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SMSL M500 MKIII DAC & Amp Review

Rate this DAC & HP Amp

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 6 2.1%

  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 5 1.7%

  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 53 18.5%

  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 222 77.6%
  • Total voters
    286
staticV3 said:
Don't let other people make the decisions for you with some cheesy awards.
Decide for yourself: https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/ifi-gryphon/
Click to expand...
Totally agree with your statement

- USB SIZE FORMAT/ no BT: want a better one than my current Adapt Reference [OWN this DAC]. In scope: Linsoul E1DA 9038S/ TANCHJIM SPACE/ SHANLING UA5/ ?
- POCKET SIZE FORMAT/ with BT/ built in battery: SHANLING UP5/ FiiO BTR5/ ?
 
There are three revisions of SMSL M500.
The first version has a discrete headphone amplifier inside. The next versions have a headphone amplifier based on TPA6120 - nothing special.
So, the first version should sounds better - can anyone confirm this assumption?
 

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@oneman Who says that discrete sounds better than integrated? And what data is there to back that up?
 
oneman said:
There are three revisions of SMSL M500.
The first version has a discrete headphone amplifier inside. The next versions have a headphone amplifier based on TPA6120 - nothing special.
So, the first version should sounds better - can anyone confirm this assumption?
Click to expand...
For things like headphone amps and low power car audio amps IC amps are actually usually better these days. They are mass produced and are fine tuned to the edge of technology for what they are. Just read a few headphone amp test reviews and research the amp stuff and you'll see it's true.
 
Doodski said:
For things like headphone amps and low power car audio amps IC amps are actually usually better these days
Click to expand...
Well, every headphone amplifier based on TPA6120 I tryed sounded terrible. It's not a hi-fi standard, it's a common mass product and should not be used in a specialized device like $500 headphone amplifier. It is a joke. 6120 is good in a TV set or ina a computer monitor.
 
oneman said:
Well, every headphone amplifier based on TPA6120 I tryed sounded terrible. It's not a hi-fi standard, it's a common mass product and should not be used in a specialized device like $500 headphone amplifier. It is a joke. 6120 is good in a TV set or ina a computer monitor.
Click to expand...
What amp is this? Sounds like you got a bad one perhaps. The majority of the best headphone amps are discreet hybrid IC or IC. When getting to the top/near the top of the line Topping it's discreet.
 
oneman said:
Well, every headphone amplifier based on TPA6120 I tryed sounded terrible. It's not a hi-fi standard, it's a common mass product
Click to expand...
Rupert Neve RNHP amp uses this chip, and those get glowing hi-fi, subjective reviews. Almost like if you know what to listen for it's suddenly there...
 
Veri said:
Rupert Neve RNHP amp
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know that toy. It's totally unusable - channel imbalance makes my brain crazy.
It cost a fortune and has 6120 inside - ridiculous. The same with Sennheiser amp.
It is very easy to recognize cheap opamp amplifier (6120). It always sound tacky, unnatural and a kind of compressed.
 
oneman said:
It cost a fortune and has 6120 inside - ridiculous. The same with Sennheiser amp.
Click to expand...
Ah yes the Sennheiser HDV amps use it too. I disagree about the unnaturalness though, I've used plenty of amps these past years and my current Sabaj does not show any of this 'TPA6120' sound traits you describe.. honestly.
 
Veri said:
Sabaj does not show any of this 'TPA6120' sound traits you describe.. honestly.
Click to expand...
Now I have a XianSheng and in a comparison to ArcamRhead (wchich is a very bad sounding amp) it is unlistenable. I had some topping, smsl, fiio and all of them were equipped with 6120 and sounded more or less the same - like a cheap crap (sorry).
 
Does it has protection? Nowadays it's not rare to read the lack of protection in amps and I don't want to hear that unpleasant pop sound, also not sure how my eardrums would tolerate that
 
Sorry if it's already been asked as I tried to read through the thread and might have missed it.

Does the RCA out and XLR out work at the same time? As in, Can I connect the RCA out to an active subwoofer then connect the XLR out to a power amplifier?
 
SlamTaz said:
Sorry if it's already been asked as I tried to read through the thread and might have missed it.

Does the RCA out and XLR out work at the same time? As in, Can I connect the RCA out to an active subwoofer then connect the XLR out to a power amplifier?
Click to expand...
Yes. You have the option to select either output or both at the same time
 
amirm said:
This is a review and detailed measurements of the SMSL M500 MKIII balanced DAC and stereo headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $530.
View attachment 236694
While the formfactor remains the same as previous generations, the display is upgraded to have high contrast and attractive color. Great that volume level if emphasized. The processor behind the display is also very performant with great volume control display rate and acceleration support. Navigation is simple using the included remote:
View attachment 236695

A couple of minor complaints though: the USB connector is too close tot he upside down XLR jack which made it impossible to push its pin in with the USB cable attached to right channel. Also, I like to see red for right channel on RCA connector. Otherwise, included power supply is much appreciated.

SMSL M500 MKIII Measurements
As usual we start with our dashboard using XLR out:
View attachment 236696
Most superb results! SINAD (sum of noise and distortion) is essentially tied with the best tested so far:
View attachment 236697
Distortion is exceptionally low with second harmonic at -140 dB! Just great.

Performance is nearly as good with RCA out:
View attachment 236699

Dynamic range is naturally excellent:
View attachment 236700

Intermodulation distortion+noise is superbly low:
View attachment 236701

Linearity is perfect:
View attachment 236702

Noise level with jitter is so low that the test signal's 250 Hz and multiples of 24-bit rightmost bit is clearly visible:
View attachment 236703

There is a tiny bit of low frequency random jitter that widens the "skirt" around our main tone. It is inconsequential from audibility point of view but seems like the USB clock could be a hair better in that regard. When using Toslink/Coax, that little issue goes away:
View attachment 236704

Multitone performance is superb:
View attachment 236707

Usual extensive choices of reconstruction filters are provided:
View attachment 236705

The default fast linear seems to be the best bet:
View attachment 236706

You get flat and extended response beyond 20 kHz.

This brings us to THD+N vs frequency which with default filter produced superb results:
View attachment 236708

SMSL M500 MKIII Headphone Output Measurements
Let's start with how much power we have into 300 ohm:
View attachment 236709

I like to see 100 milliwatts minimum and the MKIII clears that hurdle easily. It does that while looking really good with very low noise and distortion. Jumping to the other end of the spectrum with 32 ohm we see:
View attachment 236710

This is plenty good for the class with 1 watt per channel. No, it is not as powerful as dedicated amps in both measurements but should be good enough for vast majority of headphones out there.

Sweeping the load from 12 to 600 ohm shows stability and range of voltages you can use to compute the power:
View attachment 236711

There are only two gain levels: low and high. Without an ultra low (negative) gain, SNR at 50 millivolts is very good but not class leading:


View attachment 236712

View attachment 236713

SMSL M500 MKIII Listening Tests
I started testing with Dan Clark Expanse headphone which is difficult to drive with low impedance. Fidelity was to die for with superb detail and good enough of power. Mind you, this was in high gain and max volume. Switching to Sennheiser HD650 naturally provided much higher output with comfortable (loud) listening level of -7 dB. At 0 dB volume, you could get that sensation of subwoofer in your head with sold bass rattling my head for the one second I had it at that volume. Sound quality was once again exceptional (within the bounds of the HD650 response).

Conclusions
The Mark III revision of M500 improves on both looks and performance of this balanced DAC. In that subsystem, everything you could ask for is provided as far as performance. The headphone amplifier matches that overall but is a step down from total power point of view compared to what you can get. For most applications involving headphone use though, you should still be all set.

It is my pleasure to recommend SMSL M500 MKIII.

----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Click to expand...
hanks for a thorough review!

My desktop setup is primarily my work/gaming laptop USB to Ifi Zen DAC V2 which feeds both my Hifiman Ananda, and an SMSL A300 that power my QAcoustics 3030i.
My secondary streaming setup is a Wiim Pro, Toslink to ifi XDSD that feeds the same SMSL A300 Amplifier.
(I just stream with Wiim Pro, in case my laptop is doing some heavy lifting)

Will M500 MK2 be a major upgrade replacing both IFIs?
And will it be worth spending ~$100 more for the MKiii?

My use case is ~70% DAC (feeding my speaker setup), 30% Headphone Amp for Ananda
 
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