SMSL PL150 Review (CD Player)

[drmevo]

Damn, that sucks. I’ve had my eye on one of these, but it sounds like SMSL ran out of Philips drives and the latest batch is no good. I just want a gapless CD player that doesn’t suck for ~$150 or less!

 

[Daniele CL]

Ho preso il primo. Ho inserito le variazioni Goldberg di Simone Dinnerstein. Sono arrivato alla traccia 2... mi è mancato l'attacco dell'accordo di apertura. Cosa? Ho riprovato... In effetti manca l'inizio... Ho provato altri CD. Canzoni con un attacco brusco all'inizio... mancanti. Rimandalo alla ditta che l'ha ordinato. Brani gentili, niente da ridire. Ho preso il secondo esemplare... Stessa roba. Quindi una domanda: qualcun altro che ha questo apparecchio se n'è accorto?

Nel mio ho notato che l'attacco si perde se si riavvia la canzone con "RRW", se si torna agli ultimi 10 secondi della canzone precedente, c'è un buco ma non mi è sembrato che l'attacco si sia perso

 

[Daniele CL]

Aggiornamento: anche "Animals" dei Pink Floyd blocca il PL150, e la soluzione per rimuoverlo è stata smontarlo. Ho anche provato a inserire un CD al contrario – chi non l'ha fatto per errore? – e il PL150 si blocca ancora con il messaggio "READ".

 

[bellaireinsure]

I ordered mine in black directly from SMSL, and it took three or four weeks to get it. Once it arrived, I powered it with the same iFi iPowerX AC power supply I use on the SMSL PH-1. Ran the optical out to my Geshelli Dayzee DAC, and wow, it is simply awesome as a transport. It sounds great. Have really been enjoying my old CD collection.

 

[Daniele CL]

Ho ordinato il mio in nero direttamente da SMSL e ci sono volute tre o quattro settimane per riceverlo. Una volta arrivato, l'ho alimentato con lo stesso alimentatore iFi iPowerX AC che uso con l'SMSL PH-1. Ho collegato l'uscita ottica al mio DAC Geshelli Dayzee e, wow, è semplicemente fantastico come meccanica di lettura. Suona alla grande. Mi sto davvero godendo la mia vecchia collezione di CD.

Prova ad inserire un CD a rovescio, se non si blocca probabilmente hai un player originale, meccanica Philips, micro ST, e sei fortunato. Se si blocca e non riesci a sbloccarlo torna qui che poi ti dico come fare (l'ho scoperto ieri)

 

[aagstn]

Just ordered one and cancelled the order after checking this thread. Can't believe they changed it and it no longer supports gapless. I noticed that it now says it supports HDCDs which is weird. I don't see how it could have support for that. Those decoder chips haven't been made since the early 2000s unless it is using software decoding.

 

[Nicholas B]

Mine seems to work fine, except for three things:

1. After successfully playing many discs, there seems to be one it can't read that other players have no problems with;
2. On random occasions, it will repeat a disc. That is, instead of stopping at the end of the disc, it starts playing it again.
3. Very occasionally, it will freeze at the end of a disc. Hitting eject on the remote successfully results in the ejection of the disc.

Seem annoying, but these are things I can live with given the other, more positive aspects of the player.

 

[Daniele CL]

Esatto, il pulsante EJECT sul telecomando funziona, il pulsante EJECT sul pannello non funziona, ma il volume sì!!
I dischi che lo bloccano sono
Stven Wilson "LA MANO NON PUÒ CANCELLARE" codice 802644831527
Pink Floyd "Animals" codice 5099902895123
Vasco Rossi "Canzoni al massimo" codice 0828767103327. Funzionano solo CD2, CD1 e CD3.
Si blocca anche con un detergente per lenti CD e inserendo il CD al contrario.

 

[Daniele CL]

Comment on HiFi. I kept the PL150, thinking, me too, that these are <...things I can live with, given the player's other more positive aspects...>
But HiFi means high fidelity and must be faithful not only in terms of noise, dynamic distortion, etc., but also and above all in terms of playback times. After a month of use, I can say that inserting a space between tracks when the author didn't include one (NOT GAPLESS) is an insult to the word HiFi. These players (or streamers) may be certified HiRes, but, in my opinion, they are not HiFi.

 

[Nicholas B]

Agreed. The insertion of gaps when there aren't any is wearing me down. Perhaps I'll put back my Marantz CD5005 and hope that a firmware update will eventually come out to address the issues with the PL150. I'm using the players as transports only.

 

[Daniele CL]

@Nicholas B I hope so too, but I fear it's problematic. There's no external USB port, and I believe the internal USB port is available for software updates. You have to open the drive, and I don't think SMSL allows end users to do this.

 

[Nicholas B]

@Nicholas B I hope so too, but I fear it's problematic. There's no external USB port, and I believe the internal USB port is available for software updates. You have to open the drive, and I don't think SMSL allows end users to do this.

I can't imagine users simply removing the lid in order to update would create a problem for SMSL. I guess we'll have to wait and see. In any case, I'm back to using my CD5005 with no gaps and no random errors . I'll just miss the front slot-feed and the more compact size.

 

[jmwatte]

Just to let you know ... after the second faulty player, the firm that imports it send me this reply.

Thank you very much for your detailed feedback and for taking the time to test the player.

We have been in contact with the manufacturer regarding the issue you described. Their response indicates that this behavior is product-specific rather than a defect - meaning that it is inherent to the design of the player, and unfortunately, there is no way to correct or adjust it.

We completely understand that this is disappointing, especially given your expectations and careful listening tests. If you are not satisfied with the device, we will provide you with return instructions and arrange a full refund once the unit has been received back.

Pity.

 

[anibal66]

Just to let you know ... after the second faulty player, the firm that imports it send me this reply.

Thank you very much for your detailed feedback and for taking the time to test the player.

We have been in contact with the manufacturer regarding the issue you described. Their response indicates that this behavior is product-specific rather than a defect - meaning that it is inherent to the design of the player, and unfortunately, there is no way to correct or adjust it.

We completely understand that this is disappointing, especially given your expectations and careful listening tests. If you are not satisfied with the device, we will provide you with return instructions and arrange a full refund once the unit has been received back.

Pity.

Fortunately, the vote is still open.
For me, no gapless mean from "excellent" to "terrible".
Thanks to those that have raised up the issue: it was on my buying list. Now I wouldn't accept it for free.
(listening to Philip Glass, gapless, through my clunky old Denon cd-dvd transport).

 

[ChenHui]

I’ve never seen SMSL advertise seamless track transitions—your criticism feels unfair. Buyers should know a product’s capabilities beforehand. If a feature isn’t essential to you, choose another product. It’s like buying a BMW and expecting Ferrari performance—that’s just market reality.

Regarding inter-track silence: Does a second of silence between tracks really matter? Most listeners won’t notice unless they repeatedly play the same album for months before switching players. Even programmed playlists can have inconsistent gaps—should that be called a flaw too? Focus on the music, not minor technicalities.

 

[Roland_606]

I’ve never seen SMSL advertise seamless track transitions—your criticism feels unfair. Buyers should know a product’s capabilities beforehand. If a feature isn’t essential to you, choose another product. It’s like buying a BMW and expecting Ferrari performance—that’s just market reality.

Regarding inter-track silence: Does a second of silence between tracks really matter? Most listeners won’t notice unless they repeatedly play the same album for months before switching players. Even programmed playlists can have inconsistent gaps—should that be called a flaw too? Focus on the music, not minor technicalities.

SMSL does not state whether these players have gapless playback or not on their product pages. Not even for their products that do have the functionality. I have just assumed it doesn’t if it is not stated. So then it is down to the goodwill of individuals reporting on forums like this, the actual functionality of the PL150, PL200 etc.

As far as your question of whether a second of silence matters between tracks. Yes it does when you own continuous mix cd’s. E.g. Global Underground etc., and you actually want to hear the transition between tracks. My 28 year Cambridge Audio player has gapless playback so I will stick with that.

 

[Daniele CL]

I’ve never seen SMSL advertise seamless track transitions—your criticism feels unfair. Buyers should know a product’s capabilities beforehand. If a feature isn’t essential to you, choose another product. It’s like buying a BMW and expecting Ferrari performance—that’s just market reality.

Regarding inter-track silence: Does a second of silence between tracks really matter? Most listeners won’t notice unless they repeatedly play the same album for months before switching players. Even programmed playlists can have inconsistent gaps—should that be called a flaw too? Focus on the music, not minor technicalities.

Anyone who doesn't just listen to boom-boom music knows how important gapless playback is. Much classical and operatic music requires gapless playback. In my opinion, a CD player should read a CD, a Compact Disk, and not just an optical disc. A CD player should be gapless by default, as it always has been. I had the first Philips 202, then the current Arcam Alpha7. Until my current interest in upgrading the Arcam, I had never dreamed of a player that wasn't gapless: the track is a single track, like a LP, the TOC only indicates markers.
Beer is made from barley, and Weiss is made from wheat and hops. If you add rosemary, you'll have to tell me in a big way.

 

[Daniele CL]

I’ve never seen SMSL advertise seamless track transitions—your criticism feels unfair. Buyers should know a product’s capabilities beforehand. If a feature isn’t essential to you, choose another product. It’s like buying a BMW and expecting Ferrari performance—that’s just market reality.

Regarding inter-track silence: Does a second of silence between tracks really matter? Most listeners won’t notice unless they repeatedly play the same album for months before switching players. Even programmed playlists can have inconsistent gaps—should that be called a flaw too? Focus on the music, not minor technicalities.

<..your criticism feels unfair..> The manual states that the volume affects the headphones. In the CS43198, the volume is at the digital level before conversion (they state that since the D/A is 32-bit, it is undecimating). The volume affects the analog RCA output. In the manual for my PL150, as shown in the photo, the transport is an original Philips one and reads 8cm and 12cm CDs. My PL150 does not support 8cm CDs and the transport (as previously photographed) is not Philips!

 

[anibal66]

I’ve never seen SMSL advertise seamless track transitions—your criticism feels unfair. Buyers should know a product’s capabilities beforehand. If a feature isn’t essential to you, choose another product. It’s like buying a BMW and expecting Ferrari performance—that’s just market reality.

Regarding inter-track silence: Does a second of silence between tracks really matter? Most listeners won’t notice unless they repeatedly play the same album for months before switching players. Even programmed playlists can have inconsistent gaps—should that be called a flaw too? Focus on the music, not minor technicalities.

With all due respect, if SMSL sells or advertises this model as a "CD player", I understand that it must render faithfully all the CDs compliant with the CD Red Book standard (IEC 60908). It doesn't.

Does it matter? A lot. More information in posts above.

 

[Daniele CL]

@anibal66 I agree, this applies to all CD player manufacturers