[bwcgrx]

 
The reviewer on UK Amazon wrote that anyway, the oled display starts fading away after some time: 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/M8-Optical-Coaxial-Asynchronous-Decoder/dp/B00XVSX8Z2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459837979&sr=8-1&keywords=smsl+m8

 
I've noticed the same issue with the oled display of the M8 becoming dimmer.  It was brought to my attention recently when I changed the input from USB to coax and all the led elements that are not normally lit up on the display when in USB mode were much brighter.
 
It's been a fabulous unit and a great deal at the Massdrop price of around $150.  The longevity of the oled display is a bit of concern however as I've only owned the unit since around September of last year.  Being able to turn the display off would have been a nice feature.

 

[fritobugger]

  I'm looking at PSU alternatives. $140 seems a lot to pay for the P1 given the original cost of the M8. Has anyone tried the HiFiMeDIY options including http://hifimediy.com/power-supplies/ready-made-power-supplies/0-to-32-adjustable-power-supply ($55) or even http://hifimediy.com/power-supplies/ready-made-power-supplies/PSM3plus-Power-supply-110V ($30). The latter is designed specifically for the Sabre DAC, is rated at only 8v, and is probably half way between the P1 and Walmart. I have also had it confirmed that it is linear so I see no reason why it shouldn't work.

 
 
The 0 to 32 adjustable unit just has positive/negative banana post outputs on the back so it would take some DIY to make an interconnect for the M8.  The PSM3plus unit doesn't output 9v which is what the M8 needs. 

 

[Triplefun]

 ... and the 'cheap' Walmart 9v switched power unit is guaranteed 9v+/-?  The hifidiy people have assured me that the NZ standard 240v will realise 9v DC from the linear psm3plus psu. It's not in stock at the moment but I will try one when available to see if it makes a difference. A linear psu for a dac should always be superior to a switched psu. If the improvement is half way between the Walmart 9v switched supplied with the smsl m8 and the $140 p1 then I consider the $30 well spent.

 

[misfits73]

Sound wise, what's the best connection between PC and DAC, optical or USB?
WASAPI or ASIO?
Not interested for DSD playback, just up to 24/96 files

 

[willowbrook]

  Sound wise, what's the best connection between PC and DAC, optical or USB?
WASAPI or ASIO?
Not interested for DSD playback, just up to 24/96 files

Opinion varies among people, some people think one way is inferior and some think both are the same. If you have problem with USB, it would be wise to use optical. They are both digital, so unless you notice a serious problem, I doubt you'd notice the difference.

 

[hpamdr]

 ... and the 'cheap' Walmart 9v switched power unit is guaranteed 9v+/-?  The hifidiy people have assured me that the NZ standard 240v will realise 9v DC from the linear psm3plus psu. It's not in stock at the moment but I will try one when available to see if it makes a difference. A linear psu for a dac should always be superior to a switched psu. If the improvement is half way between the Walmart 9v switched supplied with the smsl m8 and the $140 p1 then I consider the $30 well spent.

If you want to replace the original power supply, you must get a better one. Most of the small power unit are not as well regulated than the one you got.
If you go for diy, you will need a transformer prefer a toroidal with two secondary of 6 to 8v and power a linear power supply board kit, put all into a metalic cabinet, get iec socket and cable, and a 2A plug to connect m8. With this bom, you can have an idea of the final cost.

 

[bnsb]

I had a fair bit of struggle installing ASIO over Foobar2000. Out of curiosity I downloaded 30 days trial version of JRiver. There is no noticeable change in sound reproduction. But I liked two things here a) You can set DirectX ASIO or Xmos options from drop down menu, simple as it gets b) You can set output to Headphone, tones down the whole sound stage to pleasant non-fatigue mode. Good for long sessions or loud music.
Down side is you have to pay $50. 

 

[willowbrook]

  I had a fair bit of struggle installing ASIO over Foobar2000. Out of curiosity I downloaded 30 days trial version of JRiver. There is no noticeable change in sound reproduction. But I liked two things here a) You can set DirectX ASIO or Xmos options from drop down menu, simple as it gets b) You can set output to Headphone, tones down the whole sound stage to pleasant non-fatigue mode. Good for long sessions or loud music.
Down side is you have to pay $50. 

I would recommend Musicbee, it already supports wasapi and asio. Very friendly UI and free!

 

[bnsb]

Have read about Musicbee but have not tried it. Is it not a one man band? Sorry could have googled and found out!

 

[rootscript]

Just a little report back about my experience with my SMSL M8 (purchased via massdrop).
 
I use it connected to my Mac via USB using a Light Harmonic LightSpeed 10G USB cable.
 
I have an old Panasonic DVD-L10, that has been sitting around for 10 years, so I tried connecting it to the M8 DAC via an optical cable (Fisual Pearl Mini Toslink to Toslink Optical Cable 0.5m) very good quality for an £8 optical cable.
 
I use the switch on the front of the M8 to change between USB & optical, and I am pretty happy being able to listen to some of my old CDs.
 
In regards to the M8 filter settings, I seemed to have settled on 'Slow', rather than 'Mini' or 'Fast'.
 
I have also tried connecting the Mac Mini to the M8 via Mini Toslink to Toslink, and it also sounds pretty good (Optical is a good choice if you want to help eliminate any 'noise' that might effect the signals that normally happen from computer to DAC via USB cables), and you can get great optical cables for very little money (Fisual Pearl Toslink is a good starter cable).
 
For a Music Player, I have just started a trial of Roon Player, it is available for Mac & Windows (Android Tablets and Ipads (smaller UI apps for phones coming soon, I believe)), the best part about this player is that it has great MetaData support, but it is also Networkable, so I can have my Mac Mini connected to my M8 DAC & amplifier & speakers, and use roon to play my music, but can also control everything from other devices or computers.  You can have more than one 'End Point', so you could have three different music systems (with 3 different DACs etc...) around the house & play your collection to any of them.
Here is a link to try out the player, Window & Mac (It has SO many hidden features) http://roonlabs.com/downloads.html
 
Here is another link to the Youtube channel from the 'The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel' that explains a little about the player: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrRfhWcLoqA
and the part 2 video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEDRA54q5nM
 
And an older video giving a simpler overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1LvfgOQ3JY
 
One Thing I like about Roon, is when I put any Flac files into my Roon music folder, it can automatically tidy them up putting them under Artists > Albums etc...
 
The is still one input connection (Coaxial) left unused on the back of the M8 DAC, so for people who have lots of DACs or sources, you can switch between them quite easily.  I never really thought of using the M8 as a source selector, but it works quite well for me.  To recap I use the USB in play music from my Mac Mini, the Toslink in to play CDs from my external player, and I have Coaxial left over for another input.  The M8 is connected to my tube amp & speakers, it is all quite convenient.
 
No rocket science here, just a simple bit of feedback explaining how useful I find the M8.

 

[Nelska]

Hello everybody,
 
Firstly my apologies for my very perfectible English, I'm French.
I desperately tried to test Daphile with my SMSL M8. In the Daphile audio device settings, the M8 look like well recognized (xMOS USB Audio 2.0) but I can't get any sound.

Thank you in advance if anyone have an experience about this problem and can help me to configure Daphile settings for this dac.
Maybe i forgot something in other settings ? maybe i missed a new SMSL firmware ?

My M8 work very well with Audioengine D2 Dac ... So I guess the problem don't come from the M8...
 

Thank you for your help !

 

[lenroot77]

Anyone not wanting to wait for massdrop on one of these little guys? Send me a pm!

 

[Triplefun]

Anyone not wanting to wait for massdrop on one of these little guys? Send me a pm!

fyi, I live in NZ I ordered one of these from MassDrop on 14 March; the deal closed 16 March; the order shipped to Massdrop from SMSL on 23 March; was shipped to me on 26 March with tracking number; and I received it in NZ (from Germany?) on 5 April. I have no complaints, especially considering the price I paid.

 

[lenroot77]

fyi, I live in NZ I ordered one of these from MassDrop on 14 March; the deal closed 16 March; the order shipped to Massdrop from SMSL on 23 March; was shipped to me on 26 March with tracking number; and I received it in NZ (from Germany?) on 5 April. I have no complaints, especially considering the price I paid.

Was referring to the current drop having 5 days left. Massdrop is usually quick with shipping once they receive the products from the manufacturer.

 

[hpamdr]

  Hello everybody,
 
Firstly my apologies for my very perfectible English, I'm French.
I desperately tried to test Daphile with my SMSL M8. In the Daphile audio device settings, the M8 look like well recognized (xMOS USB Audio 2.0) but I can't get any sound.

Thank you in advance if anyone have an experience about this problem and can help me to configure Daphile settings for this dac.
Maybe i forgot something in other settings ? maybe i missed a new SMSL firmware ?

My M8 work very well with Audioengine D2 Dac ... So I guess the problem don't come from the M8...
 

Thank you for your help !

With Daphile and M8, you have to tick the both Mixers Control and use bitperfect volume control.