SMSL VMV P2 Headphone Amp Review

[Rottmannash]

Since when is value for money not part of how sensible people evaluate a product?

I thought we were voting primarily on technical excellence as evidenced by exemplary measured performance?

 

[oleg87]

So, given no ground loop and not listening at ear bleeding levels, is this amp going to objectively sound any better than the $79 Schitt Magni Heretic I recently purchased?

Given the very non-linear relationship between power and perceived volume, even at ear bleeding level they’ll be separated by a bit over 3dB with most headphones, hardly day and night.

Somewhat bigger difference for very low impedances, where the gazillion parallel op amps start to offer a tangible benefit.

 

[AzReciOn]

I thought we were voting primarily on technical excellence as evidenced by exemplary measured performance?

If the rating compiled by us, ordinary users, were actually taken into account somewhere, I would probably agree with some of the criticism of the voters not being "Great" in a perfectly measurable product, however, Amirm has ALREADY done this for us, and everyone can familiarize themselves with the charts with their own eyes.

However, the real buyer is not only looking at how perfect the measurements of the "horse in a spherical vacuum" are - he is also interested in the ratio of price, quality and set of functions, as well as design and usability...

In this particular product, we see really great measurements and good design, but we also see absolutely terrible rear controls, a minimal set of features and no remote control - personally, I didn't even consider the price when I voted "Not terrible", but it was for excellent measurements that I did not give it a "Poor". If the product cost $ 100, I would perfectly understand the manufacturer's need for such simple management and functionality, but for the inconvenience of the location of this control, I still would not be able to give it the highest score.

Well, if the public evaluates only measurements "in a vacuum", then what is the point of this vote? ...
And so, perhaps, the manufacturer will look at the public's estimates and wonder what exactly they did not like. I think that the criticism is voiced here very much to the point, but the main thing is that it is voiced - and everyone interested in the product can familiarize themselves with it and decide for themselves whether it personally matters to them.
-----
Summing up this reasoning, as a potential user and buyer, I will say my opinion about the product: if the SMSL VMV P2 had all the same functions and the same controls as the Toppng L70 (I have one, but not as the main preamp), then I would put this device at the top of my preamp rating. Yes, today I can add $300 and buy a Topping DX9 for this price (which I would gladly put on the role of a central device in my AV system), but at least I would seriously consider an alternative scenario with SMSL VMV P2 (including because I already have there is a stationary player of this brand with a pretty good built-in DAC). But, alas, the disadvantages kill its advantages - and, I think, this cannot be ignored in the assessment.

 

[Sernyl]

@amirm
For the one who already has an ADI-2 PRO, is there an improvement ?
Regards,

 

[levimax]

a minimal set of features and no remote control -

So does this come with a remote control or not? Amazon says it does:

S.M.S.L VMV P2 Balanced Headphone Amplifier with Pre-amp 4xPLFC 120000mWx2 3 Gain XLR/4.4mm/6.35mm SE Output Headphone Amp with Remote Control (THD+N:0.00006%)​

 

[oleg87]

So does this come with a remote control or not? Amazon says it does:

S.M.S.L VMV P2 Balanced Headphone Amplifier with Pre-amp 4xPLFC 120000mWx2 3 Gain XLR/4.4mm/6.35mm SE Output Headphone Amp with Remote Control (THD+N:0.00006%)​

The official product page makes zero mention of it, it appears to use a regular non-motorized pot for volume and sliding switches for everything else so it's not clear what a remote would adjust - seems like whoever writes their Amazon listings got confused or got carried away with copy+paste.

 

[Kevinfc]

Seems like an excellent, interesting product, but the marginal return is quite slim based on the price.

 

[AzReciOn]

So does this come with a remote control or not? Amazon says it does:

S.M.S.L VMV P2 Balanced Headphone Amplifier with Pre-amp 4xPLFC 120000mWx2 3 Gain XLR/4.4mm/6.35mm SE Output Headphone Amp with Remote Control (THD+N:0.00006%)​

It is not necessary to write so "loudly" - instead, you can go to the official website of the product (and not use questionable sources), and you can also open the manual to be sure.

In addition, the presence of mechanical toggle switches to control the inputs and outputs in itself tells us that it is not possible to control this remotely.

 

[dasdoing]

Reminds me about old videogame consoles
View attachment 344881

VMV D2R Stereo DAC Review

Design....my wife can use a Walmart purse - it does the job, but she prefers Coach or Brahmin. This is not an engineer approach. My wife is always saying "When you want to know, you measure". And here, the measurements are not at the top.

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Ajax]

If it was up to me I'd scrap the rating system (I don't think I've ever voted on a review)!

I've been here long enough to know that some people are extremely/biased, and will knock or prop-up a product for any number of reasons. It's like reading Amazon product reviews lately!

Nah, we have several products getting over 85% consensus for "great". IMO we must take price into consideration as that is my, and I believe many other members, aim of joining ASR - to find exceptional equipment that is affordable.

e.g. Apollon NCX500ST & Buckeye Purifi

Apollon NCx500ST Stereo Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Apollon NCx500ST stereo class D amplifier based on Hypex NCOREx NCx500 modules. It was kindly drop shipped from the member and costs 1,090.00€ (US $1,168) with standard opamp. While the case is stamped aluminum, it is a heavily customized one...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Buckeye 3 Channel Purifi Amplifier Review (2nd)

This is a second review of the Buckeye 3-Channel Purifi based balanced class D amplifier. First sample had an issue with its binding posts increasing distortion. It costs US US $1,595. Typical of Buckeye amplifiers, focus on what is inside rather the case which is utilitarian. An indicator...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[DLS79]

Nah, we have several products getting over 85% consensus for "great". IMO we must take price into consideration as that is my, and I believe many other members, aims of joining ASR - to find exceptional equipment that is affordable.

Amps vs headphone amps. People here seem to be far more willing to throw money around for amps than headphone amps.

 

[dtaylo1066]

Any single product rating typically has some votes for poor and some for great, so clearly individual preferences and perceptions, inclusive of value, come into play. Statistically it evens out in the long run. Usually one of the four categories will dominate, or two in aggregate will dominate the survey. That pretty much validates the overall group's sentiment.

While I am sure it is a desire of many on the Forum, including many who vote, to take pleasure in identifying high-performing products that don't cost much (are of great price to performance value), I would suspect the average HH income of Forum members is quite high vs the general public, and plenty of members are willing to pay a high price for a product so long as it delivers the performance.

 

[dzerig]

I like the new designs. Moving in the right direction.

 

[dtaylo1066]

Product aesthetics are a factor to me. It may not be a driving or dominant force in my purchase, but for me aesthetics needs to pass a certain acceptable threshold. Most audio designs do, though Chord is borderline for me. Too space age. The Chord Dave looks like something out of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The new Topping and SMSL higher end look is OK. Not beautiful, but certainly acceptable.

I've never liked the McIntosh look, nor PS Audio. The new Technics stuff is sleek, elegant and ties modern with classical.

Geez, we are all a bunch of audio freaks.

 

[amirm]

@amirm
For the one who already has an ADI-2 PRO, is there an improvement ?
Regards,

Yes in available power. If you are frequently pushing the volume control to near max on ADI-2 Pro, then you need more power and the P2 is one option. For me, in everyday, "normal" listening the ADI-2 Pro is sufficient even for my Stealth headphone. So even though I have many other headphone amps, I don't bother using them. But if I were to listen louder, then I would want to have more power available.

So just look at the volume level on ADI-2 Pro and if you are below max, then you don't need anything else.

 

[JIW]

Yes in available power. If you are frequently pushing the volume control to near max on ADI-2 Pro, then you need more power and the P2 is one option. For me, in everyday, "normal" listening the ADI-2 Pro is sufficient even for my Stealth headphone. So even though I have many other headphone amps, I don't bother using them. But if I were to listen louder, then I would want to have more power available.

So just look at the volume level on ADI-2 Pro and if you are below max, then you don't need anything else.

That depends on the impedance. The P2 seems limited to around 14 V RMS for all impedances but the ADI-2 Pro goes up to 19.5 V RMS balanced but is limited to 2.9 W. For impedances up to about 14^2/2.9 = 67.6 Ohm, the P2 has more power while for higher impedances, the RME has more power.

 

[Art of sound]

This is a review, detailed measurements and listening tests of SMSL VMV P2 balanced stereo headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $999.
View attachment 344839
The design follows the new look of the VMV D2R DAC. I am not a big fan of the new look but maybe you are. Nice to see the three common output jacks with the balanced output being differential (i.e. increases power). The volume control is analog with a definitive minimum and maximum. I was very surprised to see the gain controls positioned in the back:
View attachment 344845
If you use multiple headphones with very different sensitivities, this will be an annoyance, having to reach back here to change settings. Fortunately for the set of headphones I use, the medium gain was sufficient.

On positive front, the connectors seem very high quality. And oh, the whole unit weighs a ton and feels like it is made out of solid lead. This is nice when it comes to plugging and unplugging headphones and not having to hold on to the unit to do so.

FYI company claims that there are 99 opamps used in the P2! They must be paralleling a lot of them to get maximum output power.

SMSL VMV P2 Headphone Amp Measurements
I performed all of my testing using balanced XLR input. Was hoping I could do the same with XLR output but performance there is lower than unbalanced:
View attachment 344847

View attachment 344848
Fortunately both are audibly transparent so no practical issue. Ranking is up there as far as amplifiers tested with difference being a less than 1 dB:



View attachment 344852
The noise floor of 1/4 unbalanced headphone output is superb:
View attachment 344853

Best to use the unbalanced for sensitive IEMs to get near top of the class noise performance:
View attachment 344855
View attachment 344856

Frequency is dead flat and seemingly so forever:
View attachment 344857

Using same unbalanced output we have plenty of power with excellent performance in low and medium gain (and nearly so in high gain):
View attachment 344859
View attachment 344860

Power naturally goes up good bit due to differential signaling of the balanced headphone out:
View attachment 344861
View attachment 344862
That is insanely high amount of power into 32 ohm!

Note that there is no clipping in low and medium gains which means if you hear distortion, it is your headphone that is complaining, not the amplifier.

The P2 has plenty of current to almost keep its output constant, resulting in such high amount of power into lower impedances:
View attachment 344863

Most amplifiers start to drop their output voltage at or below 50 Ohm but not here.

Channel matching is quite good for analog volume control:
View attachment 344864
Company says they have taken extra care to keep accuracy here so hopefully your sample will be as good as mine.

SMSL VMV P2 Headphone Amplifier Listening Tests
I put the amp in high gain mode, fed it from my RME ADI-2 Pro DAC, and set the volume quite low. I nearly fell off my chair when I hit play! The sound was so loud that I had to rip the headphone off my head. The gain is quite high in high gain mode so even low volume settings is liable to create high loudness despite me testing with my insensitive Dan Clark Stealth headphone (XLR out was used for all the listening tests). I set the gain to medium and that was plenty loud to drive the Stealth into distortion. I swapped it for the Dan Clark E3 which handled more power but it too cried uncle (at around 2:00 pm on volume control). The sound was absolutely superb with amazing detail and authoritative bass.

Switching to Sennheiser HD650 produces the sublime experience I look for when you can feed this headphone with plenty of power. Bass response comes alive and fidelity becomes so good you want to sit there and just praise the combo.

Considering that you still have the high gain to use, there is not a headphone you can't power beyond their max power handling with VMV P2.

Let me again warn you to not use the high-gain without setting the volume to minimum before playing anything. Your hearing may be at risk otherwise!

Conclusions
The objective performance of VMV P2 is near perfect. I wish it was optimized for balanced than otherwise but still, full transparency is there together with incredible drive capability. Listening tests confirm this and then some showing essentially infinite amount of power to drive any headphone you throw at it.

The aesthetics and usability is not completely to my liking but is not a showstopper.

I am going to put the SMSL VMV P2 on my recommended list.

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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/

All well and good nothing to see here. if it had multitone distortion of 96db and DR of 14+ bits, good attenuation itd be sufficient for me but having a pre-out/Phone out and XLR/RCA switches on the back is a poor design choice.
curawong notes that they are lining up 99 opamps in parallel to reduce SINAD. At this point this amp is made for SINAD aficionados.
switching power supplies at this price is a no go. my fiio k7 does this at 200USD. Where is the money spent?

 

[Robbo99999]

I thought we were voting primarily on technical excellence as evidenced by exemplary measured performance?

People can vote how they want, I'm sure value/price comes into it quite heavily, it certainly affects my vote. That doesn't mean I vote expensive products low, it just depends what they are.

 

[Chagall]

curawong notes that they are lining up 99 opamps in parallel to reduce SINAD. At this point this amp is made for SINAD aficionados.

How is that a bad thing? He is inventing problems (like he does with all Chinese amps or DACs) to show other, more audiophile, manufacturers as a better value.

 

[Music1969]

At this point this amp is made for SINAD aficionados.

Is single tone SINAD the only thing currawong can see in amir's measurements?

Has he bothered to look at the rest of the measurements?