S.M.S.L Sanskrit 10th MK II High-end DAC USB Optical Coaxial Input (Black)

I don't quite believe what I am hearing. This little box has destroyed what I thought I knew about the playback of recorded music.In thirty plus years of listening to and sometimes selling hifi, some bits costing Ten grand a pop, I have not ever heard anything like this. It takes the mushiest of old recordings and transforms them. My last dac was a Musical Fidelity V-dac II, a well reviewed budget item and still worth £100 on auction sites, so I thought I was fairly up to speed with 'upsampling' and all that. Compared to this SMSL the MF dac really is just junk.The Sanskrit produces astonishing scale, clarity, impact, separation, subtlety, bass clarity, bass extension, bass quantity and such vibrancy that I don't believe it. Recordings I have lived with since I was a little kid have been freed, released, clarified and renewed utterly. Forget hearing the 'mastertape', at times this is almost like hearing the original performance.I have no idea what this smsl box is doing, it's beyond my understanding, but it's entirely good. I hadn't ever heard musical integrity from a hifi system until I bought this. Lord knows what their pricier kit sounds like. I did not believe domestic hifi could sound this good, and I once heard a (sadly unimpressive) demonstration of Chord & ATC equipment in the Chord owners own home.So far only been listening through an old mac and itunes without any messing about with settings. Standard Denon DN-A100 amp, REL T3 sub and Pure SAT4 speakers from the late 90's. (My days of posh hifi currently on hold) I am a former hifi shop manager and my best man was an ATC dealer, so I know (well, thought I knew) a little about audio.In a world where your next purchase will change your life, then doesn't, this one has changed mine. And for under £100 it's got to be a joke. Blooming well get one for yourself, I believe there's an updated one out already..... Christmas!!!!

I'm delighted with this DAC. I have it connected to the optical out from my TV and I'm streaming Spotify, Amazon, Tidal from a Firestick HD - not the best source but the sound is sensational. Because of my setup I'm only experiencing the 48k performance so I can't comment on 96, 192 or 384. The DAC is fed into a budget Marantz amp (PM5005) and Q Acoustics 3050 floorstanders. The resulting ~£550 system sounds better than many £2000+ setups I have have heard. Lots of detail, reasonable dynamics and solid timing.

Really good little digital preamp. Have no complaints about the sound, features or aesthetics. Only gripes are a higher noise floor than I'd like and pops when changing inputs and file resolution. I'm using it direct into a power amp with no gain control so the noise floor is quite noticeable with both speakers and headphones. Probably won't be noticeable with integrated amplifier systems. For £67 it's a brilliant little device.

Nice little product considering its under £100. I like that the device can he positioned in The orientation of my choosing although i can imagine it being much of an issue on a device of this size. The only issue I have encounteres is controlling the DAC with the remote.

My first dac, remote control works OK.I use it with jbl 308p.It sounds very well