SMSL SU-1 Stereo DAC Review

[HappyMetalGuy]

I would be grateful if everything 2 digits

I got a pair of Pioneer SPBS22 speakers for $69 from Fry's several years ago. They were on sale. According to Amir's review and others they're excellent. Sadly they're out of production. I use them in my bedroom system with a subwoofer. I miss Fry's. Shopping there was a unique experience in both good and bad ways.

Pound for pound, that setup has to be hard to beat. Hope you enjoy

I would not at all be surprised.


100%. If people ask me how to spend their money on a good stereo, I'd say put 50% into your speakers, 25% into your preamp, amp (if you're using passives, though I'd recommend actives most of the time) and source, and 25% into some room treatment.

People who buy $3,000 speakers and then plug them into a $10,000 amplifier and $10,000 DAC or turntable are lunatics.

Let's try to find (good speakers) in the 2 digits that would be awesome. Now I'm using the Dali but they're from my av cinema system i have to carry them around.

 

[SuicideSquid]

Let's try to find (good speakers) in the 2 digits that would be awesome. Now I'm using the Dali but they're from my av cinema system i have to carry them around.

JBL 305PMKII aren't quite two digits - they're around $300 / pair - but they measure better than some speakers 10x the price. I'd call them the speaker equivalent of these inexpensive $80-$200 Chinese DACs and amps.

I think there are practical reasons why you couldn't make a truly great speaker for under $100 - the actual physical materials cost of a DAC or even an amplifier can be very low - a case, an AC adapter, a PCB, a couple pots and a couple chips. For a speaker you need a cabinet, a tweeter, a woofer, both of which consist of the speaker material, basket, magnet, etc., you need a crossover for a passive speaker or a pair of amplifiers for an active speaker, etc - and you need two of them. I think JBL's as cheap as it'll ever get for something really good.

 

[HappyMetalGuy]

JBL 305PMKII aren't quite two digits - they're around $300 / pair - but they measure better than some speakers 10x the price. I'd call them the speaker equivalent of these inexpensive $80-$200 Chinese DACs and amps.

I think there are practical reasons why you couldn't make a truly great speaker for under $100 - the actual physical materials cost of a DAC or even an amplifier can be very low - a case, an AC adapter, a PCB, a couple pots and a couple chips. For a speaker you need a cabinet, a tweeter, a woofer, both of which consist of the speaker material, basket, magnet, etc., you need a crossover for a passive speaker or a pair of amplifiers for an active speaker, etc - and you need two of them. I think JBL's as cheap as it'll ever get for something really good.

Their active, right? So you just need the SMSL SU-1, and don't need the amp. In amazon.es the price with delivery is 147€x2 + 80€ = 374€

 

[SuicideSquid]

Their active, right? So you just need the SMSL SU-1, and don't need the amp. In amazon.es the price with delivery is 147€x2 + 80€ = 374€

Yes they're actives. You could plug them straight into the SMSL SU-1, connect your phone or PC, and you're done.

 

[Joffy1780]

You've got the Presonus E3.5 or Mackie CR-3 that I know of. I have no knowledge of their performance, but I can't imagine it would be great.

 

[Cedludo]

Salut les gars.
Je suis intéressé par le petit DAC smsl pour améliorer la partie DAC de mon Advance Acoustic X-I60...
Est-il possible de le brancher sur le port USB de mon ampli à l'arrière pour l'alimenter selon vous ?
amical

ps : je suis français et passe par Google traduction

 

[Joffy1780]

Both of the USB ports are input only. The USB-A is for an external thumb drive and the USB-C is for a PC/Mac/digital input.

 

[HappyMetalGuy]

Salut les gars.
Je suis intéressé par le petit DAC smsl pour améliorer la partie DAC de mon Advance Acoustic X-I60...
Est-il possible de le brancher sur le port USB de mon ampli à l'arrière pour l'alimenter selon vous ?
amical

ps : je suis français et passe par Google traduction

View attachment 282633

If you use a PC as streamer you can power directly from a USB A port to USB C (cable included in SU-1). If like me, you're not always using a PC as source (I use coaxial from CD Player and optical from TV) you can power SU-1 with a phone charger. Or if you want the SU-1 to always be powered you'll need something like the picture below USB-C/C + Power. Hope it'll help you.

 

[hammersjay]

Was wondering if this would be a good option for my Allo Boss2, connecting via USB now that Moode Updates are no longer supported.

 

[Abrise]

Salut les gars.
Je suis intéressé par le petit DAC smsl pour améliorer la partie DAC de mon Advance Acoustic X-I60...
Est-il possible de le brancher sur le port USB de mon ampli à l'arrière pour l'alimenter selon vous ?
amical

ps : je suis français et passe par Google traduction

View attachment 282633

Non, most probably it won't work

 

[staticV3]

ps : je suis français et passe par Google traduction

Please use Google translate also to translate your posts to English.

 

[Cedludo]

Thank you for your answers.
I will therefore connect the smsl to a telephone socket because it will be used as a DAC connected optically to my TV (where my Zidoo Z9x is connected in hdmi).
A phone jack to advise me guys please?
Subsidiary question... Has anyone tested a small linear power supply on it?
Is it worth the investment in your opinion?
Friendly

 

[staticV3]

A phone jack to advise me guys please?

You could use one of your TV's USB ports to power the DAC. That way, the DAC would turn off automatically alongside your TV

Is it worth the investment in your opinion?

It's not.

 

[HappyMetalGuy]

Thank you for your answers.
I will therefore connect the smsl to a telephone socket because it will be used as a DAC connected optically to my TV (where my Zidoo Z9x is connected in hdmi).
A phone jack to advise me guys please?
Subsidiary question... Has anyone tested a small linear power supply on it?
Is it worth the investment in your opinion?
Friendly

You can also power the SU-1 from the Zidoo. I also think it's not worthy to power SU-1 from a linear power supply.

 

[Cedludo]

Ok no linear power then .
the idea of powering through a USB port of the tv is great !
Especially since that way I can arrange to pass the USB cable between the wall boards and it will be invisible.
I have two ports on my Hisense, a 2.0 and a 3.0, can I go through the 2.0 guys?
Because I would like to keep 3.0 available for updates or USB photos etc...
I'm going to look on Amazon for a USB C to USB A cable .
Friendly

 

[staticV3]

I have two ports on my Hisense, a 2.0 and a 3.0, can I go through the 2.0 guys?

It depends on how much current the DAC draws during operation.
The TV's USB 2.0 port can only supply 0.5A
SMSL say the SU-1 draws never more than 1A
But that 1A could be while playing back DSD or 768kHz files.
It's possible the SU-1 will draw <0.5A while playing back normal audio.
Not sure though.

 

[Cedludo]

Ok fine.... it will be on usb 3.0 then
I would unplug the DAC if needed from the pirt for a tv update.
I ordered the USB cable from Amazon, now just waiting for the SMSL to be available from Audiophonics....
After that, I'm looking to take the stereo block based on Ncore NC252MP to use my Advance Acoustic X-I60 only as a preamp...
And a Dspeaker X2 module to do the EQ in 2.1
Friendly

 

[zeropoint]

Solid basic DAC, but hard to justify buying at the moment - unless you're trying to avoid features such as display - when, at least in the UK, the C100 is selling for less: SU-1=£79.43 (imported from US!) C100=£79.20, 23p cheaper!

 

[dhaman]

Hello, exists ASIO drivers for SU-1 ? Can be downloaded somewhere ?
I checked official page but can't find

SMSL Audio Official -Professional audio product manufacturer

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

 

[HappyMetalGuy]

Hello, exists ASIO drivers for SU-1 ? Can be downloaded somewhere ?
I checked official page but can't find

SMSL Audio Official -Professional audio product manufacturer

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

Hi, you can use the drivers from C100 it works fine. I've been using it and it works on 2 different Windows 11 PC's, streaming from Tidal, Qobuz and in foobar2000 it appears has "ASIO: USB DAC ASIO". Even the mqa led lights up when using foobar to play flac (mqa) files.