SMSL SU-9n Review (Balanced Stereo DAC)

[bidn]

Would it be even better for you if they put this logo on the front?

JSmith

Thank you, you made my day with a good laugh!

 

[Veri]

Looks like this DAC is made to showcase the SU-9/SMSL M500 distortion bug being 100% fixed

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

The golden age for gear lovers is truly here and still growing.
Some 15-20 years ago a DAC that looks like this (similar measurements IF proven, build quality, features and ports) would have easily be 5-10x this price.
I don't know what's next for the DAC market, maybe we'll reach a stalemate and most recent DACs will be similarly great and we might hit peak boredom but that's perfectly fine.
"Instrument grade" audio devices have never been this affordable, and that's really a good thing .

 

[aj625]

as one of the cheap topping smsl and gustards dac break the sinad barrier, many boutiuqe dac lovers feel more and more agitated and try to prove more and more vigorously that measurements dont matter or there is a limit of audibility of good measurements. the same thing happened in one of the dcs bartok thread in this forum elsewhere. almost all the posters were trying to justify the 110db sinad of $17500 DCS bartok. now a days even a well implemented ultra cheap dongle dac can beat these boutique dacs in terms of measurements. it is so surprising how such boutique dac manufacturers are able to brainwash so many people that they dont want to listen anything against these boutique dacs at all. may be its the money power through which the manufacturer propagate many subjective lies on all type media platforms

(1) https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/dcs-bartok see what hi fi clearly mentions bartok as analytical sounding
(2)https://forum.psaudio.com/t/dcs-bartok-and-ds-sr/11821/19 see here more comments about bartok being analytical
(3)https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dcs-bartok.901647/page-5 see last post of the page about dcs dacs
(4)https://forum.psaudio.com/t/dcs-bartok-and-ds-sr/11821/28 read comment of ianb52
(5)https://dcs.community/t/harshness-with-bartok-using-headphones/1684 now inab52 clearly mentioning about bartok brightness
(6)golden sound posted about bartok measurements on fb headfi group and someone there also commented bright sound of bartok but obviously that complete post now have been removed. see how powerful these boutiuqe brands can be.

one can easily find more such inferences where bartok has been said to be bright.

 

[amirm]

Have SMSL reached out about sending the matching DA9 amp for testing? Or do they know it won't test well by ASR standards so they only send the DAC.

To be clear, this did NOT come from SMSL. It came from one of their retailers.

 

[amirm]

(1) https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/dcs-bartok see what hi fi clearly mentions bartok as analytical sounding
(2)https://forum.psaudio.com/t/dcs-bartok-and-ds-sr/11821/19 see here more comments about bartok being analytical
(3)https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dcs-bartok.901647/page-5 see last post of the page about dcs dacs
(4)https://forum.psaudio.com/t/dcs-bartok-and-ds-sr/11821/28 read comment of ianb52
(5)https://dcs.community/t/harshness-with-bartok-using-headphones/1684 now inab52 clearly mentioning about bartok brightness
(6)golden sound posted about bartok measurements on fb headfi group and someone there also commented bright sound of bartok but obviously that complete post now have been removed. see how powerful these boutiuqe brands can be.

one can easily find more such inferences where bartok has been said to be bright.

This is off-topic. Please don't continue it in this thread.

 

[Vict0r]

I bought a Motu M4 when I "needed" a balanced output for my active speakers, but this SMSL measures much better! Ohhh... the FOMO is strong! I'm sure I couldn't hear the difference between them, though, and the Motu has a fancy screen on the front so that immediately makes it sound 10x better.

Thanks for the review, Amir! Golfing panther is my favourite.

 

[Drengur]

FYI for those of you who are MQA haters -- you know you are -- that has been deleted from this DAC.

Guilty!

 

[Tks]

Later on I went to test the Coax input and it was then that I figured out that the "non working" channel cable was hooked up to the Coax digital input! I had hooked it looking from above and just assumed the RCA connectors would be next to XLR connectors.

Lol, well there goes the golden sample theories out the window.

Don't ask me about optical input. I sent out my Toslink cable to the store to get some milk and it has not come back....

I feel attacked.


——————

This DAC is actually insane. 22 bits in the multi tone test (and not the usual SOTA 21). Unbalanced performance that actually lowers distortion respectably in my view while lowering power output by half compared to balanced with very little bit to noise. And also the bonus extra slow filters for the NOS type nuts out there while keeping the standard ESS filters I appreciate.

I don’t think anyone is really tired of the great products. We seem to just take them for granted at this point. I just wish these companies would take a break from the SINAD race for a second and start focusing on features. Let’s get some more inputs, let’s get some networking, or some DSP functionality. We need RME competitors, and we could use some ADC love by way of Motu competitors for example. Let’s get some streamers (I know SMSL actually has two off the top of my head, but I’m not sure if one is even being sold anymore).

I think people just want some cool new sort of stuff functionally (give us better UI, or volume controls, or nice big screens that could display cover art while having loaded on to an SD card the device can accept).

The SINAD wars need to cease a bit, ESS doesn’t care about making a new flagship it seems, and AKM has burned down so no real new chips from them for a while. Until these two companies start competing again, not sure why DACs need any performance bumps. SMSL again, does pretty cool stuff like that one amp with a screen, or another with relay volume control. We need more of that stuff.

 

[aj625]

Lol, well there goes the golden sample theories out the window.


I feel attacked.


——————

This DAC is actually insane. 22 bits in the multi tone test (and not the usual SOTA 21). Unbalanced performance that actually lowers distortion respectably in my view while lowering power output by half compared to balanced with very little bit to noise. And also the bonus extra slow filters for the NOS type nuts out there while keeping the standard ESS filters I appreciate.

I don’t think anyone is really tired of the great products. We seem to just take them for granted at this point. I just wish these companies would take a break from the SINAD race for a second and start focusing on features. Let’s get some more inputs, let’s get some networking, or some DSP functionality. We need RME competitors, and we could use some ADC love by way of Motu competitors for example. Let’s get some streamers (I know SMSL actually has two off the top of my head, but I’m not sure if one is even being sold anymore).

I think people just want some cool new sort of stuff functionally (give us better UI, or volume controls, or nice big screens that could display cover art while having loaded on to an SD card the device can accept).

The SINAD wars need to cease a bit, ESS doesn’t care about making a new flagship it seems, and AKM has burned down so no real new chips from them for a while. Until these two companies start competing again, not sure why DACs need any performance bumps. SMSL again, does pretty cool stuff like that one amp with a screen, or another with relay volume control. We need more of that stuff.

Extra features like streaming, big screen etc etc can actually lower the performance. Imo most usable inputs, minimal buttons and external 12v power supply to allow for use of battery Must be the features to maximise the performance while also reducing the cost.

 

[amper42]

I receive an email from shenzhenaudio.com this morning for the SMSL SU-9n and @amirm has already posted the review a few hours before. Your dedication and service to the audio community is amazing @amirm. In a world full of delays you stand out as an example of excellence. Thank you so much for all your hard work.

 

[Tks]

Extra features like streaming, big screen etc etc can actually lower the performance. Imo most usable inputs, minimal buttons and external 12v power supply to allow for use of battery Must be the features to maximise the performance while also reducing the cost.

They can lower performance. But don’t in practice. And especially don’t for all intents and purposes now that we are way past audibility and practical specs.

Check out Matrix Audio is you want to see end game performance yet bringing things like streaming all in ones with extremely high SINAD even before these spec wars even kicked off properly (MA had SOTA performance back half a decade now almost). And always brought something interesting instead of just a plain DAC or Amp.

 

[Seysin]

I don't understand the multitone results. Does it mean 22 bits instead of db? If that's the case, why is it not 20-22 bits of distortion free range because the graph looks very similar to the multitone results of Topping E50?

 

[Veri]

It's definitely "bits".

 

[Mulder]

I think that these latest DACs have now reached a level where further improvements in the measurement values are starting to become uninteresting. What does it matter if a DAC improves the distortion from 130 to 140, for example, when already 130 is well below what we can perceive. I would rather see other types of news. For example, built-in DSP, or multi-channel DACs with built-in digitally active crossover filter.

 

[Madjalapeno]

I know some of you are going to complain about us testing so many of them. Imagine if the situation was reverse and most of what we tested was junk. Would you be happier then? I don't think so.

I'm very happy we have so many choices, at all prices, to chose from. Digital > Analog is pretty much transparent.

 

[_thelaughingman]

I rejoice at the fact that this device does not have MQA capabilities. Another high SINAD dac to the list of great gear.

 

[sonci99]

I think these dacs are good because half of the job is inside the chip, you just have to implement it right. Unfortunately for amplifiers even in D class, that somehow are chip amplifiers, it's far from perfect..

I wonder instead of building all these dacs, why not build a one box solution, Dac, Amp, Headamp? There are some from SMSL, but not very good. Is this impossible because of interferences between electronics or they just would not sell well?

 

[F1308]

Yes, yet another exceptionally good DAC. I know some of you are going to complain about us testing so many of them.

No, we are not.
So happy to see the price halving on each review, we cannot tell....

 

[sonci99]

I rejoice at the fact that this device does not have MQA capabilities. Another high SINAD dac to the list of great gear.

It would be perfect if they remove even dsd support, so no more annoying bugs with dsd.
I think dsd and mqa support are some of the reasons of frequent firmware updates or other stupid bugs, with otherwise perfect dacs.
Removing MQA, probably is one of the reasons they are so high in the SINAD chart.

To me 16bit cd playback is as good as I can hear..