SMSL SH-9 THX Headphone Amplifier Review

[scorePO]

although it works fine, i just thought it should be OFF everytime you plug it in.

I just tested it and it automatically turns on - no big deal for me, but just for info...

 

[hawk01]

I just tested it and it automatically turns on - no big deal for me, but just for info...

good to get confirmation on this minor quibble. no usability issues here as well. i just thought like other similar audio equipment it would be going into standby mode instead of being ON after plugging in the unit.

 

[hawk01]

in line with my tropical weather operation topless on the SH9. i would like to query the more knowledgeable folks here about a potential issue. exposing the innards to dust, humidity and the like as with any audio electronics would it pose any risk especially to the volume control relays, etc?

 

[Daniel82]

What you dont like about it? Seems to be very practical, more powerful and has an out. The advantage of the sh9 is the lower price and fancy volume control.

I like the informative large display of SMSL.
And find the stack combination of matching Dac and amp just great.
Therefore, the actual option would also only M400 + SP400.

And of course the A30Pro has more power than the Sp400, but even the SP400 has 4.3V at 50Ohm. Should therefore be enough

Apart from that, if I would buy the A30Pro + D30, I have again no MQA for Tidal.

 

[macnab]

(joined the forum to ask this question, but long-time lurker)

Generic version of the question: What is the max volume I can/should run for minimal distortion? The vol control goes from 0 - 99. Am I OK to run at 99, or is 99 going to be worse than 90 or 80?

Longer explanation:
I received my SH-9 and am using unbalanced inputs, into a pair of HD600s. Gain setting is on high. The source is my preamp, which is the same preamp I use into my speaker system. Getting the volume level in the cans that I want is looking like running the amp flat out, at 99. The reason I don't want to turn the preamp volume up any higher is that I want a comparable output between headphones and speakers. I do not want to run the risk of me (having cranked the preamp up for a headphone listening session) blasting too much into the speaker system by mistake. I don't want to have to reset preamp volume levels when I switch between speakers and headphones. So for this to work, I've got the volume on the SH-9 wide open at 99. My concern is that I may be causing distortion by doing so, and there is measurably less distortion if I were to run the SH-9 at 90 or 80 for example. Does anyone have insight into whether the distortion increases with volume level on the SH-9?

Thanks!

 

[jannek]

Generally it would be better to feed the headamp (and speaker amp) with the highest possible distortion free signal to improve S/N ratio and use less amplification. Is there any sort of possible gain regulation at the speaker amps?

 

[macnab]

Generally it would be better to feed the headamp (and speaker amp) with the highest possible distortion free signal to improve S/N ratio and use less amplification. Is there any sort of possible gain regulation at the speaker amps?

Good idea but no attenuation at the speaker amp (Monolith 2x - receiving balanced inputs from Freya+). Thanks

 

[AdamG]

Good idea but no attenuation at the speaker amp (Monolith 2x - receiving balanced inputs from Freya+). Thanks

Welcome Aboard @macnab.

 

[macnab]

Maybe if I reword the question it will get a better response:

For those who can read and understand the charts and research at the top of this thread, does the SH-9 show any significant distortion as it nears max output?

thanks

 

[Veri]

For those who can read and understand the charts and research at the top of this thread, does the SH-9 show any significant distortion as it nears max output?

Nope, actually the opposite.

 

[SOUNDSONIC]

Forgive my lack of knowledge. Is there a big difference in audio quality between this and a portable amplifier such as the BTR5, UP4, S9 etc.

And these come with popular DAC chips and latest BT.

 

[Tks]

Forgive my lack of knowledge. Is there a big difference in audio quality between this and a portable amplifier such as the BTR5, UP4, S9 etc.

And these come with popular DAC chips and latest BT.

So the overall answer you're looking to is, not really generally speaking. But it depends on headphones you're using. Or if you're using Bluetooth (as some of the codecs are kinda not so good, though LDAC is pretty good).

This amp has lots of output power, so it will blow those portable offerings out the water if you have inefficient headphones. Otherwise your mileage may vary on how much of a difference in audio quality there is, as this thing is only an amp, but the things you listed like the BTR5 are an amp + dac together.

They're also not really in the same realm of use case. For this thing to make sense, you would also need to get a decent DAC, otherwise the DAC is the bottleneck. But the thing is, at distortion levels this low, it's already well beyond audibility.

 

[SOUNDSONIC]

So the overall answer you're looking to is, not really generally speaking. But it depends on headphones you're using. Or if you're using Bluetooth (as some of the codecs are kinda not so good, though LDAC is pretty good).

This amp has lots of output power, so it will blow those portable offerings out the water if you have inefficient headphones. Otherwise your mileage may vary on how much of a difference in audio quality there is, as this thing is only an amp, but the things you listed like the BTR5 are an amp + dac together.

They're also not really in the same realm of use case. For this thing to make sense, you would also need to get a decent DAC, otherwise the DAC is the bottleneck. But the thing is, at distortion levels this low, it's already well beyond audibility.

Thanks for the response. I do appreciate it.

 

[cestmoi]

As anyone tried the SH-9 with high sensitive iems?

I'm coming from a Fiio K5 Pro dac/amp and I'd like to try a THX amp. Both sp200 and sh-9 seem to be good choices but I've read that with the sp200 one can get some noise once paired with sensitive iems besides its bad volume adjustment at low output level.

I'd like to use a THX amp mainly with some high impedance cans (hd6xx, dt990) and with a few iems and buds (fh7, dh3, and rw200).

 

[scorePO]

I only tested it with my Shure SE535 and it has the slightest amount of hiss. I'm not sure (no pun intended) of their sensitivity.
Could do further tests with AKG K3003, Aurvana InEar2, Zero Audio Carbon Tenore and some more if needed. Don't know if that helps out, though.

 

[cestmoi]

I only tested it with my Shure SE535 and it has the slightest amount of hiss. I'm not sure (no pun intended) of their sensitivity.
Could do further tests with AKG K3003, Aurvana InEar2, Zero Audio Carbon Tenore and some more if needed. Don't know if that helps out, though.

If possible, please, test with your K3003. Among the ones you've listed, it seems that the K3003 have the higher sensitivity (125 dB/mW against 119 dB/mW for the Shure).

Thank you.

 

[scorePO]

I'll test the AKG tomorrow. Haven't heard them in a long time...

 

[scorePO]

If possible, please, test with your K3003.

I just tested it with the AKG and again the Shure. In the range of tolerable volume (30/99, low gain) not the slightest noise.
With high gain past 50/99 a slight noise perceptible - but there you should pray that you do not accidentally press play...

I guess my first test of the Shure was on high gain with no signal.

 

[cestmoi]

I just tested it with the AKG and again the Shure. In the range of tolerable volume (30/99, low gain) not the slightest noise.
With high gain past 50/99 a slight noise perceptible - but there you should pray that you do not accidentally press play...

I guess my first test of the Shure was on high gain with no signal.

Althought I'm sensitive to hiss, I'm going use the amp mostly in low gain when pair it with IEMs, so I will give this amp a try.

I won't even set the gain on high when using IEMs...

Thank you very much for the test.

 

[KiyPhi]

Thanks a lot guys.

I will soon order the HE6SE and try how it sounds on the SH-9. And if the power is really not enough or the sound is not so voluminous I will still buy the SMSL SP400.

The A30Pro unfortunately I do not like the design.

I have this combo. It gets loud enough even with EQ headroom. I listened on low gain most of the time. If you listen really loud, you might go high gain but otherwise should be fine.