SMSL D-6 DAC Review

[VintageFlanker]

Great little amp

Except it's a DAC.

 

[Greyfox]

Except it's a DAC.

Haha lol! It's because I'm constantly thinking to replace my AMP to an audiophonics class D

 

[ceausuc]

It seems that SMSL made a little brother for it:

SMSL C100 USB MQA DAC AK4493S XMOS XU316 DSD512 32Bit 768KHZ CK-03 Clock Optical coaxial Bluetooth Decoder With remote control

SMSL C100 USB MQA DAC AK4493S XMOS XU316 DSD512 32Bit 768KHZ CK-03 Clock Optical coaxial Bluetooth Decoder With remote control

aoshida-audio.com

 

[Howie Dern]

Any idea if it's a fix for the click problem?

Anyone using this dac with LG tvs on optical input? It is locking the signal? It doesn't seem to have the dpll settings like other smsl dacs.

I've been emailing back and forth with Shenzhen Audio about this clicking problem. They sent me a firmware upgrade and instructions. The upgrade seems to be the same as can be downloaded from the link given earlier. This did not solve the clicking problem. Next they sent me a new D-6. Same issue. I am using an RPi with Volumio and streaming Tidal HiFi with USB input to the D-6. Always 44.1/16 and no changes in bit rate from track to track. If I play an album or playlist there are no clicks between tracks. Clicks always occur when I manually play a track or change tracks by hitting the jump forward/back buttons.

Before the D-6 I was using a Modi 3+. No clicks. But I wanted the additional features of the D-6 and I got the D-6 during a sale on Amazon. To get the same features now in another DAC I'll need to pay something like $50 more so I'm holding off hoping they come up with a real fix.

Shenzhen Audio has offered to give me an SU-6 for the same price I paid during the D-6 on sale but I heard it also has clicking (and no balanced out). Anyone know if the SU-6 really has the same clicking problem?

 

[carlcamper]

I've been emailing back and forth with Shenzhen Audio about this clicking problem. They sent me a firmware upgrade and instructions. The upgrade seems to be the same as can be downloaded from the link given earlier. This did not solve the clicking problem. Next they sent me a new D-6. Same issue. I am using an RPi with Volumio and streaming Tidal HiFi with USB input to the D-6. Always 44.1/16 and no changes in bit rate from track to track. If I play an album or playlist there are no clicks between tracks. Clicks always occur when I manually play a track or change tracks by hitting the jump forward/back buttons.

Before the D-6 I was using a Modi 3+. No clicks. But I wanted the additional features of the D-6 and I got the D-6 during a sale on Amazon. To get the same features now in another DAC I'll need to pay something like $50 more so I'm holding off hoping they come up with a real fix.

Shenzhen Audio has offered to give me an SU-6 for the same price I paid during the D-6 on sale but I heard it also has clicking (and no balanced out). Anyone know if the SU-6 really has the same clicking problem?

Have you tried this workaround for Windows? https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...os-driver-settings-for-no-cutoff-delay.25838/

 

[Howie Dern]

Have you tried this workaround for Windows? https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...os-driver-settings-for-no-cutoff-delay.25838/

Thanks but I'm I'm not using Windows. Volumio on a raspberry pi.

 

[Howie Dern]

Basic question …
How do you install it?
I use a Mac; does it require the DAC to be connected directly to a Windows PC?

I've been emailing back and forth with Shenzhen Audio about this clicking problem. They sent me a firmware upgrade and instructions. The upgrade seems to be the same as can be downloaded from the link given earlier. This did not solve the clicking problem. Next they sent me a new D-6. Same issue. I am using an RPi with Volumio and streaming Tidal HiFi with USB input to the D-6. Always 44.1/16 and no changes in bit rate from track to track. If I play an album or playlist there are no clicks between tracks. Clicks always occur when I manually play a track or change tracks by hitting the jump forward/back buttons.

Before the D-6 I was using a Modi 3+. No clicks. But I wanted the additional features of the D-6 and I got the D-6 during a sale on Amazon. To get the same features now in another DAC I'll need to pay something like $50 more so I'm holding off hoping they come up with a real fix.

Shenzhen Audio has offered to give me an SU-6 for the same price I paid during the D-6 on sale but I heard it also has clicking (and no balanced out). Anyone know if the SU-6 really has the same clicking problem?

Worth noting - if you install the update it will set the DAC output volume to full (60) so turn it down before playing if you are using the DAC for volume control.

 

[san]

Is this issue only with Linux? Anyone facing the click issue with windows?

 

[rentaclaus]

Is this issue only with Linux? Anyone facing the click issue with windows?

Afaik it's not a issue with Linux at all, but with some distros...

Here you can find a solution for Ubuntu https://askubuntu.com/questions/1015384/keep-audio-awake. I'm sure you can adopt it to other distros.

BTW. I switched my Ubuntu 22.04 completly to Pipewire I'm not aware of clicking issues with my D-6
https://lowtechlinux.com/2022/04/26/go-full-pipewire-on-ubuntu-22-04-and-all-family-derivatives/

 

[rentaclaus]

I am using an RPi with Volumio and streaming Tidal HiFi with USB input to the D-6.

Here you can find a explanation why an Rasberry Pi 4 is necessary for good Audio via USBDAC

Linux Audio Foundation – Foundation Dedicated To Linux Audio Since 2003

linuxaudiofoundation.org

 

[ceausuc]

I've been emailing back and forth with Shenzhen Audio about this clicking problem. They sent me a firmware upgrade and instructions. The upgrade seems to be the same as can be downloaded from the link given earlier. This did not solve the clicking problem. Next they sent me a new D-6. Same issue. I am

How loud is it? Does it seem to be dangerous for speakers? All the dacs I had suffered from this problem but on some it was "louder".
I remember that Allo Audio dac had a setting to mute the output for a while so that it would hide the click.

Too bad... this dac looks so tempting, would have been the perfect dac in this price category.

 

[Howie Dern]

Here you can find a explanation why an Rasberry Pi 4 is necessary for good Audio via USBDAC

Linux Audio Foundation – Foundation Dedicated To Linux Audio Since 2003

linuxaudiofoundation.org

Yes, I'm using an RPi 4.

 

[Howie Dern]

How loud is it? Does it seem to be dangerous for speakers? All the dacs I had suffered from this problem but on some it was "louder".
I remember that Allo Audio dac had a setting to mute the output for a while so that it would hide the click.

Too bad... this dac looks so tempting, would have been the perfect dac in this price category.

The click is noticeable but not loud and certainly not dangerous for speakers. You might or might not be willing to live with it. Again, for me at least, it only happens when manually starting a track or hitting the skip to next/previous track buttons.

 

[xeizo]

I'm on Windows 11, I have no clicks changing/pausing/starting songs when using the same sample rate, however my workaround was to disable "power management" on all USB hubs in Device Manager. USB audio is pretty mint since I did that. Looks like newer versions of Windows have very aggressive power management which doesn't play well with USB audio.

edit. I run TRS out to a SMSL SH-6 using a TRS -> RCA-cable from Amazon, seems to work well, with a pair of Hifiman HE400SE the sound can be described as analytical. No micro details are missing. Very clean, very low distorsion. I wanted a DAC with balanced out in case I would happen to use it with my powered monitors, as a balanced connection greatly reduces electrical interference which powered monitors usually are very sensitive to. In the case of the SH-6, it's not balanced I just use that cable as I have one and it looks to work without drawbacks..

edit 2. scene 2 + filter 6 sounds fine together, very classic HiFi, powerful and crisp. Standard setting is a little flat sounding.

 

[ceausuc]

The click is noticeable but not loud and certainly not dangerous for speakers. You might or might not be willing to live with it. Again, for me at least, it only happens when manually starting a track or hitting the skip to next/previous track buttons.

I'm usually getting clicks when switching to/from PCM / DSD, sometimes also on PCM with different sample rates. If / when you have the time could you test that scenario also, please?

 

[Howie Dern]

I'm always streaming PCM at 44.1/16 and not changing sample rates. So for me it happens without changing sample rates or formats so I suppose it would also happen with those changes.

 

[rentaclaus]

The MusicPlayerDeamon (MPD) has an option to mute pops/noise when switching between DSD and PCM, maybe it helps

output/alsa: add option "stop_dsd_silence" to work around DSD DAC noise · MusicPlayerDaemon/[email protected]

Music Player Daemon. Contribute to MusicPlayerDaemon/MPD development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

stop_dsd_silence yes|no**

- If enabled, silence is played before manually stopping playback

("stop" or "pause") in DSD mode (native DSD or DoP). This is a

workaround for some DACs which emit noise when stopping DSD

playback.

 

[rentaclaus]

I'm always streaming PCM at 44.1/16 and not changing sample rates. So for me it happens without changing sample rates or formats so I suppose it would also happen with those changes.

I tried hard to reproduce your experience playing PCM 44.1/16 - all tracks where ripped from own cd's by using whipper- but failed. No clicks, noises whatever I do ... only music or silence ...

My system: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, kernel 5.15-56-generic (Asrock B550M Pro4, AMD Ryzen 5 5600g, AM4 AGESA Combo V2 PI 1.2.0.7 -. there had been some USB related issues in older Bios ) with Pipewire as soundserver, Lollypop as player > D6 set to PrD (no volume) > Naim Nac 72/Nap90

 

[rentaclaus]

In the meanwhile i digged a little deeper ...
I stopped pipewire and set deadbeef as player, I used the direct output to the D-6. Just to hear if pipewire as any impact. It has not. Situation is like before: only silence or the most beautiful sound next to silence (naturally only when playing ECM Tracks ;-.) ). No noise, no cracks or pops.

For pipewire itself a discovered a possibility to disable 'suspend on idle' for those suffering on delays, pops or noise...

Disable Pipewire Suspend on Idle to avoid audio pops, delays, and white noise

In case you're experiencing a sound pop whenever sound is played after a a certain amount of time – or a little while after sound has played. Or perhaps you have more sensitive hearing or headphones/speakers and can notice white noise coming from your computer after a little while. If

davejansen.com

 

[xeizo]

The D-6 sounds very good, my Motu M2 interface comes off as flat and sharp sounding in comparison also the D-6 has impressive bass impact and definition. And no fatigue, I'm happy listening for hours. I do not even feel the need to EQ the HE400SE which sounded scratchy and with weak bass on the M2.