• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Thoughts on SMSL D-6 DAC?

cheapmessiah

Active Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2021
Messages
231
Likes
378
Location
Mordor
Surely not ;)

How does it (or similar devices) go to ground then, common point on the PCB that redirects to the cold lead?
 

AnalogSteph

Major Contributor
Joined
Nov 6, 2018
Messages
3,334
Likes
3,278
Location
.de
b90556218b9f8cb81270a3a1230a01a6.jpg
That looks like a nice "by the book" power supply design, with routed slots for the primary side and all. No skimping and substantial experience here.

AKM tends to sound more "melow", while ESS more "harsh".
Only if subjected to sufficiently high digital levels, e.g. from a traditional optical disc player playing hotly mastered material. (AKMs tend to have headroom to about +2dBFS and change, ESS have ASRC turned on by default and as such will hard-clip at 0 dBFS unless the DAC implements some previous digital attenuation, either fixed or a volume control.) Even then it seems to be much more subtle than commonly stated.

Oh, 2 prong AC plug, dont know if thats relevant for the balanced operation of the DAC.
Not really. While having an earth connection on both sides of a balanced connection is ideal in theory, it is not that critical. You are gaining a lot more by being able to avoid ground loops when using the unbalanced output with Toslink in. If you insist on the DAC being earthed, I doubt that USB is galvanically isolated, and coax may or may not be.

I like that this unit gives you a real knob, the downgrade from tempered glass to plain acrylic is reflecting the price point I guess.
 

TNT

Active Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Messages
238
Likes
157
"Only if subjected to sufficiently high digital levels, e.g. from a traditional optical disc player playing hotly mastered material. (AKMs tend to have headroom to about +2dBFS and change, ESS have ASRC turned on by default and as such will hard-clip at 0 dBFS"

... an other completely misinformed soul. Disc player has absolutely nothing to do with levels of any sort. +2dBFS in a PCM dream is har clipping - it dissent matter who did the chip ;) ASRC has to do with timing, not level so thats alos bogus... Try again....

//
 

Veri

Master Contributor
Joined
Feb 6, 2018
Messages
9,596
Likes
12,036
... an other completely misinformed soul. Disc player has absolutely nothing to do with levels of any sort. +2dBFS in a PCM dream is har clipping - it dissent matter who did the chip ;) ASRC has to do with timing, not level so thats alos bogus... Try again....
..you realise AnalogSteph has considerable knowledge on the matter? :p to be calling him a misinformed soul is quite ridiculous, the animosity is not warranted. His point was about 16-bit CD material that is mastered too "hot" and will give problems, AKM has more digital headroom by design.
 

cheapmessiah

Active Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2021
Messages
231
Likes
378
Location
Mordor
That looks like a nice "by the book" power supply design, with routed slots for the primary side and all. No skimping and substantial experience here.


Only if subjected to sufficiently high digital levels, e.g. from a traditional optical disc player playing hotly mastered material. (AKMs tend to have headroom to about +2dBFS and change, ESS have ASRC turned on by default and as such will hard-clip at 0 dBFS unless the DAC implements some previous digital attenuation, either fixed or a volume control.) Even then it seems to be much more subtle than commonly stated.


Not really. While having an earth connection on both sides of a balanced connection is ideal in theory, it is not that critical. You are gaining a lot more by being able to avoid ground loops when using the unbalanced output with Toslink in. If you insist on the DAC being earthed, I doubt that USB is galvanically isolated, and coax may or may not be.

I like that this unit gives you a real knob, the downgrade from tempered glass to plain acrylic is reflecting the price point I guess.
What would happen then if the amp also has no earth connection and you plugged both through balanced interconnection?
 

MontyGibbon

New Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2019
Messages
4
Likes
1
Two dead Topping D70 DACs; which is sad. Sadder, the time when I could afford to invest that sort if money has gone. Happier, I've ordered a SMSL D-6.
 

AnalogSteph

Major Contributor
Joined
Nov 6, 2018
Messages
3,334
Likes
3,278
Location
.de
What would happen then if the amp also has no earth connection and you plugged both through balanced interconnection?
Nothing much, generally. Worst-case you'll feel a slight tingle when touching either of them, depending on how much mains leakage they've got together(and assuming a metal case). Apparently some planar headphones can also exhibit hum when touched, although such issues are more common with in-ears due to their much higher sensitivity.

In such a case any issues are most easily resolved by providing an earth connection through the source device.... it should rarely be too hard to find a suitable solution.
 

TNT

Active Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Messages
238
Likes
157
..you realise AnalogSteph has considerable knowledge on the matter? :p to be calling him a misinformed soul is quite ridiculous, the animosity is not warranted. His point was about 16-bit CD material that is mastered too "hot" and will give problems, AKM has more digital headroom by design.
Well, I'm not "name dropping" sensitive so... But I'm willing to hear an explanation form the person in question. None appeared so far.

//
 

Palladium

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Aug 4, 2017
Messages
630
Likes
769
Is this a DO100 but cheaper for most intents and purposes?
 

NV3S

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2022
Messages
15
Likes
10
I ordered one and just received it today. I connected it to my vintage onkyo integrated amplifier to listen Apple Music and it sounded fine.
Just like other models, its manual didn't explain the meaning of the functions Pr1/Pr0/Prd (I tried it should be the DAC/preamp working mode), SC1/SC2/SC3/SC4 shown on the LCD panel.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3318 - 副本.jpg
    IMG_3318 - 副本.jpg
    193.9 KB · Views: 490
  • IMG_3319 - 副本.jpg
    IMG_3319 - 副本.jpg
    209.5 KB · Views: 496
  • IMG_3331 - 副本.jpg
    IMG_3331 - 副本.jpg
    181 KB · Views: 500

AdamG

Proving your point makes it “Science”.
Moderator
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 3, 2021
Messages
4,636
Likes
14,918
Location
Reality
I ordered one and just received it today. I connected it to my vintage onkyo integrated amplifier to listen Apple Music and it sounded fine.
Just like other models, its manual didn't explain the meaning of the functions Pr1/Pr0/Prd (I tried it should be the DAC/preamp working mode), SC1/SC2/SC3/SC4 shown on the LCD panel.
Just FYI and observation. In your third photo the placement of the DAC is directly above the air flow grating and obstructing the amps cooling design. Recommend you relocate to a position that does not block airflow through the ventilation grating. Chocking off airflow can and will lead to reduced lifespan of the Amp.
 

NV3S

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2022
Messages
15
Likes
10
Just FYI and observation. In your third photo the placement of the DAC is directly above the air flow grating and obstructing the amps cooling design. Recommend you relocate to a position that does not block airflow through the ventilation grating. Chocking off airflow can and will lead to reduced lifespan of the Amp.
Thanks for the reminder. Removed it after taking pictures. Tomorrow I plan to contact the manufacturer for some more detailed instructions.
 

RimaLV2

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2022
Messages
11
Likes
7
I ordered one and just received it today. I connected it to my vintage onkyo integrated amplifier to listen Apple Music and it sounded fine.
Just like other models, its manual didn't explain the meaning of the functions Pr1/Pr0/Prd (I tried it should be the DAC/preamp working mode), SC1/SC2/SC3/SC4 shown on the LCD panel.
Hi, can you share some of your opinions about the sound of the device? Is there any noise or pop,... and if possible can you compare it with your previous DAC? Thank you so much!
 

NV3S

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2022
Messages
15
Likes
10
Hi, can you share some of your opinions about the sound of the device? Is there any noise or pop,... and if possible can you compare it with your previous DAC? Thank you so much!
The following is my subjective opinion.
My last DAC was a FiiO K5 Pro ESS (which I returned after a few hours of listening). It has a fairly simple interactive interface and I think it is better suited for use in a headphone system rather than an RCA output to the next level of amplifier. Putting aside the chip differences, I found that it seemed to have more rendering or power amplification (for headphones) than the D-6, making it a bit muddy after output to my system (Onkyo A927+Klipsh RP-600M), even though I had turned the gain down to 0db. I felt that it was not suitable for my system, my ears, and my listening conditions, so I returned it. So I returned it.
I spent the next few days looking for a new DAC, still on a budget and not so demanding, and realized that I just wanted to listen to a less bad streaming bar from an Apple device or the Raspberry Pi I was preparing. I found that the SU-6 being discussed on this forum seemed to be a better choice for the last device in the same price range. Following that, I found the D-6 at the end of the discussion thread, and it was sold at the same price as the SU-6 in my local area, so it came to me.
As the preview and manual said, the filter has 6 stops, and I think I can hear that there are differences between them, but I couldn't determine which one suits my listening sense better in a short time, and I decided not to move it.
There are also some options as mentioned before, PrX and SCx, which the manual could not find. prd and Pr0 seem to offer preamp and pure DAC functions, and after selecting them the volume adjustment function is handed over out, Pr1 is a way to facilitate the output to the active speakers. between SCx I could hear a difference in sound presentation, but I could not distinguish which one is more suitable for a short time, and I left it at the default SC1.
I chose it because first of all its price seems to be suitable, although I can't use TRS output (maybe later), but I saw from amirm's post that SU-6's Ch1/Ch2 has some difference in SINAD, but this point seems to be more minor in D-6's official published index, thus I simply think this is maybe a result of circuit tuning, compared to SU-6 is a better circuit.
 

Attachments

  • 6F616800-B0CE-4D2D-A5E0-287F69DA50CB.jpeg
    6F616800-B0CE-4D2D-A5E0-287F69DA50CB.jpeg
    149.5 KB · Views: 150

Palladium

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Aug 4, 2017
Messages
630
Likes
769
Are you able to test Bluetooth on it and check whether if there's a second or so starting lag when playing an audio stream on the transmit side?

Its happens on the DO100 and its annoying enough that I swapped back to the Topping D50s for speakers on Bluetooth duty.
 

NV3S

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2022
Messages
15
Likes
10
Are you able to test Bluetooth on it and check whether if there's a second or so starting lag when playing an audio stream on the transmit side?

Its happens on the DO100 and its annoying enough that I swapped back to the Topping D50s for speakers on Bluetooth duty.
I'll take a quick test tomorrow morning.
 

NV3S

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2022
Messages
15
Likes
10
Measurements to back that up?

With these two products I don't think so, and it's not that simple.
The K5 Pro ESS actually sounded muddy on the same end, perhaps because he was harsh on the noise output as well. the D-6 sounded more comfortable to me, and perhaps "comfortable" is harder to describe.
In fact the K50 pro Ess is an ESS chip, but its output actually goes through some kind of gain or other circuitry, and I think other products do as well.
 
Top Bottom