Review and Measurements of SMSL Sanskrit 10th DAC

[amirm]

And here is dynamic range:

I re-ran the Schiit Modi 3 and it improved a couple of dB which is reflected above.

 

[Krunok]

And here is dynamic range:

View attachment 18906

I re-ran the Schiit Modi 3 and it improved a couple of dB which is reflected above.

When I see this graph, and SINAD as well, I'm always asking myself how Toppind D10 would score so once you manage to catch some time..

 

[amirm]

Updated the review conclusions to reflect the new findings.

 

[amirm]

When I see this graph, and SINAD as well, I'm always asking myself how Toppind D10 would score so once you manage to catch some time..

They are all neck and neck:

 

[Thomas savage]

This is a satisfying turn of events , great to see a manufacturer helping with the investigation in such a reasonable manner.

Quite a contrast to some others we have delt with.

 

[confucius_zero]

So now smsl needs to reship the product with a proper power supply for it to perform to spec.

It's quite important since they truly claim to have tuned the ak4490 chip to its full potential in the advertisements.

Else what power supply would you suggest to us to buy individually?

 

[jsrtheta]

Dude, that's some vintage gear...circa 1993!

I think the Two was a couple of years later, FWIW. Still works a charm.

 

[yue]

I pointed out that this measurements look very suspicious very early on, and now it's great to see the issue resolved. Again, this further proofs my point that people have to read amirm@'s review in a very critical way. Sometimes measurements fool you if it is not done properly.

 

[helloworld]

So now smsl needs to reship the product with a proper power supply for it to perform to spec.

It's quite important since they truly claim to have tuned the ak4490 chip to its full potential in the advertisements.

Else what power supply would you suggest to us to buy individually?

well I believe any usb plug you bought from wallmart would be ok for this small DAC

 

[yue]

I don't.

The leftmost port is a ac in. so it doesn't use usb power at all.

 

[Thomas savage]

I pointed out that this measurements look very suspicious very early on, and now it's great to see the issue resolved. Again, this further proofs my point that people have to read amirm@'s review in a very critical way. Sometimes measurements fool you if it is not done properly.

It was measured as it was sold, nothing 'improper ' occurred.

Just a case of needing additional power, finding that out was great for those using this device 'as sold' the manufacturer should be a little clearer in this respect.

 

[trl]

Only if you are the reader of ASR Forum and know to add the external power supply.

Get the Wyrd in front of this DAC, let's see if it helps. This seems a good candidate to test the Wyrd.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

It was measured as it was sold, nothing 'improper ' occurred.

Just a case of needing additional power, finding that out was great for those using this device 'as sold' the manufacturer should be a little clearer in this respect.

 

[amirm]

I pointed out that this measurements look very suspicious very early on, and now it's great to see the issue resolved. Again, this further proofs my point that people have to read amirm@'s review in a very critical way. Sometimes measurements fool you if it is not done properly.

Measurements were performed properly and same as roughly 100 other DACs that didn't have this issue. The unit does not perform well without the help of an external power supply which is not supplied.

The measurements were diagnostic in the way it showed S/PDIF working, resulting in the suggestion of needing more power than USB port can supply.

So no, there is no "proof" there as you say. It is just FUD to cast doubt on measurements which time and time again shown to be prescriptive of design problems in products or in this case, manufacturer working to resolve them.

 

[GGroch]

Get the Wyrd in front of this DAC, let's see if it helps. This seems a good candidate to test the Wyrd.

The USB results using a separate power supply are nearly perfect. I do not see an $85 DAC with these results as a good candidate for adding a $100 accessory. For that matter, even with the bad results it would not be a candidate...it would be a candidate to buy a different DAC.

With the new results I may consider one of these... there are not a lot of cheap remote volume DACS out there.

 

[confucius_zero]

Right.

Other units in the price range perform at their full potential with the bundled accessories. Yet in order for this product to work, it needs external tweaking that goes beyond what's in the box. Therefore it's not a complete product.

 

[trl]

The USB results using a separate power supply are nearly perfect. I do not see an $85 DAC with these results as a good candidate for adding a $100 accessory. For that matter, even with the bad results it would not be a candidate...it would be a candidate to buy a different DAC.

With the new results I may consider one of these... there are not a lot of cheap remote volume DACS out there.

It's actually a very good DAC candidate to test the Wyrd, I don't see why not? It's all bout measurements and not a purchase recommendation.
Nobody said anything about purchasing Wyrd to pair it especially with this DAC, instead I've seen so many threads out there trying to see if Wyrd is improving or not the sound or the measurements for bad-USB measuring DACs, and I think we just found a good candidate for this test.

 

[Biblob]

What for requirements are there for the power supply? 5V and 1,5 Watt capable, at least?

 

[yue]

Measurements were performed properly and same as roughly 100 other DACs that didn't have this issue. The unit does not perform well without the help of an external power supply which is not supplied.

The measurements were diagnostic in the way it showed S/PDIF working, resulting in the suggestion of needing more power than USB port can supply.

So no, there is no "proof" there as you say. It is just FUD to cast doubt on measurements which time and time again shown to be prescriptive of design problems in products or in this case, manufacturer working to resolve them.

Yes roughly 100 other DACs didn't have this issue. But it doesn't mean this one is problematic because of the issue --- This one is not powered by AC by design, while other 60 DAC is. And another 25, a power supply is provided by manufacturer, or it's a portable amp with battery. For the last 15 usb-powered DACs with no power supply, you sometimes use a $300 linear power supply to test them.


This one is reliant on the USB power, which may be unreliable, and probably your PC is poorly designed and thus not having sufficient USB power. But you failed to try the most intuitive attempt (providing with more power) in your initial post --- If you are not even seeing full voltage, continue testing is meaningless as you won't have scientific result at all.

You may argue you followed the manual instruction and that was the result. But in a lot of cases you simply didn't.

You're not testing your DACs under exactly the same condition and reading the same parameters, which makes your performance benchmark meaningless --- sometimes you just compared apples with bananas, and the other times (such as in this case) you compared gadgets with different testing environment. Plotting all the SINADs in the same graph is completely misleading IMHO.

Again, I concede there may be an issue with the product --- perhaps the manufacturer needs to become more aware of those PCs with bad USB power, and revise their manual, indicating a seperate supply is recommended even if you use the dac with a PC. But in general I don't believe it's a big issue --- you get what you paid for, and with a $5 power supply it can work flawlessly and meet the manufacturer's spec if you PC is poorly designed.

 

[trl]

Right.

Other units in the price range perform at their full potential with the bundled accessories. Yet in order for this product to work, it needs external tweaking that goes beyond what's in the box. Therefore it's not a complete product.

You're definitely right, but it's good that after all this DAC measures very well after adding the power supply; also, manufacturer's reply was pretty fast, so it should definitely count as a proactive positive action.

Some computer's USB ports are only delivering 4.9V by default, some others are delivering 5.1V, hence probably the issues with this USB-powered DAC (or maybe the USB root couldn't handle enough current). A scope might tell us something about Amir's USB port power, especially if scope measurements are done while testing the USB-powered DAC.

Also, I've noticed myself that testing DAC's on USB ports that are not directly connected to motherboard will add noise spikes and mains hum on the USB +5V power rail, because of the longer cables inside the computer's case that act like antennas. I'm speaking about front/side USB ports vs. back-case ports. Shortest path is always better, especially when doing critical tests.