DX3 Pro + vs DS1 vs SU1 with surprising outcome.

[Earwax]

I Completed my comparisons of 3 DAC`s using 2 different headphones The ATH M50X (38 ohms) and the HD 600 (300 Ohms)

Only My ears were used for testing with much patience and attention to detail.

Fosi Audio DS1 using headphones

SMSL SU1 Using my Harman Kardon AVR 140 headphone port

Topping DX3 PRO + Using only the headphone port on the unit it`s self

All 3 plugged into my Asus desktop USB ports for supply of music

The short story no difference in quality of actual music, this was a vey big surprise to me since for the SMSL SU1 was plugged into my AVR 140 AMP for headphones.

Volume was the only difference.

ATH M50X I swapped ear pads to Velour so take that into consideration. These easy to drive headphones on all 3 DACs will give you enough volume to damage your earing no problems. A plus is they sound absolutely amazing on all 3 dacs !

HD 600 these come stock Velour ear pads.... On the Fosi audio DS1 the volume is loud enough that I don`t honestly want anymore as most know it`s the medium to medium high volume where the magic unfolds allowing myself anyways to hear all of the Harmonics as the artist intended along with any background sounds that might not be heard at lower volumes. To be clear It does go louder than my Version of Medium high I just find my self turning it down a few notches from full when I try it.

On The DX3 Pro + the HD 600 can be BLASTED they appeared to keep things together ish at the higher volumes that are far above what most music enthusiasts use ? Seriously you have to be clinically diagnosed half deaf or have so much earwax you need a shovel to have it at full volume of Dac & Amp at +19 Gain setting.
Maybe those volume settings are intended for AUX out to portable speaker ? 600 Ohm headphones would no doubt probably still get BLASTED beyond all reason.

Just the DAC mode with +6 gain setting full volume is more then loud enough it`s probably the perfect maxed out level you want for your ears.

The DX3 Pro + has 2 headphone settings DAC / DAC & AMP. to access dac & amp you use the remote center button it will knock some sense into you very quickly be sure the volume is down and whatever you do do not press the M button until the volume is turned down again when you go from gain +6 to Gain +19 it is very LOUD.

Worth Mentioning no difference in Quality of music using the DX3 two different headphone modes DAC & AMP vs only DAC mode.


SMSL SU1 since I was using the headphone out put on the Harman Kardon AVR 140 in Pure Direct Analog mode I could blast both headphones to bits if I wanted but hearing is needed for my music to keep me sain and level.

I was honestly expecting to hear some difference between the 3 for sure since my amp was put into the mix but the quality of the music appeared exactly identical to my ears but.

If you wanted to split hairs between the DS1 & DX3 pro + you might think you are hearing a slight difference in the second bell toll on FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS by Metallica album ride the lightening give is a listen it`s on Tidal they have the best quality 16 bit music I`ve heard so far.

But it`s so close you have to be fully concentrating playing it over and over again and again and even after all that you might think you hear a very minuscule amount less of the natural harmonic distortion meaning it is missing in the DX3 but might appear to be in the DS1 ? Of course an instrument would have to be used to measure if those harmonics were missing between the 2 dac`s to actually know for sure I could just be imagining it ,that happens to us all. Also they both use the exact same DAC chip. Only the SU1 has different dac chip and it is identical to DS1 using same bell toll or so I`m lead to believe... ?

I would be very interested to see those results as opinions will make no difference you were not here listening with my above average ears and average ish brain.

I enjoyed all 3 DAC`s with the same love they are all pure, Well done to all 3 manufactures they have done right by us Thank You !

Returning the DX3 Pro + it will not connect to my cellphones via USB, I already have 2 DAC`s since quality of sound is identical and volume is adequate it`s not needed.

I bought the DX3 specifically to use with my cellphone for bedroom use so it`s going back to Amazon already have the return processed it`s free. I read others on this thread say they were able to use the USB port with their cell ? I use the Samsung A52....

I ordered a cable USB B to USB C to test with my cellphone, the supplied cable is USB B to USB A so I used an adapter from A to C maybe it`s the problem ?

Update: The Ugreen USB B to USB C Cable arrived my cell now connects ! Must have been the adapter I used for USB A to USB C on the supplied cable causing connection issue's. P.S. Should have bought the 6 foot not 3 foot....


The 2 songs I used for testing were For Whom The Bell Tolls ( after the 2nd bell toll the guitar sequence used is SWEET ) I also listened to Sounds From The Ground song : Tending The Vine.

All above testing was done using Foobar 2000 to play flac files from my PC...

The screen shot below of For Whom The Bell Tolls is from my cellphone while using USB Audio Player Pro app and had nothing to do with testing process.

Very Happy to know without any doubts My Harman Kardon AVR 140 is not degrading the SU1 DAC signal since I used the Topping DX3 Pro+ for comparison as it has a very high score on Amirm`s detailed testing and review. Thank You Amirm !!!

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Voltage levels matched to within 0.01V at all times?

 

[Scrivs]

Thanks for the contribution
It may get more traffic is you tldr near the commencement of your post

 

[Scrivs]

I started reading it with interest, however a quick scroll down yielded a short story. At this point, I decided not to proceed.

Time is precious, and limited

 

[BDWoody]

The short story no difference in quality of actual music, this was a vey big surprise to me since for the SMSL SU1 was plugged into my AVR 140 AMP for headphones.

It's good to see that you went through all this, and despite this not being any kind of 'controlled' test with levels matched and without looking and all that, you still weren't able to find a meaningful difference.

My hope is that if you did hear a difference, that you'd try implementing the basic controls you hear about so much around this place before drawing a final conclusion, but sounds like you spent some fun time looking into things a little.

The problem here is that so many will do what you did and claim they heard obvious differences! Well, if they didn't match levels they are almost guaranteed to hear differences, and this is why 'we' tend to really focus on the 'controls' part of any tests.

All that said, it sounds like a first step to just enjoying your music without worrying so much about gear.

 

[Earwax]

You guys make a solid point.
I did my best to have the db levels the same but no measurement gear was used so it is most likely the difference I might have heard as I stated without a very sensitive instrument reading the higher frequency at that specific bell toll I'm sure a blind test would be a draw.

I wanted to be completely honest that's the only reason I brought it up. I was splitting hairs trying to find any tiny bit of any miniscule difference so that's what happened to me.

It could also very well be the DX3 was just a tiny bit louder nulling out those higher end harmonic blendings, like I said it was to close to honestly state with any kind of certainty one way or the other.

All 3 of those Dac's are pure and sweet I would have no issues only having 1 of them you could make a blind draw pulling one from a hat and I'd be honestly happy with ether one.

The take away from this for myself is these dacs are all affordable to everyone so no need to buy one that has more outputs or options than you would use.

Fosi audio, SMSL and Topping all have high quality build's nothing cheap feeling about those 3 dacs I've had the pleasure to use.
 
I want to keep the DX3 my mind is having a go at me I just don't need 3 Dac's, or do i :/

DS1 is portable, SU1 is in my home system cost Total for both $200 canadian bills.

Thanks for the kind replies I was expecting some less intelligent replies I'm glade you guys were at the top helping to keep this forum helpful to our civilization of online researchers :]

 

[Earwax]

I'm now curious if the DX3 using it's DAC + AMP mod in +19 gain setting could drive very small desktop speakers with enough volume to provide perfect purity ?

An aux 3.5mm to stereo speaker wire would be needed. Or RCA to stereo speaker wire connectors.

I have the JBL N24 if I can find ether connections I try it out.

 

[Earwax]

Would this be good enough quality?

 

[oleg87]

Unless you keep it at very cozy volumes, I suspect you're just going to give the protection circuit some exercise.

 

[Earwax]

Unless you keep it at very cozy volumes, I suspect you're just going to give the protection circuit some exercise.

Oh, I'll wait and do more research before I do something potentially harmful to the expensive DX3 Pro +.

Thank you for that heads up !

 

[Earwax]

User functionality from my experience of DS1

DS1 can be used with cellphone and pc allowing both to control volume levels you can also use a 3.5 AUX to RCA cable to allow you to use it with your amp of choice.

USB cable length for cell I`ve used a 3 foot length with no issues not sure about longer lengths for cellphone compatibility..

USB cable length for PC I`ve used a 6 foot cable with no issues

PC volume does not go as high as my cellphone with the DS1 stock setup.... Still loud enough for critical listening on my opinion. ( it also needs to be stated I am using the USB Audio Player Pro App on my Cell and it appears to allow louder volume level of my cell with stock DS1 setup ( no power supply hack..)

CELL PHONE USE External power supply battery hack, I have only been able to use the short supplied Fosi Audio cable nothing else will work for this hack.
The intended purpose of the hack was to save my cellphone battery life expectancy over the long term.
Unexpected findings when using my HD 600 (300 ohm)
headphones there appears to be a touch more power just enough to be noticeable to critical listeners it was not so much the volume but the definition or control they drivers had now...

I need to do a output test unless someone with this same device that has the equipment and actual experience with audio devices wants to step up ? I can only try to measure the difference in amps passing through the speaker wire cable using a multimeter Mastercraft 052-0055-6.

CELLPHONE USE ATH M50X ( 38 ohm) easier to drive made no difference noticed using external power supply.

CELLPHONE USE I did notice without a doubt a boost in quality using the external power supply hack when using the AUX port of my House of Marley Bag of riddim 2 speaker that is defiantly noticeable. Again sorry I haven't measured it yet still waiting for 3.5 mm aux to speaker wire adapters to arrive so I can see if I`m able.

 

[Earwax]

User functionality versatility from my experience of the SU1

Apart from the obvious input output ports I`m adding the possibilities of Headphone use using a 3.5mm to RCA cable. better if you buy one with female 3.5 mm end so you don`t need another adapter like the male to male adapter I used.

PC volume control is working no surprise there, the volume is loud enough for critical listening in my opinion when using the HD 600 (300 ohm ) the ATH M50X ( 38 ohm ) are same Loud enough for critical listening enjoyment.

Cellphone use needs the external power supply hack using a USB y splitter with headphone port ( the catch is only the above FOSI Audio supplied short cable with the DS1 works with this hack I`ve tried many...) and charging port you plug the single end into dac then it has the needed power.

Cellphone Additional Catch making it not usable is there is no volume control from your cellphone so it`s always BLASTING.. I have contacted SMSL asking them for a firmware upgrade to allow for volume control from my A52 cellphone.... It makes no sense to me why it won`t allow volume control from my cellphone.

Any assistance in getting SMSL to resolve this Cellphone volume issue would be helpful ?