S.M.S.L. SD-9 Set-Up and Basic Review

[SiamXIII]

I just tested with the trial version, it shown as "HIBY MUSIC SD-9" in network pane, but I have some troubles with DSD files.

View attachment 226129

Thanks for the answer!

Ordered one yesterday. Going to ditch Roon with CCA enpoint in favor of this combo.

 

[swenske]

Hi,

Did this get fixed yet?

My SD-9 is plugged into an SMSL M400 via I²S and I can play 44.1khz flac files (16 or 24 bit) without any issue.

 

[SiamXIII]

My SD-9 is plugged into an SMSL M400 via I²S and I can play 44.1khz flac files (16 or 24 bit) without any issue.

How does I2S compare to USB in terms of SQ?

 

[swenske]

How does I2S compare to USB in terms of SQ?

I can't tell you the difference, I have never plugged it via USB. That said, I'm very happy with this setup.

 

[navin]

My SD-9 is plugged into an SMSL M400 via I²S and I can play 44.1khz flac files (16 or 24 bit) without any issue.

Thanks. Have you tried any streaming services? Spotify? Amazon Music? Tidal? I am told most do not work natively.

 

[PJ's Platenpaleis]

Hallo, ik ben net nieuw. Ik heb met volle interesse uw discussies over SMSL SD-9 gelezen.
Tot nu toe ik Qobus Studio vanaf mijn speel laptop rechtstreeks via een "SMSL SU-8 V2 DSD512 DAC" op mijn stereo. In principe werkt dit erg goed. Maar ……….
Nu wil ik het gemak van een "afstandsbediening". Daarom ben ik van plan om deze SMSL SD-9 Streamer aan te schaffen.

Ik had een gesprek met Qobuz via hun "Qobuz Connect" -functie. Laat ik dit hieronder laten zien. Het overleg met goed nieuws!

ik: Geachte mevrouw, mijnheer,
Ik heb een vraag: Zal de "SMSL-9 Streamer WiFi DLNA AirPlay Bluetooth 32bit 384kHz DSD256 MQA" correct samenwerken met "Qobuz Connect" op mijn Android-app en mijn Windows-app?
Vriendelijke groeten,

qobuz: Hallo,
Bedankt voor je bericht,
De Qobuz connect-functie is nog in ontwikkeling en momenteel niet beschikbaar. Onze excuses voor dit ongemak en we hopen dat het zeer binnenkort zal worden verwacht.
Vervolgens daarna enkele adviezen over het gebruik van ChromeCast, mConnect, BubblenP, Audirvana en Roon.
Met vriendelijke groet, Qobuz Klantenservice

ik: Bedankt voor je reactie. Is er een tijdsperspectief waarin "Qobuz connect" voor SMSL-componenten in de loop van maanden beschikbaar zal zijn? van een of twee jaar? Dus ik weet dat het de moeite waard is om te wachten op deze SMSL-streamer te kopen.
Vriendelijke groeten,

qobuz: Hallo, Bedankt voor uw feedback.
De Connect-functie moet in het jaar 2022 - 2023 worden ontwikkeld.
Met vriendelijke groet, Qobuz Klantenservice,
Centre d'activité de l'Ourcq, 45 rue Delizy - 93692 PANTIN-CEDEX

>> Ik denk dat dit heel goed nieuws is voor Qobuz- en SD-9-gebruikers !! . Misschien een leuk kerstcadeautje

 

[chrisnoy]

I just tested with the trial version, it shown as "HIBY MUSIC SD-9" in network pane, but I have some troubles with DSD files.

View attachment 226129

Yes I am trying too. Tidal MQA files are playing as loud hissing sound, and I cant get any DSD to play any sound. Maybe a problem with DLNA? I have posted on the forum for help but none so far.
I have installed sd 9 driver on PC but not sure how to connect sd9 to PC ? USB only? Problem is sd9 and dac are in different room to pc hence why i need DLNA to work.

 

[chrisnoy]

Yes I am trying too. Tidal MQA files are playing as loud hissing sound, and I cant get any DSD to play any sound. Maybe a problem with DLNA? I have posted on the forum for help but none so far.
I have installed sd 9 driver on PC but not sure how to connect sd9 to PC ? USB only? Problem is sd9 and dac are in different room to pc hence why i need DLNA to work.

Audirvana say the sd-9 is not sending the right signals so it doesnt get the right formats sent back. Mconnect and Bubbleupnp work so looks like Audirvana is a no go.
Just installed USB Audio player Pro onto my android phone and this works connected to the USB input of the sd9. DSD and even MQA so may now look to get a relatively cheap android tablet and run it all from there.

 

[SiamXIII]

Audirvana say the sd-9 is not sending the right signals so it doesnt get the right formats sent back. Mconnect and Bubbleupnp work so looks like Audirvana is a no go.
Just installed USB Audio player Pro onto my android phone and this works connected to the USB input of the sd9. DSD and even MQA so may now look to get a relatively cheap android tablet and run it all from there.

And what about flac files? Only need them.

 

[chrisnoy]

Flac play but only at 16 bit and are displayed as WAV files not flac.
Sorry but Audirvana doesnt work with sd9 at all. I think it could work but they seem to rely on the device telling them what it can do then sending this, the sd9 doesnt do this correctly so it doesnt get sent the correct files

 

[SiamXIII]

Flac play but only at 16 bit and are displayed as WAV files not flac.
Sorry but Audirvana doesnt work with sd9 at all. I think it could work but they seem to rely on the device telling them what it can do then sending this, the sd9 doesnt do this correctly so it doesnt get sent the correct files

Sad to hear. Maybe better stick with CCA and roon at this point.

 

[CamRector]

I know this is an older thread but it seems SMSL has done a firmware upgrade addressing all of the initial issues. Can you confirm this? Thanks!!

 

[navin]

I can't tell you the difference, I have never plugged it via USB. That said, I'm very happy with this setup.

Do you use any streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, or Tidal?

I just tested with the trial version, it shown as "HIBY MUSIC SD-9" in network pane, but I have some troubles with DSD files.

View attachment 226129

If the SD9 is able to stream from a hard disk or from the internet why does anyone need to connect it to a PC? Does not Audirvana only work on a PC/Mac?

Yes I am trying too. Tidal MQA files are playing as loud hissing sound, and I cant get any DSD to play any sound. Maybe a problem with DLNA? I have posted on the forum for help but none so far.
I have installed sd 9 driver on PC but not sure how to connect sd9 to PC ? USB only? Problem is sd9 and dac are in different room to pc hence why i need DLNA to work.

I thought the SD9 was a standalone player meant so that one does not need a PC/Mac. Why do you need to use a PC?

Sorry but Audirvana doesnt work with sd9 at all. I think it could work but they seem to rely on the device telling them what it can do then sending this, the sd9 doesnt do this correctly so it doesnt get sent the correct files

I would not expect Audirvana to work with the SD9. I am trying to understand why you want to use with Audirvana.

I am a little old school. Can the SD9 work under the following conditions:

1. Connect a 2-4TB SSD or Hard Disk to a USB port (SSD needs less power than a hard disk hence it might work better).
2. Stream from Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Tidal etc.

What does one need to connect the SD9 to these streaming services? Are the apps built in?

I believe the iFi Zen Stream can connect to several streaming services. Can the SD9 do the same?

Thanks.

 

[SiamXIII]

Do you use any streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, or Tidal?

If the SD9 is able to stream from a hard disk or from the internet why does anyone need to connect it to a PC? Does not Audirvana only work on a PC/Mac?

I thought the SD9 was a standalone player meant so that one does not need a PC/Mac. Why do you need to use a PC?

I would not expect Audirvana to work with the SD9. I am trying to understand why you want to use with Audirvana.

I am a little old school. Can the SD9 work under the following conditions:

1. Connect a 2-4TB SSD or Hard Disk to a USB port (SSD needs less power than a hard disk hence it might work better).
2. Stream from Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Tidal etc.

What does one need to connect the SD9 to these streaming services? Are the apps built in?

I believe the iFi Zen Stream can connect to several streaming services. Can the SD9 do the same?

Thanks.

I want to use it with audirvana to stream to it via network. Use it as DLNA renderer. But looks like there is problem.

 

[navin]

I want to use it with audirvana to stream to it via network. Use it as DLNA renderer. But looks like there is problem.

Do you mean to say that the SD9 cannot natively stream from Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Tidal etc.?

 

[SiamXIII]

Do you mean to say that the SD9 cannot natively stream from Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Tidal etc.?

I'm not interested in these services. I play music from local library. Decoded to buy pi4 and stay on Roon.

 

[deano454]

For clarity, this review covers the S.M.S.L. SD-9 Music Streamer. While the SD-9 does have a rudimentary DAC, I will never use the DAC function as my DAC is the Gustard X-16.

I purchased the SD-9 to be able to stream TIDAL or Qobuz from the Internet, via Ethernet to my DAC. Why that functionality is hard to purchase is beyond me, but this was the first workable (for me) solution that I or two HiFi buddies have seen at a halfway reasonable price.

YES - it has problems, but it answers a need that I have.

I'm also looking at getting a streamer to use Tidal connect either via coax or aes/ebu to go to my Dac with a simple app ( I have Tidal on my pad , computer and via my Oppo bdp-103 ) . Whilst this looked promising , I don't know if I like the lack of gapless playback and pops , memory settings drop out, is the former exclusive to iPhone users , or is it just universal? I'm an Android user and where I live if a butterfly lands on a power line we get power loss so resetting the settings everytime the power goes out would piss me off pretty quickly ? Can an sd card with reserved memory solve it ?

 

[deano454]

Why would you buy this when you have things like Bluesound Node 2021 and the much better sounding IFI Zen Stream on the market...given SMSL track record...

My question too definitely thinking about the IFI Zen Stream with a Linear Power Supply?

 

[deano454]

Hi Guys!

Mine SD9 is working fine here and the quality for my ears is very good!

Now I'm using it with my Loxjie D50 DAC and all works almost "fine"!

I'm facing a boring issue, all times I turned it off the SD9 is loosing all my configs... I have tryed the procedure that is mentioned in the manual pg 41 (power state memory) and it doesn't worked for me...

Another boring issue is the SD9 doenst find my Synology NAS, I do have others gadgets in the house and all finds my SMB from Synology, but my SD9 can't find it...

Does anyone have passed the same problems? any tips?

I'm wondering, does my unit came defective?


Thank you very much!

I bought a Synology Nas drive and I seriously hate the f...g thing , it is such a pain the arse to find or alter the settings it updates every 25 seconds . Seriously get it right and issue an update once every three months or something

 

[navin]

I'm also looking at getting a streamer to use Tidal connect either via coax or aes/ebu to go to my Dac with a simple app

The SD 9 had a recent software update, but I don't know if this has resolved any of its issues

My question too definitely thinking about the IFI Zen Stream with a Linear Power Supply?

You could also consider the Cayin iDAP-6.

Desktop System_iDAP-6 _Personal Audio_Cayin

en.cayin.cn

or Topping M50 (no AES, but it has I2S), and it can manage 4TB hard disks (and I assume SSD drives) and 256GB TF cards and Pen drives.

Topping M50

OK, I was completely unaware about this one! https://hifigo.com/collections/new-arrival/products/topping-m50-digital-music-player Not my cup of tea, but if this means that EQ (hopefully PEQ) is going to arrive to other topping products, a very much welcome product

www.audiosciencereview.com

The Zen Stream is limited to USB and Coax.