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Review and Measurements of SMSL Sanskrit 10th DAC

brydon10

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I switched my USB cable with the one provided by SMSL into my USB 3.0 port and got this:

View attachment 18903

So lots of variability without external power supply.
I wonder how it would have measured with the supplied SMSL usb cable if powered with the 5v 1a adapter? Probably fine again. I just wonder if I should order a cable that is of higher quality.

Someone know the spdif receiver? On picture we cannot see the traditional ak4113.
I'm wondering this too. I sent them an email but haven't got a response yet.

Edit: I received a response from SMSL: "S/PDIF receiver chip is LC89091". Looks like some chip from "ON Semiconductor".
 
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patient_ot

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Is anyone still using this or the similar looking M100? Prices on each have dropped below $100 which makes it appealing. Curious about reliability and what power adapters people are using with this...
 

Hugo9000

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Is anyone still using this or the similar looking M100? Prices on each have dropped below $100 which makes it appealing. Curious about reliability and what power adapters people are using with this...
I have the SMSL M100, I've been using it since the beginning of March without a single issue. I use a single USB cable from my computer. I tried also using a separate USB cable to the aux power input, but noticed no difference, so I assumed the unit was receiving enough power from my desktop computer. For the first month or so, I was powering down the unit when not listening to music from my computer, but since then I've left it on 24/7.

Edited to add: I don't have any test equipment to verify these, but here are the specs from SMSL along with the test results they provide on their site:
SMSL M100 specs and tests.jpg
 
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brydon10

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Is anyone still using this or the similar looking M100? Prices on each have dropped below $100 which makes it appealing. Curious about reliability and what power adapters people are using with this...

Yeap. I'm using the Sanskrit 10th with a cheap 5v 1a usb power adapter I bought for $4. Works great. Feeding it digital coaxial. The Sanskrit has better specs than the M100 so I would go for it. And that's even according to SMSL. SMSL says the M100 has an SNR of 106db, while the Sanskrit 10th has an SNR of 118db.
 

patient_ot

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Yeap. I'm using the Sanskrit 10th with a cheap 5v 1a usb power adapter I bought for $4. Works great. Feeding it digital coaxial. The Sanskrit has better specs than the M100 so I would go for it. And that's even according to SMSL. SMSL says the M100 has an SNR of 106db, while the Sanskrit 10th has an SNR of 118db.


Do you know if a Samsung or LG cell phone USB brick with 5V/2A would work? Or would it fry the device?
 

brydon10

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Do you know if a Samsung or LG cell phone USB brick with 5V/2A would work? Or would it fry the device?
That would be fine. The SMSL won't draw more than 1amp from it so no worries. Most important is 5V and at least 1 Amp, so you are good to go.
 

Patrykowski

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[QUOTE="SMSL-Mandy,

I have a question about the remote control. Is it possible to use the universal remote control if the original one breaks?
 

chrish001

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[QUOTE="SMSL-Mandy,

I have a question about the remote control. Is it possible to use the universal remote control if the original one breaks?

I'm a bit confused as the post I'm replying to seems to quote a previous post, but I don't see any answer in it... but anyway:

I believe you can use a universal remote, as it was suggested to me in another thread where I was asking for suggestions for a DAC (I got the SMSL Sanskrit 10th), that I could indeed use a universal remote. There is at least one specific brand /. model suggestion in the thread. Please see it here:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/choosing-a-dac-for-my-smart-tv.7228/

Thanks,
Chris
 
OP
amirm

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@amirm , SINAD is 105/106 , but it's in the table like 101.
Thanks.
101 was what it got over S/PDIF in the original review. I will see if I can update it in the next review with the USB number.
 

Patrykowski

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Hey. I want to ask by the way because I don't understand the measurements well.

Is the USB input in SMSL 10 good quality (connection to a laptop)?
Can the USB-SPDIF converter improve the sound quality?
Is CD transport (via SMSL) better than FLAC / WAV files via USB?
What is the sound quality of this device compared to other drivers?
What is the sound signature in practice?
Is it good value for money?

Greetings :)
 

Zek

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Hey. I want to ask by the way because I don't understand the measurements well.

Is the USB input in SMSL 10 good quality (connection to a laptop)? - Yes.
Can the USB-SPDIF converter improve the sound quality? - No.
Is CD transport (via SMSL) better than FLAC / WAV files via USB? - It depends of transport and quality of flac/wav files.
What is the sound quality of this device compared to other drivers? - Which "other drivers"?
What is the sound signature in practice? - Look there
Is it good value for money? - It depends...
Greetings :)
:cool:
 

estuardo4

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Hey. I want to ask by the way because I don't understand the measurements well.

Is the USB input in SMSL 10 good quality (connection to a laptop)?
Can the USB-SPDIF converter improve the sound quality?
Is CD transport (via SMSL) better than FLAC / WAV files via USB?
What is the sound quality of this device compared to other drivers?
What is the sound signature in practice?
Is it good value for money?

Greetings :)

It seems that you didn't read the whole discussion before posting these questions. Most are answered there.

1. Yes. And better if you use an external power supply.
2. It would be the same quality using just USB and the external power supply. And cheaper.
3. As answered, it depends on the quality of the recordings. But I use a CD transport and FLAC recording of the same song and I can't hear a difference.
4. As you can tell if you read a lot of threads at ASR, most of the DACs tested here sounds equally good, as there's no way one can hear differences between them if you are not trained to hear these differences. YMMV.
5. I don't hear a sound signature. It is transparent, as it should.
6. Excellent value for the money. Compared to other $100 USD DACs tested here, it measures well and it includes a control remote. I haven't found a similar priced/spec DAC that includes a remote.
 

TechniBert

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Hello Everyone! Nice forum, thanks for the review, amirm!

I use the Sanskrit 10th in my main living room system for about half a year now. I recommend the use of a decent, linear power supply. As some mentioned, the sound of the sanskrit is a bit to bright in my ears as well. I solved this by combining it with a Tube preamp. Which got me into Tubes, but this is a different issue ;)

I think the Sanskrit is a really good deal for the money. It fits my living room situation very well. TV via toslink(with all its HDMI and analog attached devices like "fireTV", "Chromecast", etc) and a "Allo Digi One" Streamer via Spdif for the "serious" listening. So in this setting you definitely need a remote control. Name another DAC for that price that is able to do that. I could't find one. I even had the money left to invest in a decent linear power supply.

For a desktop szenario the linear power supply is not very handy. A decent one (in most cases) is bigger than the DAC itself. But as you connect to a PC via USB you'll have the noise from the computer anyways, so a standard wall mount should do the job as long as it is not making it worse. I don't want to get in a discussion about these noise issues, there are tons of forums all over the internet full of these endlessly ongoing arguments. It is just my experience and personal taste.

My setup(s): Allo Digi One(Raspi 2B with Volumio) -> SMSL Sanskrit 10th DAC with external linear power supply(5V, 1,25-2A) -> hybride tube/Class D preamp -> Class A/B Integrated Amp and FDAmp -> Klipsch RP-600M and Misson Cyrus 782

Cheers!
 

mkawa

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yah, you know, far from DBT, but i could swear i hear a difference between my lab instrumentation power supply and ye olde usb cable into universal plug. it has a lot of other annoyances that led me to replace it, but it will probably still end up in a headphone system with a simple lm3xx analog regulator. it does sound pretty darn good for 100$
 

TechniBert

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yep, in the past I was like "digital audio? what could possibly go wrong?! leave me alone with your audiophile bullshit!" that kinda changed in certain areas.
but I'm still laughing my ass of when I read reviews like the one from amirm about the ps audio directstream DAC. 6k(!) and the measurement is worse than an 99cent device in a laptop, haha!
 

estuardo4

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Hello Everyone! Nice forum, thanks for the review, amirm!

I use the Sanskrit 10th in my main living room system for about half a year now. I recommend the use of a decent, linear power supply. As some mentioned, the sound of the sanskrit is a bit to bright in my ears as well. I solved this by combining it with a Tube preamp. Which got me into Tubes, but this is a different issue ;)

I think the Sanskrit is a really good deal for the money. It fits my living room situation very well. TV via toslink(with all its HDMI and analog attached devices like "fireTV", "Chromecast", etc) and a "Allo Digi One" Streamer via Spdif for the "serious" listening. So in this setting you definitely need a remote control. Name another DAC for that price that is able to do that. I could't find one. I even had the money left to invest in a decent linear power supply.

For a desktop szenario the linear power supply is not very handy. A decent one (in most cases) is bigger than the DAC itself. But as you connect to a PC via USB you'll have the noise from the computer anyways, so a standard wall mount should do the job as long as it is not making it worse. I don't want to get in a discussion about these noise issues, there are tons of forums all over the internet full of these endlessly ongoing arguments. It is just my experience and personal taste.

My setup(s): Allo Digi One(Raspi 2B with Volumio) -> SMSL Sanskrit 10th DAC with external linear power supply(5V, 1,25-2A) -> hybride tube/Class D preamp -> Class A/B Integrated Amp and FDAmp -> Klipsch RP-600M and Misson Cyrus 782

Cheers!
Hello,

I don't understand why you're connecting a preamp to the chain. If the sound is bright is not because of the Sanskirth. Why do you add another volume control to the chain ? If you read this forum for some time, you'll discover that you don't need to add anything unnecessary to the chain. Also, a 5 USD power supply is just enough. Also, please read the forum about the supposed noise from the USB ports. As far as I can tell, there's no way on a ABX test to dissern this "noise" from one DAC to the other. As you can see from Amir's test, using a standard power supply is just enough.

When I first found about this site I have the same misconceptions, but after a year of reading the forum I discovered and learned a lot of things.
 
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