SMSL D3 new flagship R2R dac coming out in August

[Iluzun]

This thing is blooming, as if a flower opening up.  Everything everywhere.  Huge stage, & depth.  Piano, strings, brass, big air, atmospheric.  I’ve 3 dedicated lines in this room and am just running the short power cord the unit came with plugged into a shared Blue Circle pvc filter.  Didn’t give setup or layout really any thought, just threw it in the system.  The sweet spot is almost sublime, the staging precise but not etched, everything just floats.  Timing and overall coherence is phenomenal.  Just letting Roon play some self selected tracks upsampled to max pcm off the Nuc w/Roc.  The cables offered up by Alvin won’t disappoint anybody.  No need to fuss further.  Gotta tack on another 5% as I was playing some music this am via the Dynavector/Petite analog combo thinking how nice it sounded, but damn this just sucks ya in.  Merry Xmas all…

[sandston]

On 1/15/2022 at 10:10 AM, Iluzun said:

Here’s a link to a recommended I2S cable/hdmi that is recommended in my search on the Gustard U18 DDC.  It’s a a bit confusing but is supposed to be worth the effort.  I’m looking at the 1m and need to find which of the 4 custom configs works between the Gustard and the D2.  The Gustard has the next level Accusilicon clocks versus both the D2 & D3, the 338’s.  The D2 is already performing at a very high level, but adding an external DDC to utilize the I2S connector is highly recommended on the Soundnews website which reviews the SMSL D2.  It’s already an exceptional dac.  I would suggest that the D3 would benefit likewise…

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000255873784.html

I bought this I2S cable. Im not going to speak to the quality of the sound but I will tell you those ends are not gold plated as they appear in the photo. I would look elsewhere for a cable as the ends are pretty cheap. No idea if its actually silver as I cannot figure out how to open the ends without destroying it.