 There are people that say that over the last 20 years no significant development in audio took place. I know of no better proof of the opposite than the subject of this review, the SOtM SMS 200 Ultra Network Audio Adapter. Almost a year ago I reviewed the SOtM SMS 200 Network Audio Adapter and was very enthusiastic about it. I bought one and never regretted it. When I visited the High End Munich 2017 show in May, the SOtM marketing lady, also called May, introduced me to a SOtM designer that showed me their new product, the SMS 200 Ultra. It is in the housing that is twice as deep as the normal SMS 200 and has a black front. It appeared that it housed a version of the SMS 200 Network Audio Adapter and a version of their SCLK EX reclocker and reshaper. This board is available separately for $950 USD. Both May and her colleague were very enthusiastic but somehow it didn't appeal to me enough to review it. How much better than the SMS 200 can it be? And it costs €850 more than the SMS 200, €1399 in euros, including VAT. Then I received a number of requests from you to do the review. Well, I don't do requests unless asked for so I requested a review sample and received one together with the matching SPS 500 power supply, costing about €500. Let's look at both, starting with the SMS 200 Ultra. The front has a green power indicator that doubles as a well-hidden standby switch and also indicates network activities. The rear holds the input for the included wallboard power supply so the SPS 500 power supply is not strictly needed. Below that the Audio USB port that is especially optimized for audio use. To the right of that, two USB ports to connect storage devices to. Further to the right the microSD slot, in it the microSD carded accessor boot drive. On the right the RJ45 network connector. A reset switch can be found somewhere higher in the middle. The SPS 500 power supply is an audiophile grade power supply that can be added as an upgrade. The front is identical to that of the SMS 200 Ultra and it has the same hidden power switch. I initially thought the unit was broken and yes, I normally do read the manual. But reading the manual of a power supply, come on. I was kindly corrected by SRTM. They even included a PDF or the manual that, of course, also was in the box. Enough about that, let's go to the rear. It has a power output, a voltage selector offering 7, 9, 12 and 19 volts and the IEC mains input, with above it the power switch. A short cable to connect the SPS 500 to the SMS 200 Ultra is included. Normally now the inside follows but to be honest I wouldn't know what to tell about it. This is technology I know little about so I'll better not try. What I did recognize was a switching power supply unit in the SPS 500 that was followed by a very crowded PCB, probably housing all kinds of measures to clean up the power. The SMS 200 Ultra of course is a kind of computer but one that is optimized for its task. Therefore there is no connection for a monitor, keyboard and mouse. You use a browser on a computer or tablet to set your preferences. Like the initial version of the SMS 200, you simply type UNASU.Local in the address field and this screen comes up visible. It shows all protocols that are supported. I activated Rune, of course, the Squeezebox mode emulates the Squeezebox player that is capable of high sampling rates provided you that can handle that. NPD and DLNA is a standard Linux music player daemon that can also do the DLNA protocol as used by the big consumer electronics companies and brands like Lin and Nain. HQ Player NAA is for the users of the HQ Player software. That software runs on a computer and uses the SMS 200 Ultra as a play-out station. SharePoint is the Apple Airplay compatible mode. LibreSpot is an open source Spotify client and MinimServer a very good DLNA server but it does need some study to set it up to your taste. Bubble UPMP server obviously is a UPMP server, it allegedly is easy in use and is mentioned often in combination with Gormcast. I did try the SqueezeLite and NPD and DLNA modes next to Rune and also SharePoint, although the airport protocol is of course limited to 48 kHz max. Please forgive me, I didn't try the other protocols that would have taken a lot of time while the unique product here is the hardware. Using the SMS 200 Ultra is a matter of plugging in a network cable and a power supply, switch on the unit by pressing the yellow light on the front and don't forget to switch on the power supply and wait until the unit has booted. It should now indicate network activities by flashing the yellow power switch. Then go to a computer or tablet, open the internet browser and type unasu.local followed by a return. The Unasu Music Player screen should show up. If not, you could try to type the IP address the SMS 200 Ultra has been given by your router. You could see this in the router menu that shows the users. The name here should also be Unasu. The first thing you should do is check for updates by clicking on the system setup icon, followed by clicking on the system upgrade icon, the around the corner arrow. If an update is available, have it installed first. After it has rebooted, you can walk through the system config where you can change the name it uses on the network, Unasu is a standard, change the background login to a wifi network and change from an automatically provided IP address to a fixed IP address. If you don't like the idea of tweaking digital stuff, just don't. The unit will work fine in normal situations as delivered. Then you have to select the service you want to use. Roon, SqueezeLight and SharePoint are very straightforward since the configuration is done in the server software and not in the SMS 200 Ultra. For NPD and DnL, some configuration must be done if you want to use a network share on a computer or NAS for music. This is done in the library setup in the system setup menu. MinimServer and Bubble UPnP Server need to be installed first and if you are brave enough to do that, you will find your way. You don't need to have a degree in computer science but some knowledge comes in handy. If you use Roon, SqueezeLight, HQ Player NNA or SharePoint, there no longer is a need to keep the web interface open. All music playing is done from the Roon interface, the LMS server, HQ Player or the application you use to stream music using AirPlay. In the other cases you do need a web-based interface or compatible app. Usually the web interface appears when you type the IP address, a colon and 9000, all without spaces. Since the SPS 500 power supply was broken, not hot, I started with the SBooster power supply leaving the supplied wall-ward power supply in the box. That already performed poorly with the standard SMS 200 so why spend time on it with this Ultra version. As always, when equipment arrives, it was directly connected and grouped together with the standard SMS 200. This way it gets burned in the fastest. Just to check if it worked, I switched on the sound on my setup 1. As you can see in my review of the standard SMS 200, I considered it the best networked audio adapter I had ever heard. Yep, head. Called out of the box, the Ultra sounded so subtle, so refined, so detailed that I thought my soda drink was doped with illegal substances. Well, I don't do drugs, most Dutchmen don't and I hardly ever drink alcohol. So something else must be going on. Give it a week or two, as of the MS said. I just couldn't. I have never heard this resolution, this clean and open sound and this kind of fast attack. Even more spectacular is the tonality of the low end. Rob Stewart of MQA described how timing could affect the tonality of low notes and so did Rob Watts who developed the Kordax. This is due to the fact that our hearing doesn't integrate a full waveform but uses the starting flanks of a signal and the smallest deviation in time will lead to less tonality. I have heard this phenomenon often but never so clear as now. Please do realize that only the networked audio adapter has been replaced. I still use the Mitech Brooklyn DAC over Siltek cable to the Audio Note Sorrow SE that is connected over AudioQuest Castle Rock speaker cables to the AudioPhysics Scorpios. A Qsum comes along. A Qsum comes along. I am going slightly mad and I decide to leave it for now. But I can't. I want more. This is highly unprofessional Bakehuisen. Cool it down. A friend calls if I want to help him set up a rune frontend for his very, very high end stereo. I tell him about my experience with the Ultra and that he probably wants to listen to it. The next day he calls me again. He has bought an Ultra and if I can set up a Roon Rock server. A few days later I visit his house to install it all and give instructions. Once again I get totally euphonic but kept my cool so I could use my friend as a second opinion. One day later he called me. He had been listening into the small hours and is so extremely pleased with the unit. Mind you, this man has had Mark Levinson's, Wadia's and other CD players of the same quality. One day later a WhatsApp message. The sound is still filling up the whole room. Time for me to do some serious listening. Now the unit must have been largely burned in. Since the sBooster wouldn't supply sufficient current when a hard disk would be connected to the sMS-200 Ultra, I had to listen to the SOTM SPS 500 power supply as well. I couldn't hear a difference which is a clear evidence that switching mode power supply can be good if the design is well thought out. This means that you could use the sBooster if you don't connect the hard disk to the sMS-200 Ultra. If you do, you do need the SOTM 500 that delivers 5 amps while the sBooster does 3 amps. The sBooster is 40% cheaper though while the SPS 500 looks nice in combination with the sMS-200 Ultra. Choices, choices. Back to the sound quality. When higher sampling rates became available, we all heard an improved sound. SACD also sounded better than CD, certainly at that time and MQA in general, although not with every album, gives an improvement. When we discovered jitter in the mid 80s, lower jitter already had given a large sound improvement and a year ago I was quite surprised that Sonore was able to lower the jitter further in their micro-rendu networked audio adapter. And when the cheaper and even a tad better sMS-200 came out, I thought further big improvements in jitter were highly unlikely. But with the Ultra, SOTM apparently has managed to further lower the jitter and ban out all kinds of nasties a normal USB port has. Furthermore, it appears that the DACs are not able to fully repair a less than optimal async USB channel. The difference between the normal sMS-200 and the Ultra was even bigger when using the Chord Hugo DAC. It appears that the USB input is a weak point of the Hugo. Back to the Ultra. After 12 days, the highs are as clean as possible. I don't believe I said that again. Let me rephrase this. The highs are as clean as I have ever heard. That's more accurate. I indeed have never heard this level of resolution, speedy attacks, stereo imaging, perfect sounding lows and clear open voices over my setup one. I know this quality from demos given by the highest of high end dealers that know their profession. Shatterland of The Hague, The Netherlands and Alpha High End of Antwerp Belgium. And for prices that are clearly higher than my setup one. Again, those that say that all digital equipment sounds good, that there have been no developments in the last 20 years and that bits are bits, should listen to a proper stereo that uses the SOTM sMS-200 Ultra as a digital source or hold their tongue forever. Don't buy it for a 1000 euro stereo. For a 2000 euro stereo buy the normal SMS-200 and spend the remaining amount on other improvements like the DAC. But if your stereo is in the higher regions, don't tease yourself by having it demoed if you currently can't afford the upgrade. But if you can, wait not another day for you to deprive yourself of the ultimate pleasure. It is very rare I am this outspoken, but it is also very rare I am flabbergasted to use this archaic word again by the equipment. It also makes me wonder what's next? For developments seem to speed up rather than to slow down. Do you know a better product or produce one yourself, just let me know. And if you want to stay informed, subscribe to this channel or to my newsletter or follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. See the show notes for the links. If you have a question, post it below this video but please don't ask me for buying advice. See my About Questions video to find out why. If you like this video, please consider supporting your channel through Patreon and see super exclusive videos too. Just one dollar a month will do. The link is in the show notes. And don't forget to tell your friends on the web about this channel. I am Hans Beekhuyzen, thank you for watching and see you in the next show or on theHBproject.com. And whatever you do, enjoy the music.