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SMSL M6 DAC/Amp

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ALL PRODUCTS / AUDIOPHILE / SMSL

SMSL M6 DAC/Amp

Name: SMSL M6 DAC/Amp
Brand: SMSL
SKU: smsl-m6-dac-amp
Price: 129.99 USD
Availability: OutOfStock
Rating: 4.333333 (15 reviews)

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Product Description

Upgrade your audio setup with the SMSL M6: a high-quality DAC and powerful amp rolled into one compact package. The aluminum housing has an industrial aesthetic, complete with a thick front panel with exposed screws Read More

Customer Reviews

4.3

(15 reviews)

(9)

(4)

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eXillent

Oct 18, 2020

Verified Buyer

Very nice dac/amp

The SMSL was my first dac/amp i bought I use it to drive my HD598 SR even though I know you dont need an amp to run those headphones they were a bit quiet for my personal taste so this amp came in very nicely to amp up the volume in games if i need to, after some time of digging ive managed to connect both my speakers and headphones to the amp and the fantastic switching between them with the remote is very convenient. One small thing that bothers me still when i got the amp i tried to download the drivers from the official site but failed and even after such a long time of owning that amp i cant download them but i havent really noticed anything bad with it, im not some audiophile so i dont really understand all the HI's and the Low's but as for my personal experience the amp is working great ive had no issues with it there is no distortion even if i crank up the volume higher than my usual listening volume and if you want, it can be really loud if you want to use it with speakers. The small screen with all the volume amd the sound output information is really good and bright but the joystick is not that great i dont use it at all instead i use the remote. Overall I think this amp/dac is a really nice entry model for people who want a decent sound out of their headphones and maybe for future upgrades and for a good price

Recommends this product? Yes

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Banumnum

Sep 18, 2020

Verified Buyer

Was good

Used it for 3 years or so with no issues, then all of a sudden there was a high pitch whine both from the headphones and the m6 unit. Then it wont power on at all anymore and holding the power doesn't do anything.

Recommends this product? No

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Relaxin

Keyboard Club Member

Apr 10, 2020

Verified Buyer

Very nice unit.

The screen may be a bit small for some to see. I had it elevated closer to eye level on a small shelf which made it easier to see. Depending on your headphones it may be underpowered. Didn't notice too much distortion at higher volume levels. It's on the lighter side so it'll slide around when unplugging and plugging headphones in it. Overall I love this DAC/AMP.

Recommends this product? Yes

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Allmusic

Nov 20, 2018

Verified Buyer

What a beautiful sounding dac! First, I have read reviews about the remote not working, you have too press the C BUTTON on the remote for it to work. The control knob is very difficult to use. The amp section is decent. I use my DT 990's 250 ohm and it sounds good but I had no problem listening with the volume at max. I tried the Sennhiser 280's 64 ohm and what a perfect match! Okay the sound, I would say that it is somewhere in between the Burr Brown and the ESS. if you have ever listen to those Dac's. There is minimal background noise depending on your music source. I use flac files from my portable player and Tidal Hi-Res. The bass is great not over powering or muddy, the Mids are perfect and the Hi's are good but can sometimes sound a bit bright and I like that! The soundstage is nice somewhat wide and the instrument separation is beautiful. I could not be happier with this purchase. Thanks Massdrop and SMSL for a wonderful and affordable product.

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j0hnny

206

Nov 14, 2018

Verified Buyer

Remote control does not work with device (even though the remote is confirmed sending signal). This paired with a shoddy 'power' joystick option that factory resets instead of powering off is a big turn off for me.

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Allmusic

Nov 20, 2018

j0hnnyIf you press the C BUTTON on your remote control, it should work.

PastafarianLemur

158

Nov 3, 2018

Verified Buyer

This is probably as good as it gets at the price. Recommended for the following:

It's well built: This dac/amp is very solidly built. Its metal enclosure could probably survive a drop from a decent height. The volume control and configuration button joystick is sturdy and will handle its fair share of user interaction. The text display is bright but can be dimmed, and it can even be set to auto-dim. All the connections (Power/USB/Coaxial/Optical/RCA line out or preamp out/headphone out) are solid and should last.

It has lots of features: Like mentioned previously there are multiple input and output options. This can even be controlled via an included remote.

The amplifier section has plenty of power. For example it has no problem with my Fostex T50RP based Argon Headphones. Admittedly I have good hearing, but I also never felt the need to set the volume at 20 or above even on podcasts or classical music on its stepped attenuator that goes up to 40 on this particular model.

It sounds good. Smooth and neutral and detailed. And you can even change the sound via included profiles right on the device itself.

It has very few and hardly significant cons. Most, including myself would prefer an analog volume knob, but then again it won't suffer from channel imbalance at low volumes like volume pots usually do. The output impedance is 10 Ohms and there is no gain switch, but that can be handled with an impedance/attenuation adapter for IEMs like the iFi ear buddy/iem match or ultimate ears buffer jack which aren't particularly costly. There's no analog input for amplification, so it can't be used as a stand-alone amplifier. I'd waited for a long time for the O2/SDAC to drop again after the first time, and decided to get this AMP/DAC after too much time had passed by. Given how well it works with harder to power headphones and how it uses the same DAC chip (AKM 4452), I can't say I regret getting impatient. It felt like a steal when I bought it at 135 dollars, and at 130 now it's an even better value. Highly recommended.

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JarredP

Oct 27, 2018

Verified Buyer

Great little amp/dac! I wear headphones around 5 hours a day primarily for gaming and music. I purchased a pair of HD-58X from Massdrop to upgrade from my ATH-M50s. I wasn't sure if I would need the a dac/amp to power the 58Xs as many people say they are easy to power with a phone or computer. I got the headphones before the amp came in and powering them with my phone and computer works, but there were a few songs that I definitely wanted more out of them. I felt I was missing something. The M6 fixed that, improving both sound quality and power. I can't imagine being able to get much better sound quality for anywhere close to the sub $300 price I paid for this headphone/dac/amp combo. I am not a huge fan of the joystick, but the remote that comes with the unit is both easier to use, and allows me to be further away, definitely not worth a star deduction. Love my new set up, love that I was able to get both for under $300, and feel like I am done searching for better sound for a while. I might pick up a tube amp some time, really want to hear how these benefit from a tube, but that's definitely not necessary, just good fun!

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brandonrossl

Oct 22, 2018

Verified Buyer

Only thing they could add to make it perfect is balanced outputs. Drives T40RPs clean to 100% power. No drivers required for 99% of uses. I don't go above 15 volume on my HD58X for weak sources, beyond that is unnecessary. Highly recommended.

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cbmuniversal

Oct 18, 2018

Verified Buyer

Just received my SMSL M6. Loving it! So far I've only used it as a PreAmp (I plan on ordering a pair of 6XXs later this week), can hear a real difference between the SMSL M6 and the Fiio D3 Taishan I was using before. I can hear so much more on my pair of KRK G3 Rokit 8s. Will definitely update with headphone AMP thoughts when I receive my 6XXs. The little screen is very clear and plenty bright. No issues controlling volume or changing inputs using the 4 way "joystick". Remote works great!

Side note, I was having some EMF interference issues, I'm pretty sure that it's just poor shielding from my desktop's PSU or GPU. Switching from a USB connection to an Optical connection immediately fixed the issue. This isn't an issue with the SMSL M6, just my computer. USB on my laptop would work fine. Update 7+ Months Later: My SMSL M6 is still going strong. This thing is perfect for my needs. My HD6XX's sound great on the M6, plenty of power to drive them. Best feature by far is the ability to switch between my KRK Rokit8s and my HD6XXs with a couple of presses on the joystick. No more switching audio devices in Windows and having to restart software because they bugged out! Defenitely wouldn't hesitate to purchase another SMSL product. I'm still using the optical instead of USB because of the shitty EMF shielding on my PC. Optical works great!

(Edited)

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youngjack

Nov 3, 2018

cbmuniversalI read on a post as follows - "Using FooBar as player, you need to install the WASAPI component into FooBar (download from FooBar site). This allows the SMSL to use the "direct" USB pipeline instead of the default Windows driver. Once that was done, all sounds great!! " I might try this , but will order Amp first :) Jack

HisEvilness

Aug 31, 2018

Verified Buyer

Been trying it out with different bit rates and frequency's and the sound body is full and rich i can defiantly endorse this product for a great for value entry DAC/Amp. Music as well as Gaming i might add it really brings games to life if they have some proper sound engineering. Now only to wait for my 5xx Seinheiser Massdrop headset to get that final bit of quality.

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