[wwmhf]

I got mine this morning. I have been playing with for the last several hours. It sounds good. In particular, the configuration PC->USB->Gustard U12->Coaxial -> SMSL M8 sounds better than PC->USB-> SMSL M8. I have found all the needed parts for building a linear power supply. I just need some time to put them together and I hope that can enhance the sound further.

 

[louisjames]

Have you tried the different filter settings?  I found "Fast" was a bit too "shrill" with my setup, "Slow" a bit muffled and thought "Mini" worked the best. Will probably try a "USB Cleaner" at some point and still playing around with cables. So far the Pangea 4% Silver sounds the best for my rig. I A/B'd it against a Wireworld Starlight 7 and found the Pangea a bit louder and fuller sounding but with somewhat less detail. But overall a much easier listen and 1/3rd the price. Logic says it's just 0's and 1's and well made cables should sound the same but I certainly did not find that to be the case.

 

[louisjames]

Btw, is there a way to confirm having the 32bit version instead of the 24bit one?

 

[wwmhf]

  Btw, is there a way to confirm having the 32bit version instead of the 24bit one?

 
If you are using Foobar2000, under
 
Preference->Output->Device/WASAPI
 
you can try different "output date format": 16-bit, 24-bit, 32-bit ...

 

[louisjames]

Thanks. I'm using Audirvana on an iMac but just checked my Massdrop receipt and supposedly it is the latest version. I'll double check in either case. Can't say enough good things about this little guy. Especially for the price.

 

[DjBobby]

I got mine this morning. I have been playing with for the last several hours. It sounds good. In particular, the configuration PC->USB->Gustard U12->Coaxial -> SMSL M8 sounds better than PC->USB-> SMSL M8. I have found all the needed parts for building a linear power supply. I just need some time to put them together and I hope that can enhance the sound further.

Could you describe the difference, how does Gustard change the sound in comparison to straight USB to M8?

 

[hpamdr]

Howto use M8 with moOde audio player on rpi2 to play music from your NAS, and control from your phone wireless !
 
Get Rpi2, blank µSD >= 2Go, network cable, 5V 2A power supply with µUSB.
// and a computer

• Download moOde Player >= 2.5 SD image unzip it ! http://modeaudio.org
• Copy image on SDCard using  a tool like win32 disk imager
• Apply fix for fast usb dac : Fix: Add dwc_otg.fiq_fsm_mask=0x3 to the beginning of line in cmdline.txt of the µSD card.
• Plug all and boot your rPi2, ater you just have to configure from the web interface,
  • configure external USB audio,
  • add your sources
  • extend sdcard
• You are ready to play and drive from your phone/computer
• You can aldo add wifi dongle, external usb drive ....
• you can update rpi firmware but do not update the system !

 
moOde audio player is actively maintained, works well almost out of the box, you have a wonderfull support from the developer ! and It sound great....
 
rpi3 is not yet supported unless you give a look to the DIY forum and do it the hard way !

 

[ozrick]

   
I have the SMSL stack and having used many Soundblaster products down the years, I would say the SMSL would blow its sorry arse out of the water.  The SMSL lacks support for surround sound though, so if that is important to you I would look for something else.

 
I wouldn't dis too hard on the Soundblaster line unless you've already tried the X-Fi Titanium HD and/or ZxR cards.  With those, they really upped their game over the only other card of theirs I had, the X-Fi Fatal1ty.
 
I've just received my SMSL M8 from Massdrop today.  No driver install as I'm just using the optical input on it.  I'm upgrading (hopefully) from the SMSL sd-793II.  No issues yet.  My setup is Foobar->Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium HD->optical->M8->Yamaha CR-2040->CV DX9's.  The SB's rca outs are already feeding a Corsair sp2500 which only takes rca's.  Sounds great but definitely different than the pcm179x dacs both the sd-793II & Soundblaster use.  I'll give it a couple of days for any 'burn-in' to be had and see what I've got here.
 
I found a white paper that goes into these enigmatic filter settings of which, using optical, I'm only playing with 3 of.  The Fast, Slow, and MINI filters.  The TLDR seems to be 'use MINI'.  It's worth noting that the M8 manual describes their MINI filter as encompassing a Fast roll-off.  According to the white paper, the best implementation of it (and next gen of that filter) would be to have a slow-roll off.  Still sounds good to me though,.. and still only just started my burn in.
 
The white paper: https://www.ayre.com/pdf/Ayre_MP_White_Paper.pdf

 

[wwmhf]

 
Could you describe the difference, how does Gustard change the sound in comparison to straight USB to M8?

 
Through U12, the sound is more solid, a little louder, more layered.
 
Also, the difference is very much different when the music is up-sampled. With M8's USB, the music sounds softer and slower. 

 

[calipilot227]

Got mine in yesterday. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to send it back. I couldn't get the USB input to work on any of my computers (Windows 7 and Windows 10). Even after installing the drivers, I couldn't get the computer to recognize it. Tried several USB cables as well. Anyone else having this problem? Optical and coax inputs work just fine.

 

[Triplefun]

I was about to close on the SMSL M8 on massdrop (4 days to go) for US$160 when I discovered the TEMPOTEC Serenade DSD which can be had on ThanksBuyer (yet another Chinese online gadget shop with Paypal) for US$152 - http://www.thanksbuyer.com/tempotec-serenade-dsd-dxd-32bit-384khz-music-workstation-usb-sound-card-audio-decoder-46219?keyword=serenade. Its also available on Amazon for US$169 (http://www.amazon.com/TEMPOTEC-Serenade-32Bit-384KHz-Sound/dp/B00V67JXKY)
 
It incorporates a C-Media CM6632A USB processor,  Burr Brown PCM1795 DAC, 2 TPA6130A2 headphone amplifier and processes native DSD64,DSD128,DSD256 and DSD512 as well as 32 Bit/352.8KHz and 32 Bit/384 KHz PCM. I have ordered one and will compare it with my Schitt LOKI.
 
I would be interested to know if anyone else has tried one of these. I realise it is not a sabre ES9018 dac but this could also be its strength. There are very few useful reviews other than Quobuz (http://www.qobuz.com/ie-en/info/hi-res-guide/bancs-d-essai/tempotec-serenade-dsd-improved177846).

 

[fritobugger]

  Got mine in yesterday. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to send it back. I couldn't get the USB input to work on any of my computers (Windows 7 and Windows 10). Even after installing the drivers, I couldn't get the computer to recognize it. Tried several USB cables as well. Anyone else having this problem? Optical and coax inputs work just fine.

 
 
Try downloading the latest drivers.  Good luck.
 
Love the FZ quote.

 

[willowbrook]

Where can I get the latest driver? Smsl site is blocked by ESET for some reason...

 

[fritobugger]

Where can I get the latest driver? Smsl site is blocked by ESET for some reason...

Links have been posted in previous pages.

 

[calipilot227]

   
 
Try downloading the latest drivers.  Good luck.
 
Love the FZ quote.

 
Did that, no joy. Windows won't even register that it's connected in the device manager. Sent an email to Massdrop to start the exchange process.