SMSL SU-1 Stereo DAC Review

[Silvestrus]

I'm well aware about MQA situation. However, not the answer I was looking for. Thanks for the effort.

 

[Nutul]

I'm well aware about MQA situation. However, not the answer I was looking for. Thanks for the effort.

I meant: don't bother, you gain nothing.
Anyway, the SU-1 is an MQA decoder, so I believe you should send the MQA stream to it as-is (at 0dB, as any digital alteration of the stream, such as volume attenuation, will "render" the MQA stream as invalid...)
Enjoy.

 

[Silvestrus]

It seems that it's not full decoder. I took some time to read about MQA process... The best option is to set it to renderer only in WiiM settings. WiiM will do first unfold and send it to DAC which will do full unfold as renderer only.

On the side note, as you mentioned. It really doesn't matter. DAC sounds amazing for the price range and above.

 

[Nutul]

WiiM will do first unfold and send it to DAC which will do full unfold as renderer only.

Everywhere I read it *is* a decoder. Anyway, I see in the end we are on the same page... ;-)

 

[Mikig]

I'm sorry, but I couldn't understand it with my English ability.
As an elderly Japanese person with limited English proficiency, I sometimes misunderstand native speakers' English.
Thank you for your advice.

it happens to me too!!
I don't always understand or manage to make myself understood, even using the translator: in Italian the construction of the sentence is different, and I realized that above all the "idioms" and stock phrases are often very distant. Sometimes I have to correct the translator and insert more sensible words or put them "in quotation marks" otherwise the sentence takes on a completely different meaning!!!

 

[Silvestrus]

Everywhere I read it *is* a decoder. Anyway, I see in the end we are on the same page... ;-)

It can work as decoder up to MQA studio (blue and green led). Apparently 'full' MQA decoder DACs cost a fortune. Those are my findings according to tests that I've conducted.

 

[Mikig]

However, I confirm that this little DAC works really well. I tried it with a CD player on COAX output, powered by a power bank. Impeccable. I'm pretty much always using the SU-1, having moved the other DAC to the TV with the speakers active.