S.M.S.L M500 DAC Headphone Amp Supports MQA decoding ES9038PRO D/A chip USB Uses XMOS XU-216 with Remote Control (Black)
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Availability:
Only 4 left in stock, order soon!
Arrives
Jul 31 – Aug 21
Color: Black
Features
- USB input supports MQA decoding
- M500 uses top performance ES9038PRO D/A chip from ESS Technology
- XMOS XU-216, true 32bit audio processing, supports DoP and Native DSD, and reaches 32bit/768kHz and DSD512
- Ultra-low phase noise and optimized clock processing circuit are used to achieve ultra-low clock jitter
- 3 high-end dual op-amps LME49720 are used. The M500 enables low noise density and low distortion for maximum dynamic range and provides high output drive capability
Manufacturer: S.M.S.L
Mounting Type: Surface Mount
Brand: S.M.S.L
Package Dimensions: 11.14 x 7.32 x 4.49 inches
Item Weight: 2.82 pounds
Item model number: S.M.S.L M500
Date First Available: August 29, 2019
Manufacturer: S.M.S.L
Frequently asked questions
If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is:
Jul 31 – Aug 21
Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.
To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.
View our full returns policy here.
To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.
View our full returns policy here.
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Top Amazon Reviews
Color: Black
Overall, I'm very satisfied with this unit. I've owned many headphone amplifiers and digital-to-analog converters - all in the budget range. I've tried Schiit products, however I have had very bad luck with them losing functionality for unknown reasons, and having to replace them. In my experience, which does not seem to be the experience of others, Schiit lacks quality control. Prior to this, I'm coming from an SMSL SAPII PRO headphone amplifier running off of my Focusrite Scarlett interface as a DAC, into Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro headphones. Recently, although being very happy with my DT 880's for the last two years, I took the plunge on a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro headphones. I needed a suitable DAC/Amp unit that would fully utilize what these fantastic headphones have to offer. I've been very impressed with the SMSL SAPII PRO headphone amplifier. For the price I paid for it, it has lasted nearly two years with no issues whatsoever. It's volume output is fantastic, and drives headphones rated at 250 to 300 ohms with plenty of headroom to spare. Due to this, the first brand I looked into was SMSL - and they appeared to have exactly what I was looking for. The M500, utilized as a DAC/Amp combo, seemed like a very affordable option. As a Tidal HiFi subscriber for several years, and never having owned an MQA capable DAC, I wanted something that could decode the MQA audio in my collection. I also wanted an all-in-on sort of unit if possible, and at this price point there seems to be no competition - MQA capable DAC units seem to run twice the price of this item, if not more. There are a couple of negative aspects to this unit that I have noticed, although they are certainly acceptable to me. The first is very minor - it would be nice if this had an XLR output for headphones that can utilize this. I do not own any, but it would be a nice feature for future-proofing. It does have left and right balanced XLR outputs on the rear of the device, I assume for studio monitors. Secondly, the volume output of the amplifier is significantly lower than my SMSL SAPII PRO unit, although I did know this before purchasing. This is not a problem currently, however, as it drives headphones with a 250 ohm impedance rating perfectly fine - with a maximum volume of 40, comfortable listening volume for me is between 25 and 28 on most tracks. On quieter tracks or albums, especially noticeable with MQA content, I found myself turning the volume all the way up to 35 on occasion. More headroom would be nice, and I do not believe the amplifier in this unit would drive headphones with a 600 ohm impedance rating competently - just something to be aware of. Thirdly, the most annoying issue I have found - if I find a fix for this, I will update my review - has to do with the playback of MQA content without any software decoding of the source material, and fully utiliziing the DAC. When switching between tracks, or albums, or bit-rates, there is an approximately one second stutter (or delay) at the beginning of each track that clips the audio off of the beginning. Perhaps this has to do with my buffer size, but trying different values did not seem to fix the issue. DSD playback seems to work and sounds great, although I do not have enough DSD content (nor have I listened to enough) to full analyze this feature, but I appreciate having the option to do so. I look forward to listening to more music on this unit every day, and am very happy with my purchase. Hopefully it will have the same reliability and longevity as my previous SMSL product has had. Thanks for reading.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2020 by J. Eldridge
Color: Black
Would like to help people who may be seeing negative reviews and thinking whether or not to buy this or not. I received mine today, September 3, 2021. Thing works perfectly out of the box. I'm thinking there will be a little break-in period for the sound quality -- I'm listening to some high-res 24/96 content right now I know pretty well and it sounds a little bright. I have my M500 connected over a hifi USB cable from Wireworld connected to Roon and Qobuz. Once I installed the drivers from the SMSL website it showed up in Roon as a SMSL Wasapi Dac which is the bit-perfect output of Windows. Works perfectly with Roon and Qobuz. Using my low impedance Grado SR225x I find the max volume is about at 50% or 20 out of 40 volume positions. Testing my Beyer Dynamic DT990 Pro 250-ohm headphones I find the max volume of 100% 40/40 drives the headphones to about 75% of their maximum volume. So it can work with both low resistance dynamic drivers as well as high resistance drivers. I do not have a set of planar magnetic headphones to test so I can't really tell you if the M500 can drive them or not. When I was looking at this amp/dac combo I was also looking at the Topping EX5 and DX7 Pro. The EX5 has a higher milli-watt output but uses the 9038Q2M dac chip (a dac designed for mobile applications) where the M500 uses the 9038Pro. The DX7 Pro is probably the product to buy but it's kind of expensive and takes a while to ship from Asia. The DX7, like the M500 both use the 9038Pro dac but the difference is the IC layout quality and the DX7 has a higher milli-watt output and more front connector options. Because I wanted next day shipping and normally use low resistance dynamic driver headphones I decided to buy the M500. I only needed the quarter inch output anyway. One of the additional things that sold me was that it was fulfilled by Amazon with 1-day shipping. I can tell you Amazon stuck to their next-day shipping it arrived the same day I ordered it. The jack tolerances on the rear connectors are rather tight. I had to align my USB cable perfectly for it to insert. I don't use MQA so I don't have any comments about that. When you play music on the M500 higher than 44.1 or 48 khz it will show you on the screen a high-res audio logo which is kind of neat. Sound quality overall is excellent. I have not had any issues with playback it's working totally perfectly. Mine shipped with Sofware firmware version 1.7 and hardware firmware 1.3 dated May 30th, 2020. I have not had any issues with the stock/shipped firmware. This is my first time owning one of these 9038Pro Dac units and it sounds clean and well detailed. I am listening to some stuff on this M500 I normally listen to on my living-room hifi system and I can hear details I don't normally hear on that system using my Grados and M500 together. Overall this is a great buy compared to competitors. The menu system is really simple and you don't have to worry about switches and complications. I would recommend this unit for people with low to middle resistance headphones. If you have high resistance headphones you might want to look at the DX7 pro if you can justify the price premium. I would buy the M500 again it really sounds great.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2021 by Douglas B.
Color: M500 Mkiii
I ordered the M500 MK3 to replace a Topping A30Pro/D30Pro stack I've been using on my desktop, because the power supply on the Topping A30Pro amp popped literally a month after the warranty period ended (search google for "A30pro relay click" and you'll see similar reports of this issue). Lesson learned. The M500 is not a bad all-in-one option. It's relatively cheap for the feature set, and the audio quality is pretty good. I did have a couple of issues with it, which are annoying and why I'm returning it. Options used: - input was set to USB (from PC) - HPA Gain was set to LOW - screen dimmer set to 15 seconds - PCM Filter set to "Brick Wall" - Sound Color set to "Standard" Issues I had with the M500: - hiss on the left channel on the 4.4mm headphone output when using IEMs. Troubleshooting narrowed this down to the USB connection to the PC, so likely a ground loop. Easily fixed, but annoying, and something that didn't happen with any of my other devices. - an odd 'silence' lasting about 1 second at the beginning of every song or video stream, which I haven't been able to figure out why it's happening. It's almost like the M500 goes into 'sleep' mode after a period of inactivity (which I wouldn't expect it to unless I push the knob in front). I didn't experience this with any other of my DACs or DAC/amp units I tested in the same configuration (Qudelix 5k, iFi xDSD Gryphon, Schiit Jotunheim 2 w/ multibit card, Schiit Ragnarok 2 w/ Multibit Card, Topping D30Pro connected to Shortest Way 51+ tube amp). For something with a $500+ price tag, it's not worth my time to keep digging further.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2023 by Paul S.