SMSL Sanskrit 10th MKIII teardown

[mTw]

I welcome everyone! I got SMSL Sanskrit 10th MKIII DAC the other day, it sounds very good. I haven't heard previous versions so I can't compare, but I can take it apart and see what's inside, which I did. The board has clearly changed again, keeping the main features of the MKII version. At least you can see the L49720MA operational amplifier, and the new AK4493SEQ DAC. I propose to analyze the rest for you, it would be interesting to learn from those who understand how this DAC can be improved by replacing cheap elements on the board.

 

[audiofun]

Don't understand why Topping and SMSL took that much effort in sanding off the marking of their audio interfacing chip.
A simply Google search "48 pin spdif chip" will reveal the chip smsl uses is the DIX9211 chip, whose TYPICAL CIRCUIT CONNECTION (on page 49) matches exactly well with SMSL's implementation.
Topping's implementation can be also easily identified here.
other forum member also identify their clock circuit here.

The reality here is there is very little point in sanding off the chip marking as for those who really intend to reverse engineering, those are simple quiz.
But for normal customers who need to fix their units (the customer service of topping/smsl sucks), this makes them hard to do so.

Topping makes even stranger move by sealing the PCB inside modules, which causes high failure rate, while doesn't help in protecting their circuit being reverse engineered.
What the heck are they doing?

 

[JerryKeyz]

Very nice, thanks! I have a Sanskrit mkII in red and a mkIII in black. I'm thinking of doing some improvements on the board and perhaps swapping the mkIII board and place it into the beautiful red box of the mkII. My question: how did you remove the board? Cause on the front side it's stuck because of the flat cable. I assume you used long nose pliers to release the flat cable from the board?
By the way, mkIII uses upgraded capacitors (Nichicon). mkII has blue capacitors, couldn't see the brand. And yes, mkIII sounds a little bit better (slightly fuller bass, more airy midrange), but it's not a difference of day and night.

 

[mTw]

Very nice, thanks! I have a Sanskrit mkII in red and a mkIII in black. I'm thinking of doing some improvements on the board and perhaps swapping the mkIII board and place it into the beautiful red box of the mkII. My question: how did you remove the board? Cause on the front side it's stuck because of the flat cable. I assume you used long nose pliers to release the flat cable from the board?
By the way, mkIII uses upgraded capacitors (Nichicon). mkII has blue capacitors, couldn't see the brand. And yes, mkIII sounds a little bit better (slightly fuller bass, more airy midrange), but it's not a difference of day and night.

Greetings, there is a strip on the front panel that hides the screen, so it can be easily peeled off as it is held on with regular double sided tape. Behind it there are 2 bolts after unscrewing them, the front panel is easy to open and gives no problem to unhook the front panel cable! If you do the modification, it would be interesting to hear if you got a better sound.
I'm wondering if it makes sense to swap it for a Topping E30 II, or is the difference between the two not significant?

 

[gizmo90]

The MKII is supposed to have Nichicon Fine Golds. I think they used those blue caps in some. Might have been a supply chain issue. You can see it in the MKII review thread.

Really digging the MKIII so far! Its DACtacular.

 

[rdenney]

Dredging this thread up for posterity. Reference this photo:

My example of this DAC has stopped working, and the case was extremely warm--nearly too hot to touch. That seemed inappropriate given that a DAC is not exactly a high-power device. I pulled the board just to see if there was visible damage, and immediately noted a hot electronics smell. The 10-pf capacitor at the bottom-center of the photo (marked "100") is becoming too hot to touch within a few seconds of applying power. My assumption is that it is leaking current, of course. The front panel still works but the DAC has no audio output.

I can't tell what the intent of that capacitor would be at that location in the circuit, or even what specific type it is, but it's obviously intended for larger power handling than the little ceramic SMD caps other places on the board.

The use case for this DAC is to provide DAC and preamp services to take the optical output of an old plasma TV to the line-level input of one of my B&K amps. The output of the TV is not volume-controlled and the amp has no gain control, so I needed a cheapie DAC with a volume control and a remote.

It's not worth trying to repair, but I'm curious if anyone has any ideas as to what this cap might be for and what may have caused the failure. I'll be replacing this with something else that is cheap and acceptable, probably a Topping E30IILite. In the interim, I'm using the line-level audio output from the TV into a spare mixing board--not exactly a sustainable solution.

Rick "done with SMSL" Denney

 

[Mark S.]

I just had a MkIII arrive this morning from 'SHENZHENAUDIO UK STORE' via Amazon. I chose it over several other models up to c. £125 because it's the only such DAC/'preamp' on which the display can be turned off. And ... it's going straight back as it's clearly used (hence possibly a repair) - the front panel / display is fogged and scratched from careless cleaning (with paper towel or some such, no protective film obviously). Not impressed at all. I've messaged the seller to ask if any of their remaining stock is actually new or (given it's now a 'legacy' model) if they're all returns/'refurbs'. Caveat emptor.