Hi
There is a product by SMSL, that makes me curious.
It is called SMSL AD18:
Shenzhen ShuangMuSanLin Electronic Co., Ltd.
In short,
Its inputs are USB, BT4.2, SPDIF(Toslink+Coaxial), 3.5mm.
It has a built-in amplifier, and outputs 2.1.
I am interested in the chips it uses.
From its product page:
TAS5508C: Amplifier
TAS5342A: "Rear-Amp"?
CS8422: Receives SPDIF
TAS1020B: For USB
MAX97220A: Headphones Amplifier
CS5341: DAC (actually it's a DAC+ADC)
CSRA64215: BT4.2 aptX
As can be seen, someone there likes the TAS series of chips from TI.
(I wonder what is the difference between the TAS and PCM series..
I know PCM is the acquired Burr-Brown knowledge, so TAS is not based on Burr-Brown anymore?)
In anycase, the DAC there is a Cirrus Logic chip.
Do Cirrus Logic DACs sound good?
I don't see them used a lot in products,
not so much hype around them like ESS Sabre's or others..
what is your opinion about it?
Another thing,
in the product page, they also write:
"For much better sound, we use SDPI output instead of internal DAC output design".
Anyone knows what this means?
And does it indeed give a "much better sound"?
Thank you
There is a product by SMSL, that makes me curious.
It is called SMSL AD18:
Shenzhen ShuangMuSanLin Electronic Co., Ltd.
In short,
Its inputs are USB, BT4.2, SPDIF(Toslink+Coaxial), 3.5mm.
It has a built-in amplifier, and outputs 2.1.
I am interested in the chips it uses.
From its product page:
TAS5508C: Amplifier
TAS5342A: "Rear-Amp"?
CS8422: Receives SPDIF
TAS1020B: For USB
MAX97220A: Headphones Amplifier
CS5341: DAC (actually it's a DAC+ADC)
CSRA64215: BT4.2 aptX
As can be seen, someone there likes the TAS series of chips from TI.
(I wonder what is the difference between the TAS and PCM series..
I know PCM is the acquired Burr-Brown knowledge, so TAS is not based on Burr-Brown anymore?)
In anycase, the DAC there is a Cirrus Logic chip.
Do Cirrus Logic DACs sound good?
I don't see them used a lot in products,
not so much hype around them like ESS Sabre's or others..
what is your opinion about it?
Another thing,
in the product page, they also write:
"For much better sound, we use SDPI output instead of internal DAC output design".
Anyone knows what this means?
And does it indeed give a "much better sound"?
Thank you
Last edited:
If you study the blurb carefully you'll notice this isn't a DAC+amplifier, rather its a FDA - full digital amplifier. The conversion from analog to digital occurs right at the power stage so there's no analog amplifier being fed from a D/A just a high current MOSFET bridge being driven by PWM signals.
As for the question about giving 'much better sound' it depends what its being compared with.
<Incidentally shouldn't this thread be in the classD section, being as its about a power DAC product?>
As for the question about giving 'much better sound' it depends what its being compared with.
<Incidentally shouldn't this thread be in the classD section, being as its about a power DAC product?>
I assume the conversion is done by the CS5341 chip, which is a DAC,
so its PWM is not "averaged" (by itself) before it comes out of it?
Why assume when you can read the blurb and cross-check with the datasheets for the various parts? It says in various places its a 'full digital amp'.
They're saying they use the CS5341 as A/D for the AUX input. Could be they use the DAC part to feed the headphone output or the subwoofer out or both, but that's just speculation on my part.
They're saying they use the CS5341 as A/D for the AUX input. Could be they use the DAC part to feed the headphone output or the subwoofer out or both, but that's just speculation on my part.
The SMSL Q5 pro is similar, uses the same TI output stage TAS5342. There are some listening impressions in this thread : SMSL Q5 Pro Mods
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