[Xerber]

While looking for a DAC upgrade for my desk setup, I came across the SMSL Sanskrit. It's a $100 (+ free shipping) 24/192 DAC with optical, coaxial and USB and it actually looks very decent. Photos of the PCB and internal components are shown in the listing.

I did a search on Head-Fi, but came up empty. Does anyone have experience with this DAC? Is it even worth considering? Let me know your thoughts.

 

[PurpleAngel]

While looking for a DAC upgrade for my desk setup, I came across the SMSL Sanskrit. It's a $100 (+ free shipping) 24/192 DAC with optical, coaxial and USB and it actually looks very decent. Photos of the PCB and internal components are shown in the listing.

I did a search on Head-Fi, but came up empty. Does anyone have experience with this DAC? Is it even worth considering? Let me know your thoughts.

 
I've bought 4 SMSL products (DAC & DAC/Amps), at least to of them stopped working after only being used a short time.

 

[Xerber]

I've bought 4 SMSL products (DAC & DAC/Amps), at least to of them stopped working after only being used a short time.

Thanks for your reply.
Gues I won't be taking that route then. I'll look for a DACMagic 100 or a Schitt Modi instead.

Thanks again.

 

[netsky3]

   
I've bought 4 SMSL products (DAC & DAC/Amps), at least to of them stopped working after only being used a short time.

 
What????

4 on 4 broke by itself??

 

[nick_charles]

I've had a similar experience.
 
My first SMSL DAC (Which I am currently using) had a non-working USB input out of the box so the company sent me a $20 refund which I used to buy a USB to coax converter which works fine , the optical/coax perform silently.
 
Later I bought the Sanskrit version which was wonderful until it just stopped working.
 
Neither of them ever worked at the specified 196khz sampling rate but since everything I have is 16/44.1 I don't worry about that and I am not convinced that my PC can even send data from its optical at 192 so I cannot be sure the SMSL is to blame there, but if you have high res stuff and care about that sort of thing its probably not the DAC for you.
 
FWIW the DAC and the SApII amp are noiseless and flawless at 16/44.1 and happily drive 250 and 300 ohm cans to high levels below 12 o'clock

 

[netsky3]

  I've had a similar experience.
 
My first SMSL DAC (Which I am currently using) had a non-working USB input out of the box so the company sent me a $20 refund which I used to buy a USB to coax converter which works fine , the optical/coax perform silently.
 
Later I bought the Sanskrit version which was wonderful until it just stopped working.
 
Neither of them ever worked at the specified 196khz sampling rate but since everything I have is 16/44.1 I don't worry about that and I am not convinced that my PC can even send data from its optical at 192 so I cannot be sure the SMSL is to blame there, but if you have high res stuff and care about that sort of thing its probably not the DAC for you.
 
FWIW the DAC and the SApII amp are noiseless and flawless at 16/44.1 and happily drive 250 and 300 ohm cans to high levels below 12 o'clock

 
holy crap...i hope that the M6 is better than this..

 

[GioF71]

  Neither of them ever worked at the specified 196khz 192kHz sampling rate ...

 
Neither does mine. The same applies for the 176.4kHz sampling rate.
 
Or, better, it does work at those frequencies, but only when connected to a specific XMOS usb interface by Audiophonics. No luck with M2Tech HiFace2, Asus Xonar Essence STX Coaxial Out, and Gustard U12. It simply puts out noise instead of music.
Needless to say all the other dac I own/tried work just fine with any of the mentioned interfaces.
 
That's why I suggested @netsky3 to avoid this dac.
 
Cheers

 

[Mirakoolz]

Hi All I purchased what was listed as an SMSL Sanskrit 6th Anniversary from a private seller on ebay (australia). However i cannot confirm whether it truly is.
 
Theres no mention of "6th anniversary version" on the unit, packaging or the included documentation.
There's a barcode sticker on the side of the unit which shows "SMSL DAC315695" however google yields no results.
 
in Win(7) device manager and after installing the drivers from CD, the device shows as "Speakers Sanskrit 6th".
in Win(7) the highest sound format available is 24bit, 192000Hz (Studio Quality). in foobar, the device shows as "DS: Speaker (Sanskrit 6th)".
 
Amazon.com shows two versions which appear to be the normal version and a 6th anni version. each show different chip specifications.
your help is really appreciated. thanks

 

[GioF71]

I cannot confirm it is the 6th generation version, but for sure it's a newer version than mine.
My Sanskrit shows as 96khz max on Windows.

On foobar you should use Wasapi for best results, thus avoiding directsound, unless you want to also hear windows sound effects while playing music.

Hope this helps, congratulations for your purchase!

 

[Mirakoolz]

Thanks for your assistance. greatly appreciated
 
yes i have since installed WASAPI driver from the included CD. not sure what the difference is between PUSH and EVENT though
im somewhat happy with the product however cannot shake off this feeling that i got jipped with the wrong product which is dampening the excitement i would otherwise have.
i hear no difference compared to my Fiio e7 as a dac though. perhaps i just dont have the ears for it

 

[GioF71]

  Thanks for your assistance. greatly appreciated
 
yes i have since installed WASAPI driver from the included CD. not sure what the difference is between PUSH and EVENT though
im somewhat happy with the product however cannot shake off this feeling that i got jipped with the wrong product which is dampening the excitement i would otherwise have.
i hear no difference compared to my Fiio e7 as a dac though. perhaps i just dont have the ears for it

 
The main difference in the new generation of the Sanskrit is in fact the usb support for 24bit/192kHz, so I would be inclined to think the delivered product is the one you actually requested.
As per Wasapi, event is preferable, and is the newest implementation.
 
I have a FiiO E18 and I think my Sanskrit is better than that.
Are you using compressed (mp3/m4a) or uncompressed (flac, alac, wav) and also, what amp/speakers/headphones are you using?

 

[Mirakoolz]

Doesn't the 6th version support 32/284?
http://www.shenzhenaudio.com/smsl-sanskrit-6-sk6-wm8740-32bit-192khz-usb-dac-coaxial-optical-decoder.html
 
I have only tried it with my lossless library so far, Flac and Alac

 

[Mirakoolz]

Thanks everyone
 
So i opened up my unit. what i found is;
*PCB board labelled with "Sanskrit 6th" ""SMSL High Resolution Dac" "Ver 1.1". its blue in color.
*Noticed the chips CM6631A, WM8740, JRC2114MD which is consistent with what the manufacturer lists. the chips for the non-6th model are; SA9027+WM8805+PCM1796+OP275+JRC5532DD.

 

[GioF71]

Good to hear!
About the previous question: no the Sanskrit is limited to 192kHz.
But the Sanskrit PRO (totally different, more than double the price) does support 384kHz and DSD.

 

[Mirakoolz]

Oh Ok thanks for that information
 
looking at both shenzenAudio and amazon, the 6th anni supports 32/192. if so, 32bit/192khz should be an available option within windows sound manager? it isnt for me. highest is 24/192
btw, i dont have content rated higher than that anyway but it'll be nice to know if my unit can do what the manufacturer claims.