SMSL Sanskrit 10th MK II DAC Review

[Herbert]

Could it be that the higher jitter on coax SPDIF is due to a missing isolation transformer? BTW Toslink is limited according high sample rates. As far as I remember 24/96
stereo is as far as it gets. I am not an advocate for high bitrates besides music production and mixing, I mostly listen to 16/44.1 @ home anyway. But I prefer Coax because it is passive, no LED transmitter and photo receiver needed, but isolation transformers should be implemented. Many manufacturers use only decoupling capacitors here...

 

[JohnYang1997]

Could it be that the higher jitter on coax SPDIF is due to a missing isolation transformer? BTW Toslink is limited according high sample rates. As far as I remember 24/96
stereo is as far as it gets. I am not an advocate for high bitrates besides music production and mixing, I mostly listen to 16/44.1 @ home anyway. But I prefer Coax because it is passive, no LED transmitter and photo receiver needed, but isolation transformers should be implemented. Many manufacturers use only decoupling capacitors here...

XMOS is asynchronous.

 

[YoniV]

It's the 4493 digital filter. Should have no problem when running 48khz sampling rate. The high frequency tones aren't audible anyway.

Both here and in the E30 the plot says it's being done with 48kHz sampling rate (unless it's a typo in plots). Is it clear that only the ultrasonics are responsible for the relatively high numbers in both products? If so, can I somehow see/calculate it from this or other graphs?

 

[Heeld]

Thx @amirm for this! After reading it and @WolfX-700 review I decided to go ahead and buy one of from audiophonics.fr to replace my trusty Sanskrit Pro-B (AK4490). (on a sidenote) I have also ordered the Meizu HiFi Audio Pro (CS 43131) dongle. These "mini" DACs are an excellent value and can't wait to hear them.

With the greatest of respect, the whole point is you won’t hear them.

 

[matt3421]

jitter was also high on the original SK10 with USB power. do you think that would measure better if you used external power?

 

[AudioScienceRequired]

I'm looking to buy my first DAC to pair with my Chromecast Audio, does anyone have a recommendation between the recently reviewed Topping E30 and the SK10? Thanks!

 

[flipflop]

I'm looking to buy my first DAC to pair with my Chromecast Audio, does anyone have a recommendation between the recently reviewed Topping E30 and the SK10? Thanks!

Get whichever is cheapest.

 

[taisho]

It looks like there are 3 very good budget options at the moment: Topping D10, SMSL Sanskrit 10th MK II and Topping E30. Did I miss anything? I myself got a used D10 with shipping for $60 what is a total steal in Europe. With how much I can spend on the speakers, there is really no point going for the other 2 better-performing options. Hopefully, Amir finds something similar to JBL 305P MkII, it can be even more pricy, but without the infamous hiss.

 

[Bachemar]

Would the jitter on Toslink improve if using external power? @amirm would you be able to test that?
This would be perfect, but disappointing since I use Toslink in my setup

 

[matt3421]

It looks like there are 3 very good budget options at the moment: Topping D10, SMSL Sanskrit 10th MK II and Topping E30. Did I miss anything? I myself got a used D10 with shipping for $60 what is a total steal in Europe. With how much I can spend on the speakers, there is really no point going for the other 2 better-performing options. Hopefully, Amir finds something similar to JBL 305P MkII, it can be even more pricy, but without the infamous hiss.

SMSL M100

 

[Herbert]

XMOS is asynchronous.

So? On galvanically isolated Toslink jitter seems lower. As Coax and Toslink very likely
share the same signal path, galvanical isolation might play a role...?

 

[JohnYang1997]

So? On galvanically isolated Toslink jitter seems lower. As Coax and Toslink very likely
share the same signal path, galvanical isolation might play a role...?

Coax and Toslink don't go through XMOS hence the jitter. Also Toslink goes through the photo electric process, it has higher jitter.

 

[gfx_1]

Thanks for testing Toslink, a lot of setups can't use USB so its interesting to see how Toslink performs. think Coax is less common, so you could drop that test imo.

Some CD players have a coax digital out. I switch between coax (raspberry pi) and optical (pc)

 

[amirm]

jitter was also high on the original SK10 with USB power. do you think that would measure better if you used external power?

I don't think so. Power related issues show pulses all the way to the left not the organized jitter train we see.

 

[Jimster480]

Another great DAC at a budget price. It seems that DAC market has really exploded in the last 2 years. All the sudden there are all these near-perfect DAC's at $200 and less....

 

[Tks]

Don't need another test rig. I can increase the FFT length and keep reducing the noise floor so we are good.

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I have no clue how this is actually done with the machine/software. So I'm just curious, is there any limit to this "increase the FFT length" thing? Or is it a massive time sink after a certain threshold? I've been curious lately on how long each of these tests and their variants (with some reviews employing new graphs like SINAD per volume level over time for example) (or one-off tests for some exceptionally good or bad products). I was going to say "maybe when you have some time, you can do a walkthrough on your process some day", and then I realize you barely have room to move around your home with how much stuff is sent.

Another great DAC at a budget price. It seems that DAC market has really exploded in the last 2 years. All the sudden there are all these near-perfect DAC's at $200 and less....

Remeber when people said "it makes no difference, no one cares what measurements from this site show".?

 

[amirm]

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I have no clue how this is actually done with the machine/software. So I'm just curious, is there any limit to this "increase the FFT length" thing? Or is it a massive time sink after a certain threshold?

In theory no. You can keep increasing the number of "FFT buckets" and noise keeps going down because it gets spread among all the buckets.

In practice, the limit is the max my software allows which I think is 1 million points. In the dashboard, I only use 32 thousand. So it can keep going lower if needed. Jitter tests using 256 thousand points by the way.

Also, you have to collect that many audio samples so the longer the FFT, the longer it takes to take measurements. Since I also use averaging of multiple measurements, then the multiplier gets out of hand quickly.

 

[Tks]

In theory no. You can keep increasing the number of "FFT buckets" and noise keeps going down because it gets spread among all the buckets.

In practice, the limit is the max my software allows which I think is 1 million points. In the dashboard, I only use 32 thousand. So it can keep going lower if needed. Jitter tests using 256 thousand points by the way.

Also, you have to collect that many audio samples so the longer the FFT, the longer it takes to take measurements. Since I also use averaging of multiple measurements, then the multiplier gets out of hand quickly.

So just as a frame of reference, how long does the 1 million points test take versus the 32K variant when you conduct the test itself?

 

[Herbert]

Coax and Toslink don't go through XMOS hence the jitter. Also Toslink goes through the photo electric process, it has higher jitter.

Not in this review. Toslink of the Sanskrit 10th MKII is even a bit better, check the graphs.
This is why I am wondering why coax is worse.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Not in this review. Toslink of the Sanskrit 10th MKII is even a bit better, check the graphs.
This is why I am wondering why coax is worse.

Sorry. But I didn't see the toslink graph? It's the usb graph that's put into comparison to the coax.