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SMSL Sanskrit 10th MK II DAC Review

bloodshoteyed

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it means that cables with slightly shorter connectors won't make enough contact and the sanskrit won't be recognized by the pc or it'll keep loosing connection (same goes for the power port)
tried other cables that worked on all my other equipment, but i had problems, so i stuck to the cables that came with the sanskrit and it works fine
 

archerious

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So I have hum/hiss on my SMSL Sanskrit 10th MK II.

Anybody else experience this issue? I notice it with my Magni Heresy and with my Beyer A20 headphone amps.

It's even more noticeable with my Schiit Vidar and Magnepan speakers.

I thought it was my Beyer A20 at first, then realized the hum was gone when I used my Topping D90 with it. Problem is I like to use the smaller SMSL at the office, the D90 is normally for my speaker setup.

Honest to god thought it was just power related or something, but this seems not to be the case as the SMSL is doing it no matter what amp I use it with, or which USB cable I use with it.

Anyone know what could cause this? Is there something wrong with my unit? I've owned it for about a year. Bought from Amazon.
 

archerious

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Ariamella

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Honestly really sad that this DAC uses micro usb connectors instead of usb c, complete dealbreaker for me
 

Thomas_bati

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So I have hum/hiss on my SMSL Sanskrit 10th MK II.

Anybody else experience this issue? I notice it with my Magni Heresy and with my Beyer A20 headphone amps.

It's even more noticeable with my Schiit Vidar and Magnepan speakers.

I thought it was my Beyer A20 at first, then realized the hum was gone when I used my Topping D90 with it. Problem is I like to use the smaller SMSL at the office, the D90 is normally for my speaker setup.

Honest to god thought it was just power related or something, but this seems not to be the case as the SMSL is doing it no matter what amp I use it with, or which USB cable I use with it.

Anyone know what could cause this? Is there something wrong with my unit? I've owned it for about a year. Bought from Amazon.
When do you hear the noise? At all gain levels of the amplifier?
 

taker23

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Hi there guys. Let me ask the Sanskrit 10th mkII have dc coupled outputs? Has anyone test it?
 

Vini darko

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Hi there guys. Let me ask the Sanskrit 10th mkII have dc coupled outputs? Has anyone test it?
It looks to have direct coupled outputs.
Screenshot_20210801-230246~2.png

The little ceramic caps above the green circle are for preventing the op-amp from going into oscillation I think.
 

proud

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Hello! Can you please tell me why in Sanskrit 10 MKII the volume is adjusted in Native DSD mode? XMOS driver shows real DSD stream, but volume can only be changed for PCM files. It turns out this is a deception, and not a direct stream, and still a conversion is made?
 

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JhoeyBaliwag

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Hi there!

Can I use my USB 3.0 or 2.0 from the backport of my desktop computer as power source? then connect input 1 to the same computer?

Thank you very much for your time.

Joseph
 

matt3421

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this DAC has a combined power/data input, if that's what you're asking.
 

JhoeyBaliwag

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this DAC has a combined power/data input, if that's what you're asking.
Hi there!

Thank you very much for replying, yes the input 1 has both power source and data source but I have read that by giving it a seperate cable for power source would be beneficial.

Joseph
 

drake5000

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Hi there!

Thank you very much for replying, yes the input 1 has both power source and data source but I have read that by giving it a seperate cable for power source would be beneficial.

Joseph
Main purpose of external power input - for such cases as connecting DAC to phone/tablet i.e. devices which won’t provide enough power for DAC to function properly.
On the other hand, some people use this even with PC, to “get rid of “dirty” power provided by PC USB ports”. If you want to go that route, it makes no sense to connect external power input to PC again, because you’re getting same “dirty power”. You want to use low-noise adapter (iFi has one) or even a power bank to maximize the effect!
HOWEVER. Personally I tested all these cases and in my humble opinion, single USB data/power connection works absolutely perfect and I cannot hear any difference by going external power.
One more thing. I actually use external power input (simple iPhone charger works fine) with PC, but that’s because I’m using Toslink connection in order to galvanically isolate the DAC from PC, which I need to eliminate ground loop in my whole setup. But this is a little bit advanced case and I don’t think u need this
 

JhoeyBaliwag

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Thank you very much I'll go check it with a power bank and compare with a single one. Will be using a 5v 1A and 5v 2.1A as power source. :)
 

gmarkos

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I am interested in buying this DAC, is it possible to use it as a pre amp using the volume of the remote control directly to a power amplifier; I want to connect my PC and the toslink output of my TV. Any other suggestions at this price range?
 

MalinYamato

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I am curious, why you choose this one rather than going for a bit more expensive SMSL M300 or M300 MKII.
 

tvrgeek

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I an curious why one would pick SMSL at all after my experience. Still happy with my Asgard. My second choice is still JDS.
 

MalinYamato

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I an curious why one would pick SMSL at all after my experience. Still happy with my Asgard. My second choice is still JDS.
pls tell me about your experiences. what went wrong? i am using M500 and it works okay but is a bit big and bukly.
 

tvrgeek

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It is on the forum somewhere. I had issues with stability, not picking the correct settings, etc. I don't remember the exact details, but search and you should find them. One had a huge noise spike. They have all kinds of features like data and bit rates supporting non-existent source material. For me, it is all about sound quality, not how many zeros in the spec. or features you can't use. I was very disappointed as I have several SMSL SAD-01 amps that are just fine. What really burned my was the tech response from one of them. Basically the answerer was "up yours, return it" Which one I do not recall. Who needs 768 Khz? A TV puts out AC-3 or 16/48 stereo I think. The OP would need to check their TV on the TOSLINK output options. They may need to get a different kind of box from someone like Monoprice to do AC3 to stereo.

I picked the Asgard as it was an all-in-one box where the JDS would be two smaller boxes. The Schiit did jump in price quite a bit. For my TV, I do need a remote and I run a full Anthem AVR as it is a big 5.1 system.

A feature I do not have is remote control. I use mine for my music only system and wanted a plain old knob.

As mentioned above, the micro USB connections of various types are not as reliable as plain old A & B, or Toslink as the OP I think is looking for. I have had issues on two phones with them. Almost as bad as the HDMI connector which has to be the biggest disaster ever invented.
 
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