One product from a very much hyped brand in DAC/amp field – SMSL. This is our first experience with the brand as well as the new experience of playing with a pure desktop standalone DAC. All of previous products that we have dealt with were equipped with headphones output, at least. But not this one… SMSL M100 MKII is designed to be used only with active speakers or as a preamp for home audio system, not providing any types of outputs besides RCA. Such products do have the demand on the market, especially for those who have desktop PC’s and well arranged work place. In fact, we are not one of those and mostly shifting around with laptops in hands, leaving no chance for fixed setups. Anyway, this doesn’t mean that M100 MKII cannot do its job in pair with a smartphone or digital audio player and active speakers. So be it… We would try all possible scenarios to check how capable it is.

As to SMSL, we think that it doesn’t require any introduction for masses since this brand is one of the most popular ones in DAC/amp fields with lots of solutions with different form factors, functionality, hardware base and price tags. If to ask someone involved into this hobby, surely SMSL would be named among first originating from China. In future, we would definitely hunt for more sophisticated SMSL devices that interest us the most in its large product range.

SMSL M100 MKII specifications:

Here is the description of differences between first gen and second gen of M100:

So, second generation have switched from AKM4452 DAC chip to ESS SABRE9018Q2C which is usually perceived and described as more precise on details but might sound a bit more cold and sharp. We do not have a possibility to compare between the two but we would describe sound signature further in this article.

Some additional technical details:

• XMOS 2nd generation USB Audio solution
• Supports PCM signal up to 32bit/768kHz and native DSD up to DSD512
• Can be hooked up with smart phones via OTG USB input
• Two ultra-low phase noise crystal for 44.1/48kHz multiple frequencies
• High performance 32bit/768kHz DAC (SABRE9018Q2C) for high dynamic range and more details
• Built-in high-efficiency power module and lots of low-noise LDOs provides pure power for analog circuit
• Aux power supply for phones connection
• Lots of audio grade components, include MELF resistors, NP0 capacitors
• Gold-plated jacks

Packaging and design:

Not really sure whether all SMSL devices have unified type of packaging but M100 box didn’t impress too much in particular. It does its job of protecting the device during the transportation but not that neat and attractive as other brands regularly use. What is good that it is definitely small and saves transportation cost. Inner compartment has soft insert and split in two parts – one for M100 itself and the other one is for the cable.

The entire list of accessories looks like this:

• M100 MKII DAC
• USB type A -> microUSB cable
• user manual

Nothing else. The package is really a minimalistic one and all the rest of accessories should be bought separately. We would recommend SMSL to consider adding coax / optical cables at least to make this set more appealing for a customer…

M100 MKII is fully made of aluminum with glass panel at front which adds interesting element to such design. There is absolutely no rattle, no moving parts and no gaps between front panel and aluminum shell. Back side contains all I/O and power ports. Coaxial, optical, USB data, USB power are the inputs while RCA are the only available outputs.

All ports and their labels are neatly cut and precisely printed. Four screws in corners hold this construction together. Front glass panel, besides being a central design element, hides and protects small LED indicators behind it. Single control button with LED indicator at its center is located on the right. Bottom side has rubber legs to leave some space between device and surface.

In overall, M100 MKII looks good, perfectly crafted and makes a good impression by its high build quality. It is kind of small, but at the same time unexpectedly heavy and tightly packed piece of technology.

Device in use:

First of all, there is no power adapter included to this bundle while the device requires one for the most stable and interference free operation. Any 5V|1A and higher would do, which should be connected to a separate USB power port. Unfortunately, M100 MKII still uses microUSB type of port and what is even worse – closely located to another microUSB port for data. It means that only cables with straight type of connector shells would fit at the same time in case of we feeding data from audio source over USB.

When power is supplied, LED indicator would turn red and long button press would bring M100 alive. Each further short button press would change source input and another long press would activate standby mode. The only role of a LED “screen” is to show track quality and input source. As simple as that, no other functions.

As seen from the specs, the most of the audio quality is supported over USB input – 32bit/768kHz, DSD512. Optical / coaxial inputs are limited to PCM 24bit/192kHz only. Although, the peculiar thing is that native Windows 10 driver would only act in 32/768 mode with no possibility to switch to other quality which is not very convenient while using something like Foobar2000. Such software would prevent tracks with lower audio quality to be played over Wasapi transporter unless the conversion is allowed (which is bad). Therefore, in order to have bit perfect stream and best audio quality we would have to use ASIO driver provided by SMSL. It is a good way and we are very glad that such driver is available but the main flaw of such drivers is larger audio lag when watching videos. We had to play with size of buffer to get the acceptable sync between audio and video while watching videos.

Another problem that we have faced is that M100 MKII couldn’t connect to our Hidizs AP80 DAP in OTG USB DAC mode. We never had any issues with other DACs and AP80 before, this is the first device that couldn’t make it. Personally, we think that the problem is actually on the side of AP80. It might have rejected the connection since M100 declares itself as 32/768 DAC which we doubt that is supported by such an old DAP. On the other hand, no problems with the same type of OTG connection to 2 years old Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro Android smartphone. Hiby Music app identifies M100 correctly and sends bit perfect stream over USB. No problems with changing between different track quality and audio formats.

M100 MKII doesn’t tend to heat in long time operations, stays stable in all modes and with all types of audio formats. We haven’t found any glitches, disconnections, clicks or noises during its use.

Sound quality:

Test setup: in order to carry out some adequate tests we have used AudioTechnica ATH M50 headphones connected to RCA outputs of M100. Why? Because using active speakers would not allow to evaluate this device as we got used to when working with different DAPs and IEMs. Therefore, having headphones connected instead of active speakers told us much more about M100 MKII…

Lows and midbass:

M100 MKII is very capable of resolving this range with large amount of textures and details and at the same time delicately deliver bass with well-outlined boundaries in just-the-right amount. Extension is very good, bass is decaying neither too fast or too slow. This range has good clarity, large volumetric feel and doesn’t ted to mix with mids and treble. Bass is not accented but fully perceptible, making the stage wider. Midbass is very good as well: adequately tight and powerful. Dynamics and articulation is enough for natural reproduction of drums.

Mids and vocals:

The most of the resolving potential in concentrated on mids which still remain neutral in overall. Vocals are rich, with plenty of textures, pleasantly thick. Despite ESS Sabre DAC mids don’t tend to show monitor-like or dry sound. Neither there is a tendency towards female vocals or accented upper treble range. No harsh and screaming notes. Male and female voices sound equally natural, perfectly exposed and both have a slight touch of warmth. Most of resolution is spotted on bow and string instruments. Very good instrument separation also dedicates much to enlarged stage depth. Mids feel smooth and natural indeed.

Treble:

Treble are well-balanced to other ranges and do not produce any piercing effect or cold tonality. This range if clear but not crisp. Extension is just a moderate but the amount of presence is adequate. Small amount of sibilance is produced that might slightly affect vocals and some instruments in mid range but it depends of the track quality and initial mastering EQ. Treble is accurate and transparent, although slightly simplified in general and normally compensates bass presence without resulting in any piercing effect thus allowing long and relaxed listening sessions.

Soundstage:

M100 MKII producing one of the largest imaginary stages in width and depth. When paired with the the stated headphones, at least. Stage is quite large and has precise instrument locations, well-defined contours and good layering.

Compared to Tempotec Serenade IDSD:

Serenade is more universal since can also act as headphone amplifier. It also allows to experiment with different Op-amps, has separate volume knob and more convenient power supply. Although, sound-wise, it is more harsh on treble and not that good on lows. It also lacks good DSD support and is limited to 24/192 over USB.

Compared to Hidizs Sonata DH100:

DH1000 is a very good PORTABLE DAC/amp. Not very good on DSD, less capable on lows but equipped with own battery, volume buttons, headphone amplifier and balanced outputs. Although, limited to 24bit/192kHz and has no RCA outputs and line out for home systems or active speakers.

Conclusion:

Among all DACs that we have tested SMSL M100 MKII is the only “pure” desktop DAC, perfect in its simplified form factor and functionality. It does exactly what it is made for – converts the highest quality possible digital audio stream to analog signals in stationary use. Some cons in a form of limited accessories and tight space between USB ports are present but the pros are much stronger and prevail: perfect crafting, stable operations, great sound quality. It might become a bargain when searching for a good, space-saving sound converter in desktop setup to feed active speakers. Or even to work with large home audio system on DAC/pre-amp stage. The only thing to decide is whether headphones would be a part of such setup.

SMSL M100 MKII is available for purchase at Aoshida-audio store: LINK

Heard a lot of good stuff about ROSE Technics and their IEMs. Current lineup is quite big — 17 different models in $24 — $530 price range. Never had a chance to try either one until now — got ROSE Mini2 (MKII 2.0) version which is pure BA model with classical bullet-like shape and very small dimensions. I don’t have that much of experience with this type of IEMs and the only model that would be directly comparable is Earnine EN1J which didn’t become a huge revelation and based on single BA unit. Previous experience led to prejudice about small shape BA models in general and finally forced to believe that there would not be much too interesting about ROSE Mini2 MKII … And you know what? — all previous beliefs were wiped away with the potential enclosed in ROSE Mini2 MKii IEMs…

You can purchase ROSE Mini2 MKII at PenonAudio store

ROSE Mini2 technical specifications:

• BA driver: 2 Rose custom drivers
• Frequency response: 20Hz — 30kHz
• Impedance: 45Ω
• Sensitivity: 108dB
• Cable: 1.2m, silver-plated OFC, 3.5mm audio jack
• IEM conectors: MMCX

Also found this note in the desciption of Mini2 IEMs: ROSE Mini2 sound quality will not be fully reproduced by using with a mobile phone. Strongly suggest using HiFi player or better device  Very funny and truthfull statement. I would say that every respected brand should write the same on their product boxes with large bold letters. There are people who would argue that some of the smartphones as LG would incorporate good DAC chips and so on.., guys: good DAP is not only anout DAC chip. Shielding, all supplementary HW element base, proprietary OS or tweaks to general OS, right ways of power supply — all matters and all influences the sound. Smartphones are not that good (yet) to catch up with good quality DAPs.

Packaging, design and build:

Didn’t expect to see so large package for so tiny IEMs wich is partially conditioned by the presence of quite big and durable storage case. Box is white, free of any prints except the brand name at front.

Box contents: 

• ROSE Mini2 IEMs
• audio cable with 3.5mm jack and MMCX connectors
• 7 pairs of bi-flange eartips
• 2 pairs of foam eartips
• 3.5mm -> 6.6mm adapter
• storage case

Connecting gigantic 6.6mm adapter is funny — it is much bigger than IEMs. I hope that one day all brands would start to equip their bundles with the additional 2.5mm/4.4mm balanced jacks cables by default. This would also coincide with ROSE statement about using their IEMs with good DAP sources and getting the most of the potential reached.

Mini2 IEMs are very tiny. So tiny that I had to change the lens on my camera to take micro shots.

Shells are made of transparent plastic with rough surface. No gap between left and right parts is visible. Brand logo is printed on the outer sides.

Despite the size, shells and all design elements look very accurate. Even such elements as L/R channel indicators are present.

MMCX connectors are perpendicular to body and look pretty durable. No free play, very tight connector fit.

Output nozzles are molded as a part of the shell and have the additional metal tubes over plastic base.

Stock cable is 1.2m long, OFC, silver plated. Features aluminum housing of 3.5mm audio jack and MMCX connectors (right channel MMCX connector is identified by red plastic ring). Also has Y-splitter and limiter made of transparent plastic.

Fit: 

At first there were some doubts about Mini2 fit due to peculiar MMCX connectors placement, absence of earguides and bullet-like shape. No problems in real life, though. IEMs are very lightweight and very comfortable to wear. Almost forgot that IEMs are still there after 2-5 minutes with music set on pause. Absence of earguides is not causing any troubles either — cable is soft and there is a possibility to hook it over the ear. Everything is perfect here…

Sound quality: 

Tested with Hidizs AP80 DAP

Lows and midbass:

Yep, this section is the strangest part to describe for a person like me who would always tend towards hybrid or dynamic models with developed, deep and very extensive bass. Deep bass reach was always a bottleneck for balanced armature models in comparison to other types of IEMs. ROSE Mini2 MKII is not an exception but shows very good capabilities in a different manner. In contrary to dynamic drivers, where you would perceive the upper lows partially by hearing and deepest bass mostly by feeling, Mini2 plays through most of the sounds with decent texturing and dynamics and clearly defines bass instruments in overall. Extension would not recreate the portion that goes beyond the hearing abilities which is perfectly compensated by the amount of details that would draw off the attention towards the bass reach. The only shortcoming of that is that the bass is not that volumetric to widen the scene… In either case, lower end is evident, clear and textured, just a bit recessed and playing secondary role in the entire picture. One more word: understood how dramatic the influence on the lower end with the change to foam eartips could be. Of course, the extension would not improve but the lower end would be eleveated and get much better presence. Therefore, Mini2 MKII would benefit much from this combination and show even better results.

Midbass is quite impressive considering the size of the shells and type of IEMs. Dynamics and articulation is more than enough, thanks to the fast armature. Drums are recreated pretty natural with the adequate (and not severe) touch of brightness infuenced by so mighty treble. At first, drums might sound a bit thin and lacking lowest registers but again — foam eartips do a good job on that.

Mids and vocals:

Mids are perceived as being located on the central layer of the stage — closer than lows and a bit behind the treble.  Mids are exhibiting excellent resolution on instruments and voices. Moreover, very appealing part is that the sound is not that bright and crisp as you would expect from pure armature but much closer to Knowles drivers with kind of mellow nature. This would make IEMs more universal for large audience including people that are sensitive to lower treble. Vocals, no matter male or female, have natural and exposed presentation, good body and don’t tend to shout or hide behind the instruments. Harsh peaks on female voices are not evident, lisping is mostly polished by mellow feel.  The most impressing here is the instrument separation leading to perfectly defined boudaries and letting you hear every single sound playing at its precise location. This also helps the scene to expand in depth.

Treble:

As expected from good BA IEMs — treble is decent and adequately accented. It is crisp and clear but at the same time not too biting and vivid to make your ears bleed. Extension is quite good but the most of the resolving power is concentrated on delivering accurate lower treble to aid the sound with enough transparency and feel of air. Sharpness is not excessive, all sounds are quite thick what also reminds of Knowles drivers. So, five starts go to ROSE for the development of their own BA drivers that would not fall short of expectations when it comes to a person mostly admiring the units from famous vendor. Love how Mini2 MKII treble performs: not severely bright and biting but perfectly exposing its armature nature.

Soundstage:

Soundstage is a bit controversial: width is not that great due to lack of deep bass extension but at the same time depth and vertical domain are quite good. Both are defined by decent layering of frequency ranges and great instrument separation together with clear and elevetaed treble.

Sound in overall:

ROSE Mini2 MKII sound could be described as moderately bright, accurate and very detailed. Presence of treble is adequate, not piercing or distrubing. Mids exhibit pleasing mellow effect. Lower end is recessed, perfectly textured although playing the socondary role and mostly located on the backstage. Lows are influenced much by the choice of eartips.

Compared to Earnine EN1J:

Earnine EN1J IEMs are based on single balanced armature driver and have similar perfect fit. Soundwise, not that impressive as ROSE Mini2 MKII due to less treble extension, mostly mids-oriented tuning and more shallow reach on the lower end. Resolution is quite equal between the two and the strongest part of Earnine in this comparison is the ability to reproduce midbass with more thickness to its body. But I would say that ROSE IEMs are more universal for any type of music genre.

Conclusion:

Really impressed with the performance of ROSE Mini2 MKII IEMs. Didn’t expect that detailed and weighted mids, accurate and thick treble, rich bass texturing, dynamic midbass reproduction and decent instrument separation. There were multiple attempts to look at its price while writing this review — constantly thought of a higher tag in conjunction to this level of sound quality. Surprisingly, price is more than adequate making Mini2 IEMs a great choice to deal with from the very beginning in order to understand ROSE BA nature which is capable of revealing most of the inherent potential.

You can purchase ROSE Mini2 MKII at PenonAudio store