Solved! S.M.S.L Q5 -

[Aaron 801]

My unit's left channel doesn't come through. I have it hooked up via USB to my Mac computer (an '09 iMac). I can get both channels to come on, but only if I plug in the power while holding the on button... and then everything works great. As soon as I sleep my computer though and then play audio, I'm back to the same issue with right channel audio only. I've contacted S.M.S.L and they weren't much help. In fact, after I explained the issue they told me to do the exact same thing that I told them I've already been doing, which of course works, but only temporarily...

Is this anything like a known issue and is there a way to fix it? Plugging and unplugging the thing every time I want to use it is inconvenient and I fear that over time, I'll be weakling out the jack that connects to the power supply.

 

[hang-the-9]

I'd return it and get another one or a different model, maybe the AD18 or another brand alltogether. You already contacted support since they had a fix for you it's clearly something they know about. If there was a fix their support would have had that information or it would be online already somewhere.

 

[Aaron 801]

No, perhaps I wasn't clear enough but it seemed like the folks at SMSL didn't really understand the issue that I was having much less have a fix for it. Having told them that the issue was that I needed to plug in while powering on the unit in order to get both channels to work they instructed me to try and plug the thing in while powering on the unit... so clearly they didn't understand my issue. I have to wonder if it's a bit of a translation problem as their English might not be very good (still much better than my Chinese or Mandarin!).

The point is that I can't just return the unit as I bought it used and don't have the money to throw at something of the sound quality (which is actually quite good) of the SMSL unit that I already have. There might be some comparable little amps for a similar price but what I like about the SMSL is the fact that it has a very good DAC built into it.

I have to wonder if there's some way to do a factory reset/reboot/something or other on this unit that doesn't involve the powering on by holding the power button and simultaneously plugging the thing in that I've already been doing... or if I might be able to pop the cover and change some little component on the thing that would be a likely fix...?

 

[Aaron 801]

No idea about my issue, huh? Is this an issue seen with anything else I wonder where only this sort of hard boot up works to get both the left and right channel working?

 

[americanaudiophile]

Are you turning the SMSL off when you sleep your Mac?
Try leaving it on.
Does the same thing happen if you turn the MAC off rather than putting it to sleep?
Try a different USB cable.
Does the same thing happen with the other inputs?If not then the USB receiver chip might be the problem.
Try it with a different computer. I don't think you need a driver with the MAC but it might work with a PC and the correct driver for the SMSL. I know that doesn't solve the problem but at least you can sell it to a PC owner knowing that it will work.