SMSL SU-1 Stereo DAC Review

[Tangband]

Why do I have so much noise on my SMSL SU1 usb input and not on the spdif optical input. I have purchased the excellent E1DA Cosmos ADC to make measurements on a few DAC and amps and discard the bad one. The SU1 is supposed to be the standard for comparison. However I have difficutlties with the SU1 usb input.
The SU1 is attached to a desktop computer, the E1DA to my laptop on battery.
When I feed the SU1 through optical I have very good results close to Amir .
View attachment 286945


However with the same settings I have bad results when using the USB input.
View attachment 286946

Although the THD is still excellent I just wonder why I have so much noise ? The noise cannot comme from the ADC nor the computer because it was good on optical with the same other connections, I mean USB powered on the desktop on the SU1 and USB powered by laptop on the ADC.
Is my SU1 bad or is there another explanation ?

Looks like reliability issues in production - Vintageflanker reviewed the sibling SMSL PO100 AK and the first product where broken. The second unit was fine.

S.M.S.L PO100 AK - Measurements / Round 2 (DAC)

S.M.S.L PO100 AK - Measurements / Round 2 Hi folks, This is an update over my previous measurements of the S.M.S.L PO100 family. I will focus precisely on the PO100 AK, which not only is an USB to S/PDIF converter (as are the PO100 and PO100 PRO) but also a budget DAC, that claims to perform...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Be sure to buy this product where you have warranty to get the money back ( avoid Amazon ) .

 

[HappyMetalGuy]

Looks like reliability issues in production - Vintageflanker reviewed the sibling SMSL PO100 AK and the first product where broken. The second unit was fine.

S.M.S.L PO100 AK - Measurements / Round 2 (DAC)

S.M.S.L PO100 AK - Measurements / Round 2 Hi folks, This is an update over my previous measurements of the S.M.S.L PO100 family. I will focus precisely on the PO100 AK, which not only is an USB to S/PDIF converter (as are the PO100 and PO100 PRO) but also a budget DAC, that claims to perform...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Be sure to buy this product where you have warranty to get the money back ( avoid Amazon ) .

Sorry but did you read this post https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...msl-su-1-stereo-dac-review.44029/post-1601731.
My experience with amazon.de and Amazon.es is also good last return was the aiyima T9 Pro because of coaxial dropouts I thought it could be the coaxial cable and bought a new amazonbasics. I returned the aiyima in a pickup point and immediately after the bar code was read I received a message that they would credit my account. Even better I also wanted to return the coaxial cable but amazon messaged that I could keep the cable and they have credit my account for the amount I've spent.

 

[ManniX]

Be sure to buy this product where you have warranty to get the money back ( avoid Amazon ) .

I never had any issue as well with Amazon on this regard. Quite the opposite.
They make a lot of money with the marketplace, a la Google/Apple store, and underpay workers.
It's a proven business model...

What you have to be very careful about is that the product is supported by Amazon.
There's a policy link below the buy now button.
The reseller can decide not to pay amazon for warehouse and warranty service and it's usually hell in that case.
The few times I missed it, it ended badly.

Just bought a mic from UK and went over it even if it was not Amazon supported. Bad choice.
They have delivered it and Amazon will probably bounce me.
They delivered to someone else in UK, not to me in Germany...
But since the tracking number provided by the seller is resulting delivered and signed, it's my problem.

Sometimes I try to order stuff not from Amazon cause I don't like monopoly.
Most of them are ending up badly... fake stocks, weeks of waiting, failed deliveries.
There are few very good ones but mostly it's awful.

 

[zeluxao]

Amazing price and performance - and I imagine they can make one without MQA licensing even cheaper

Maybe they can release another version in the future? Just ditch mqa and make it cheaper or in its place add a remote or trigger input/ output.

 

[Dunring]

I just got one of these today and it's like when I first got into things with a Khadas Tone board in the aluminum case and a Magni Heresy combo. The case is black aluminum, no remote, blinky lights, which is just perfect. I've been using the SMSL SU-8s for a daily driver for a couple of weeks and could in no way tell the difference between them. It's plugged into a Topping A30Pro now, but the black Topping L30 II is coming in tomorrow, and it'll be great for the IEM collection in low gain. The MQA light works, which reminded me to set Foobar to -.5db and make sure it never kicks in. Noise floor is quiet, great example of just how inexpensive great audio has gotten.

 

[HappyMetalGuy]

I just got one of these today and it's like when I first got into things with a Khadas Tone board in the aluminum case and a Magni Heresy combo. The case is black aluminum, no remote, blinky lights, which is just perfect. I've been using the SMSL SU-8s for a daily driver for a couple of weeks and could in no way tell the difference between them. It's plugged into a Topping A30Pro now, but the black Topping L30 II is coming in tomorrow, and it'll be great for the IEM collection in low gain. The MQA light works, which reminded me to set Foobar to -.5db and make sure it never kicks in. Noise floor is quiet, great example of just how inexpensive great audio has gotten.

Just wondering why have Flac mqa files if not intended to play them. The Flac mqa is not equal to the normal Flac file you can check that with musicscope.

 

[ManniX]

Just wondering why have Flac mqa files if not intended to play them. The Flac mqa is not equal to the normal Flac file you can check that with musicscope.

I guess that's the intention, avoiding playback as MQA.

Which is, in my opinion, rather silly @Dunring
If you only have an MQA content to playback (sad but it can happen), the base version is the worst one.
The "high res almost-lossless" unfolded versions are the less damaged by the MQA filter.

 

[Archy36]

I bought SU-1, I listen on m-audio bx5 3d monitors, my head and ears get tired quickly. I can not understand what is the reason, who faced?

 

[bogi]

I bought SU-1, I listen on m-audio bx5 3d monitors, my head and ears get tired quickly. I can not understand what is the reason, who faced?

'All DACs sound the same' family members are excited by SINAD/$ value and that excitement beats any listening fatigue.
This forum is not suitable to discuss listening experience. In your case I would register and ask on some other forum.

 

[ManniX]

I bought SU-1, I listen on m-audio bx5 3d monitors, my head and ears get tired quickly. I can not understand what is the reason, who faced?

These monitors can go up to 35 kHz, you could be sensible to ultrasonics.
Try listening only to 44.1 kHz content or downsample everything to it.
If the problem goes away, you need a DAC with filter selection.

 

[HappyMetalGuy]

I bought SU-1, I listen on m-audio bx5 3d monitors, my head and ears get tired quickly. I can not understand what is the reason, who faced?

Well I'm using the SU-1 with A07 playing from 9am to 5pm on Dali Oberon 1 and no listening fatigue whatsoever (Oberon 1 not known to have a warm sound nor treble roll-off).
I've connect the SU-1 and A07 to AE100MKII and Mission LX2MKII and I prefer the sound from the Dali's with a cambridge added sub. It really depends of your hears. I've made a audiogram two weeks ago and I still listen pretty well for a 52 years old, till 16,8khz a litlle better from the left hear than from the right.

Dali Oberon 1: Seite 5 - i-fidelity.net

Eine elegant gestaltete Kompaktbox mit ausgezeichnetem Klang zum Paarpreis von knapp 400 Euro – das klingt nach einer märchenhaften Vorstellung. Doch genau diese stellt Dali mit der Oberon 1 in Aussicht. Wie sieht die Wirklichkeit aus?

www.i-fidelity.net

 

[Archy36]

I took Focusrite 2I4 gen2 from friends, there is no fatigue. I connected SMSL to an amplifier with simpler speaker systems, fatigue still manifests itself. Headphones simple Sennheiser HD 206 also tire the head. By the sound of SMSL SU-1, of course, it sounds cool, there is no doubt about it. According to the description of the effect, fatigue is like a poisonous sound that eats away the brain.

 

[HappyMetalGuy]

I took Focusrite 2I4 gen2 from friends, there is no fatigue. I connected SMSL to an amplifier with simpler speaker systems, fatigue still manifests itself. Headphones simple Sennheiser HD 206 also tire the head. By the sound of SMSL SU-1, of course, it sounds cool, there is no doubt about it. According to the description of the effect, fatigue is like a poisonous sound that eats away the brain.

Is it possible for you to return the SMSL SU-1? This DAC is by audiosciencereview standards a transparent DAC. There is a review in for the focusrite-scarlett-2i2-audio-interface-gen-3. If you want, compare both measurements and make your conclusion.

 

[Overseas]

According to the description of the effect, fatigue is like a poisonous sound that eats away the brain.

Is this your live impression, feeling? Do you feel this in your brain or is a description you read?

 

[Mark S.]

An earlier comment stated that the SU-1 (according to SMSL) draws "no more than 1A", but that seems like a lot of power (5W) for a DAC, or even a pre-amp for that matter - can someone confirm?

I ask because along with an SU-1 I've ordered a USB 2.0 (480mbps) 'isolator' to pre-empt ground loop problems (which I've experienced with USB DACs, from PC to amplifier) and it's specs include;

USB input current 5V/1A, output 5V/0.3A.

Will this be a no-go?

 

[TonyJZX]

i mean its a harmless test most of us can try

i'm running a std. 2 amp for my M300 and people should have old 1a and maybe even 500ma units lying around so it'd be funny to see just how little power it needs

i mean if it doesnt work it just wont power... type-c is also smart in that it can pull just the power it needs... its obviously not pulling 2 amp all the time

 

[Mark S.]

Just to clarify, I use only a Windows PC for music (and everything else needing audio), with a switching ('class T') amp and have found that with USB DACS unless I power the amp with batteries (or a floating ground PSU, but that's limited to ~15V/3A, the amp will run but it needs more volts for decent levels) I get varying levels of noise, a lot of it obviously centred around 'mains' frequency (50Hz) but also containing other random fizzing and crackling from the GPU (a problem for games) and USB mouse/keyboard. It's been intractable and obviously relates to the ground in the USB connection modulating the analogue signal, hence the desire to try a USB isolator.

Turns out USB 2.0 480mbps units aren't cheap. Topping make one which is c. £70 in the UK and it also has a disclaimer that a power supply and 2-into-1 cable may be needed (ETA >> anyone know where I can get one of these cables, of known quality?). I decided to get a plain-jane USB-A item from Aliexpress for £40. BTW, they seem to be based around a range of Analog Devices chips designed for the purpose.

^^^ as mentioned above, it's possible (in fact I'd say likely) that the 300mA the isolator provides would suffice to run the SU-1 but the inrush peak may stop it powering up.

 

[Mark S.]

...

Be sure to buy this product where you have warranty to get the money back ( avoid Amazon ) .

Isn't everything covered by their 'A-to-z Guarantee', including from third-party sellers?

 

[Hattrick]

Wow! I am very impressed with the reviews on this site! It has brought to my attention one doesn't need to overspend to get performance. I was considering the top rated Topping D70 or the Gustard A26 but then came to this review. I purchased a WiiM Pro Streamer and I have to say what an amazing device with amazing performance. I tried a new BlueSound Node X which was good but most of the cost was all the additional features I don't need. I sent it back and stayed with my WiiM Pro. Now I interested in this inexpensive DAC offerning.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Isn't everything covered by their 'A-to-z Guarantee', including from third-party sellers?

No. If third party items aren't shipped by Amazon you have to deal with the vendor. I try to buy only items shipped by Amazon. Then returns within the window are simple.