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SMSL Sanskrit 10th MK II DAC Review

tonysco

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Yes, tested and works.

I just got the DAC and I cannot make it work with the SB Touch EDO USB.
It does work with SPDIF coax.
Can you or anyone please let me know how you got it configured with the USB EDO output?
Thanks in advance for any help offered.
Tony
 

ThsM

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Avoid this unit. have problems with pop sound with samplerate to/from DSD256. Terrible!
So the unit is fine, if I don't need DSD?
Unfortunately, the Topping e30 is not available in Germany (unless shipped from China) so the SMSL is the "best" alternative, with volume control, in that price range and is shipped from Amazon.de (even if it sold from Shenzhen Audio).
 

tonysco

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I just got the DAC and I cannot make it work with the SB Touch EDO USB.
It does work with SPDIF coax.
Can you or anyone please let me know how you got it configured with the USB EDO output?
Thanks in advance for any help offered.
Tony

Never mind - solved! For those using this DAC with Squeezebox Touch EDO USB output, it works beautifully! Make sure unit is connected and ON when selecting the "Digital Output" section in the SB's menu. Can play 192k FLAC files seamlessly - no pops or clicks.
 

Sagittarius

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Delighted, it sounds better than my AMI Musik DS5 wich was a good DAC.

And I'm quite impressed it accepts (under Linux) DSD native in addition to DSD DoP all without any pops.
 

JediMa

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Would you consider it as an upgrade of my SMSL M8A? Or I should consider better options?
 

Sagittarius

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The price is so ridiculous for such quality that I think it's worth a try. And anyway, if we only consider the RCA outputs, it's in the top five DAC here.

I listen again and again to many tracks from my 16/24 bit and 44.1/88.2/96/192 kHz/DSD collection (mainly Classical/Jazz and R&R) and I perceive more subtle details, a sound scene where each instrument is well detached, and an incredible depth and cleanliness of the bass. It's really splendid.
 
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Kempeu

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The op amps have no markings (MkI used JRC version of 5532, smaller caps, AK4490 from pictures). Nice looking metal film resistors, but can't make out the tolerance. Just delivered today. My first USB DAC, upgrading from Allo Boss. The key to the Boss was SoX upsampling to 32/384, which turned off chip resampling in the TI PCM5122. Served me quite well for over a year. Can't get the SMSL to sound as good through the Windows 10 computer compared to RPi3B+ Moode. Prefer the Moode interface. On brief listening, SMSL sounds better with SoX disabled. Will listen to this for a week, then go back to the Boss. Already quite certain the SMSL is an upgrade from the Boss.

View attachment 70759
Where u bought your unit? Why your Mkii using normal caps rather than Nichicon audio-specific cap? Hmmm
 

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hifiamps

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Purchased on US Amazon.com sold by S.M.S.L Factory Store . It says that on my order invoice and order details. I carefully checked that the seller was reputable. Sounded reputable. Item was in stock, fulfilled by Amazon, and shipped out within a few days. Now I see that Audio Deals is the seller. It varies depending on how you arrive at the product on Amazon. If I click on the product link with the large number of reviews or "Amazon's Choice", it now shows Audio Deals as the seller. It was the S.M.S.L Factory Store when I purchased. If you click on the S.M.S.L Factory Store link, and select the product that way, you get the same product sold by the S.M.S.L Factory Store. Not sure how it works on Amazon. Do different sellers pay to have their store selected or is there a random rotation? Does Amazon fulfill from common stock, or unique stock from each store? In stock numbers are different, 15 for Audio Deals and 9 for SMSL Factory Store.

The reason I took a picture of my unit, is that I could not find other pictures of the internals of actual production samples. Do you have a link to the picture of an actual production unit? It's purposely difficult to make out anything in the SMSL picture. Counterfeit electronic components are common in Chinese products these days. My unit sounds quite good, and I happy with it. I was hoping to find more pictures of the internal of these DACs.
 
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Kempeu

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Purchased on US Amazon.com sold by S.M.S.L Factory Store . It says that on my order invoice and order details. I carefully checked that the seller was reputable. Sounded reputable. Item was in stock, fulfilled by Amazon, and shipped out within a few days. Now I see that Audio Deals is the seller. It varies depending on how you arrive at the product on Amazon. If I click on the product link with the large number of reviews or "Amazon's Choice", it now shows Audio Deals as the seller. It was the S.M.S.L Factory Store when I purchased. If you click on the S.M.S.L Factory Store link, and select the product that way, you get the same product sold by the S.M.S.L Factory Store. Not sure how it works on Amazon. Do different sellers pay to have their store selected or is there a random rotation? Does Amazon fulfill from common stock, or unique stock from each store? In stock numbers are different, 15 for Audio Deals and 9 for SMSL Factory Store.

The reason I took a picture of my unit, is that I could not find other pictures of the internals of actual production samples. Do you have a link to the picture of an actual production unit? It's purposely difficult to make out anything in the SMSL picture. Counterfeit electronic components are common in Chinese products these days. My unit sounds quite good, and I happy with it. I was hoping to find more pictures of the internal of these DACs.

Refer :
https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/550.html
 

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hifiamps

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Where and when did you purchase your MkII? I guess they are sending cheaper components to US market. This kind of thing makes it very difficult to trust the quality of any Chinese product. Is there another factory filling SMSL orders with lower quality parts? I suppose I should return the product to Amazon, because of misrepresentation. smsl-audio.com links to Amazon for sales of the MkII.

Thank you Kempeu for bringing this to my attention. I posted the picture of mine because I just don't trust these companies.
 
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hifiamps

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Posted our pics in another forum. They question the wrap on the Nichicons. It's crinkled or rippled at the top. Counterfeits? The + vent shape is correct for Nichicon. Would need to measure dimensions of the cap and see if it matches the data sheet.

Top=bottom cap ID
 

hifiamps

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From quick research, some signs of fakes are uneven wrappers, or ink smudging off the wrapper. Incorrect vent pattern and dimensions (12.5 × 25mm for the 10V 4700 Nichicons). Also read the fakes are getting better. Harder to tell. The other signs require device removal (measuring specs, capacity, ESR), but if you go to all the trouble removing them, better just to replace them and get real ones or Elnas, etc. from reliable sources. The real parts are $1.28 each from Mouser.
 
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ModDIY

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Hi hifiamps,
Yes I know there are a lot of counterfeit electronic parts, especially with not too well known brands of products available on Ebay, Aliexpress ... etc. On the other hand, I have difficulty believing that SMSL produces DACS with fake ones. One thing to note, for different brands of capacitors and OPs, often the company has several factories in Asia, this results in small variations in appearance. The important thing is that they have the same electrical properties.
 

hifiamps

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Hi hifiamps,
Yes I know there are a lot of counterfeit electronic parts, especially with not too well known brands of products available on Ebay, Aliexpress ... etc. On the other hand, I have difficulty believing that SMSL produces DACS with fake ones. One thing to note, for different brands of capacitors and OPs, often the company has several factories in Asia, this results in small variations in appearance. The important thing is that they have the same electrical properties.
Maybe SMSL has trouble with quality control on these. They are not adequately inspecting the product being shipped out. There is definitely something fishy looking with those Nichicon caps. The wrapper on the real one is never crinkled like that. It's specifically listed as an "audio-grade" capacitor in the SMSL sales brochure. The Panasonic caps in mine are not "audio-grade". Perfectly happy with the sound of the unit. Panasonic cap quality is very good in my experience.
 

ModDIY

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I have Nichicon Fine Gold capacitors (for audio) and also Panasonic ones in stock. I made replacements with Fine Gold and Panasonic in critical audio paths, and no difference. For filtering and energy bank, I have more confidence in the Panasonic, they are generally excellent and I even think superior to Fine Gold. Nichicon for audio is more than window dressing, in reality they are standard Nichicon capacitors, one to print Fine Gold and mentioned that they are for audio ... it's still window dressing, it is the electrical parameters that count above all, and this is good news for you if they are Panasonic
 
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