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SMSL DA9 - Wait and see, or solid buy?

pqrst

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Ugh, what a pain. Sounds like it might be a missing ground. Just as an experiment, have you tried disconnecting pin 1 in the XLR from the Topping?

Also wonder if there's something off inside the Topping in terms of the ground connection.

How do I disconnect a pin from an XLR connection? I don't want to break anything.

I should also mention that I connected the Pre-Out XLR from the Topping A90 to another amp (Geshelli Archel) and there was no noise. So my hunch is the issue only arises due to there being something funky going on between the A90 Pre-Out and the DA-9; maybe some difference in grounding levels, I dunno, I'm not an engineer.
 

pqrst

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maybe you can add a thin grounding wire between the two units? small ring terminals on either end should create a ground loop. I'm waiting on mine and hope I don't encounter noise. But early adopters will always be the guinea pigs. I'm ok with that but hopefully they can fix it with a firmware update rather than a V2 circuit board. The DA-8s never had an update and was problem free. Could it be the larger OLED display that is causing this noise issue? Hopefully someone at SMSL will have answers coming. Are you connecting your gear via XLR or RCA? With enough minds working it out, we're bound to come up with a solution.

If you hook the DA-9 directly over XLR or RCA with a DAC you shouldn't have any issues. I believe my issue is stemming from me having the A90 in the path between the DAC and the DA-9.
 

jlm70

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Just ordered the DA-9 from Shenzenaudio! Hope delivery will be fast...
Waiting to connect to my studio ring (small room), replacing the good old Trends Audio TA10.1 across the RME ADI-2 DAC FS and my JohnBlue JB3 speakers.
In short I'll even decide if to buy a small sub (like the Fostex 5" PM-SubMini 2) or to build one myself, like the very small (3L, 4"), yet 33Hz-capable, impressive DIY project SUGS-23... http://www.tb-speaker.com/products/search2?model_no=PR15-A+
 

Gavrook

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Currently running a Yamaha WXA-50 but looking to get the rest of this SMSL stack, would this amp compare well enough to the Yamaha? Not exactly looking for an upgrade in this regard just as long as it's not worse
 

khewa

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how is the DA-9 compared to SA-300?. The only difference is the balanced inputs of the DA-9 compared to unbalanced inputs of the SA300. The innards are the same, both using the same TI chips.
as this is for desktop use, balanced input is not that critical as the dac is just right next to the amp, so RCA cable length is very short (ie. 30cm)
will there be a sonic difference between DA-9 and SA-300 in this scenario? for cost reasons, (SA-300 is much cheaper), I'll go with SA-300 if there's no sonic difference.
The only other difference I can think of is the switch mode power supply of the SA-300 is not really the best quality power supply. But replacing that with a Meanwell LRS-100-24 will still make the total cost cheaper than the DA-9.
 

JPrufrk

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They both use the same Ifineon chip but the DA-9 uses two instead of one. So they use each in PBTL mode in the DA-9 I believe, for increased output power compared to the SA-300. I don't know what that does to distortion, damping factor, etc., if anything (better? worse?).
 

khewa

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They both use the same Ifineon chip but the DA-9 uses two instead of one. So they use each in PBTL mode in the DA-9 I believe, for increased output power compared to the SA-300. I don't know what that does to distortion, damping factor, etc., if anything (better? worse?).
I understand DA9 uses 2 Infineon chips instead of 1. That's due to the balanced inputs of the DA9. However, as I'm not planning to use the balanced inputs ( my DAC has only unbalanced output, then will the DA9 sounds the same as the SA300 through the RCA inputs ?
 

JPrufrk

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The specs on the SMSL web site show a little more output power for the SA300 over the DA-9. Also, the DA-9 is spec'd for a 2 ohm load, whereas the SA300 is not, which lines up with the MA12070 being used in PBTL mode. Have a look at the datasheet, and see below for the DA-9 from SMSL. HOWEVER (and this may be significant) all the performance curves in the MA12070 datasheet are for BTL mode; there is little data for the PBTL configuration. So, I'm wondering what really happens at higher output powers, especially at lower impedance. Is there any real benefit to the 2-chip PBTL configuration?

1618802339742.png
 

chocomamey

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Thanks, I read it but it's confusing or I don't understand what they're saying..... That BT has its own circuitry?

I have an SMSL su9 - it has BT but it also has an ess dac..,.. So does that mean my su9 doesn't use the ess dac when it's receiving bt??

I also have Su9 and when I saw DA9 release..i said to myself..very catchy 50w in 8ohms and sub output but.. the Bt is the same as the su9..and I have this giantic Sony TAF707 Es vintage amplifier but its terrific and Im worry for missing knobs and buttons that mini amplifiers of today dont have .
 

Destination: Moon

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I also have Su9 and when I saw DA9 release..i said to myself..very catchy 50w in 8ohms and sub output but.. the Bt is the same as the su9..and I have this giantic Sony TAF707 Es vintage amplifier but its terrific and Im worry for missing knobs and buttons that mini amplifiers of today dont have .

Funny, I'm running mine into a Sony TA 555ES..... Almost 40 years old, still sounds great!
 

SOUNDSONIC

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Got a SA300. Sounds great but uses the BT and RCA AUX IN only. The issue is that my Windows 7 can not play the driver (Code 10). And now I have my eyes on the SU9/DA9 combo. But I'm afraid history will just repeats itself. Unless with your help guys, such history can be altered. :)
 

Toku

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The output power of 80Wx2 (4Ω) of SA300 is not the actual value. It displays the maximum power listed in the MA12070 chip datasheet. This is due to the mislabeling habit often found in Chinese products.

The DA-9 operates in PBTL mode using two MA12070 chips. The output power is about 160Wx2 (4Ω) if it is expressed in the same way as SA300, but it has been changed to the display of 90Wx2 (4Ω) that can actually be output in DA-9.

I have already used three SA300s, but I judge that the actual power that can be output by the SA300 is about 40Wx2 (4Ω) and 20Wx2 (8Ω). Therefore, I feel that there is insufficient power for playback at high volume. We would like to welcome the appearance of DA-9 as the power shortage is resolved.
 

HorizonsEdge

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Got a SA300. Sounds great but uses the BT and RCA AUX IN only. The issue is that my Windows 7 can not play the driver (Code 10). And now I have my eyes on the SU9/DA9 combo. But I'm afraid history will just repeats itself. Unless with your help guys, such history can be altered. :)

You should have no trouble altering history. Use of W7 already indicates your mastery of time travel!
 

chocomamey

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Funny, I'm running mine into a Sony TA 555ES..... Almost 40 years old, still sounds great!

Thats where Im going... Serious Audiophiles still use this kind of vintage amplifiers in their audio chain ..do you think a Smsl mini amplifier would last that long , that the screen would last that many years,etc? I wouldn´t want a device that has to be changed every few years like a smartphone..I want devices that last for many years..and thats why I bet for chinese dacs but Im skeptical on amps (at least at this level of cheap ones) and I prefer more serious brands like Denon,Sony or higher end brands.
 

Destination: Moon

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Thats where Im going... Serious Audiophiles still use this kind of vintage amplifiers in their audio chain ..do you think a Smsl mini amplifier would last that long , that the screen would last that many years,etc? I wouldn´t want a device that has to be changed every few years like a smartphone..I want devices that last for many years..and thats why I bet for chinese dacs but Im skeptical on amps (at least at this level of cheap ones) and I prefer more serious brands like Denon,Sony or higher end brands.

Lol, my credentials as a serious audiophile are suspect compared to many of the members here. I'm learning tho...
Anyway, Im the original owner of the amp. I don't think I'd go out in search of one if I didn't already own it. It has parts that are subject to age related failure. There are lots of great amps that do exactly what my old one does for not a ton of money.... The SMSL would probably last longer if it saw as little use as my 555ES the first 30 years of it's life :)
 
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khewa

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Thats where Im going... Serious Audiophiles still use this kind of vintage amplifiers in their audio chain ..do you think a Smsl mini amplifier would last that long , that the screen would last that many years,etc? I wouldn´t want a device that has to be changed every few years like a smartphone..I want devices that last for many years..and thats why I bet for chinese dacs but Im skeptical on amps (at least at this level of cheap ones) and I prefer more serious brands like Denon,Sony or higher end brands.

I know for a fact that LCD screens don't last that long. I had a DSLR camera and the LCD screen died after about 10 years. I had a camcorder and the LCD screen also died. OLED panels should have an even shorter life span. Actually, an amp doesn't need any lcd panels. Look at the vintage amps, no lcd panels and they are perfectly functional. Look at the modern day Rega Brio amp, Naim amps - the NAP series (not the integrated ones), etc... No LCD screen. Amps don't need LCD screens. Even DAC doesn't need LCD panels ie. Naim DAC.
New fangled amps, they put in lcd panels, which shorten the functional life span of the amp.
 

ADMRL

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am I doing something wrong? I have some huge noise coming from my SMSL DA-9 when unbalanced.
 

PatentLawyer

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I am using the unbalanced input (for now) and at 70, I have barely, barely any hiss out of my speakers. FWIW, I am using an ifi Defender+ on a Hidizs S9 as my source. And my cable is a cheap ass Amazon Basics 1/8"->RCAs.

EDIT: Are you using something between your source and the DA-9 (like a headphone amp)? Another user had noise issues in that circumstance and it appears to be tied to a potential grounding issue in the headphone amp (or, perhaps, the DA-9's sensitivity to grounding issues....).
 
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ADMRL

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I have switched outlets and it seems to have reduced the noise by about 80%.

Maybe the RTX 3080 is creating too much noise? I am going to try to run an extension cable from another room and see if it fixes it all together.
 
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