SMSL D-6s Balanced DAC Review

[staticV3]

You can buy TrueRMS Multimeters for $10-15, which enable more accurate level matching between DACs and Amps than any microphone, regardless of price.

It is IMO an essential part of any audio enthusiast's toolkit and crucial if you want to do proper DAC/Amp comparisons.

 

[nanook]

You can buy TrueRMS Multimeters for $10-15, which enable more accurate level matching between DACs and Amps than any microphone, regardless of price.

It is IMO an essential part of any audio enthusiast's toolkit and crucial if you want to do proper DAC/Amp comparisons.

Do you have an example? My experience is, that most DMMs (even fairly expensive ones) are restricted to 400 Hz max.
True RMS is not really important. The ones not measuring True RMS are calibrated such that they show the correct reading with sinewaves.

 

[staticV3]

Do you have an example? My experience is, that most DMMs (even fairly expensive ones) are restricted to 400 Hz max.

My $25 AN870 is flat to 2kHz:


But even if it was limited to 200Hz, that would be AOK.

After all, you're not using it to measure frequency response and you're not using noise or music for level matching.

Instead, a continuous sine wave should be used, and then you can choose any frequency that A: your DMM can measure and B: is within the linear response area of both DUTs.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Does anyone know if D-6s has automatic signal sensing on/off capability as there are for example in the cheap topping dacs? DL200 at least doesn't have such an option.

 

[ICIETDIYEUR]

People hi

Does anyone know the 'method' for the SMSL D-6s to automatically go into standby mode when there's no signal at the inputs ?

Do you know if SMSL has planned a FIRMARE update for this (if possible) ?

Aside from this missing feature, this DAC is simply perfect and certainly the easiest to use

Have a good day

 

[Lyricman]

People hi

Does anyone know the 'method' for the SMSL D-6s to automatically go into standby mode when there's no signal at the inputs ?

Do you know if SMSL has planned a FIRMARE update for this (if possible) ?

Aside from this missing feature, this DAC is simply perfect and certainly the easiest to use

Have a good day

The D-6S is a great DAC for the money, it is entirely manual with power either on or off set manually. I have my DAC going into a NAD Class Power Amp which does autosensing and switches on when it senses a signal output from the DAC.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

The D-6S is a great DAC for the money, it is entirely manual with power either on or off set manually. I have my DAC going into a NAD Class Power Amp which does autosensing and switches on when it senses a signal output from the DAC.

Alright. So no D-6s for me then.

By the way, does anyone know if SMSL makes any dac at all which would have signal sensing on/off?

 

[HalSF]

Alright. So no D-6s for me then.

By the way, does anyone know if SMSL makes any dac at all which would have signal sensing on/off?

I own the D-6S and I’m confused by what @Lyricman is telling us.

The DAC has a standby mode status light on the front and the manual includes this info:

Specifications
Power Consumption...........................................<10W
Standby power.....................................................<0.5W

I’m not certain how and when the unit enters standby, because the manual doesn’t address that, but I’m fairly certain I’ve had to wake the DAC from standby power mode a few times.

 

[PyramidElectric]

I own the D-6S and I’m confused by what @Lyricman is telling us.

The DAC has a standby mode status light on the front and the manual includes this info:

Specifications
Power Consumption...........................................<10W
Standby power.....................................................<0.5W

I’m not certain how and when the unit enters standby, because the manual doesn’t address that, but I’m fairly certain I’ve had to wake the DAC from standby power mode a few times.

Standby = when you turn it "off" and there a little red light on the display.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

I own the D-6S and I’m confused by what @Lyricman is telling us.

The DAC has a standby mode status light on the front and the manual includes this info:

Specifications
Power Consumption...........................................<10W
Standby power.....................................................<0.5W

I’m not certain how and when the unit enters standby, because the manual doesn’t address that, but I’m fairly certain I’ve had to wake the DAC from standby power mode a few times.

What I meant was are there any SMSL dacs that would automatically enter standby mode after no signal from computer and wake up as the signal returns, like Topping E30II or D50 III.

I have SMSL DL200 and it has to be turned on manually.

 

[mauretto]

I recently installed a Pioneer SA706 vintage amplifier and compared to the previous one (Luxman L225) I find an excessive amount of low frequencies that decrease the quality of the musical message. Can I, with the filters available on the D-6S, fix this problem?

 

[Zek]

I find an excessive amount of low frequencies

Have you checked that the loudness is not activated?
You can reduce the amount of bass on the bass control.

 

[mauretto]

Thanks for the reply, but they are the solution I was looking for. The question was if by customizing the D-6s filters I could get a decrease in bass.

 

[PyramidElectric]

Thanks for the reply, but they are the solution I was looking for. The question was if by customizing the D-6s filters I could get a decrease in bass.

Nope the filters don't really affect the EQ except in the very high frequencies, and even then it's debatable if it's audible. In the review it's the graph after "Here are the usual filter and frequency response tests:" the filters only begin to deviate after 18/19khz.

 

[Palladium]

What I meant was are there any SMSL dacs that would automatically enter standby mode after no signal from computer and wake up as the signal returns, like Topping E30II or D50 III.

I have SMSL DL200 and it has to be turned on manually.

You won't get that on any non-Topping DAC AFAIK. It's also one of those things once you experienced it you will never want to live without it again.

 

[anonyless]

What I meant was are there any SMSL dacs that would automatically enter standby mode after no signal from computer and wake up as the signal returns, like Topping E30II or D50 III.

I have SMSL DL200 and it has to be turned on manually.

I just tested SMSL SU1 -
0.2A when on normally (white led on input)
0.1A on standby (no signal detected on input , white led blinking). that's 0.5W

 

[Human Bass]

I recently installed a Pioneer SA706 vintage amplifier and compared to the previous one (Luxman L225) I find an excessive amount of low frequencies that decrease the quality of the musical message. Can I, with the filters available on the D-6S, fix this problem?

It is extremely uncommon to an amp to add bass, that would be a very peculiar type of distortion. Bass usually is much more of a matter of acoustics/mechanics than electricity, for exemple a speaker near a wall usually has more bass.

And if it really is what you are saying, an single low pass eq filter can solve that. Or get a decent amp, because amps are not supposed to create new frequencies not presented in the signal.

 

[VientoB]

It is extremely uncommon to an amp to add bass, that would be a very peculiar type of distortion. Bass usually is much more of a matter of acoustics/mechanics than electricity, for exemple a speaker near a wall usually has more bass.

And if it really is what you are saying, an single low pass eq filter can solve that. Or get a decent amp, because amps are not supposed to create new frequencies not presented in the signal.

Depends on the current capabilities does it not? Bass frequencies need more power to reproduce than higher frequencies.

 

[Human Bass]

Depends on the current capabilities does it not? Bass frequencies need more power to reproduce than higher frequencies.

An amp may struggle to produce in relation to the sensitivity of the driver , but noticeable over production is a defect .

 

[sejarzo]

An amp may struggle to produce in relation to the sensitivity of the driver , but noticeable over production is a defect .

Perhaps the reality is that the older amp has degraded and become deficient in the treble region rather than "overproducing" the bass?