[rootscript]

My money is where my mouth is, you can choose to disbelieve, no problem. On the point of USB digital signal to Dac, here is a link to review , of similar Schiit product: https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2015/09/schiit-wyrd-usb-decrapifier-review

I tend to aggree with you that the cable & or 'decrapifiers' can 'change' the sound from your DAC.  I was a little sceptical at first thinking digital 0s & 1s is digital verbatim.  Take a look at this video called "Audiophile USB Cables - Are they worth it?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKP1NAqvvJ4
 
A friend of mine told me that he auditioned /  trialled the whole suite of iFi products; the power solutions will no nothing if you don't have a problem with your USB power, and the 'purifiers' could change your system sound for better or worse, in his case it was worse.

 

[rootscript]

I've been thinking about this issue with filters & linear power supplies.  The way I see it is even if the 0s & 1s data comes across perfect, there still might be an opamp inside the DAC that controls the 2V signal out of the DAC.
So if your 5V power into the DAC is a little under, or the 5V regulators in the DAC are a liitle inaccurate, 'MAYBE' the DAC 'MIGHT' produce some distortion or crackle, which some people might (quite reasonable) believe is interference.
 
Recently I was told that you can get 'dirty power' where your AC is polluted with DC from other items in your room/system, so I decided to invest in a AG500 AC ReGenerator 500W, which takes your fluctuating AC from your mains power socket any provides a stable with no spikes AC output for all your sensitive equipment.
 
"AC ReGenerator is a true online double conversion system providing the highest degrees of power protection, with a stable unwavering high quality power waveform for sensitive and critical loads."
 
I think that cleaning up/regulating your power supplies is better than filtering out noise causing by dirty power, or other low/non stable power issues.  So prevent the problem, rather than try to remove the symptoms.
 
All of these power & filter remedies will totally be dependent on the rest of the system, which is why some people will swear that they can hear a difference & others can't.
 
I hope this information, based on my own personal experience, might help someone else with a similar problem, and maybe help others from spending too much fixing the symptoms rather than finding the root of the problem. )
 
I spent the week looking at 'decrapifiers' /  USB purifiers, because of what I thought might be interference, but I followed the advice from my knowledgable friend & invested in an AC Regenerator; and I have not had any problems at all.
 
Now that my system has the cleanest power possible, I am happy that I have reached the limits in terms of quality of my current Audioengine D1 DAC, and want to buy something like the SMSL M8.
If the power supply for the M8 is a SMPS (switched mode power supply), I may be tempted/'talk myslef into thinking I need it', and buy a SMSL P1 Linear power supply, but I am gonna wait and see, and just used the supplied wal wart to start with.  If I don't have any problems I'll stick with the supplied wal wart.  I think it is worth noting that the quality of SMPS can vary, it is quite easy to get a dud or model that hasn't been tested to within a particular tolerance (even from the same manufacturer).  The SMSL  P1 looks to on the list of items to test in the future.
But if I do have problems with the SMSL M8 (and have money to improve my system) I'll look 1st to a linear power supply (P1), 2nd to a decent shielded USB cable (no need to go to extremes, Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 0.5m is the best I would get (If I had some money to burn)).
My current mode of thinking (and the advice of my friend) is that USB filters WILL change the sound of your DAC (for better or worse), so 3rd I won't be looking at USB filters.
 
Reclockers are a totally different conversation I think, and repeaters in USB filter products might help some people 'FIX' their system with long USB cable runs (but it would be better to use a screened/shorter cable in the first place).
 
So just a final note to say that I can totally believe that some people can hear a difference & others can't, because it is dependent on the other items in your system (including your mains power supply on 'THAT' day).
 
If you do a search on youtube for 'Audiophile USB Cables - Are they worth it?', you'll find someone who has proof of a difference, but remember that is proof dependent on his setup, and the guy also states clearly that although he can prove that their is a 'difference', it is only his 'opinion' as to which is 'better'.

 

[bnsb]

Hi, Thanks for a detailed discussion on the subject of 1s and 0s . Regarding VMV SMSL stack ( P1, VA2 and M8) wait for good price. The dealers now and then offer a good discounted price. You will not be disappointed with the quality of the product.

 

[wersuss]

Hi.Yes, you are right just wait for good price, i bought my M8 for 175usd and P1 for 110. It was on ebay.co.uk

 

[bnsb]

I bought the whole stack  ebay.co.uk for GBP240, equal to about $360. The listed price then on ebay.com was $525 to $535. Lucky me

 

[DjBobby]

  On MD for $149.99 with just 9 people for a week. Ship date is a month from now though. I would really like to compare Modi 2U to this...damn

 
Thanks a lot for bringing this up. I was eyeballing last 3 massdrops, but could not decide to pull the trigger yet 

 

   
Willowbrook... based on my own experience with the M8 I doubt you would notice any glare or sibilance other than what is cooked into the recorded material you are listening to.  Brighter more aggressively mastered material will sound more harsh and sibilant.  I've found the M8 to be detailed and even warm sounding on well mastered material especially when paired with a nice amp like the Gustard H10, Asgard 2, Supreme Sound Lycan just to name those I've used.  I personally have come to the conclusion that the Sabre glare issue is overblown anyway.  I've yet to hear an implementation of a Sabre DAC where the DAC was more to blame for sibilance and glare than either source material or amplification.

 
Many thanks for this detailed review. SMSL M8 looks like a great deal, especially with a recent massdrop price of $150. 
Since I departed from Magni2U/Modi2U because of sibilance, I am cautious not to come into the similar sound sig. Still could not decide after reading on Burson's website about the ES9018 and PCM1973 modules.
http://www.bursonaudio.com/products/9018dac-pcb/
http://www.bursonaudio.com/products/1793dac-pcb/
 
As Burson stated that "The 1793 has the classic Burr Brown sound; it’s warm, engaging, relaxing, full of texture and a bit analog sounding without the ultimate resolution of the Sabre 9018." That sounds like ES9018 doesn't sound that warm, relaxing and analog. At the moment I am using SMSL Sanskrit 6, which uses WM8740 chip, and you could copy/paste the above remark about the 1793. Warm, relaxing, analog, but I am missing sometimes the higher resolution and more details.
Now eyeballing my 4th M8 Massdrop. 5 days left....

 

[hpamdr]

The Ess9018 is very detailled and can be bright if the output stage of the dac is not fast and controlled.. The SMSL M8 when well powered is not too bright at all but reach a high level of transparency and very dynamic response !
To really exploit the M8 use a 9V linear power as the P1 or the Panda LPS (if you want to stay with SMSL) or any other good linear power supply.. Use a short USB cable or the original one it is well built.
 
After, if you prefer warmer sound an do have flexibility with the amplifier you will find the best  settings at later stage. IMHO it is best to keep ad very transparent sound signature ad you can always tweek the later stages.

 

[Gozzie]

I received my SMSL M8 DAC this weekend.” Wow” was the first opinion I had. It was easy to install and to operate using the Jriver software player with windows 10. I noticed an immediate improvement over the DAC built into my older Onkyo receiver. The music has more clarity, detail and less distortion. It didn’t magically fix any bad sources but the good sources sounded so much better. Saturday I received a little Chinese 2 tube buffer preamp I purchased for $40.00. I placed it between the M8 DAC and the Onkyo receiver and my whole audio system opened up and came to life. I didn’t realize that these 2 little Chinese components could make such a difference to the music. The little tube buffer just seems to smooth out any harshness or rough edges and the music just became” easy to listen to”. I noticed myself listening to my songs at a little louder level and for much longer without getting that fatigue. I became a quick believer that the Chineese are really starting to put out some quality audio products. I just ordered a little tone board with treble, midrange and bass controls that I will install inside the tube buffer to help me really dial in the sounds to my liking. At these prices the SMSL M8 DAC in my opinion just cannot be beat. I am very happy with my purchase.
 
Gozzie

 

[davewolfs]

Probably a silly question but between the M8 and something like the Schiit Modi Uber or Bitfrost what can I expect?  I am using JBL 305's for now, but would likely expand this to something else later e.g. JBL 530's.

 

[rootscript]

Schiit Modi 2 uses AKM4396, Schiit Bifrost uses AKM Verita AK4490, SMSL M8 uses Sabre ES9018K2M.  If you are going to upgrade to JBL 530s th

  Probably a silly question but between the M8 and something like the Schiit Modi Uber or Bitfrost what can I expect?  I am using JBL 305's for now, but would likely expand this to something else later e.g. JBL 530's.

Schiit Modi 2 uses AKM4396, Schiit Bifrost uses AKM Verita AK4490, SMSL M8 uses Sabre ES9018K2M. Whatever DAC you buy, you will only really hear it's quality based on the rest of your system.  The JBL 305s may be the 'weakest link' in your system, so upgrading to a pretty decent pair of JBL 530s is a good idea (I think)

 
I've just upgraded my desktop system from Audioengine A2+ to B&W XT2; I'm still using my Audioengine D1 DAC until my SMSL M8 DAC arrives.  One thing I noticed after my upgrade to B&W is that my system sounds pretty awesome now, and any small tweaks to my system I CAN hear the difference.  When I was using the previous A2+ speakers I now realise that they 'deadened' the rest on my system.
 
So the moral of my little story is if you want to get the biggest improvement by adding a new DAC, you should also upgrade the weakest link in your system (which may be your JBL 305s).  The JBL 530 that you want to upgrade to are 6ohm & 86dB sensitivity, and it also looks like you can bi-wire them too. Depending on what you are going to power them with will determine how much fun you are going to have, but i think you are doing the right thing upgrading your speakers to some of that quality.
 
I think the SMSL M8 is a great building block due to the clarity & detail described by others above. I would prefer clarity DACs over warm DACs, as you can always add warmth with tubes at the pre-amp or amp stage & tailor any tube swapping to 'balance' your system to more clarity or warmth.
 
I hope that gives you a few ideas of where you can go once you get your JBL 530s 

 

[rootscript]

1 day left on the SMSL M8 DAC on MassDrop website: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/smsl-m8.  At 

$​

149​

.99 ​

I think this is a well advised buy 

 

 

[willowbrook]

  1 day left on the SMSL M8 DAC on MassDrop website: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/smsl-m8.  At 

$​

149​

.99 ​

I think this is a well advised buy 

 

DAC itself is an excellent buy, no doubt. However, people suggesting linear power makes a difference adds additional cost to about $300 total to get the most out of it. This turns some people off and the fact that there isn't an extensive review and detailed comparisons. I think it's an excellent deal for newcomers into standalone DAC, but if you already have a decent DAC might as well save up for something like bimby. Of course, if you are willing to spend that much on DAC your amp and headphones or IEMs or speakers would be somewhat high end. I still think it's an excellent deal, but not so much appealing for existing owners of other DAC.

 

[DjBobby]

 
DAC itself is an excellent buy, no doubt. However, people suggesting linear power makes a difference adds additional cost to about $300 total to get the most out of it. This turns some people off and the fact that there isn't an extensive review and detailed comparisons. I think it's an excellent deal for newcomers into standalone DAC, but if you already have a decent DAC might as well save up for something like bimby. Of course, if you are willing to spend that much on DAC your amp and headphones or IEMs or speakers would be somewhat high end. I still think it's an excellent deal, but not so much appealing for existing owners of other DAC.

On French website Qobuz there was a review of the SMSL M8, stating that using the power supply didn't get that much difference. They wrote: "

In essence, this addition proved to be nothing exceptional; the M8 works perfectly in its basic configuration."

Here is the Google translate (sometimes funny) translation of the original French review: http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/info/hi-res-guide/s-m-s-l-m8-reach-up-to-32-bit-384177528

 

[fritobugger]

 
On French website Qobuz there was a review of the SMSL M8, stating that using the power supply didn't get that much difference. They wrote: "

In essence, this addition proved to be nothing exceptional; the M8 works perfectly in its basic configuration."

Here is the Google translate (sometimes funny) translation of the original French review: http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/info/hi-res-guide/s-m-s-l-m8-reach-up-to-32-bit-384177528

 
The M8 is perfectly fine with the standard power supply that comes with it.  I used it with the standard power supply for quite some time before I found a deal on the P1 linear power supply.  Once I got the P1, I could not discern any difference in the sound quality.

 

[willowbrook]

 
On French website Qobuz there was a review of the SMSL M8, stating that using the power supply didn't get that much difference. They wrote: "

In essence, this addition proved to be nothing exceptional; the M8 works perfectly in its basic configuration."

Here is the Google translate (sometimes funny) translation of the original French review: http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/info/hi-res-guide/s-m-s-l-m8-reach-up-to-32-bit-384177528

Thanks for the link.

   
The M8 is perfectly fine with the standard power supply that comes with it.  I used it with the standard power supply for quite some time before I found a deal on the P1 linear power supply.  Once I got the P1, I could not discern any difference in the sound quality.

Good to hear that. 
 
Does anyone know where the SMSL M8 is shipped from if you order it through MD?