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Review and Measurements of SMSL Sanskrit 10th DAC

KR8NUX

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No.
Burn-in doesn't do anything. This is not like those certain amplifiers that needs certain component to 'heat up'. Even that is not arguably burn-in.
Does the screen of your cellphone suddenly start performing better if you use it for longer ?
Does your laptop suddenly get a speed boost just by using it ?
Do not leave things powered on. You are just heating them unnecessarily and decreasing their longevity.
In all of tech, only in audiophoolia have I seen heat being actually appreciated and considered something that 'improves stuff'. Every other consumer device actually wants to remove as much heat as possible.
 
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No.
Burn-in doesn't do anything. This is not like those certain amplifiers that needs certain component to 'heat up'. Even that is not arguably burn-in.
Does the screen of your cellphone suddenly start performing better if you use it for longer ?
Does your laptop suddenly get a speed boost just by using it ?
Do not leave things powered on. You are just heating them unnecessarily and decreasing their longevity.
In all of tech, only in audiophoolia have I seen heat being actually appreciated and considered something that 'improves stuff'. Every other consumer device actually wants to remove as much heat as possible.

Thanks for the thought! That would have been my position had I not had something that looked remarkably like that happen right in front of my nose! I'll put my observations in the 'Pending' file for the moment.
 
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KR8NUX

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Are you sure it not placebo and purchase justification bias? This happens to all of us, and probably can't be told apart in a double-blind test.
 
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There's another good thought. Actually, the point of the experiment was to prove to myself that the DAC in the Denon was quite good enough. (You will notice that most reviews damn Denons in general with passing faint praise musically, then get along to how realistic the gunshots sound in an action movie) Well, the Sanskrit 10 fixed that thought :) I'm sure it's not the be all and end all of DACs, but being old enough to have navigated the change from vinyl to digital, I am really impressed with what you can now do with a B stock Blu-ray player and a cheap DAC all for under $100 USD, cabling and taxes in!
BTW, a big thing for me is listener fatigue. Some devices seem to wear you down with time. Others invite the ear to explore. This is one of the latter.
On the whole, I think I'm going to have a swing at the Loxjie D10, and then call it a day for this particular expedition.
 
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shazoom

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I bought one of these as a first headphone amp with the Sanskrit 10th DAC. I've found that with my phone, Hadiz and Apple USB-C DAC amps some clipping with certain tracks on, for example, the Interstellar soundtrack. Very happy with them, the clipping isn't present with the SMSLs, they were a good buy from the same seller on AliExpress, on sale for black Friday, about $160 including DHL
 

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gino1961

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There's another good thought. Actually, the point of the experiment was to prove to myself that the DAC in the Denon was quite good enough. (You will notice that most reviews damn Denons in general with passing faint praise musically, then get along to how realistic the gunshots sound in an action movie) Well, the Sanskrit 10 fixed that thought :) I'm sure it's not the be all and end all of DACs, but being old enough to have navigated the change from vinyl to digital, I am really impressed with what you can now do with a B stock Blu-ray player and a cheap DAC all for under $100 USD, cabling and taxes in!
BTW, a big thing for me is listener fatigue. Some devices seem to wear you down with time. Others invite the ear to explore. This is one of the latter.
On the whole, I think I'm going to have a swing at the Loxjie D10, and then call it a day for this particular expedition.

Hi are you saying that you compared the Denon's internal dac to the SMSL dac ? may i ask you how ?
You also mention how realistic the gunshots sound in an action movie. I think that this is indeed very telling of a system capability.
I watched a movie at a friend's home. Samsung dvd player > Revox b150 > Quad ESL 63 .... the special effects were not reallistic ... they were REAL ! At a point an actor knocked on a glass wall in a lab ... it seemed like a man inside the tv knocking on the screen ! silly me that i did not save the movie title.
thanks, gino
 
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bigx5murf

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"realistic gun shot sounds in action movies" is sort of an oxymoron, if it actually sounded realistic, you'd get hearing damage instantly. Then consider the samples they use are suspect to begin with, especially with silenced weapons, the samples used on those usually sound like suppressed air guns.
 

gino1961

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"realistic gun shot sounds in action movies" is sort of an oxymoron, if it actually sounded realistic, you'd get hearing damage instantly.
Hi ! i guess this depends on the level ... of course if i keep the ear close to the weapon ... depends on the level
My point is another one. Special effects are recorded with very high quality and often they are well known sounds/noises like a glass that breaks a bell that rings and so on ... when the ear is fooled to hear the real thing what more we can want ? i was watching a movie with a good pair of headphones ... at certain point an alarm rang ... it was soo real that i got up and took out my headphones by instinct ... complete silence
I was amazed ... i should have known that was a special effect recorded in the movie because i did not have an alarm system
I think that the more important link in an audio chain is the one between the power amp and the speakers ... a friend of mine told me to get a very good power amp with good current delivery on difficult loads to be universal ... and then the speakers i like. A good match there is fundamental.

Then consider the samples they use are suspect to begin with, especially with silenced weapons, the samples used on those usually sound like suppressed air guns
this is a very particular sound ... i was referring in particular to normal sound ... for instance the noise of dishes that break .. alarms ... shutting doors and so on ... i guess that these special effects are very high quality recordings of real sounds A very high quality copy of the reality So they can be a valid tool for listening test.
Unfortunately i did not remember the movie i mentioned above. It was quite scaring because it was like a guy inside the tv knocking on the tv screen
The sound was so real that is hard to explain .... just perfect. And this speaks highly for the Revox b150 amp and Quad esl 63 speakers but also for the cheap Samsung dvd player (60-70 USD at the time).
 
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Carotis

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Hey. I ran into the noise problem of this DAC. Connection is via usb, and even additional power does not solve the problem.
 

jsrtheta

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"realistic gun shot sounds in action movies" is sort of an oxymoron, if it actually sounded realistic, you'd get hearing damage instantly. Then consider the samples they use are suspect to begin with, especially with silenced weapons, the samples used on those usually sound like suppressed air guns.

That depends greatly on the kind of guns you're talking about.

I spent a fair amount of time in law enforcement, and I spent an equally fair amount of time on the firing range. And I can tell you that 9mm and .40 cal. handguns, heard without ear protection, are not loud at all compared to what many movies would have you believe. They sound like popguns, not Hollywood's BOOM! they use for the rubes. In fact, movies and TV rarely get the sound right, because they go for drama and not realism.
 
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watchnerd

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That depends greatly on the kind of guns you're talking about.

I spent a fair amount of time in law enforcement, and I spent an equally fair amount of time on the firing range. And I can tell you that 9mm and .40 cal. handguns, heard without ear protection, are not loud at all compared to what many movies would have you believe. They sound like popguns, not Hollywood's BOOM! they use for the rubes. In fact, movies and TV rarely get the sound right, because they go for drama and not realism.

Small caliber outdoors vs indoors is very different.
 

jsrtheta

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Small caliber outdoors vs indoors is very different.

Really? That has not been my experience hearing handguns fired inside homes. They still aren't loud.

Someone fired a 9mm in my condo. No one else in the building heard it, not even those who shared a wall with me. And it just sounded like a "pop" to me.
 

watchnerd

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Really? That has not been my experience hearing handguns fired inside homes. They still aren't loud.

Someone fired a 9mm in my condo. No one else in the building heard it, not even those who shared a wall with me. And it just sounded like a "pop" to me.

Well, I don't fire my handguns in my house.

But when I shoot them at an indoor shooting range vs outdoors, the difference is immense.

Also, it's different if it's near your head / you're the shooter.

Physics should make it obvious as to why, this being an audio site.

That being said, yes, movie gun sounds are not realistic.

Lastly, the cartridge load matters immensely. It's not just a matter of calibre.
 

watchnerd

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trl

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Behind the gun things are different, the noise in open space is not a problem to our ears. However, inside the room things are way different and ear protections are a must!

I've shot with a 9mm Glock outside and the sound was a non-issue to me or to the others staying 2m on left/right; seems that most of the shot sound gets in the front of the barrel, rather that back or sides.
 

TechniBert

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I recently replaced my SMSL Sanskrit 10th with a Topping D50s. I'm really amazed by how much this improved my system. Overall I was pretty happy with the Sanskrit, especially at this price point. But I was more and more annoyed by the "noises" it makes when switching between sources. I have to switch a lot between optical(TV, AndroidTV, Kodi, Cromecast, etc) and coax(serious listening via a dedicated streamer for Roon, TIDAL etc.)
I use the Sanskrit in a living room environment with a Tube Preamp behind it in the chain. The signal gets amplified twice via Preamp and Poweramps. And although I use an external linear power supply, you could hear some noise floor when the signal gets amplified very heavily.

The D50s solved this issue. It plays in another League, I have to admit. And it should be, considering that it costs double the price. It feels more valuable in all categories from the remote, the casing to how it switches between sources. It actually locks down the output when switching between sources und unlocks it as soon as there is a healthy signal. This results in a smooth, undistorted change between sources.
In terms of sound it improved overall dynamics and(for me the most important thing) the midrange and low end drastically. I would say, that for my system in particular, this was one of the, if not the most unexpected significant improvement I've ever experienced.

I'm going to use the Sanskrit in my desktop setup from now on. Still think it is fantastic value for the money. From my experience I would say that at the end this is its best purpose.
 

bigx5murf

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That depends greatly on the kind of guns you're talking about.

I spent a fair amount of time in law enforcement, and I spent an equally fair amount of time on the firing range. And I can tell you that 9mm and .40 cal. handguns, heard without ear protection, are not loud at all compared to what many movies would have you believe. They sound like popguns, not Hollywood's BOOM! they use for the rubes. In fact, movies and TV rarely get the sound right, because they go for drama and not realism.

OSHA defines threshold of permanent hearing damage as 140db. Even a lowly supersonic 22lr graces that. While the 9mm and 40 s&w you claim are not loud, easily exceed that by 20+ db. Then you add room gain from being indoors vs being outdoors. Those lowly calibers will absolutely damage hearing in short order.
 

Leewclark

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Hello all just received this DAC in the post. Connected my CCA via optical and then RCA out to my amp. My question is why is the screen only displaying 44? I am streaming Tidal HiFi. Sorry if I'm being dumb I'm no audiophile.
 

Berwhale

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I think you'll need to play something with 'Master' quality on Tidal to see a higher sample rate. Also make sure that the CCA is running the latest firmware. IIRC, you can update the firmware from within the Google Home app.
 
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