SMSL D-6 DAC Review

[Ajax]

Interesting suggestion. In such a graph, you wouldn't be able to see and identify the rest of the products. You are OK with that?

HI Amir,

If I was to be presumptuous I would suggest that your members are only interested in "very good" and above

 

[Walter]

HI Amir,

If I was to be presumptuous I would suggest that your members are only interested in "very good" and above

No, I like to see which devices performed poorly or middling, also. But I'd be OK with only seeing maybe 20-30 total if the full chart is linked.

 

[Lambda]

Why did SMSL decide to use a figure-8 power cable on this model? To shave a few cents off the BOM?

No Ground. No Ground Loops.
(ok taht's oversimplified)
But having the Case and Audio GND not referenced to mains PE has lot advantages.

Even better would be to uses a "function grounding" and having a Mains PE Screen around the transformer but not referenced to audio Ground

 

[Walter]

First pass: https://codepen.io/verymickey/full/Barrdwx
Right now it's just using local data to get a feel for the presentation, tomorrow I can see about having it pull from the db, linking back to articles, refining etc.

M

Nice proof of concept. CSS for mobile needs work but that is easy enough. I'd eliminate the outline around each bar. Biggest question is whether this can be embedded in a post ot just has to be linked to. Forum software has a lot of limitations/restrictions.

 

[Labjr]

No Ground. No Ground Loops.
(ok taht's oversimplified)
But having the Case and Audio GND not referenced to mains PE has lot advantages.

Even better would be to uses a "function grounding" and having a Mains PE Screen around the transformer but not referenced to audio Ground

Why did they do it on this model and not the DO100?

 

[Lambda]

Why did they do it on this model and not the DO100?

I can’t think of any reason to use this plug other then it "looks more professional"
Many think (maybe sub contentiously) bigger is better. even you thought this is cost cutting.

Even Armin says :

SMSL delivers an excellently engineered DAC with my favorite features of included power supply

I see no Technical reason for a device like this to need more then USB power.
The Moto m4 works fine USB powered.


Sure having a PE for functional grounding can be beneficial.
but in this cases there shuld be a "ground lift switch" (common on pro pa/studio gear)

but even then:
IEC 60320 c5 is the way to go for small low power devices

 

[Ra1zel]

If these smaller companies are able to get this kinda performance out of these chip dacs for this kinda price why can't the larger companies with big financial backing get close or equal these dynamic and low distortion numbers in their mid and upper priced AVR's? Or any of their gear..is it a money thing, not cost effective?

Depends what big companies you have on mind, most pro gear from guys like Universal, Merging, RME, Lynx, Apogee, would ace measurments.

 

[KxDx]

I would imagine the best thing is to reduce the display brightness as much as possible. Any phosphor LEDs are just like OLEDs and they fade over time. More brightness = more fade.

I took a beating selling a TEAC UD505 because of degraded pixels. It was 100% functional but I couldn't move it at anywhere near a reasonable price.

 

[machinejump]

Nice proof of concept. CSS for mobile needs work but that is easy enough. I'd eliminate the outline around each bar. Biggest question is whether this can be embedded in a post ot just has to be linked to. Forum software has a lot of limitations/restrictions.

Thanks. Yea I am still unsure exactly how useful this ultimately will be especially given Amir's updated Review Index page - but thats why we do the quick PoC.

Re: Eliminating the bar outline - Please share more on your thought/reasoning here

Re: Embedding - Definitely not with the forum's current settings, probably could be allowed. Simplest fix would just be to rotate the entire chart 90deg - you get the readability gains and it stays an image so you retain the ability to post it in threads.

 

[Merifon]

Wanted to get the DO100 but price increased from 215€ to 240€ on amazon. I'm probably gonna get the D-6 now

What a price growt! So I was lucky to get the DO100 for 185€ one month ago...

 

[DanielT]

Superb, well done Amir. Thanks for the review and measurements.

Bluetooth 5.1
What about the Bluetooth input and this DAC? Are there any restrictions compared to the other inputs? I'm curious because I don't know Bluetooth and don't know anything about its signal quality regarding DACs.Is the Bluetooth receiver in the SMSL D-6 powerful enough? Is it sensitive in terms of signal strength?
Bluetooth in and balanced out? Is it working?

Those of you who have tested Bluetooth on your SMSL D-6, please tell us about your experiences. If it works well? Any problems?

Looking at this, what is said in the quote below. Is it good or not? :

Bluetooth 5.1
SMSL has equipped the D-6 with the latest Qualcomm QCC5125 chip, which offers high-resolution Bluetooth 5.1 reception capability, including support for aptX HD and LDAC codecs.

SMSL D-6 DAC 2x AK4493S XMOS Bluetooth 5.1 aptX HD LDAC 32bit 768kHz DSD512 - Audiophonics

The D-6 joins SMSL's wide range of DACs, offering excellent performance for a contained price. It is equipped with two AKM AK4493S conversion chips and a second generation USB XMOS interface.

www.audiophonics.fr

What is: high-resolution Bluetooth 5.1? That is, how high is high? I'm mostly curious about how good a signal you can get via Bluetooth these days.

Edit:
I found information about the quality of the signal via Bluetooth, see attached image and link. Good for Spotify anyway.

https://www.makeuseof.com/aptx-vs-ldac-whats-the-difference/

No support IOS, iPhone, together with aptX HD from what I could see but maybe there have been changes? I'm using Android so it's not something I'm worried about. Just wanted to mention it.
(I could be wrong about IOS and aptX HD)

Remote control:
Those of you who have an SMSL D-6, how do you think the remote control is? Easy to work with? Easy to change the volume? Have you tried plugging this DAC directly into a power amplifier and then changing the volume via SMSL D-6?Experiences with that?

 

[diaolodoro]

This might be my next purchase. Balanced 6.3mm (my favorite connection) with RCAs, USB-C, Bluetooth, volume bypass, built in power supply and good performance.
This is everything I look for in a DAC. I'll might wait for a topping E50 II if it gets an included power supply, or get the DX5. But overall this seems like a strong contender.

 

[sarumbear]

Waarom zijn bananen krom ?

Bir öğretmene sormak lazım.

 

[sarumbear]

Why did SMSL decide to use a figure-8 power cable on this model? To shave a few cents off the BOM?

There’s no need for an earth connection. It’s a class II device. That’s why a C8 socket is used. Besides, there is not much space for a C18 socket.

 

[sarumbear]

but even then:
IEC 60320 c5 is the way to go for small low power devices

That’s for a Class I device. This DAC is a Class II device.

 

[Liberal Democracy]

I think we need a new way to dislpay the ranking. Even at full size, the device names are getting hard to read

I vote for a histogram!

Even harder ( impossible) to hear .

 

[Caliban]

I took a beating selling a TEAC UD505 because of degraded pixels. It was 100% functional but I couldn't move it at anywhere near a reasonable price.

Why this obsession for OLED displays lately ? Is is cheaper than LCD (that we know last longer)?
Talk about wear and tear, and the gear they sit in are sometimes very expensive too !

 

[Labjr]

There’s no need for an earth connection. It’s a class II device. That’s why a C8 socket is used. Besides, there is not much space for a C18 socket.

My question was why this DAC and not all their models?

 

[Labjr]

Why this obsession for OLED displays lately ? Is is cheaper than LCD (that we know last longer)?
Talk about wear and tear, and the gear they sit in are sometimes very expensive too !

The OLED novelty has worn off. I think it's to the point of looking generic and disposable. I prefer LCD's because they last forever. Especially when it's only to display settings etc. It's not a high end television.

 

[DonR]

The OLED novelty has worn off. I think it's to the point of looking generic and disposable. I prefer LCD's because they last forever. Especially when it's only to display settings etc. It's not a high end television.

I would prefer an OLED if they used a standardized and easily replaceable part. LCD's are impossible to source replacements for since they are all custom even if they have a longer life. They are also much harder to read.