Yes it does. A value proposition literally depends on what alternatives are available and at what price. When spending money (shopping) we don't talk in terms of absolute performance we literally talk in terms of value proposition, whatever that "value" is, be it performance, looks, or if it comes with a free coffee.Just because something better/ Cheaper exists does not make this thing worse.
Indeed. And you should always ask those people *why* they buy them. Hint: Not for performance. A $10 Casio is orders of magnitude better at keeping time than my Breitling. It's 2022. Accurate time is freely available by looking at your phone or asking someone, far better than even the finest mechanical watch can offer. The value proposition of a watch is entirely in it jewellery value, its looks. And that value proposition is still related to what else is on the market. If a better looking watch for the same price was available I'd have bought that instead and consider the one I own "worse".People still buy Mechanical watches.
Yes. Haven't been by any reasonable definition for a long time.So vinyl records are not Hi-fi or no longer hi-fi?
How does it compare to D1?
And the same way your Phone can give you Accurate Audio reproduction...A $10 Casio is orders of magnitude better at keeping time than my Breitling. It's 2022. Accurate time is freely available by looking at your phone or asking someone
Yes it does. A value proposition literally depends on what alternatives are available and at what price. When spending money (shopping) we don't talk in terms of absolute performance we literally talk in terms of value proposition, whatever that "value" is, be it performance, looks, or if it comes with a free coffee.
Then why are there Reviews of Phone Preamps here that alone cost more than Many DACs performing an order of magnitude better...If you want to buy audio gear just so it can sit pretty in your living room then more power to you. But you won't find many friends here.
Yes. Haven't been by any reasonable definition for a long time.
Why can't this be true for audio gear?The value proposition of a watch is entirely in it jewellery value, its looks.
Do note that filter ultimate rejection is short of datasheet spec (-117 / -116 dB)... possibly the filter was overloaded, which would not bode well for 0dBFS+ handling.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.
And what about the D2??How does it compare to D1?
Given it uses highly rated modern dac chips (akm 4499) and smsl can build good dacs, I would imagine it measured pretty well. Probsbly as well as some of there $200 + units. The question would still be why anyone would want a $1700 dac when the same manuf sells essentially the same unit in a different case for far less.And what about the D2?
I think this is where the confusion/tension arises. I'm not so much about recommending "cheaper options" solely on SINAD performance but rather for the premium price range of $3000 - $4000, there are better designed options where the SINAD is less relevant and usability + design is many steps above the SMSL. When they tread on the premium segment, it's no longer about performance inside a solid billet aluminum case, but all the intangibles from the click of the volume knob to the feel of the remote to ease of operation to visibility of the display. I would look at the Auralic Altair G1 for a few hundred less before I'd consider the VMV D3. If SMSL wants to play with the big boy DACs in terms of usability, design and the "feel" of high end, it needs to look at Lumin and Aurender as well. Upstarts like HiFi Rose RS250 for $2500 is also gaining momentum and looks much more premium:
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The days of wrapping your DAC in R2R magic for $3,500 is simply not enough when you are attracting the discriminating clientele. It looked like a $1000 DAC to me, that's why I expected it to compensate elsewhere (like amazing SINAD) but with nothing special in measurements, I'm just left wondering about its intangible value proposition - is it purely the placebo of R2R? So no it's not terrible if you refer to only its sound quality, but it's pretty terrible everywhere else.
The local market in Asia may buy this over those brands which they may not able to get anyway.If the mystique around the circuit topology to matter ... who'd buy it over a Schiit Yggdrasil or a Chord Hugo 2 or a TT2? And within just Chinese brands who'd buy it over Denafrips or Audio-gd? Scratching my head.
If the mystique around the circuit topology to matter ... who'd buy it over a Schiit Yggdrasil or a Chord Hugo 2 or a TT2? And within just Chinese brands who'd buy it over Denafrips or Audio-gd? Scratching my head.
With import fees and shipping the YGgdrasil would be only a 300 USD cheaper than the SMSL V3. But the SMSL would have warranty by a local retailer.
The Chord stuff is just butt ugly.
There will be always customers for something like this. But you would have to be nuts to spend over 3000 USD if you could get a musician Aquarius for the same amount.
Ok, I thought it was just me.The Chord stuff is just butt ugly.
But you have to be nuts to spend that much on a musician aquarius imhoBut you would have to be nuts to spend over 3000 USD if you could get a musician Aquarius for the same amount.
You have not measured or compared white noise autocorrelation time and settling time for different types of DACs.Or Denafrips, Audio-GD or Holo Audio, who all made their names on R2R mysticism
You have not measured or compared white noise autocorrelation time and settling time for different types of DACs.
PCM1704 has settling time 200 ns.
You do not know how to measure the time errors of sigma-delta DACs, because you do not have accurate in the time domain ADCs (SAR).(even if unconventional measures that are irrelevant for competently-engineered DACs) in this segment.
I'm not competent to understand this, but I suspect this will generate an interesting but hopefully polite debate.You do not know how to measure the time errors of sigma-delta DACs, because you do not have accurate in the time domain ADCs (SAR).
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Old 18-bit converters better than all modern "24-bit" with real music:
"Most tested devices have df-levels around -40 dB and are grouped in two clusters according to similarity of their artifact signatures. Usually devices within a cluster use similar engineering/circuitry solutions.Df-measurements of DA/AD loops from Gearslutz forum - Articles - SoundExpert
Artifact signatures of DA/AD converters in similarity space.. SoundExpert news and articlessoundexpert.org
There is a small group of devices with higher precision around -69 dB: Texas Instrument PCM4222 Evaluation Module, Focusrite Blue 245, Forssell MDAC-4, MSB Platinum IV Plus DAC, MSB Platinum Studio ADC, SPL Madison, ReQuest Audio The Beast DAC, Swissonic DA24 MkII"
It is subtle on the sine signal, but you can hear it on the music.
With an analog oscilloscope, and later it became possible through a SAR ADC. They do not spoil the statistical characteristics of the signal like sigma-delta converters.If one cant measure DS accurately enough I the time domain, how did they measure this R2R at 200 ns?