SMSL: still rubbish or worth a punt?

[datalol-jack]

Need a stopgap headphone amp and dac and this mini M6 keeps hovering in my peripheral vision. The spec is okay, and frankly too good to be true for the money. But it's also its main advantage, it's cheap enough for me not to have regrets either way, and can always be returned. Yet what stops be pulling the trigger is a vague recollection of hideous quality control issues on SMSL's earlier outings in the dac realm. Any credence to these? Have they improved?

What say you Sound City: should dj burn some monies or pass on the temptation and get something a tad more reputable/dearer? You decide!

 

[rIcK]

I have a SMSL SD793-II DAC it was £35 and for the price it is a superb little item, misses some of the finer mid range details but the top is nice and clear and the bass seems to punch nicely.

For my purpose ( gaming ) on my PC it is more or less perfect and still sounds pretty good for music.

 

[Rroff]

From what I've heard the quality control is still hit and miss. Their basic amps are little more than a slight variant on a cmoy - if you've any skill with a soldering iron can build a better version fairly easily (assuming you don't need a DAC).

 

[neil_g]

I have a SMSL SD793-II DAC it was £35 and for the price it is a superb little item,

Agreed. Use mine to drive my hd25 (want something better soon and hearing good things about the 793 driving some pretty beefy cans) and yamaha hs5 on the rca out. Can't fault it.

Z reviews loves it too.

 

[datalol-jack]

Interesting. Thanks. And yes, I'd prefer an all-in-one external solution that doesn't take up a lot of room. DSD, Dolby and other processing kinks aren't required. On the other hand, one hopes to better wonky onboard sound and drive something heavier than 32 Ohm, over-the-ear bargain wonders. If it can at least sound somewhat decent with a pair of DT770s at 250 Ohms for a while, I'll be content. A few connectivity options -- a bonus.

So I guess I'll bite the gamble on the M6, for science and great justice! It'll be replaced eventually and overthinking it for the money isn't worth the effort. If it's cack, I'll fish around the used market for something better.

 

[rids57]

Here you go...

 

[james.miller]

hate that thumb control on the m6, barmy idea. I dont mind digital volumn but on a tiny thumb control that also changes line out AND turns the unit on and off? if SMSL had an m6 with a proper pot rather than that control then i would have bought it over the sd793ii. Also dont like that default to volume 30.

Glad i bought the sd793ii and A2 combo tbh, crazy VFM.

 

[datalol-jack]

I think they pinched it from an old Sony Ericsson. It's an acquired taste, for sure!

 

[Dicehunter]

I have an SMSL M3 and it's great especially for roughly £60, I'm no audiophile but to my ears it sounds no different than the Asus Essence STXII I have in another rig when using the same headphones.

 

[datalol-jack]

Good to hear, Dice. Quite set on getting an M6 as an experiment now. Finding a free day to get it delivered is proving to be a PITA, however. Oh well -- roll on the end of the month!

 

[GothicGhost]

So does the SMSL M3 connect to the pc by USB?

I was told long time ago that sound over USB not very good idea?

 

[datalol-jack]

So does the SMSL M3 connect to the pc by USB?

I was told long time ago that sound over USB not very good idea?

It can, although it has optical input as well, and you can power it via a mobile phone charger, iirc. So not bad. Some issues may arise when people attempt to power big and hard to drive headphones via USB devices without a separate power supply; iffy motherboards with USB issues on this front aren't as common as they used to be.

 

[Rroff]

So does the SMSL M3 connect to the pc by USB?

I was told long time ago that sound over USB not very good idea?

Audio and USB have a few challenges but nothing insurmountable - though if your USB port is limited to 100ma or so it might not give much to play with if you have actual current hungry headphones as well as a DAC to feed.

The main issue is isolating interference and ground loops, etc. but its perfectly possible to do so effectively - then you have the fairly low voltage which can be work around using charge pumps, etc. which then introduces switching noise which is generally looked down on in audio circles but is possible to filter out as well.

USB and Audio certainly isn't forgiving on lazy or incompetent design.

 

[passifid]

So does the SMSL M3 connect to the pc by USB?

I was told long time ago that sound over USB not very good idea?

the problem with optical is on a few mobos it goes through the eq of the onboard sound card which doesnt quite but can defeat the purpose of a cheapo DAC

 

[datalol-jack]

The M6 is sitting on my desk now. Not bad all things considered: it's as compact I'd hoped, works with W10 with no issues and although there was a mini-DVD with software included in the box, all the relevant WHQL stuff got picked up by default, so there was no need to touch it except for a few Foobar2000 plugins. Got both the EU and the UK type plug with it and the required USB cable, but no 3.5mm to 6.5mm jack adaptor, which comes with almost all decent headphones these days but may be an issue for some if one is expected in the retail package.

The chassis is plain, with a neat little screen on the front displaying all the essential info, and has a solid feel to it and rubber feet to prevent sliding. The joystick control we covered already: some will like it; some will hate it.

With a friend who knows a bit more about electrical wizardry than I do, I took a gander at the internals to check the workmanship and spec -- no issues or messes there; a pretty tidy unit, really.

Going in blind, I find it hard to distinguish the sound from similarly priced internal sound cards, my old ODAC + O2 combo and the more expensive Fostex beastie that has given up the ghost given my DT770s and cheaper gaming headsets. With lossless content, I'm actually enjoying it quite a bit more, but this could merely be a novelty placebo.

Anything ~300 Ohm or less should be absolutely fine with it, as per spec, and I'm not really planning to run my next HP upgrade off it anyway or large speakers, but for science of course I'll give it a whirl to see if it's capable enough to stretch its muscle a tad further without severe degradation in sound presentation. Of course, given the inputs and outputs, it can also be paired with other kit/amps should more power be required.

Overall, I feel no need to fiddle with it much and it's just sort of there, smoothly doing what I need it to do for now, offering good sound, no gimmicks and portability with a few convenient connectivity options + an integrated HP AMP.

Let's hope it lasts a while.