use XLR to RCA will keep the Voltage, right ?

It would buy why bother?

 

[restorer-john]

By chance, I found some test tones in Tidal that are MQA encoded! They use a frequency of 375 Hz for some reason.

Do they have any others tracks with higher frequencies? That's an interesting find and I'd like to see more investigation if you find any more.

 

[amirm]

Do they have any others tracks with higher frequencies? That's an interesting find and I'd like to see more investigation if you find any more.

I searched again but couldn't find anything else.

 

[SoyBean0809]

Thanks very much for the detailed review!
It is surprising to see that the XLR output has such high level, no wonder it clips badly when connected to my Gustard H10 with +12dB gain at full volume. Now I just stick to the default gain on the H10 and there is still crazy amount of power to drive my HD650 (the knob on the H10 at 9pm is loud enough for me).
By the way, could you check at what volume setting will the M500 reach 4 volt output on XLR? (Suspect volume 40 has the near 7 volt output, maybe volume 24 will output 4v?)

Edit: Sorry but I looked into the diagrams and found that it was already shown, volume 34 = 4.3volt, thanks again for your precise work!

 

[ArtemisXCIX]

Seeing how the DAC on the M500 is pretty good with the amp lacking in the ear bursting department.
I could use the balanced XLR output from the M500 to a balanced amp like the THX 789 or 887, to solve that, would that be a good idea?

 

[David0530]

I have gustard x26 and smsl vmv d1....... is there any advantage of single dac? Like m500? Since d1 and x26 has 2x es9038pro but m500 have better measurement

 

[LTig]

Yep, I'm still waiting to see a reference DAC with a top performing headphone amp in one box.

What's wrong with the RME ADI-2 DAC or PRO fs?

 

[SMSL-Mandy]

Seeing how the DAC on the M500 is pretty good with the amp lacking in the ear bursting department.
I could use the balanced XLR output from the M500 to a balanced amp like the THX 789 or 887, to solve that, would that be a good idea?

Or to SP200 THX AAA 888 headphone Amp

 

[ArtemisXCIX]

Or to SP200 THX AAA 888 headphone Amp

Ah yes will definitely look into the 888 as well once it is out beside 888 is a auspicious chinese number so it might help in more than just audio.

Edit: Oh I just realized it is already out now!

 

[kaka89]

For home stereo, I think SMSL M500 plus Roon is a better deal than RME.
Same performance, around the same cost, but more features.

 

[Tks]

Or to SP200 THX AAA 888 headphone Amp

You guys nailed it this year with these two great offerings. Very very nice work guys.

I was just wondering, is there any news on what's been going on with the SMSL D2 DAC by any chance?

 

[bobbooo]

Channel balance is perfect in these products so I decided to not run that test.

Without measuring it, how do you know this? What do you mean by "these products"?

 

[samshaver]

Can you search for the right content on Tidal for such and let me know the album?

In popular music, there are some albums where there is no silence or gap between songs. ... I can't think of an example off the top of my head.

Or, everyone’s favorite, The Black Eyed Peas...
One Tribe leads into Rockin to the Beat.

Another example off the top of my head I can tell you is the transition between track 6 and track 7 (Parabol / Parabola) on Tool’s album Lateralus.

https://tidal.com/browse/album/114330485

 

[Kane1972]

Will the SMSL SU-8x (or is it 8+) have same performance as M500 sans amp and MQA?