SMSL M500 MKIII Review - My Favorite ~$500 DAC

Video Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:55 - Design & Build
02:05 - Controls
02:34 - Tech inside it
03:35 - Sound Performance
06:27 - Soundstage
08:36 - Transient Response
10:01 - Detail Retrieval
11:04 - Headphone amp section
12:57 - Bass
13:33 - Midrange
14:23 - Treble
15:06 - My Conclusion

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#SMSL #M500 #MKIII

[Flavius]

A fan sounding SMSL...only their D2 flagship sounded smooth and musical enough for me. So it's a nice step forward. At the same time almost every DAC could sound musical & engaging being teamed up with the mighty Rognir😉 Great description, Sandu, excellent unit for a midrange price.

[JTB--]

Check out/review the SMSL SU-9 Pro DAC that's using the brand new ES9039MPRO DAC Chip if you can

[ActualFish]

The quality on this review is impeccable 🔥

[fredjohnson]

I had the MKII in my system for a while, I'm glad to hear they fixed the problems.

[morovis]

How does it compare with the xDuoo XA-10? Is it better?

[danielo]

I am having a hard time making a choice between the M500 MKIII and the Topping DX7 Pro Plus (cost is not a factor). The things I care the *most* about are soundstage, depth, and detail. I mainly play video games (hence why soundstage/detail is important!) but also listen to many different types of music. For the time being, I am using the Hifiman Sundaras (subject to change at any time).

I noticed you also reviewed the DX7 Pro+, so my question is: Which would you recommend between these two? While 1w of power on a headphone amp is nothing to sneeze at, the higher output on the DX7 Pro+ is somewhat attractive. With that said, would you say the M500 has plenty of power for the Sundaras?

Thanks for the review!

[anuragsaha]

How does it compare to the smsl do200 which you said was about the same level of D90se but warmer and livelier ?

[jazzabana]

Hello, how does it compare to smsl d1se, I wonder? I have one but I am very curious how this m500 mkiii would stack up against it?

[frantotti]

I have got ifi zen dac and can both combo, is it worth to upgrade them to SMSL M500 ? thanks great video 👍

[nusu]

thanks again for the great review! from those you have tested to date, which dac/amp combo under or all in one 1.000$ would have the deepest soundstage and presentation like sitting in the last row of a stadium instead of beeing placed among the musicans?
I know the headphones and even the recording plays a larger role in the presentation, but i am looking for the last 10%. Honestly i am leaning towards the xudoo xd05 pro with the akm card and burson opamps, as i like the option of to put it in a bag.
I have many headphones which could be consideres neutral/flat including planars and i mostly listen to music without vocals. but overall i am not too much into tonality but into soundstage depth and layering. dont care for a wide soundstage tho.

[zenmorris]

and at this price new features like sub bass management, bring summit new as all dacs are the same apart from balanced which is nice. and builtin usb noise filters with ground disconnect

[adriandumitru]

Salut Sandu. Ce-mi recomanzi intre Topping d70 pro octo si acest smsl m500 lll. Multumesc !

[CraciunAlexandruGh]

Would this be a good choice for Hifiman Edition XS ?

[boonwahphua]

Hi All, I have a M500 MKII which plays fine when output to headphone output. However, when it is output to XLR or RCA, I encountered cut off (unlike skip; that portion of the song is lost) at a certain point in the song regardless of the source. I experienced it with Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music and with DVD player connected to M500 MKII via optical cable. The cut off will happen at the same time stamp. So far I experienced this with 2 songs.

This unit I have is a brand new replacement unit after the 1st unit with above mentioned problem was returned to SMSL hoping they will investigate and provide solutions. Seems it may not be an isolated case with 2 units exhibiting same problem.

Manufacturer suggested factory reset and it works only for one of the song. Below are the 2 songs, one is a Chinese song (no problem after factory reset).

Singer: Katie Melua
Song: Blues In The Night (cut off at about 3’31”; problem persists after factory reset)

Singer: 张惠妹
Song: 默 (encountered 8 cut offs but no problem after factory reset)

Does anyone else encountered the same problem and managed to fix it? Please share if you have. For users with M500 MKII, if you have the time, please try if your unit does the same.

[duylevan]

Hello. I have SMSL mk3 and amplifier cambridge audio cxa81, focal 906, I plan to use MK3 instead of DAC on cambridge cxa81 is it better? If not, then maybe I will invest more cxn v2, thank

[virgogreg]

I love my SMSL M500mk3 like to see comparison of the new SQ to SU-10 sometime

[johnbeckmeyer]

Did you use a preamp or did you use the SMSL M500 MKIII to control the gain into your amps? Also, I understand that this can be switched to a passive mode. If so, did you use that setting? Really nicely done review on this unit and your overall presentation.

[ufopulse]

Mannnn im lookin for a good newer sounding smsl fun dac like the last years worth of products.. but I need that headphone amp.. How's the headphone amp? Does it crank and get down?

[오디오중쯩환자]

형제의 오디오 장비 리뷰는 항상 재미있어요 ^^
최고의 오디오 장비 채널 ^^

[DN]

I don't get it. Why make headphone amp that is a bit lacklustre, but that is a phenomenal DAC. This was also the complaint about the MKII (would like to know how it compares to that one since it is still for sale IIWI is reviewing it apparently, he did the MK II as well). Great DAC headphone amp meh...