Personal experience with SMSL D6S and settings

[b-woo]

I use a SMSL D6S.

When the recording and mastering of a CD are good, I use Volume=99, Filter=F6 (Minimum phase, fast roll off of high frequencies), and DPLL=1.

When the recording and mastering are too loud, with boosted top end, and overly glossy, I reduce the volume to 90, 80 or even 75, change Filter=F7 (Minimum phase, fast [i.e. early] roll off of high frequencies), and change DPLL=9. The resulting sound is lower volume of course, excessive high frequencies tamed down, and the DPLL setting makes timing less tightly focused. The resulting sound makes the poor sounding CD more listenable. I know I am sacrificing dynamic range, introducing more noise, artificially chopping off high frequencies, and artificially adding jitter. But the sound on the CD was already "broken" in the first place. These alternative settings are for rescuing poor sound quality CDs, not as a default for all CDs.

I know D6S is cheap. I know it is not the most sophisticated DAC in existence. I know I am "abusing" the settings. But the resulting sound is useful for rescuing poor sounding CDs.

Do you agree with my approach? Do you do what I do? Have you tried it? Why is it acceptable or unacceptable?

 

[tccalvin]

If you want the most accurate reconstruction of the intended signal, then "Linear Phase, Fast Roll-Off" is your best bet. Set it once and forget about it. "Minimum Phase, Fast Roll-Off" is only useful when you want the absolute lowest latency. Any other filter should generally be avoided. DPLL should be set at the lowest setting you can manage without audible stuttering or signal drop-outs.

For personal enjoyment, you can use whatever combination of settings you like. You can even run the signal through a potato. It's all fair game.

 

[RandomEar]

I use a SMSL D6S.

When the recording and mastering of a CD are good, I use Volume=99, Filter=F6 (Minimum phase, fast roll off of high frequencies), and DPLL=1.

When the recording and mastering are too loud, with boosted top end, and overly glossy, I reduce the volume to 90, 80 or even 75, change Filter=F7 (Minimum phase, fast [i.e. early] roll off of high frequencies), and change DPLL=9. The resulting sound is lower volume of course, excessive high frequencies tamed down,

That's simply due to the equal-loudness contour and is expected. The fast filters do not roll of in the high frequencies.

and the DPLL setting makes timing less tightly focused.

It does not. DPLL has no audible effect on the sound. You either get drop-outs if the DPLL is too low and the source jitter is too high, or it works perfectly. You won't be able to hear some low level jitter at -120 dB or something.

The resulting sound makes the poor sounding CD more listenable. I know I am sacrificing dynamic range, introducing more noise, artificially chopping off high frequencies, and artificially adding jitter. But the sound on the CD was already "broken" in the first place. These alternative settings are for rescuing poor sound quality CDs, not as a default for all CDs.

Maybe you don't like treble-heavy stuff or your speakers are too hot in that frequency region. Hard to say. In some older CD pressings, there is also pre- emphasis. If your player does not recognize this and/or doesn't correct it, the CD will sound too hot in the treble region.

I know D6S is cheap. I know it is not the most sophisticated DAC in existence. I know I am "abusing" the settings. But the resulting sound is useful for rescuing poor sounding CDs.

Do you agree with my approach? Do you do what I do? Have you tried it? Why is it acceptable or unacceptable?

The D6s is an audibly transparent DAC. The fact that it's not super expensive doesn't mean it's bad in any way.

 

[tccalvin]

The fast filters do not roll of in the high frequencies.

Sometimes they can. The ES9039Q2M has a "Linear Phase Apodizing" option that cuts off at 22kHz but it's not steep enough to have a flat frequency response. I would pick the one that cuts off at 24kHz.