Not everyone can, or wants, to do this.
So the sand is not the magic ingredient, it's the constant poop removal.
I agree with you 100%! Get rid of the poop=get rid of the smell!!!!
Difficult to separate poop from shavings or chips, IMO. Takes BB less than 2 minutes to pick up poop in the run and less than 1 minute to clean the poop boards.