Review on 🎶 S.M.S.L Sanskrit 10th MKII AK4493 HiFi USB Native DSD256 Decoder: Ultimate Audio Quality in Black by Terrance Haralson

Some of us like streaming services and FLAC files. If you don't mind paying for Tidal, Deezer or other premium music streaming, then a DAC just makes sense. In my opinion, it's a good idea to hook up a good DAC to one of the inputs on my vintage stereo. Many of us have jumped on the high-fidelity lossless streaming bandwagon. So it makes sense to take full advantage of these services with a decent DAC. Today I received: SMSL Sanskrit 10. mkii AK4493. The Revain seller matched the $89 price on Banggood, all I had to do was ask. Stored locally in the US so shipping to Michigan took two weeks. My first impression is a very solid build quality. When connecting the RCA, the connectors on the board did not bend or move. It looks and feels like a quality machine, it doesn't feel cheap. The remote control, on the other hand, is not very good. The remote has a very cheap Android TV box feel to it. With that said, let's just say you don't want to quit. I don't think the remote would have survived being stepped on. Windows 10 picked it up right away, but I had to reboot the system for the sound to work properly. I had to adjust additional settings to get the most out of the DAC. Not tested on my Linux system yet. Of the six filters, filter 2 is my favorite, it has the best mids and bass to my ears. I also like the natural sound of Filter 5. Some of the filters are too bright for my liking and my speakers, one of the filters sounded very muddy to my ears. Tested this afternoon with some of my FLAC music collection. This DAC has far more feel and presence than my other sound cards or USB DACs. Yes, it's better than the DragonFly and surprisingly sounds better than my Creative Sound Card, which costs three times as much. I did not pull the trigger on the USB 5V linear power supply. This DAC has a handy feature that allows you to power your smartphone via AUX Power. I am using a RaspberryPi power supply. I already had it on hand, it's microUSB, it has a ferrite magnet for all your radio interference, it also has a built in switch to turn the power off completely, but most importantly, it's all $9 on eBay. If you store a lot of media files, like I do on my server, this SMSL Sanskrit MKII is a solid hi-fi investment.