SMSL PS200 Budget DAC Review

[amirm]

This is a review and measurements of the SMSL PS200 stereo budget DAC. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $89.99.

The unit comes in a lightweight plastic package which allows my rather stiff RCA test cables to yank on it. A simple toggle switch changes inputs. There is an indicator for DSD and another for MQA. Back panel shows a feature I haven't seen in a while: selection of USB audio class:

Looking at product description, it says that is to enable playback with Sony PS5 which I assume only works with ancient class 1 devices. Other than, power and data is provided through USB-C.

Measurements are abbreviated in order to make progress with the backlog.

SMSL PS200 DAC Measurements
Let's start with our dashboard:

Wow, I must say, I was not prepared to see such excellent performance! Distortion is vanishingly low at near -130 dB. So it is our dynamic range that sets SINAD to the tune of 118 dB, easily landing the DAC in our "excellent" category:

Multitone shows off yet again the very low distortion of PS200:

Even wideband measurement doesn't disadvantage the PS200:

Conclusions
Being so used to metal boxes for DACs, I was dismayed at the light, plasticky feel of the PS200. I expected measurements to be just "good" but it was way, way better. There is nothing remotely to apologize for. Hide the DAC some place people won't see and you will have all the performance you need, while saving some money for a cup of coffee.

I am happy to recommend the SMSL PS200.
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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/

 

[amirm]

Reserved for @AdamG to kindly post the specs.

Manufacturer Specifications:

Link to Product Overview and Specifications:

https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/882.html

 

[Saponetto]

It seems to be a modern iteration of the PO100AK... interesting, and thanks a lot for the review @amirm !

 

[Doodski]

Oooo! That multitone grass is excellent!

 

[JSmith]

This is a review and measurements of the SMSL PS200 stereo budget DAC. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $89.99.

Quite a good price and superb measurements to boot. Thanks for the testing.

Pic;

SMSL PS 200 internal view

Hi. Here's somme pictures -> There you go :cool: Well now I'm going to listen to it :D

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

 

[Honken]

Looks great, shame that it includes MQA as that probably added a few dollars to the price of the unit. A device worth remembering if friends ask for recommendations for a new DAC.

Got any measurements of the filter(s)?

 

[VientoB]

Looks great, shame that it includes MQA as that probably added a few dollars to the price of the unit. A device worth remembering if friends ask for recommendations for a new DAC.

Got any measurements of the filter(s)?

There is no price for MQA anymore I think as MQA went bankrupt.

 

[JSmith]

There is no price for MQA anymore I think as MQA went bankrupt.

There would still be a payment to Lenbrook Industries, which acquired MQA's IP and assets after MQA went into administration.

shame that it includes MQA as that probably added a few dollars to the price of the unit.

It would not be very much in relation to the final consumer price. I find multi-format support is always appreciated, even almost defunct formats like MQA.


JSmith

 

[ssashton]

Opamps are OP1656. DAC is ESS9039Q2M.

SMSL IF YOU ARE LISTENING? PLEASE MAKE A PC AUDIO INTERFACE WITH PERFORMANCE LIKE THIS. I want a Behringer UMC202 or Scarlett 2i2 with good performance!

 

[fordiebianco]

Nice wee unit. Will recommend to friends with lower budgets. Thanks for the review, @amirm

 

[Chaos01]

Is it worth the money to upgrade the Wiim Ultra? Or is the wiim on its own good enough?

 

[AndreaT]

Pinnacle of measurement for small money. My hat to the manufacturing capabilities of SMSL! Thank you Amir!

 

[Darren]

@amirm please do keep going with the dac reviews. It's always interesting to see what is being achieved at various price points and it's the thing that brought some of us here in the first place.

 

[rammster]

@amirm have you tried to listen in for some continuous time?
It has a small issue - makes clicks in silence period after playback, for example between tracks.
I don't know whether it is issue with software or drivers in Windows OS, or issue of the DAC itself.
I got used to it and do not even notice.

 

[staticV3]

Is it worth the money to upgrade the Wiim Ultra? Or is the wiim on its own good enough?

The WiiM on its own is good enough.

 

[staticV3]

I don't know whether it is issue with software or drivers in Windows OS, or issue of the DAC itself.

Did you install SMSL's driver and make sure that in the driver panel, Streaming is set to Always on?

Should get rid of the clicks.

The driver can be downloaded on their website: https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/882.html

 

[Roland68]

It seems to be a modern iteration of the PO100AK... interesting, and thanks a lot for the review @amirm !

In fact, it has nothing to do with the PO100AK, except that both function as DACs.
The PO100AK is a USB DDC and DAC, so it also has digital SPDIF RCA/Toslink outputs, while the PS200 has digital SPDIF RCA/Toslink inputs.

 

[Sokel]

Opamps are OP1656. DAC is ESS9039Q2M.

SMSL IF YOU ARE LISTENING? PLEASE MAKE A PC AUDIO INTERFACE WITH PERFORMANCE LIKE THIS. I want a Behringer UMC202 or Scarlett 2i2 with good performance!

I hope they don't do it the way Topping did,my 20 yo ancient cheapo interface has better measurements than their 100dB SINAD.

At the topic,yep,that's SMSL at their known territory,at the price range it should be.MAJOR plus the absence of a multicolor display.
Multitone is a poem.

Thanks Amir!

 

[olieb]

This is all you need.
SU-1 is virtually the same though with a metal case and 10$ less.
EDIT: But of course PS200 has the clear advantage of "Bluetooth Specification: 5.0(SBC) [!]" if that is what you are after.

 

[Saponetto]

Is it worth the money to upgrade the Wiim Ultra? Or is the wiim on its own good enough?

No need to add an external DAC.
Ultra's internal one is good enough.