SMSL D-6s Balanced DAC Review

[mauretto]

Just for information: my D-6s with the old firmware connected to a Cocktail Audio does not produce any clicks

 

[mauretto]

another question: I set the volume on the D6-s to 95 as suggested, but on the amplifier (Nad 3120) the normal listening volume is now at 12 o'clock, while before it was at 9 o'clock. If I leave the volume at 99 can I ruin the Nad?

 

[staticV3]

another question: I set the volume on the D6-s to 95 as suggested, but on the amplifier (Nad 3120) the normal listening volume is now at 12 o'clock, while before it was at 9 o'clock. If I leave the volume at 99 can I ruin the Nad?

The 3120 User Manual states input overload of >25V.

The D-6S can at most output 4.9V.

 

[mauretto]

Thank you, Static V3

 

[mauretto]

Congratulations to the D6-s support: I requested the new English firmware version and after less than an hour they replied to me

 

[Bigron]

Need a bit of help chaps, I've just got one of these based on this review and a recommendation. I don't need any add ones and I'm really pleased with this.
The supplied user guide is not much good and there is a setting, and I don't know what it’s for.
When you flick through the settings, one of them says dp and it goes up to 9, I have set at 5.
What does it relate to?
One other thing, I don't want or need any other features but would this Dac

SMSL DO400 Pro​

be an improvement sound quality wise over the D6S I have?
I still have time to exchange if I want to.

 

[staticV3]

When you flick through the settings, one of them says dp and it goes up to 9, I have set at 5.
What does it relate to?

See the user manual, it's explained there ("DPLL"): https://www.smsl-audio.com/themes/p...ml?file=/upload/portal/download/D6SManual.pdf

One other thing, I don't want or need any other features but would this Dac

SMSL DO400 Pro​

be an improvement sound quality wise over the D6S I have?

No improvements can be had over the D-6S' sound quality.

For DACs, you have reached the end of the line.
Best to look into loudspeakers, room treatment, and room correction at that point.

 

[Bigron]

See the user manual, it's explained there ("DPLL"): https://www.smsl-audio.com/themes/p...ml?file=/upload/portal/download/D6SManual.pdf


No improvements can be had over the D-6S' sound quality.

For DACs, you have reached the end of the line.
Best to look into loudspeakers, room treatment, and room correction at that point.

Thanks for that, so if I set it to lowest setting and everything works fine is that best thing to do? What are the pros and cons of high low settings?

 

[staticV3]

Thanks for that, so if I set it to lowest setting and everything works fine is that best thing to do?

Correct.

What are the pros and cons of high low settings?

Low:
Less jitter on DAC outputs
Higher chance of playback stutter

High:
Vice versa

More on jitter here: https://youtu.be/f_r33B4jptA

 

[Bigron]

Correct.


Low:
Less jitter on DAC outputs
Higher chance of playback stutter

High:
Vice versa

More on jitter here: https://youtu.be/f_r33B4jptA

Top man, excellent video, thanks.
One question though, why does the SMSL Dac have this feature if it’s not a problem?

 

[staticV3]

One question though, why does the SMSL Dac have this feature if it’s not a problem?

Because ESS Sabre, who built the DAC chip inside the D-6S, developed this feature in the pursuit of perfection.

SMSL simply passed the controls onto the end user, in case they needed or wanted it.

 

[salmo]

Quick measurement on RCA (I don't have plugs to solder the XLR cable)... Wow, just wow!
E1DA ADC + APU Notch - measured at full volume of 99 on a DAC. It was a little challenging to adjust gains without Scaler or other buffer, but that's the best I could squeeze out of it:

 

[VientoB]

Are the peaks at 2k, 3k etc normal?

 

[Apesbrain]

Are the peaks at 2k, 3k etc normal?

Yes, they are harmonic distortion. What's important is that they are 140 dB below the 1 kHz tone; they are completely inaudible. This is very good performance.

 

[ICIETDIYEUR]

People hi

I think it is a bit 'easy' to talk about harmonics and the fact that they are inaudible because at a level of -140dB:
I am convinced that their 'role' in the SQ rendering (you're going to say that it's subjective, but isn't listening to a device subjective?) of a device is very important although it is poorly or not understood nowadays since we constantly strive to carry out the same known measurements on different devices.

I believe, in my humble opinion, that we would have to think outside the box a bit to understand what we systematically interpret as psychoacoustic phenomena...

... let's try to have the same behavior as Bruno Putzeys or the engineers at TOPPING (for example) who for their part do not bury their heads in the sand

 

[VientoB]

People hi

I think it is a bit 'easy' to talk about harmonics and the fact that they are inaudible because at a level of -140dB:
I am convinced that their 'role' in the SQ rendering (you're going to say that it's subjective, but isn't listening to a device subjective?) of a device is very important although it is poorly or not understood nowadays since we constantly strive to carry out the same known measurements on different devices.

I believe, in my humble opinion, that we would have to think outside the box a bit to understand what we systematically interpret as psychoacoustic phenomena...

... let's try to have the same behavior as Bruno Putzeys or the engineers at TOPPING (for example) who for their part do not bury their heads in the sand

How would you prove this hypothesis?

 

[ICIETDIYEUR]

Personally, I cannot prove it: I do not claim to have the necessary level such as Bruno Putzeys or the TOPPING engineers who for their part, I have no doubt, are doing research to improve the SQ of devices beyond what is known today and who until now have clearly proven to us that this is indeed possible.

I don't need to prove that, we can at least agree on this last statement, right?

Also why wouldn't 'something else' be possible?

Only the future will tell us: neither you nor me but we will definitely be able to admit it at that moment

 

[tccalvin]

Personally, I cannot prove it: I do not claim to have the necessary level such as Bruno Putzeys or the TOPPING engineers who for their part, I have no doubt, are doing research to improve the SQ of devices beyond what is known today and who until now have clearly proven to us that this is indeed possible.

I don't need to prove that, we can at least agree on this last statement, right?

Also why wouldn't 'something else' be possible?

Only the future will tell us: neither you nor me but we will definitely be able to admit it at that moment

Anybody can prove psychoacoustic phenomena. Do proper blind ABX tests and you're good to go.

 

[Toku]

People hi

I think it is a bit 'easy' to talk about harmonics and the fact that they are inaudible because at a level of -140dB:
I am convinced that their 'role' in the SQ rendering (you're going to say that it's subjective, but isn't listening to a device subjective?) of a device is very important although it is poorly or not understood nowadays since we constantly strive to carry out the same known measurements on different devices.

I believe, in my humble opinion, that we would have to think outside the box a bit to understand what we systematically interpret as psychoacoustic phenomena...

... let's try to have the same behavior as Bruno Putzeys or the engineers at TOPPING (for example) who for their part do not bury their heads in the sand

ASR was originally established as a forum with the goal of eliminating the subjective, unsubstantiated evaluation of audio equipment that has been common in the past, and instead evaluating equipment based on electrical measurements. We expect posts to be made with a full understanding of this point.
However, currently, there are only a limited number of items that can be measured electrically. I myself had similar questions back when I was developing products. Unfortunately, however, we did not have the means to express them quantitatively. It is true that back then, final product evaluation was done by staff members' ears. However, in the future, further technological advances will likely lead to the development of new measurement techniques. Let's hope for the best.

 

[VientoB]

ASR was originally established as a forum with the goal of eliminating the subjective, unsubstantiated evaluation of audio equipment that has been common in the past, and instead evaluating equipment based on electrical measurements. We expect posts to be made with a full understanding of this point.
However, currently, there are only a limited number of items that can be measured electrically. I myself had similar questions back when I was developing products. Unfortunately, however, we did not have the means to express them quantitatively. It is true that back then, final product evaluation was done by staff members' ears. However, in the future, further technological advances will likely lead to the development of new measurement techniques. Let's hope for the best.

We can measure pretty much anything you want. What do you mean by "limited"?