I guess my plain ol' non-Neo, non-Ultra SOtM sms-200 is... old now. I've had it for four or five years (who can remember what happened before the pandemic in 2020?) and have loved using it via ethernet from a Mac Mini running Roon (possibly back before there was such a thing as "Roon Ready" for peripherals), then using the SOtM's exclusive "Audio USB" output to a multiple-source Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus (also probably six or eight years old and still thriving) and from there to the (switchable) AUX/TAPE RCA inputs of various vintage '60s and '70s amps/receivers (McIntosh, Sansui, The Fisher, Pioneer, Harman-Kardon, etc.). My only complaint has to do with occasional dropouts and disconnections, but I'm not sure that's a networking problem. It may just mean I need to replace my 2018 Mac Mini and attached 20Tb external USB hard drive (for my library of FLAC/ALAC files) to run Roon better...
Hi, I am using the SOtM - sMS-200 Neo- SE with silver wire and a SBooster power supply as an USB bridge for the Ayre QB-9 Twenty USB DAC, and I was thinking to upgrade it to the SOtM - sMS-200ultra Neo- SE USB bridge with SBooster. Together 1900 euro. I listen to Qobuz with an Ipad and iPeng app. But I must say the set up was not fool proof and I needed a lot of help. Thanks for the hifi talk... You sold the gear to me. Kind regards Yoram
I'm always fascinated when people discuss differing tone from a device that is only serving up a USB based, digital stream to an external DAC. How can one source possibly have "leaner bass" than another is beyond me. I can understand the overall sound quality may be different if one USB stream has more jitter or noise that presents the DAC with problems decoding the stream than another. But how that could that difference be selective in terms of bass , midrange, soundstage etc?????? I'm not trying to sound critical - there is any amount of such discussion about, but I've never heard anyone explain the science and I have never been in a position to do real world comparisons to hear it for myself. So if someone can - in simple terms, explain how the process of streaming from one source compared to another into any given DAC can do such things that' would be great. It may even tempt me to buy a more expensive streamer :)
Terry I'm not sure I agree with you when you say the Ultra has a leaner bass, here is what SOtM say " new and improved sMS-200ultra Neo, with a deeper mid-range and richer bass expression as compared to the original". Glad you reviewed the SOtM products though as I feel they are very under rated and over looked by audiophiles and offer very good value for the wonga. I might look Into the iso Cat 6 In future. Keep up the good work!!
Knowing how the USB data transfer is supposed to work, I am puzzled by your sound experience. It cannot be explained by noise alone or jitter for that matter if the streamers and dac are decent quality. It sounds to me like Sotm is messing with the digital signal instead of just passing it along like there supposed to. It would be interesting to compare the files it sends to the dac.
Great to see Terry Ellis on this Channel. He's my favourite UK hifi reviewer.
I guess my plain ol' non-Neo, non-Ultra SOtM sms-200 is... old now. I've had it for four or five years (who can remember what happened before the pandemic in 2020?) and have loved using it via ethernet from a Mac Mini running Roon (possibly back before there was such a thing as "Roon Ready" for peripherals), then using the SOtM's exclusive "Audio USB" output to a multiple-source Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus (also probably six or eight years old and still thriving) and from there to the (switchable) AUX/TAPE RCA inputs of various vintage '60s and '70s amps/receivers (McIntosh, Sansui, The Fisher, Pioneer, Harman-Kardon, etc.). My only complaint has to do with occasional dropouts and disconnections, but I'm not sure that's a networking problem. It may just mean I need to replace my 2018 Mac Mini and attached 20Tb external USB hard drive (for my library of FLAC/ALAC files) to run Roon better...
Thank you for your useful information. Is it possible to install this player in Audirvana other than Roon?
What DAC would pair well with this please ?
Hello, good review but I don't undestand why you didn't show a connection with a DAC?
Hi, I am using the SOtM - sMS-200 Neo- SE with silver wire and a SBooster power supply as an USB bridge for the Ayre QB-9 Twenty USB DAC, and I was thinking to upgrade it to the SOtM - sMS-200ultra Neo- SE USB bridge with SBooster. Together 1900 euro. I listen to Qobuz with an Ipad and iPeng app. But I must say the set up was not fool proof and I needed a lot of help. Thanks for the hifi talk... You sold the gear to me. Kind regards Yoram
Why is WiFi performance never really discussed?
Very good review. How to you recommend using Dirac on a SOTM sMS-200 Ultra Neo system? Thanks
I'm always fascinated when people discuss differing tone from a device that is only serving up a USB based, digital stream to an external DAC. How can one source possibly have "leaner bass" than another is beyond me. I can understand the overall sound quality may be different if one USB stream has more jitter or noise that presents the DAC with problems decoding the stream than another. But how that could that difference be selective in terms of bass , midrange, soundstage etc?????? I'm not trying to sound critical - there is any amount of such discussion about, but I've never heard anyone explain the science and I have never been in a position to do real world comparisons to hear it for myself. So if someone can - in simple terms, explain how the process of streaming from one source compared to another into any given DAC can do such things that' would be great. It may even tempt me to buy a more expensive streamer :)
Terry I'm not sure I agree with you when you say the Ultra has a leaner bass, here is what SOtM say " new and improved sMS-200ultra Neo, with a deeper mid-range and richer bass expression as compared to the original". Glad you reviewed the SOtM products though as I feel they are very under rated and over looked by audiophiles and offer very good value for the wonga. I might look Into the iso Cat 6 In future. Keep up the good work!!
Please how do one connect them to a Hi-fi system With dac, roonlab core server, preamp?
Can sotm do Spotify ?
Knowing how the USB data transfer is supposed to work, I am puzzled by your sound experience. It cannot be explained by noise alone or jitter for that matter if the streamers and dac are decent quality. It sounds to me like Sotm is messing with the digital signal instead of just passing it along like there supposed to. It would be interesting to compare the files it sends to the dac.
Pure advertising, not a review