D90LE or SMSL SU-9N?

[zengwendian]

Hello guys! I'm fairly new to dacs. But I'm already sold on Topping A90 Discrete.

However, I'm a bit hesitant to spend $680 for the D90LE whereas the SMSL SU-9N is just $327 in my country. Based on various posts that i've searched, some say that the D90 sounds better than the SMSL, while others are hardly pressed for any difference in sound.

Can you guys lend a helping hand with this? Thanks so much!

Headphones that I have: Arya Stealth, HD600 and HD650.

 

[staticV3]

The SU-9n is 100% transparent to the human ear.
You won't be able to hear a difference between it and the D90LE.
Spend the extra money only if you like the design, feature set, and matched look to the A90 more and only if those are worth the premium for you.

 

[zengwendian]

The SU-9n is 100% transparent to the human ear.
You won't be able to hear a difference between it and the D90LE.
Spend the extra money only if you like the design, feature set, and matched look to the A90 more and only if those are worth the premium for you.

Thanks for replying to my thread! Really appreciate your opinion

 

[Rja4000]

I'm already sold on Topping A90 Discrete.
However, I'm a bit hesitant to spend $680 for the D90LE

The best reason to go for the D90LE is the common look and feel (and, I guess, remote).
That might be worth the cost difference to you. Or not

 

[zengwendian]

The best reason to go for the D90LE is the common look and feel (and, I guess, remote).
That might be worth the cost difference to you. Or not

Hello sir, thanks for replying to my thread. I guess if that's the case then it's not worth it for me since I'll be using it on hand reach levels. Although I definitely value sound quality over anything else.

If the difference is minimal then I guess I'll just go for the smsl.

 

[fred38]

The remote control of the SU9N is not great, but it is better than the D90LE!