strange SMSL M500 high 3rd harmonic

[jani80k]

Ok, thanks for the feedback. For now I will relax and enjoy the music. The v2 unit they sent to me sounds very good.

 

[chefffe]

Amazon Germany reduced the price for the SU-9 with 10% and I couldnt resist again . I contacted after the buy the seller (Shenzenaudio) and they told me that I can send it also to Audiophonics for FW upgrade. Its already packed and will be shipped to them. Did anyone who sent it to Audiophonics got a prepaid shipping label? I had to pay 14€ for shipping to France? How long took it in total?

 

[Oklei]

I had to pay 14€ for shipping to France? How long took it in total?

I had to pay one way too. They got it 08/02 and sent it back 08/05. With shipping time it lasted 14 days. I will measure it tonight and post the results here. I am grateful that audiophonics managed the update so flawlessly and I didn't had to ship it back to China.

 

[Oklei]

I received my M500 back from Audiophonics today and did a quick measurement. Attached you find the fft graph for left only and right only. As you can clearly see, the 3rd harmonics bug is completely resolved. Thanks again @Audiophonics and @SMSL-Mandy for fixing this! Bugs do happen and may slip through qc. Even amir did not find this strange distortion when only one channel ist played. So it's more important how a company handles it when something went wrong.

 

[fluufy]

Good to see this fixed. My Australian retailer (Melbourne Chi-Fi Audio) agreed that I could pay the price difference and switch to an SU-9. The SU-9 did have the same issue but MCFA have fresh new stock now so mine is all good. In terms of function, I suppose I sacrificed some versatility of M500 for higher output with SU-9 - the SU-9 is definitely louder.

In terms of sound quality I can’t really compare, as the m500 had a slightly brittle edge at max output which I presume was the third harmonic. (I did test this with REW but I get a ground loop - third was still visible above that high noise floor with old m500 though). The SU-9, and I expect new m500’s as well, is smooth and utterly clear at any level.

So all fixed and good. I still wish there was a firmware revision number change to clarify this though, that would have made this much less of a palaver for everyone including SMSL.

 

[TC!!]

There's a lot of pages to go through on this so I may have missed this but did SMSL ever offer a way to update a hardware version 1 to a version 2?

 

[Jimbob54]

There's a lot of pages to go through on this so I may have missed this but did SMSL ever offer a way to update a hardware version 1 to a version 2?

No.

 

[Jimbob54]

I received my M500 back from Audiophonics today and did a quick measurement. Attached you find the fft graph for left only and right only. As you can clearly see, the 3rd harmonics bug is completely resolved. Thanks again @Audiophonics and @SMSL-Mandy for fixing this! Bugs do happen and may slip through qc. Even amir did not find this strange distortion when only one channel ist played. So it's more important how a company handles it when something went wrong.

View attachment 146744View attachment 146745

Wasn’t the issue flagged in the first posts caused by playing something different in right and left whereas here and elsewhere dacs are tested either only one channel or the same signal to both ?

EDIT or did it also manifest when playing nothing in one channel and measuring the other ?

 

[jani80k]

There's a lot of pages to go through on this so I may have missed this but did SMSL ever offer a way to update a hardware version 1 to a version 2?

If you send in your v1 because of this issue, they will most likely send you a v2.

 

[Oklei]

Wasn’t the issue flagged in the first posts caused by playing something different in right and left whereas here and elsewhere dacs are tested either only one channel or the same signal to both ?

EDIT or did it also manifest when playing nothing in one channel and measuring the other ?

I am not 1000% sure about that. I thought it was enough if the two channels played differently with differently also meaning that one channel doesn't play at all. But to be sure I just tested the device with 1000 Hz on the left channel and 1333 Hz on the right channel. Here is the combined spectrum:

Luckily still no 3rd harmonics problem.
Here are the two channels: Left: Right:
There is some leakage of harmonic distortion into the other channel. I don't know why. This might be a problem of my measurement? But in the end it's nothing to be worried about.

 

[Jimbob54]

I am not 1000% sure about that. I thought it was enough if the two channels played differently with differently also meaning that one channel doesn't play at all. But to be sure I just tested the device with 1000 Hz on the left channel and 1333 Hz on the right channel. Here is the combined spectrum:View attachment 146957
Luckily still no 3rd harmonics problem.
Here are the two channels: Left: View attachment 146959 Right: View attachment 146960
There is some leakage of harmonic distortion into the other channel. I don't know why. This might be a problem of my measurement? But in the end it's nothing to be worried about.

Looks fixed to me ! Thanks

 

[mkawa]

@SMSL-Mandy I purchased mine through hifi-express. who should i email to arrange repair through the US facility?

thanks!

 

[Laserjock]

@SMSL-Mandy I purchased mine through hifi-express. who should i email to arrange repair through the US facility?

thanks!

Same!

 

[martin900]

No.

That explains the current dump of M500's on classifieds for as low as 150-175, thankfully I found this on time.

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

So it's more important how a company handles it when something went wrong.

And how have they handled it…..?

 

[Jimbob54]

That explains the current dump of M500's on classifieds for as low as 150-175, thankfully I found this on time.

I'll rephrase my answer actually. The hardware version isn't upgradeable. However, some users are reporting that they are sending in v1 units due to this issue and getting back v2. The assumption being they are just new or reconditioned units

 

[martin900]

But if you're not the first owner, you're probably out of luck, the shipping cost from EU to CHN would be massive.
I doubt a reseller/dealer would take the unit back 'if it works'.

 

[Laserjock]

Is there a board they could send to swap?

 

[Paulo83]

Is there a board they could send to swap?

They will send you an update tool if you pester them enough, their instructions for the update make no sense though. I have sold my m500 and returned my sh-9, the way this has been handled is terrible. I won't touch anything by SMSL again.

FYI hifi-express seems to be an semi/non official outlet from SMSL directly.

 

[MusicNBeer]

They will send you an update tool if you pester them enough, their instructions for the update make no sense though. I have sold my m500 and returned my sh-9, the way this has been handled is terrible. I won't touch anything by SMSL again.

FYI hifi-express seems to be an semi/non official outlet from SMSL directly.

I agree, total mess. I'm in US and bought from Shenzenaudio. I have no idea how to get my V1 fixed without shipping back to China, which isn't happening.