SMSL M300 £200 DAC BOASTS BALANCED OUT
SMSL has released its compact M300 USB DAC. For the price, the specs have us intrigued.
SMSL’s diminutive M300 DAC measures just 70mm x 160mm x 70mm (WxDxH) and sports Asahi Kasei’s top-tier AK4497 D/A converter.
For an asking price of £200, you get TOSLINK, coaxial and microUSB connections with the latter doubling its duties as a power input.
Within the CNC-machined aluminium case is a second-generation XMOS XCore200 Xu208, which supports PCM up to 32bit/768kHz and DSD512. Two independent Japanese NDK ultra low phase noise crystals provide ultra-low jitter clocks for 44.1K and 48K and their multipliers respectively.
Analogue outputs cover both single-ended RCA and balanced XLR. Having the option of balanced out is something seldom seen at this price bracket.
Up front, information is imparted by a high-resolution colour 1.5-inch IPS display protected by a tempered glass front panel.
Additionally, something rarely known at this budget is that you have a choice of finish as the SMSL M300 comes in black, red and blue.
On paper, at least, the SMSL M300 looks to be a good buy for your office/computer system. Our only sticking point is the use of microUSB over asynchronous Type-B USB, but it will be handy for those using a portable device as their source also, it does have SPDIF and Optical.
It looks like the SMSL M300 will be soon available on Amazon too. It can be had in Europe for €249,00.
Tech Spec
- Input interface: USB, optical, coaxial
- Output level: RCA 2Vrms XLR 4Vrms
- THD+N: 0.0004%
- Dynamic range: RCA 120dB XLR 123dB
- SNR: 116dB
- USB transfer mode: asynchronous transfer
- USB compatibility: windows 7/8/8.1/10 Mac OSX10.6 or higher, Linux
- Bit depth: USB: 1bit-32bit
- Optical / Coaxial: 16bit-24bit
- Sampling rate: USB: 44.1kHz-768kHz DSD64, DSD128, DSD256, DSD512
- Optical / Coaxial: 32-192kHz
- Power consumption: 1.8W
- Standby power: <0.1W
- Size: 70x70x160mm (WxHxD)
- Weight: 0.5kg
Jay Garrett
StereoNET’s resident rock star, bass player, and gadget junkie. Jay heads up StereoNET as Editor for the United Kingdom and Europe regions. His passion for gadgets and Hi-Fi is second only to being a touring musician.
Posted in: Hi-Fi
JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION
Want to share your opinion or get advice from other enthusiasts? Then head into the Message
Forums where thousands of other enthusiasts are communicating on a daily basis.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE MEMBERSHIP
Trending
applause awards
Each time StereoNET reviews a product, it is considered for an Applause Award. Winning one marks it out as a design of great quality and distinction – a special product in its class, on the grounds of either performance, value for money, or usually both.
Applause Awards are personally issued by StereoNET’s global Editor-in-Chief, David Price – who has over three decades of experience reviewing hi-fi products at the highest level – after consulting with our senior editorial team. They are not automatically given with all reviews, nor can manufacturers purchase them.
The StereoNET editorial team includes some of the world’s most experienced and respected hi-fi journalists with a vast wealth of knowledge. Some have edited popular English language hi-fi magazines, and others have been senior contributors to famous audio journals stretching back to the late 1970s. And we also employ professional IT and home theatre specialists who work at the cutting edge of today’s technology.
We believe that no other online hi-fi and home cinema resource offers such expert knowledge, so when StereoNET gives an Applause Award, it is a trustworthy hallmark of quality. Receiving such an award is the prerequisite to becoming eligible for our annual Product of the Year awards, awarded only to the finest designs in their respective categories. Buyers of hi-fi, home cinema, and headphones can be sure that a StereoNET Applause Award winner is worthy of your most serious attention.