Smsl po 100pro?

[Laky66]

Question: Does it make sense to use the SMSL PO100 Pro between iFi Zen Stream and Musician Pegasus R2R DAC?

Hi everyone,
I'm considering adding the SMSL PO100 Pro (DDC) between my iFi Zen Stream and Musician Pegasus R2R DAC, mainly to take advantage of the DAC's I2S input.

From a technical and measurable standpoint, I'm wondering if this setup is beneficial:

Can a DDC like the PO100 Pro reduce jitter or electrical noise compared to direct USB output from the Zen Stream?

Is there any measurable improvement (THD, SINAD, IMD, etc.) at the DAC's output when using I2S instead of USB?

Does it make sense to add a DDC like this when I already have a decent streamer like the Zen Stream?


Thanks in advance for any insights, measurements, or data. I'm not looking for subjective impressions — I'm more interested in objective facts about whether the DAC's output can be measurably improved using I2S via a DDC instead of USB.

 

[staticV3]

Can a DDC like the PO100 Pro reduce jitter or electrical noise compared to direct USB output from the Zen Stream?

The PO100 Pro cannot reduce jitter, as the best possible jitter will be achieved using asynchronous USB.

If your current setup suffers from ground loop induced noise, then switching to Zen Stream->PO100->Optical->Pegasus R2R would remove that noise.

 

[Roland68]

Question: Does it make sense to use the SMSL PO100 Pro between iFi Zen Stream and Musician Pegasus R2R DAC?

Hi everyone,
I'm considering adding the SMSL PO100 Pro (DDC) between my iFi Zen Stream and Musician Pegasus R2R DAC, mainly to take advantage of the DAC's I2S input.

From a technical and measurable standpoint, I'm wondering if this setup is beneficial:

Can a DDC like the PO100 Pro reduce jitter or electrical noise compared to direct USB output from the Zen Stream?

Is there any measurable improvement (THD, SINAD, IMD, etc.) at the DAC's output when using I2S instead of USB?

Does it make sense to add a DDC like this when I already have a decent streamer like the Zen Stream?


Thanks in advance for any insights, measurements, or data. I'm not looking for subjective impressions — I'm more interested in objective facts about whether the DAC's output can be measurably improved using I2S via a DDC instead of USB.

I'll give you a very simple fact.

The Musician Pegasus R2R DAC converts the USB signal internally to I2S.
The PO100 Pro converts the USB signal to I2S, which you then feed into your Musician Pegasus R2R DAC.
The DAC developers would have done a very poor job if this resulted in an improvement.
DAC manufacturers today make great efforts to reduce jitter via USB and SPDIF/AES. I2S is usually not further considered or processed in the DAC (no jitter reduction) and is sent directly to the D/A converter.

The PO100 Pro had worse measured values via I2S with an SMSL DO400 than the DO400 directly via USB. Both use the same XMOS XU316 interface and convert the USB signal to I2S.

Perhaps you can draw some conclusions from this.

 

[voodooless]

mainly to take advantage of the DAC's I2S input.

What advantage is that, do you think?

 

[Laky66]

My system works perfectly. The sound is excellent—dynamic, with no audible distortion, noise, or other interference. Since I am an imperfect person, I long for perfection. And so, from time to time, I feel the urge to read various forums and reviews. Recently, I came across claims that using a digital interface, such as a Singxer F1, SMSL PO100 PRO... can noticeably improve the sound.

 

[Roland68]

My system works perfectly. The sound is excellent—dynamic, with no audible distortion, noise, or other interference. Since I am an imperfect person, I long for perfection. And so, from time to time, I feel the urge to read various forums and reviews. Recently, I came across claims that using a digital interface, such as a Singxer F1, SMSL PO100 PRO... can noticeably improve the sound.

Those days are long gone. At some point, the improvements in DDCs trickled down to DACs. The technology is the same anyway: USB is converted to I2S, both in the DDC and the DAC. The components are also the same: XMOS, Amanero (ARM), Xing Audio, etc.

In this area, the Singxer F1 (obsolete), SMSL PO100 PRO, etc., are low-coast products that couldn't even improve a current DAC like the SMSL SU-1.

 

[voodooless]

Recently, I came across claims

Was there any proof?

Some people claim the world is flat, that doesn't make it so...

 

[Norville]

Maybe this will help anyone looking to buy a SMSL PO100pro

I got it to use with a RPI3B and my Musician Draco to test out I²S. Turns out, it didn't work with my RPi3B even after a fresh flash of Ropieee. It got stuck in trying to install drivers. Now, maybe the 100pro was in wrong UAC mode but everything installed on Rpi4 directly, which I am lucky to also have.

Then the Musician Draco was put in mode 4 and everything works nicely. The Draco is mqa capable, however, it doesn't seem to unfold properly with the 100pro. I don't care for MQA, just thought I mention it if it's an issue for anyone.

I don't think I can perceive any major sonic improvements, but it's a useful thing to own if needed for any other applications.

It certainly didn't degrade anything, however.

 

[Roland68]

Maybe this will help anyone looking to buy a SMSL PO100pro

I got it to use with a RPI3B and my Musician Draco to test out I²S. Turns out, it didn't work with my RPi3B even after a fresh flash of Ropieee. It got stuck in trying to install drivers. Now, maybe the 100pro was in wrong UAC mode but everything installed on Rpi4 directly, which I am lucky to also have.

Then the Musician Draco was put in mode 4 and everything works nicely. The Draco is mqa capable, however, it doesn't seem to unfold properly with the 100pro. I don't care for MQA, just thought I mention it if it's an issue for anyone.

I don't think I can perceive any major sonic improvements, but it's a useful thing to own if needed for any other applications.

It certainly didn't degrade anything, however.

This MQA has been dead for a long time and Tidal has also abolished it.

 

[Norville]

This MQA has been dead for a long time and Tidal has also abolished it.

Sure but there are still MQA-albums being sold, mainly in Asia. It's not completely dead. Doesn't matter, I don't care for it anyway