To answer your previous question, I replied using the email: techsupport@volumio.org
I have now returned the SMSL N100 to the vendor in China and I am seeking a refund off them, at considerable cost (£34 shipping, on top of paying the initial import tax of £40).
I expected the product to be straightforward ‘plug in and play’. You know, like 99.99% of other consumer level audio products out there. How naive I was!
Instead I spent two weeks trying to work out why it did not operate as advertised.
Here’s a brief rundown of the problems with the SMSL N100/Volumio and the various troubleshooting routes I went down.
1. The audio interruption issue with Qobuz and external SSD playback
Possible reasons: Network instability (Wi Fi/wired network interference or insufficient bandwidth). The N100 was wired via an ethernet cable (1GB/sec displayed on the app). I am not aware of network issues. My other internet enabled devices work fine. Apple Music - which bypassed the Volumio App - worked perfectly on the N100, as did Youtube.
The internet suggested that perhaps there might be a bug in the N100 or Volumio firmware?
I considered USB/SSD compatibility issues (such as unsupported format, insufficient power supply). But there was also dropout on the native Qobuz installation as well as the SSD.
Perhaps insufficient device cache resulted in data stream interruption?
The solution to that would have been prioritising a wired network (Ethernet) to reduce Wi Fi interference. But as I just mentioned, the N100 was wired. I did do that.
Another solution offered by Google/AI was to reduce audio resolution (e.g. play 16bit/44.1kHz FLAC).
Well, that would have defeated the entire point of acquiring the N100 - to play music in HD formats.
Another ‘solution’ the internet suggested was to format SSD as FAT32/exFAT (to avoid NTFS compatibility issues).
I did this. No joy.
Perhaps update firmware?
I downloaded the latest firmware from the SMSL official website.
Eliminate hardware poor contact or power supply issues was also suggested.
Every other electrical device in my house works fine, including my audio equipment. Why should the SMSL N100 get special power supply modifications? Any anway, how on earth would I be able to do that?
2. The abnormal DSD output.
Regarding the abnormal DSD audio output (ie wasn’t correctly recognized by the Chord Mojo, didn’t show ‘white’ indicator).
Possible reasons suggested: N100 has not correctly set the DSD output mode (such as mistakenly setting it to PCM transcoding).
Compatibility issues with USB DAC (Chord Mojo)? Perhaps the DSD file format did not match (such as DSD64/DSD128)?
I checked N100/Volumio audio output settings. Couldn’t find “Native DSD” to select instead of “DoP” or PCM.
I tried different DSD files to eliminate single file corruption issues as a possible cause. This did not resolve it.
Suggestion: replace USB cable. Yep, did that. No dice.
Suggestion: test other DACs: verify if it is a compatibility issue with Chord Mojo.
I can’t afford multiple DAC’s (in fact the N100 was already stretching my budget), but the Mojo works just fine with my old and slow Astell&Kern Kann, and the white light always appears with that device and it sounds like DSD (unlike the DSD playout on the N100).
3. After 2 weeks the Volumio application froze - blank screen after multiple connection attampts to the N100 - and so the N100 couldn’t be operated.
This was the final straw. My ‘fuck it’ moment.
Possible reasons suggested by Google/AI: N100 not on the same LAN as the phone/tablet (yes it was).
I restarted the N100 and router a number of times.
Checked the IP address of N100 in the router background to ensure that the phone is on the same network as it.
I didn’t switch to web-based control ie enterring http:// [N100’s IP address] to directly accesses Volumio. Perhaps I should have but bny that point I had given up.
I ralso einstalled the Volumio App, didn’t work.
I wanted to restore factory settings on the N100 but was unable to do so because the app wouldn’t start.
Epilogue
So buying the N100 cost me an extra £70+ in import tax and shipping costs to send it back, even if I get a full refund off the vendor which is by no means certain.
I spent hours and hours and hours trying to resolve the issues before the App eventually froze me out of the N100.
I emailed Volumio asking for the chat to be rescheduled and heard nothing back. I can produce the email to techsupport@volumio.org to prove this.
Would all of this have this happened if this was an established audio brand with a good reputation, such as Naim? Hard to say, but I suspect not.
When things started to go wrong I went on to the Volumio forums (here) looking for a solution. Then I saw all the posts from people experiencing problems with other devices using Volumio products and my heart sank. I should have checked that first before making my purchase. The reviews on the App Store should have been a warning as well.
What can I say? I’ve lost a lot of money. Sticking with established audio brands next time. When I can finally save up the money.