SOtM smS-200 unveiled at Munich Hi-End

[tboooe]

4 hours ago, jtwrace said:

I think the Ultra is going to be $1k though...

Wow, if this is true I will have a hard time justifying getting it over the standard SMS-200. While i am sure the clocks make a difference I do not think my hearing nor my system will be able to appreciate the full extent of the improvements.  

[tedwoods]

4 hours ago, tboooe said:

Wow, if this is true I will have a hard time justifying getting it over the standard SMS-200. While i am sure the clocks make a difference I do not think my hearing nor my system will be able to appreciate the full extent of the improvements.  

I was quoted a couple of hundred more than 1K (same price for either of the ultra products), which effectively puts them both out of my budget range...

The good news is that the sms-200 sounds really good already, so no major worries there...

Also, the sps-500, sotm's new power supply, is around $500, and depending on its design features and sound, which is an unknown for now, it night just fit the bill, although the sbooster that I use now sounds too good for me to justify the expense... 

[gionaz]

my SMS200 sounds wonderful!

but I sell it to switch to the new ULTRA... 

(even though the Ultra costs a lot more!)

[Nouchka]

Hi,

 

Do you know if this new SOTM unit "SMS-200 Ultra" can be powered by ultracap LPS-1?

I'm owner of a SMS-200 with ultracap lps-1 and I really love this combo, so for me going to "sms-200 Ultra" required this one to be compatible with the power supply ultracap lps-1

 

CAT

[MayfromSOtM]

On 2017. 3. 27. at 11:42 AM, tboooe said:

Thank you.  In particular I am interested in playing native DSD through my Singxer SU-1.

Not yet completely confirmed, sorry for the delay. But currently our engineer team is preparing the kernel 4.10 to test for the native DSD playback. When stability test will be finished, we're going to release the new kernel for sMS-200. 
 

[phusis]

13 hours ago, jtwrace said:

I think the Ultra is going to be $1k though...

 

If that's the going price I'll just keep concentrating on refining the potential of my "regular" sMS-200 in the near future with an even better, linear power supply and playback software (ROON) - all of which I had planned anyway. Steve Plaskin's recent review over at audiostream.com sheds some light on the sound of the sMS-200 with different PSU's, btw.

 

Seeing the ever pouring stream of upgrades coming in the form new clocks and other tweaks with the sMS-200 (and similiar products) sometimes lends an exhaustive feel to it; will it ever end or just pause for a moment - or rather will I come to settle a bit on this rollercoaster ride of upgrades and tweaks? I mean, it's wonderful and humbling seeing the contribution of many here who put hours and hours into testing and experimentation for others to benefit from, just as well as seeing the ongoing product developement bring with it new initiatives like the Ultra-version of the sMS-200 - this is indeed an area of rapid evolution that has by now reached impressive sonic results. 

 

However, for my part I need to sometimes step back for a moment and see the bigger picture once a certain "plateau" of sonic level has been reached, in this case with the digital source (which is still an ongoing process, as per above..), and assess the other areas of ones setup that need attention or re-evaluation. In my case I've just invested in a new subwoofer (arriving this weekend) to my main speakers, which should see an interesting outcome in bringing out new (hidden) details from the source material and strike an impact on the sound on a macro-level. Whereas very often I feel these digital tweaks to only register on a relative micro-level, levels of which one becomes used to dealing with, and over time rates them perhaps far more important than they are - not that they're unimportant.  

 

Mostly this is meant as a reminder to myself, to keep perspective in the midst of these digital progressions..

[lljames]

If anyone from SOtM is reading this thread. I think I have found the problem and solution according to this link:

 

http://www.spinics.net/lists/alsa-devel/msg57771.html

 

This is exactly what I am having with SMS200 and my DAC. (When start playing DSD track, there is a pop/click sound every time )

 

Hope the developers at SOtM will incorporate the fix and make it an even better player..

 

[sbilotta]

14 hours ago, jtwrace said:

I think the Ultra is going to be $1k though...

I've been told around 1.3K

[Dr Tone]

2 hours ago, lljames said:

If anyone from SOtM is reading this thread. I think I have found the problem and solution according to this link:

 

http://www.spinics.net/lists/alsa-devel/msg57771.html

 

This is exactly what I am having with SMS200 and my DAC. (When start playing DSD track, there is a pop/click sound every time )

 

Hope the developers at SOtM will incorporate the fix and make it an even better player..

 

 

If you use @MayfromSOtM May will get notified.

[austinpop]

2 hours ago, lljames said:

If anyone from SOtM is reading this thread. I think I have found the problem and solution according to this link:

 

http://www.spinics.net/lists/alsa-devel/msg57771.html

 

This is exactly what I am having with SMS200 and my DAC. (When start playing DSD track, there is a pop/click sound every time )

 

Hope the developers at SOtM will incorporate the fix and make it an even better player..

 

 

Pops and clicks are the bane of file-based computer audio, so to some extent, very difficult to eradicate. In general, it's an artifact of ripping, because music on media (CD, SACD, etc) tends to be one large file, with indexes to indicate the position of "tracks." When we rip, we break apart this monolith into individual track files, which can lead to minute mismatches of amplitude between one file and the next, when using, say, gapless playback. The problem is even worse in playlists, when the transition between songs involves a change of file type or sample rates.

 

But I digress.

 

I've run into DoP related issues below, with the mR, not so much with the sMS-200. For me, it was mitigated by pushing the DoP conversion upstream to the DLNA server. I was using MinimServer. This was achieved by setting stream.transcode=dsf:dopwav, dff:dopwav.

 

Since you mentioned Roon Core, look at the Roon Ready config settings on the Eunhasu controls on your sMS-200. First of all, confirm your DAC is configured as DoP. Look at the setting Resync delay. Have you tried playing with that (increasing it, most likely). Caveat - I have never done this, as I've never had an issue with pops with DSF using sMS-200 and Roon.

 

 

There is also a Resync Delay setting on the Roon Core - in the device setup for the sMS-200. In my setup, that is currently 0, whereas the Roon Ready setup is at 0.2 (these are defaults I did not set). I am not sure if a non-zero setting in the Core menu just adds to the setting in the Roon Ready side.

 

But - worth some research and experimentation. If you do play with it, please report back any findings.

[kennyb123]

1 hour ago, austinpop said:

Look at the setting Resync delay. Have you tried playing with that (increasing it, most likely). Caveat - I have never done this, as I've never had an issue with pops with DSF using sMS-200 and Roon.

 

I increased the value for Resync delay (with my mR) as it solved a problem where my DAC (Chord Hugo TT and I think even Mojo before that) was slow to switch to DSD and that resulted in playback not starting from the beginning of the song.  I'm not sure this will help with pops, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

[Holzohr]

@MayfromSOtM

Will the sMS-200 ultra get an I2S output (HDMI)? Preferably compatible to PS Audio 

[tboooe]

19 minutes ago, Holzohr said:

@MayfromSOtM

Will the sMS-200 ultra get an I2S output (HDMI)? Preferably compatible to PS Audio 

For >$1K for the Ultra it would be great if it had various outputs, especially HDMI!  That would allow me to get rid of the SU-1 and make the Ultra more of a viable option for me.

[romaz]

59 minutes ago, Holzohr said:

@MayfromSOtM

Will the sMS-200 ultra get an I2S output (HDMI)? Preferably compatible to PS Audio 

 

 

I'm not May and so I'll let her answer for herself but as an owner of 2 Ultra products and having discussed their Ultra line with them, I'm pretty sure an I2S output is not going to be part of the new sMS-200 Ultra.  Basically, Ultra = upgraded clock and that's it.

 

With that said, if you have a custom request, SOtM has been very open minded to accommodating mine.  They have replaced 4 clocks for me thus far and will be replacing 4 more clocks for me in the coming weeks on components that they have nothing to do with.  The best Ethernet-to-I2S device I know of (that is compatible with your PS Audio) is the Sonore Signautre Rendu and so if you have one of these, you could perhaps have its clock upgraded if somehow you felt its stock clock was inadequate.

[romaz]

48 minutes ago, tboooe said:

For >$1K for the Ultra it would be great if it had various outputs, especially HDMI!  That would allow me to get rid of the SU-1 and make the Ultra more of a viable option for me.

 

 

If you are looking to replace your SU-1, consider SOtM's dX-USB HD Ultra which is their version of the SU-1 + their super clock.  As I own this product, I can vouch for how good it is (easily better than the F-1 that I tried) and it will be slightly less expensive than the sMS-200 Ultra (since it only requires a single clock).

[sbilotta]

8 minutes ago, romaz said:

 

If you are looking to replace your SU-1, consider SOtM's dX-USB HD Ultra which is their version of the SU-1 + their super clock.  As I own this product, I can vouch for how good it is (easily better than the F-1 that I tried) and it will be slightly less expensive than the sMS-200 Ultra (since it only requires a single clock).

Does it make sense to have SOtM's dX-USB HD Ultra and their sms-200 Ultra ? 

[romaz]

33 minutes ago, sbilotta said:

Does it make sense to have SOtM's dX-USB HD Ultra and their sms-200 Ultra ? 

 

Your budget will dictate whether buying both makes sense but sonically speaking, yes, surprisingly, having the dX-USB HD Ultra follow the sMS-200 Ultra makes a difference.  

[ElviaCaprice]

or the tx-USB Ultra (list price up, $990) instead of the dX-USB.  Along with the sms-200 Ultra.  That way you remain with USB and all it's possible formats.

 

Only a little over 2K for the two and no power supply.  LOL, not going to happen here.  Guess the Iso Regen is going to get a tryout.  Oh well, for the best, rather remain in a USB stream for video playback and avoid all the networking issues.

[tboooe]

1 hour ago, romaz said:

 

If you are looking to replace your SU-1, consider SOtM's dX-USB HD Ultra which is their version of the SU-1 + their super clock.  As I own this product, I can vouch for how good it is (easily better than the F-1 that I tried) and it will be slightly less expensive than the sMS-200 Ultra (since it only requires a single clock).

Well what I am looking to do is add an NAA like the SMS-200 without the need for another component like the SU-1 to get I2S to my DAC. 

[Albrecht]

1 hour ago, romaz said:

 

If you are looking to replace your SU-1, consider SOtM's dX-USB HD Ultra which is their version of the SU-1 + their super clock.  As I own this product, I can vouch for how good it is (easily better than the F-1 that I tried) and it will be slightly less expensive than the sMS-200 Ultra (since it only requires a single clock).

Very interesting. Thank you. So you liked the DX-USB much more than the F-1? I am really enjoying my F-1, - but if the dx-USB is significantly better, - that's really saying something.

[greenleo]

23 hours ago, tboooe said:

Wow, if this is true I will have a hard time justifying getting it over the standard SMS-200. While i am sure the clocks make a difference I do not think my hearing nor my system will be able to appreciate the full extent of the improvements.  

My fear as well

[Mercman]

13 hours ago, ElviaCaprice said:

or the tx-USB Ultra (list price up, $990) instead of the dX-USB.  Along with the sms-200 Ultra.  That way you remain with USB and all it's possible formats.

 

Only a little over 2K for the two and no power supply.  LOL, not going to happen here.  Guess the Iso Regen is going to get a tryout.  Oh well, for the best, rather remain in a USB stream for video playback and avoid all the networking issues.

 

I see there are 2 versions of the tx-USB Ultra.

[4est]

15 hours ago, tboooe said:

Well what I am looking to do is add an NAA like the SMS-200 without the need for another component like the SU-1 to get I2S to my DAC. 

 

 

I am not sure if your Holo resamples (ie needs master clock), but the RaspPi has i2s out without master clock. I doubt if the NAA for Pi has i2s enabled, but there is code for it on other distributions (PiCorePlayer for one). Ive used it with cheapy ESS9023 DACs in other zones here, and it worked well. I am not sure if it could compete with a higher quality i2s device or not. Straight out of the gate, I am not sure if there is a decent ethernet>i2s device out there.

[Holzohr]

18 hours ago, romaz said:

 

I'm not May and so I'll let her answer for herself but as an owner of 2 Ultra products and having discussed their Ultra line with them, I'm pretty sure an I2S output is not going to be part of the new sMS-200 Ultra.  Basically, Ultra = upgraded clock and that's it.

 

With that said, if you have a custom request, SOtM has been very open minded to accommodating mine.  They have replaced 4 clocks for me thus far and will be replacing 4 more clocks for me in the coming weeks on components that they have nothing to do with.  The best Ethernet-to-I2S device I know of (that is compatible with your PS Audio) is the Sonore Signautre Rendu and so if you have one of these, you could perhaps have its clock upgraded if somehow you felt its stock clock was inadequate.

I know I already should have sent such a request concerning I2S in future SOtM products months ago.
 

The Sonore Signature Rendu..(I remember Ted's DS DAC review and how he was praising the Rendu) is too expensive for my taste. I rather would spend that amount for a second DAC (thinking hard about the Holo).

[Holzohr]

1 hour ago, 4est said:

 

 

I am not sure if your Holo resamples (ie needs master clock), but the RaspPi has i2s out without master clock. I doubt if the NAA for Pi has i2s enabled, but there is code for it on other distributions (PiCorePlayer for one). Ive used it with cheapy ESS9023 DACs in other zones here, and it worked well. I am not sure if it could compete with a higher quality i2s device or not. Straight out of the gate, I am not sure if there is a decent ethernet>i2s device out there.

I use such a solution of Pi3, HiFiBerry DAC+Pro and that I2S-to-HDMI module from Audio GD. Together with the piCorePlayer version 3.11 audio (this 'audio' version supports sample rates up to 384khz) it makes the Raspberry Pi ready for DSD128 playback via I2S.

DAC+ Pro - connect external I2S DACs