Hi there,
Would a SMSL SD-9 be a good choice to drive fa503?
I could plug a hard disc with flacs , monitor by application, control volume by the rotary knob. Then output AES to input AES speaker A ( that becomes master) and then output coaxial from speaker A to coaxial in speaker B ( that becomes slave)
Am i right?
I pick smsl sd-9 , it could be any other
Hello,
I have an S.M.S.L. SD-9. It does not have a DAC. I am not sure if the FA503 has a DAC. You may need to use a DAC in between the SD-9 and the FA503. Also, there is no way to control volume from the SD-9. It simply takes input from the network, SD card, or USB then outputs to USB, I2S, Optical, AES, or Coaxial. The volume would need to be controlled from your pre-amp or power amplifier.
I like the idea of the SD-9. With the current version of firmware, 1.0, it is not implemented well. I have not been able to get gapless playback to function using DLNA at all. Gapless will function if the incoming audio is from a USB source or via SMB over a network share.
Also, I have noticed audible distortion with some music that is not present if I remove the SD-9 from the chain, (connecting the DAC to a computer instead of to the SD-9). Since it is noticeable in some music I am assuming that the distortion is present in all music and that it is just more noticeable in some types of music.
I have contacted S.M.S.L. support about these issues but have not received a solution yet.
It would be nice to see reviews of this device. I have not been able to find any except for a single review on Amazon by someone who is using it in a very simple configuration.
If the two issues mentioned above can be corrected via a firmware update it could be a very good device, but in its' current form it is not useful to me at least.