SMSL PL200 Review (CD Player)

[andy3d]

PL200 has Bluetooth. Can You tell me, if I can also use PL200 bluetooth input to stream music from a smartphone so that music will go to it's Toslink output ? Or it is not possible and sound can only go out via line otputs (ballanced/headphone/RCA) ? Manual is not mentioning digital outputs at all.

 

[Roland68]

SMSL has released firmware version 1.2 for the PL200.

SMSL PL200
v1.2
1. Fixed some known bugs
2. Fixed an issue where some CD-TEXT tracks could not be played.
Please do not confuse this with the firmware update for the PL200T, as it could render your device unusable.

 

[Roland68]

PL200 has Bluetooth. Can You tell me, if I can also use PL200 bluetooth input to stream music from a smartphone so that music will go to it's Toslink output ? Or it is not possible and sound can only go out via line otputs (ballanced/headphone/RCA) ? Manual is not mentioning digital outputs at all.

Yes!

 

[Psylocyber]

Hey,
Sorry for the long post.
New to the forum but love your reviews even tho' I don't understand all of it. I get some of it. I'm really thinking about purchasing one of these and I apologize for being so ignorant on the subject but what is the difference between the CD player and the 200T Transport model? The transport still has a DAC, correct? It doesn't have analogue outputs, or very few? I would much rather pay $500 rather than $650 because I'm not looking for a lot of extra features. I want a CD (or DVD) player to play Hi-Res audio files from the optical disk and from a USB stick or SD type card.

I was shocked and confused to find that many CD players under $1k (and even above) can't play FLAC or other Hi-Res files from the CD, and maybe not at all. Even if they can play them from USB, they can't play them from the CD player. The only exception I found was the Yamaha CD S-303, which you also reviewed. Even the Marantz 6007 and CD 60 can't play FLAC files from the CD, even tho' they can play them from the USB. Why is that? The decoding is not done in the DAC? Why is yamaha, one of the lowest priced players the only one that can do it? (Somewhat rhetorical). I was going to get the S-303 just because of that but I heard some mixed reviews on it's musicality. Nothing bad, but not much excitement either and I read your review and was a little concerned about the high noise floor except you said you couldn't hear it, so I probably would have pulled the trigger

After reading your PL 200 review, why would I want the Yamaha when for either $50 (200T) or $200 (PL-200) I could get "Top of the line" "Fantastic" performance?
Anyway, can the PL200 decode FLAC or other Hi-Res files from the CD? Or which files can it decode? Is the USB input a USB-A? It looks more like a B or C. I want to use It with my home 2-channel audio system.

How hard is it to make, or find recordings of these (to me) exotic formats ? (dst, dsd? MQA)?

Thank You so much for your research and if you have time to provide any answers.
Thanks Again

 

[Roland68]

Hey,
Sorry for the long post.
New to the forum but love your reviews even tho' I don't understand all of it. I get some of it. I'm really thinking about purchasing one of these and I apologize for being so ignorant on the subject but what is the difference between the CD player and the 200T Transport model? The transport still has a DAC, correct? It doesn't have analogue outputs, or very few? I would much rather pay $500 rather than $650 because I'm not looking for a lot of extra features. I want a CD (or DVD) player to play Hi-Res audio files from the optical disk and from a USB stick or SD type card.

I was shocked and confused to find that many CD players under $1k (and even above) can't play FLAC or other Hi-Res files from the CD, and maybe not at all. Even if they can play them from USB, they can't play them from the CD player. The only exception I found was the Yamaha CD S-303, which you also reviewed. Even the Marantz 6007 and CD 60 can't play FLAC files from the CD, even tho' they can play them from the USB. Why is that? The decoding is not done in the DAC? Why is yamaha, one of the lowest priced players the only one that can do it? (Somewhat rhetorical). I was going to get the S-303 just because of that but I heard some mixed reviews on it's musicality. Nothing bad, but not much excitement either and I read your review and was a little concerned about the high noise floor except you said you couldn't hear it, so I probably would have pulled the trigger

After reading your PL 200 review, why would I want the Yamaha when for either $50 (200T) or $200 (PL-200) I could get "Top of the line" "Fantastic" performance?
Anyway, can the PL200 decode FLAC or other Hi-Res files from the CD? Or which files can it decode? Is the USB input a USB-A? It looks more like a B or C. I want to use It with my home 2-channel audio system.

How hard is it to make, or find recordings of these (to me) exotic formats ? (dst, dsd? MQA)?

Thank You so much for your research and if you have time to provide any answers.
Thanks Again

The PL200T is a pure CD transport, without a DAC, which is true for all other CD transports as well.
The PL200 only has USB (for PCs, Macs, or streamers with a host output) and Bluetooth inputs; everything else is output. Therefore, it's not particularly useful as a DAC in a hi-fi system.
The PL200 can only play standard CDs. MQA was nonsense from the start and no longer exists.

Sony, Panasonic, and others offered multi-format players that could also play files, but perhaps a used OPPO player is an option. The Shannling ET3 (transport only, DAC required) and EC3 could be expensive alternatives that can also play files.

Another option would be a streamer that can play your files via USB stick or LAN/NAS, a CD transport like the PL150, and possibly an external DAC.

USB A, B, and C are just different connectors; these devices usually run on USB 2.0.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Hey,
Sorry for the long post.
New to the forum but love your reviews even tho' I don't understand all of it. I get some of it. I'm really thinking about purchasing one of these and I apologize for being so ignorant on the subject but what is the difference between the CD player and the 200T Transport model? The transport still has a DAC, correct? It doesn't have analogue outputs, or very few? I would much rather pay $500 rather than $650 because I'm not looking for a lot of extra features. I want a CD (or DVD) player to play Hi-Res audio files from the optical disk and from a USB stick or SD type card.

I was shocked and confused to find that many CD players under $1k (and even above) can't play FLAC or other Hi-Res files from the CD, and maybe not at all. Even if they can play them from USB, they can't play them from the CD player. The only exception I found was the Yamaha CD S-303, which you also reviewed. Even the Marantz 6007 and CD 60 can't play FLAC files from the CD, even tho' they can play them from the USB. Why is that? The decoding is not done in the DAC? Why is yamaha, one of the lowest priced players the only one that can do it? (Somewhat rhetorical). I was going to get the S-303 just because of that but I heard some mixed reviews on it's musicality. Nothing bad, but not much excitement either and I read your review and was a little concerned about the high noise floor except you said you couldn't hear it, so I probably would have pulled the trigger

After reading your PL 200 review, why would I want the Yamaha when for either $50 (200T) or $200 (PL-200) I could get "Top of the line" "Fantastic" performance?
Anyway, can the PL200 decode FLAC or other Hi-Res files from the CD? Or which files can it decode? Is the USB input a USB-A? It looks more like a B or C. I want to use It with my home 2-channel audio system.

How hard is it to make, or find recordings of these (to me) exotic formats ? (dst, dsd? MQA)?

Thank You so much for your research and if you have time to provide any answers.
Thanks Again

Somewhat tangential, but how much music do you have in FLAC format, and where is it?

 

[Psylocyber]

Somewhat tangential, but how much music do you have in FLAC format, and where is it?

Not that much now but I plan on accumulating it with a streaming service. It's stored on my computer mostly but I want to be able to put it on USB sticks or SD cards. That's the only Hi-Res format I'm familiar with. I'm trying to learn about DSD or DTS or MQA. Do you use a different format?
Thanks

 

[Psylocyber]

The PL200T is a pure CD transport, without a DAC, which is true for all other CD transports as well.
The PL200 only has USB (for PCs, Macs, or streamers with a host output) and Bluetooth inputs; everything else is output. Therefore, it's not particularly useful as a DAC in a hi-fi system.
The PL200 can only play standard CDs. MQA was nonsense from the start and no longer exists.

Sony, Panasonic, and others offered multi-format players that could also play files, but perhaps a used OPPO player is an option. The Shannling ET3 (transport only, DAC required) and EC3 could be expensive alternatives that can also play files.

Another option would be a streamer that can play your files via USB stick or LAN/NAS, a CD transport like the PL150, and possibly an external DAC.

USB A, B, and C are just different connectors; these devices usually run on USB 2.0.

Hey
Thanks for replying. You said PL200 only has USB for PC mac or streamers. So you can't plug a small drive into it? That's why I asked about A, B or C type b/'c most USB sticks are type A, but they have C's too, I believe. But that USB in the back next to the optical, that's an input, right? I only need the DAC to decode the CD and the audio files on USB. When you say only plays standard CD's do you mean redbook ? It can't play any home recorded music recorded on CD R? I want a quality CD player that can also play Hi-Res digital files. That Yamaha S-303 can play flac and other Hi-Res files from CD or USB. You said you couldn't hear the high noise floor. Did you like the sound at all?
Thanks

 

[AudioSceptic]

Not that much now but I plan on accumulating it with a streaming service. It's stored on my computer mostly but I want to be able to put it on USB sticks or SD cards. That's the only Hi-Res format I'm familiar with. I'm trying to learn about DSD or DTS or MQA. Do you use a different format?
Thanks

We have a NAS for both backups and music. The music is in ALAC (Apple's equivalent of FLAC) format, ripped from CD using XLD and managed using Apple Music (used to be iTunes). The NAS is a Synology and has a Media Server app but it's got annoying deficiencies so we use MinimServer <https://minimserver.com/downloads.html>. We can stream our music anywhere in the house using UPnP/DLNA, with the main use being Volumio running on a Raspberry Pi, feeding USB output to a Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital, in turn feeding our main system. We can also sync our music to our iPhones for use away from home.

FWIW I don't believe that Hi-Res does anything other than waste space. Done right, CD res is all we need.

 

[Roland68]

Hey
Thanks for replying. You said PL200 only has USB for PC mac or streamers. So you can't plug a small drive into it? That's why I asked about A, B or C type b/'c most USB sticks are type A, but they have C's too, I believe. But that USB in the back next to the optical, that's an input, right? I only need the DAC to decode the CD and the audio files on USB. When you say only plays standard CD's do you mean redbook ? It can't play any home recorded music recorded on CD R? I want a quality CD player that can also play Hi-Res digital files. That Yamaha S-303 can play flac and other Hi-Res files from CD or USB. You said you couldn't hear the high noise floor. Did you like the sound at all?
Thanks

USB A, B, and C are simply connector types that don't tell you anything about USB functionality or standards. The USB standard used in almost all HiFi devices is USB 2.0.

Hard drives or USB flash drives for playing music files require a so-called host function in the device. The device itself needs a suitable CPU and software to play the files, as well as a way to control it. Neither the PL200 nor the PL200T have this functionality.

Both devices can play standard audio CD-Rs, but not other formats.

 

[DavidM1]

Just a thought, but I am a big fan of standalone high functioning DACs with various inputs, remote control and perhaps balanced outputs. I think these take over the role of preamp in many modern systems.

Choice of streamer, power amp and CD transport all open up with one of these as the hub.

 

[Roland68]

Just a thought, but I am a big fan of standalone high functioning DACs with various inputs, remote control and perhaps balanced outputs. I think these take over the role of preamp in many modern systems.

Choice of streamer, power amp and CD transport all open up with one of these as the hub.

This idea isn't new, but it hasn't yet reached the manufacturers.
I regularly criticize the lack of this functionality in newer DACs, though of course not in every single one.

SMSL has released the D200, a DAC with a dedicated analog output stage and analog volume control. What's missing are simply the analog inputs (SE/Balanced) with buffering. Then you'd have a device to which you could connect both digital and analog sources, including analog volume control.

In my circle of friends and at home, I use the MiniDSP ADC to create an analog input for a turntable/phono preamp on the D200 and other DACs.
And just like that, you have the central control unit for two digital and one analog source, without any compromises or loss of sound quality.