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SMSL VMV D3 Review (R2R DAC)

Rate this DAC:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 142 50.7%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 99 35.4%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 30 10.7%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 9 3.2%

  • Total voters
    280

amirm

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the SMSL VMV D3 R2R DAC. It was kindly sent to me by a member and costs US $3,499.
SMSL VMV D3 Review Bur Brown R2R high-end stereo DAC.jpg


Being part of the "high-end" VMV division, it comes in the milled enclosure and separate power supply section of that design path. As such, it is quite heavy and more elegant than SMSL's standard line.

The back side is what we expect with exception of allowance for external clock:
SMSL VMV D3 Back panel remote Bur Brown R2R high-end stereo DAC.jpg


The XLR connectors felt nicer than normal. The remote is metal and it too feels higher quality. Alas, it comes with no battery and manual incorrectly states that it takes 2 AA batteries. It does not. It requires a button battery but it doesn't say which. I tried a random one I had but it would not power up. Fortunately it is compatible with other SMSL remotes which is what I used to change settings.

As indicated, the design is based on Burr-Brown PCM1704U-J now-obsolete DAC chip (two per channel). The datasheet says the "K" grade is the highest performance at 0.0008% THD+N. Not sure what the -J version is supposed to do.

SMSL VMV V3 Measurements
I focused my measurements exclusively on XLR output. Here is our dashboard:
SMSL VMV D3 Measurements R2R high-end stereo DAC.png


Good news is that unit meets specification of 0.001% THD+N. Bad news is that this translates into 98 dB of SINAD which is very much non-competitive today:
Best R2R stereo DAC Review.png


You can buy over 150 DACs I have tested with better performance than D3! A spray of distortion is responsible for this. Fortunately their levels are below 100 dB so if you are playing 16 bit audio, it is likely transparent to that.

Dynamic range is disappointing as well:

SMSL VMV D3 Measurements Dynamic Range R2R high-end stereo DAC.png


But again, good enough for 16 bit audio.

Multitone with its lower overall level shows better performance:
SMSL VMV D3 Measurements Multitone R2R high-end stereo DAC.png


Intermodulation test relative to level though shows non-linearities courtesy of that imprecise R2R implementation:

SMSL VMV D3 Measurements IMD R2R high-end stereo DAC.png


The curve needs to be noise dominated, i.e. sloping down. It does that but distortion is getting so high as to overwhelm noise, resulting the jagged line. Indeed its best performance is what I show in the dashboard. Actual performance is worse than a $9 dongle at lower digital inputs. As you see, I tested both 8X and 4X oversampling modes but results were the same.

Here is the response variations for the two oversampling modes:

SMSL VMV D3 Measurements Filter R2R high-end stereo DAC.png


Jitter performance is very good showing good clock handling:

SMSL VMV D3 Measurements Jitter R2R high-end stereo DAC.png


Linearity is not so good:
SMSL VMV D3 Measurements Linearity R2R high-end stereo DAC.png


THD+N vs frequency using 90 kHz bandwidth was surprisingly good, given the previous results:
SMSL VMV D3 Measurements THD+N vs frequency R2R high-end stereo DAC.png


Conclusions
There is no getting around the simple message that you are paying a ton more, but getting far less fidelity. What this fascination is with older DAC technology, I never know. Bur-Brown (TI) would still be making these DAC chips if they had merit. But they don't. We have learned to use signal processing to upsample audio to higher rates as to not need 24 bit R2R anymore as used here. Getting a few bits accurate is far easier and that is why newer DACs perform so much better.

Until the folklore around R2R DACs and anything unconventional goes away, I guess I can't blame SMSL for chasing that market. They are taking a similar path to another confused American audio manufacturer doing the same. Hopefully reason prevails in the future and resources are not wasted to produce dirty water to sell at 30 times the price of clean water....

I can't recommend the SMSL VMV D3 DAC. I know, a shocker!

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amirm

amirm

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may be r2r sounds "fuller" due to more "distortion grass".
Distortion is below noise floor of 16 bit audio which people listen to. So there is no way that is what they are hearing. If they were to hear it as what the multitone shows, it would simply destroy low level detail. It doesn't make it "fuller."
 

VintageFlanker

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Thanks @amirm, while it is obviously a mediocre performer, we've seen much worse (and more musical) R2R designs... At least, this one is suitable for 16 bits contents.:p Maybe it could have its head back?

This, in particular deserves some honorable mention :
SMSL VMV D3 Measurements THD+N vs frequency R2R high-end stereo DAC.png


Until the folklore around R2R DACs and anything unconventional goes away, I guess I can't blame SMSL for chasing that market.
Not to mention this one will get glowing reviews from subjectivists anyway...
 
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aj625

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Distortion is below noise floor of 16 bit audio which people listen to. So there is no way that is what they are hearing. If they were to hear it as what the multitone shows, it would simply destroy low level detail. It doesn't make it "fuller."
may be the jagged intermodulation graph has something to do. though distortion is below 16bit level but still one can't surely say for 16bit material this dac will sound same as better measuring ds dac. "beyond a certain measurements all dac sound same" argument imo is debatable. :)
 

bidn

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Thank you for this review, excellent as usual, Amir!

That all (well implemented) R2R DACs are so inferior to (well implemented) Delta-Sigma DACs, and that yet audiophools keep raving and wasting a lot of money for them, shows how much education and reaching out would need to be done to liberate them from the lies of those numerous fake reviewers paid by companies for producing deceiving, praiseful reviews about R2R DACs (or about tube devices; at least the latter have a nice glow and can be used to heat up the house if one doesn't mind wasting a huge amount of electricity...).

Even a company which I respect, Hifiman, uses a R2R DAC for its bluemini bluetooth modules (attaching via TRRS to some of their headphones like the Deva), and use the presence of a R2R DAC as a marketing argument... This shows how these misconceptions, myths, are well spread among audio customers. Luckily, ASR keeps growing...
 
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amirm

amirm

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may be the jagged intermodulation graph has something to do.
That is just screwing things up in wild ways. No way it translates into something simple as "it sounds more analog. It images better." etc.
 

JSmith

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What this fascination is with older DAC technology, I never know.
Yes it is rather odd... almost every other type of tech, people want the newest, the best performing etc. I find it quite strange that this goes out the window for some when buying audio products when the goal is performance... I mean, it's not like one would go down to the store to purchase a new refrigerator, then suggest to the salesman you want a 30 year old model, or ask your car salesman why the motor has no manual crank.


JSmith
 

Lupin

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Well there's only so much you can do/expect from an R2R implementation.
Performance is bad, even more when you take the price in consideration. At the same time one can buy a DAC that performs a lot worse for a lot more money when it comes to R2R DACs.
 

aj625

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That is just screwing things up in wild ways. No way it translates into something simple as "it sounds more analog. It images better." etc.
exactly. it will degrade the sound but who knows that degradation is causing the effect or may be not.
 

Veri

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Thank you Amir for the review!

I am also surprised that SMSL couldn't do better with R2R design.
Denafrips Ares, Amir tested, measured slightly better at least and is cheaper.
They are using a chip that is rated only slightly better than -96dB THD (which is fine for 16-bit audio!) and not a design of their own like Denafrips.

I'm also surprised at the decent filter performance. Chip used: SM5847af.
 
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JSmith

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"beyond a certain measurements all dac sound same" argument imo is debatable.
This is not the thread for that discussion, being a review thread... this is;


JSmith
 

aj625

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Thank you Amir for the review!

I am also surprised that SMSL couldn't do better with R2R design.
Denafrips Ares, Amir tested, measured slightly better at least and is cheaper.
why at all that r2r thing is existing and why it is so popular amongst audiophiles. what i see is the low linearity common to all r2r dacs, barring only very few exceptions. may be that low linearity is responsible for lack of low level details and "mind find it easier to process less details". even in live music one sometimes find complex music passages difficult to comprehend. no wonder people find a good measuring r2r dac like holo may sound more like ds dacs. :)
 
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