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SMSL M8

Audiophile

Showing 1 of 298 conversations about:

SMSL M8

Henrik_sdk

Feb 18, 2016

smsl m8 or save up ford chord 2qute?

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userfriendly

Feb 19, 2016

Henrik_sdkI would say get m8 due to the huge price difference between the two and if you are not happy splurge on the 2qute. I can't really see someone super regretting the m8 at this price point. It's a pretty nice bang for your buck. You can always relegate the m8 to backup or a work computer once you get the 2qute.

Villy

Feb 19, 2016

Henrik_sdkI read a whole bunch of reviews, mostly professional, all of them glowing, almost all saying it's performance when paired with the P1 comes close to that of $1k+ DACs, and ridiculously close at that, even exceeding the big boys in some comparisons. I don't have stand-alone DAC (not that I really need one) and my finger itches sooooo bad to pull the trigger that I might as well.

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phpp

Feb 19, 2016

VillyWould you mind linking a couple of these reviews here?

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Villy

Feb 19, 2016

phppSure, here are few I pulled quickly:
http://www.musicservertips.com/product-reviews/smsl-m8-dac/ http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/info/hi-res-guide/s-m-s-l-m8-reach-up-to-32-bit-384177528 http://culturehd.com/hifi/smsl-m8-le-champion-des-mini-dac_9429
The last one is in french, so open it in Chrome with translation (not a great translation but relays the essence).

Leffe

Feb 20, 2016

VillyNice links, will be helpful to those who aren't familiar ^^ There is also a head-fi thread, not too big though.

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Villy

Feb 20, 2016

LeffeYeah, I joined as well, this is a really good deal if one need/can find use for a stand-alone dac. And got P1 on the way too - don't think there will be a drop on it, and even if there's one who knows when and at what price point (I got a good buy on it). I'll be hooking it to a balanced amp, will see how that's going to play out, in particular isolating the ground loop noise - I think I planned for that very well and hopefully my plan will yield the desired results. That is, high quality sound on a budget, or something nobody believes is possible, but we'll see, we'll see...

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Leffe

Feb 20, 2016

VillyHope you'll do a brief comparison on difference on stock vs linear power. People tend to overhype things when proper comparison hasn't been done. I have a modi 2U and I'm hoping this will be a worthwhile investment into getting a DAC to be transparant. However, I do not expect this to be a huge upgrade. I guess time will tell.

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Villy

Feb 20, 2016

LeffeI will post impressions, sure. Doubt you'll hear starking difference to 2U, though it is likely that you will hear some noticeable difference, probably improvement in details and maybe some clarity due to the M8's superior chip. Some people are obviously more discerning than other so ymmv, but in general advancements in technology can be heard. Recently I read a guy's posting in a discussion on head-fi where he was stunned by the improvement in sound he heard from supposedly inferior dac, actually a 'cheap' dac he purchased as a stopgap while his high-priced but old device went for repair. He thought he was just patching his system temporarily and was willing to bear whatever noise comes out of it, actually ended up improving it by a lot. So it is possible that one can hear starking difference too, and if that happens to you I'm sure you'll take it any day of the week :) I'll post impression, promise.

Leffe

Feb 20, 2016

VillyAny slight difference is noticeable, but the degree of that difference heavily depends on how resolving your system is. Right now, I have a setup of full boat H10 with HE-560 and it is really detailed compared to a setup I had a year ago which was a M/M stack with DT880. Luckily Modi 2U does well with full boat H10 pairing, but I do have experience with NFB-11 DAC which uses sabre chip and I miss the sound greatly. The amp section was on the almost neutral side warm, so it was overly bright when paired with anything which is why I sold it. For DAC, people say the what chip is not important, but the implementation is and that is true. However, chips do make a difference in sound and IMO it's always good to have the most transparent DAC as possible because you can always color the tone with your amp whether it be a tube amp or op amp rolling with SS. That being said, I can always sell my off my Modi 2U or the M8 after deciding which one to keep with minimal loss. Both are very popular DACs and secondhand deals don't come around often because I'm assuming people keep theirs which is good. ^^

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indi_guy

163

Feb 21, 2016

VillyHi Villy, which cheap DAC are you talking about? Link if possible?

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Villy

Feb 21, 2016

indi_guyI think it was Teac UD-301, which is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination....for some....for others though it is not all, and so $300-400 DAC may be viewed as cheap if one can afford device costing many times more. Don't recall what was the DAC it was supposed to replace temporarily, I spotted accidentally the posting while looking for impressions on the Teac. Such is the state of audiophilia today, and has been actually for long time - lot's of overpriced and overhyped paperweights, and some gems with extremely modest price tags such as the M8 (I hope it turns out that way).
BTW, from what I read UD-301 is excellent when used as stand-alone DAC, but it ain't cheap in my book and I have stand-alone amp anyhow.

indi_guy

163

Feb 22, 2016

VillyWell add $150 to that as customs and shipping for me. No thank you. I am looking for SMSL M8 for next drop but again the customs kill the deal.

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