A fan sounding SMSL...only their D2 flagship sounded smooth and musical enough for me. So it's a nice step forward. At the same time almost every DAC could sound musical & engaging being teamed up with the mighty Rognir😉 Great description, Sandu, excellent unit for a midrange price.

@florin604

6 ай бұрын

How do you guys read a dac better than an oscilloscope? I need to learn your mental gimnastics.😂🎉😅 Enjoy your insanity.

형제의 오디오 장비 리뷰는 항상 재미있어요 ^^ 최고의 오디오 장비 채널 ^^

thanks for the epic review!

I had the MKII in my system for a while, I'm glad to hear they fixed the problems.

@aleph0909

3 ай бұрын

I was thinking of getting the mk2. What problems would you say does it have?

@fredjohnson9856

3 ай бұрын

@@aleph0909 If I remember correctly the highs were great but it had low output in the lowest bass region.

@aleph0909

3 ай бұрын

@@fredjohnson9856 got it

The DAC man is back!

I love my SMSL M500mk3 like to see comparison of the new SQ to SU-10 sometime

thanks for high quality testing, How would you compare it to the EverSolo DAC-Z8 golden reward ?

Check out/review the SMSL SU-9 Pro DAC that's using the brand new ES9039MPRO DAC Chip if you can

thanks again for the great review! from those you have tested to date, which dac/amp combo under or all in one 1.000$ would have the deepest soundstage and presentation like sitting in the last row of a stadium instead of beeing placed among the musicans? I know the headphones and even the recording plays a larger role in the presentation, but i am looking for the last 10%. Honestly i am leaning towards the xudoo xd05 pro with the akm card and burson opamps, as i like the option of to put it in a bag. I have many headphones which could be consideres neutral/flat including planars and i mostly listen to music without vocals. but overall i am not too much into tonality but into soundstage depth and layering. dont care for a wide soundstage tho.

and at this price new features like sub bass management, bring summit new as all dacs are the same apart from balanced which is nice. and builtin usb noise filters with ground disconnect

Did you use a preamp or did you use the SMSL M500 MKIII to control the gain into your amps? Also, I understand that this can be switched to a passive mode. If so, did you use that setting? Really nicely done review on this unit and your overall presentation.

I have got ifi zen dac and can both combo, is it worth to upgrade them to SMSL M500 ? thanks great video 👍

The quality on this review is impeccable 🔥

@Soundnews

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Jack, appreciate it 🤜🤛

@Flavius7

Жыл бұрын

Only the next one will be better😉

@ActualFish

Жыл бұрын

@@Flavius7 but you cant top yourself every time, so you shouldnt be disappointed if its not ;)

@mihaihertz1059

Жыл бұрын

@@Soundnews Hello Sandu, I'm looking for dac upgrade, for the same price what to choose SMSL d1se or su10 ? (Both are 660 pounds now)

@Soundnews

Жыл бұрын

@@mihaihertz1059 get the SU-10, it's my all time favorite DAC below ~1k

How does it compare to the smsl do200 which you said was about the same level of D90se but warmer and livelier ?

Wow, sounds like an amazing DAC!

Hello, how does it compare to smsl d1se, I wonder? I have one but I am very curious how this m500 mkiii would stack up against it?

Looks like you have the Musician Knight 1 for review soon?

Good review

can you change tracks with the remote as its almost 2023, my 10 year old car can

I'm struggling to choose this compared to the Soncoz SGD1 just because of the SGD1 amazing internal build and components compared to....SMSL.

Would be fun to know how it compares to Chord Mojo.

Mannnn im lookin for a good newer sounding smsl fun dac like the last years worth of products.. but I need that headphone amp.. How's the headphone amp? Does it crank and get down?

If mainly for use with IEMs, HD600 and Ananda how does this compare with K9 Pro Ess?

Hello. I have SMSL mk3 and amplifier cambridge audio cxa81, focal 906, I plan to use MK3 instead of DAC on cambridge cxa81 is it better? If not, then maybe I will invest more cxn v2, thank

Please review EF400 as well.

Hi. I use an rpi4 with a Moode audio player connected via a USB cable to a dac SMSL M500 mk3. I have such a problem that after some time of playback via USB it stops playing with the message "MPD error Failed to open audio output" and I have to select the USB input again with the remote control and it works for a while and so on. Do you know where the error could be? Thank you.

Would this be a good choice for Hifiman Edition XS ?

Hi Sandu,How does it compare to the smsl su-10 please?

How does it compare with the xDuoo XA-10? Is it better?

Hi All, I have a M500 MKII which plays fine when output to headphone output. However, when it is output to XLR or RCA, I encountered cut off (unlike skip; that portion of the song is lost) at a certain point in the song regardless of the source. I experienced it with Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music and with DVD player connected to M500 MKII via optical cable. The cut off will happen at the same time stamp. So far I experienced this with 2 songs. This unit I have is a brand new replacement unit after the 1st unit with above mentioned problem was returned to SMSL hoping they will investigate and provide solutions. Seems it may not be an isolated case with 2 units exhibiting same problem. Manufacturer suggested factory reset and it works only for one of the song. Below are the 2 songs, one is a Chinese song (no problem after factory reset). Singer: Katie Melua Song: Blues In The Night (cut off at about 3’31”; problem persists after factory reset) Singer: 张惠妹 Song: 默 (encountered 8 cut offs but no problem after factory reset) Does anyone else encountered the same problem and managed to fix it? Please share if you have. For users with M500 MKII, if you have the time, please try if your unit does the same.

@narfit1966

Жыл бұрын

Hi there, i can only say that with my Mk3 and streaming locally with the Katie Melua song i'm not experiencing any kind of cut-off or blip of any kind. Are you sure it's not your transporter supplying the signal to the DAC itself, this would be the first thing i would be looking at.

@boonwahphua2246

Жыл бұрын

@@narfit1966 good to hear your unit is fine. Problem has nothing to do with my sources. Tried various sources and brought it to the store that I bought from and same problem happened.

@narfit1966

Жыл бұрын

@@boonwahphua2246 Sorry I wasn't sure if you meant Spotify, Tidal etc or the Transporter/Streamer itself. For example I use a Raspberry PI 4 with a Allo Digione Signature powered by an linear PS that feeds my SMSL M500 MKIII via the coax input. Re-reading your original post, it seems strange that you don't get the issue when listening via headphones, so maybe it's something downstream of your MKII? interconnect cable's maybe, wouldn't have thought it was the amplifier but you never known. Another thought, I believe although i might be wrong that when i did my research on the SMSL M500 that there were two revisions of the MKII with the second revision fixing some issues, so i waited until the MKIII came out as it was only a few weeks. It's possible that might be the issue in that you have the first revision, i don't know if maybe there is a firmware update available or even possible, might be worth trying to contact SMSL directly, good luck anyway and happy listening 🙂

Will you also review the SK10 mkIII?

I don't get it. Why make headphone amp that is a bit lacklustre, but that is a phenomenal DAC. This was also the complaint about the MKII (would like to know how it compares to that one since it is still for sale IIWI is reviewing it apparently, he did the MK II as well). Great DAC headphone amp meh...

Very nice.

I am having a hard time making a choice between the M500 MKIII and the Topping DX7 Pro Plus (cost is not a factor). The things I care the *most* about are soundstage, depth, and detail. I mainly play video games (hence why soundstage/detail is important!) but also listen to many different types of music. For the time being, I am using the Hifiman Sundaras (subject to change at any time). I noticed you also reviewed the DX7 Pro+, so my question is: Which would you recommend between these two? While 1w of power on a headphone amp is nothing to sneeze at, the higher output on the DX7 Pro+ is somewhat attractive. With that said, would you say the M500 has plenty of power for the Sundaras? Thanks for the review!

@atom_rr

Жыл бұрын

What have you taken finally ? I'm in the same boat right now... 😁

How does it compare to the JDS Labs Element III MK2?

Hey what would you recommend between Chord Mojo vs SMSL M500 mkiii?

@bartt5281

Жыл бұрын

I ve compered Mojo with MK3 using Focal Clear OG and went for MK3 (didn't play with EQ). MK3 sounded fuller / more smooth to me, especially for loud listening.

Hi Sandu! Hope you're doing well, the M500 discount isn't working, it shows $529.99 on the apos site.

@D1N02

Жыл бұрын

Check Hifi-Express 450 dollars (In euro's 436 but that can change due to exchange rates) since it directly coupled to the dollar price

Of all the dumb things to make plastic, the one thing that you touch 99.999999% of the time is plastic and tiny. Effing brilliant!

@Soundnews

Жыл бұрын

🤣 so true!

I can't see in the manual that the 4.4mm output is a balanced output

@Soundnews

Жыл бұрын

4.4mm single ended (3-pole) doesn't exist...

@banxa

Жыл бұрын

@@SoundnewsNot truly balanced output kzread.info/dash/bejne/dmSerqqug8XFZ6g.html&ab_channel=ZReviews

Looks good but no discount

How would you compare it to the Topping D90 ?

@Soundnews

Жыл бұрын

You meant the original one, or the later D90SE/LE? If you meant the original one, which was moderately warm and sweet sounding, then M500 MkIII feels like a small upgrade - it's mostly as technical and clean, but a little punchier & deeper sounding and more fun at the same time. Not a huge difference, but it's a little better in those areas.

@borissikic8463

Жыл бұрын

@@Soundnews I'm interested in Topping D90SE/LE if you tried it ? Is it worth extra 200 bucks ?

@borissikic8463

Жыл бұрын

@@Soundnews I have Topping D30 Pro at the moment, and looking for a upgrade.

@Soundnews

Жыл бұрын

@@borissikic8463 Yep, I have tested the D90SE, here is my review: kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZX6lm7OooK-nfqQ.html - I found this one quite analytical and too linear for my taste

@Soundnews

Жыл бұрын

@@borissikic8463 If you want a Massive upgrade, then I recommend waiting for my SMSL SU-10 review

8-channel flagship DAC chip if someone can explain this to me I will give them a million $"s

Russian Accent

How does it compare with the xDuoo XA-10? Is it better?

@Soundnews

10 ай бұрын

Hi Dmitro, if you are going to use a unit in a stereo setup, then M500 MK3 would be my choice (more resolving, transparent and layered sounding). If you are going to use either of them in a headphone setup, then XA-10 would be my choice - considerably more powerful, tighter and more dynamic sounding, at the cost of being less resolving.

@user-ku1vd4jx5w

10 ай бұрын

@@Soundnews Perhaps the question will seem strange, I'm newb, does new one XA-10 need to warm up before listening or is the sound normal out of the box?