Review and Measurements of SMSL VMV D1 DAC

[maverickronin]

It would be dissipated in the tweeter coil, but as its level is at -110dB or below this is not the issue.

Hopefully it isn't. Amir didn't measure it out to 1.8MHz.

The SMSL most likely won't have anything at high enough level to present a safety hazard to the tweeters, but something that's defective, damaged, or poorly designed enough just might. My point is that it's better for an audio amplifier to be band limited to something resembling the range of human hearing rather than attempting to cross over into the ham radio market in for the sake of putting bigger numbers on your spec sheet.

 

[yummy]

looks like the problem was that indeed fully awt from head to toe makes some gear look "normal" but with uwt the true monster is out there, the board needs to redone

 

[gvl]

I'm sure awt will make filterless NOS look quite nice too.

 

[yummy]

don't forget this SMSL also show errors, so whivch means

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...eview-and-measurements-of-smsl-su-8-dac.3778/

 

[Jimster480]

Any other correspondence from SMSL? Its been quiet here for the last couple days.

 

[CaptObvious]

looks like the problem was that indeed fully awt from head to toe makes some gear look "normal" but with uwt the true monster is out there, the board needs to redone

Sorry newbie here, AWT/UWT means?

 

[derp1n]

Sorry newbie here, AWT/UWT means?

AWT = A-weighting, which is a curve that attempts to account for perceptual loudness. UWT = unweighted, aka Z-weighting.

 

[amirm]

Any other correspondence from SMSL? Its been quiet here for the last couple days.

They were closed on the weekend. Came back on Monday and said it would be a bit before they would reply.

They had me try something which unfortunately did not fix the problem.

 

[gvl]

don't forget this SMSL also show errors, so whivch means

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...eview-and-measurements-of-smsl-su-8-dac.3778/

Yeah. I thought the balanced outputs were pretty disappointing, given they are the selling point for that DAC. And we didn't even get to see 90kHz bandwidth data. But the price of $250 does set certain (lowered) expectations, as so does $1,300.

 

[CaptObvious]

Looks like SMSL added your review @amirm to their Facebook page

 

[maxxevv]

Looks like SMSL added your review @amirm to their Facebook page

If balanced output ( which a lot of "audiophiles" obstinately insist on) is the measure, Amir's review and measurement of the V1 is really quite the endorsement.

Such independent, unsolicited measurements that reflect so well on the parameters that matter for their target customer base are priceless for them imo. You hear it so often over at headfi and a few other forums "I only care about the balanced output ... " * rolls eyes * ....

 

[CaptObvious]

Still, if you offer the option of both unbalanced and balanced, both should be somewhat comparable. Especially at the level/price they are marketing at.

Though now I'm curious, looks like they are releasing a SMSL VMV P1 headphone dac/amp based on the D1. Maybe it will correct the issues in the unbalanced side of the D1?

 

[gvl]

Just use one leg of balanced on D1 for your single-ended needs, it is clean.

 

[derp1n]

Or they could engineer it well enough that such workarounds aren't needed.

 

[Veri]

Just use one leg of balanced on D1 for your single-ended needs, it is clean.

 

[yummy]

Just use one leg of balanced on D1 for your single-ended needs, it is clean.

covert bal to se like this, sometimes will destroy you whole gear

 

[gvl]

covert bal to se like this, sometimes will destroy you whole gear

Please elaborate.

 

[Roen]

Time to wait for the "D2" if they release such a DAC.

 

[helloworld]

Time to wait for the "D2" if they release such a DAC.

I heard they have sent a new D1 and SU8 to amirm for review last weekend.

 

[amirm]

I heard they have sent a new D1 and SU8 to amirm for review last weekend.

They were supposed to but I have gotten no confirmation of that yet.