Quote Originally Posted by roclite View Post
Feanor, you are probably correct and you have SD-1955+ electronics in an SD-1955 labelled case. From experience, Chinese Quality Assurance leaves a lot to be desired and lots of different versions of the "SD-1955" probably exist with different op-amp configurations and other key components, depending on the actual manufacturer, not necessarily SMSL :-) i.e. the manufacture may be sub-contracted out to other Chinese electronics manufacturers. This probably explains much of the variability in other SD-1955 users listening experiences.

For the benefit of others who might be reading this thread, it would appear that the original SMSL SD-1955 with 24V PSU may still be available direct from some Chinese suppliers as opposed to the newer revisions currently being sold on UK/USA eBay and Amazon:


Smsl Sd-1955 Dir9001 Ad1955 Dac Optical Coaxial Decoder & Power Adapter - Buy Optical Coaxial Decoder & Power Adapter,Digital Audio Decoder,Digital Amplifier Product on Alibaba.com

If nothing else, the internal pictures serve to show that there are considerable differences in the design, layout and components on the circuit boards. Therefore, you might expect them to sound different, because they are.
Hi all,

I've been reading this very interesting post for a couple of days now and thank you all for the very valuable information

I have found the above early version recommended by roclite here:

Freeshipping SD 1955 DIR9001 AD1955 DAC Audio Decoder EG5032-in Integrated Circuits from Electronic Components & Supplies on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

but it only supports up to 24/96 sample rate as opposed to the upgraded(?) Sanskrit version available both on aliexpress and ebay for about the same price which supports 24/192.

Which one do you think I should I go for?

Also, how would this DAC compare to the Schiit Modi?

Thanks