SMSL M8 DAC, found a gem!

Foobar it's good with a different resampler than the stock one (SoX mod). Also, you need to have either ASIO or WASAPI modules to bypass Windows's mixer.
 
Hmm. Maybe JRiver does color the sound in some way and you got used to that. I don't use it but I can't believe that a player using bitperfect ASIO (if no oversampling is done) will sound different than another player.
 
Yeah, I don't trust JRiver. It cannot sound "different" if it is bitperfect Maybe it's just a tiny bit of autosuggestion, because you paid $45 for it? ;)
Foobar can be a little too configurable for some. I like that I can play DVD-A, SACD/DSD, HDCD with it.

But hey, whatever floats you boat :)
 
I dislike Foobar - because it is a POS to setup and configure. Also, it looks like shit too - looks like someone wrote it in 5 minutes. But, hey, you like it great.
#1 - agree
#2 - agree
#3 - I guess I am a geek that grew looking at CP/M and DOS and is still OK with using shitting looking things :rflmao:

Hmm, probably helps that the PC is not my main music player. I am mostly using an Android phone streaming bits from PC, via WiFi, to the ChromeCast Audio and further via iFi SPDIF iPurifier to my Parasound's PCM63P-K.
 
Yes, I prefer JRIVER too though I'm still running v20. Tried Foobar and found its SQ to be less than expected.
 
JRiver over WASAPI defaults to automatic bid-depth which may/may not match the source material and/or your DAC chip native. For example, my DAC chip is 16-bit yet JRiver/WASAPI defaults to 24-bit which I guess is advertised by the USB interface of my DAC. It shouldn't matter in theory as 16->24bit expansion is done by padding samples with 0s (JRiver says output is 24-bit padded) that are supposedly later discarded on the way to the DAC chip, but I found forcing WASAPI to 16 bit to match my source material and the DAC chip yields subtle but noticeable differences, the sound is not necessarily better one way or another but different. Something to experiment with.
 
I've tried most of the free players. Currently I'm using Music Bee. On my system it sounds better (IMO) than Foobar or Media Monkey. All three of them were listened to using WASAPI.

A new HP laptop that will become my music server is on the way (Amazon is guaranteeing Sunday delivery). I will try it with the same variety of music players and use whichever sounds best to me. The old Netbook is going to my brother.
 
Nothing wrong with the old one. It has an 11.1" screen. A slightly larger screen is easier on these old eyes. The new one is 14".

I looked into Daphile but don't want/need a PC that's not good for anything else. Perhaps I should look into a RPi.
 
Hi everybody,

I got my SMSL M8 + P1 LPS. As many of you, I'm very satisfied about this DAC.

I've only an issue. the P1 get quite hot during M8 operation as to warm the standig above M8. Have you experienced the same issue?

Thanks in advance
Marco
 
Odd. Is it the correct voltage for your country? It's just I've never known audio gear to get hot.

Does it sound better with the separate power supply?
 
Its the right voltage because I bought it from a company that sells it here, I can't really say on its sound as I don't use that system that often, so far I don't really notice any significant difference.
 
As far as I know, power quality it's very important for DAC as for other hi fi equipments and IMO M8 sounds better with a high quality linear power supply. P1 it's a bit expensive due to the dual power capabilities, but probably other good 60$ LPS could improve M8 sound quality. I decided to buy P1 for aesthetic reasons as well, but I'm quite surprised of the temperature issue.

Does someone knows if it is a normal for a LPU to get so hot?
 
Ok, bought one of these today. It should be interesting to how it compares with my other DAC's :)
 
Ok, hooked the M8 up last night in place of my Xiang Shen DAC-01A (aka Maverick Tube Magic) and was initially underwhelmed. After an hour of running though some of the magic I get from my Gustard DAC-X12 has begun to creep in. I left the DAB radio turned on all night and today. It will be interesting to see how it sounds this evening.
 
Yes, this is a spectacular DAC that would still be value at roughly twice it's asking price. No more than that though. I find it amazing that such a great sounding DAC can be so small.
 
The SMSL M8 is the best DAC under $300 I've heard. Getting DSD working was a pain since the driver CD was corrupted and instructions obsolete. But it just required a crash course on learning how they're all using DoP to push DSD to it.

I stuck a 10V linear wall wart on it...but I believe the opamps run off 15V...so theres a couple linear regulators and I believe a boost circuit. Some slight improvement could maybe be had by removing the boost circuit and running the thing off 15V directly. This would cause additional heat build up from the linear regulators.

The drivers are just basic XMOS reference drivers..which is nice.

The upgraded version has a newer Sabre chip and possibly an upgraded XMOS. Its apparently capable of 768khz PCM and 11mhz DSF.
 
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