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SMSL SU-10 DAC Review

Rate this DAC:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 12 3.4%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 14 3.9%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 56 15.8%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 273 76.9%

  • Total voters
    355

FINFET

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Of course, the choice of DAC is always based on measurements! not the ears, but as a result the differences can be heard and not small.
If you believe in measurements then you know they are both transparent devices which means no audible differences can be heard. An APx555 exceeds the sensitivity of your ears like the Hubble Space Telescope surpasses the ability of your eyes. If you've proved there's some differences you can hear but can't be measured by lab instruments then it's gonna be an important scientific achievement that in fact most people here will want it to be true so audio can finally be a big deal, again.
 

pseudoid

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If you've proved there's some differences you can hear but can't be measured by lab instruments then it's gonna be an important scientific achievement that in fact most people here will want it to be true so audio can finally be a big deal, again.
202303_LoadedStatement.png

:facepalm:
 

zajogungster

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If you believe in measurements then you know they are both transparent devices which means no audible differences can be heard. An APx555 exceeds the sensitivity of your ears like the Hubble Space Telescope surpasses the ability of your eyes. If you've proved there's some differences you can hear but can't be measured by lab instruments then it's gonna be an important scientific achievement that in fact most people here will want it to be true so audio can finally be a big deal, again.
all Amir, or Wolf and their measurements showed a clear difference between my 2 devices and I'm just saying that what you see in the graphs is also clearly heard.
 

Trell

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all Amir, or Vlk and their measurements showed a clear difference between my 2 devices and I'm just saying that what you see in the graphs is also clearly heard.

It's in your own mind, but hey, it's your money to spend as you like. ;)
 

Trell

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with such an approach, you obviously haven't advanced much in life.

You've been a member of ASR for almost three years, but that hasn't made much of an impression (if any) despite all the reviews with measurements as well as many threads. ;) Perhaps head-fi.org and similar sites fits you better?
 

Rahan

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that's funny... You don't understand measurements. You believe your hearing outperform (from far) the human hearing and when someone says kindly that you're wrong, you make it personnal. Keep in mind audioscience review is about science. Your approche seems to be far from it.
 

zajogungster

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that's funny... You don't understand measurements. You believe your hearing outperform (from far) the human hearing and when someone says kindly that you're wrong, you make it personnal. Keep in mind audioscience review is about science. Your approche seems to be far from it.
so the measurements and reviews are of no use after that... if it doesn't make sense in your opinion anyway, so there is no audible difference. ???
 

zajogungster

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You've been a member of ASR for almost three years, but that hasn't made much of an impression (if any) despite all the reviews with measurements as well as many threads. ;) Perhaps head-fi.org and similar sites fits you better?
do you think that making an audio device is easy and can be created without knowledge and without measurements? Yes, I believe what you write, that's why I'm ASR here, but as a musician and a listener, quality sound is important, so it's fine to discuss it at any level, and I'm just confirming that for me there is an audible difference in two quite differently measured devices.
 

Rahan

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so the measurements and reviews are of no use after that... if it doesn't make sense in your opinion anyway, so there is no audible difference. ???
Science has already proved what difference you can hear and what you can't. The audiblue difference betwen two good dacs is : no difference. Period
ABX your DACs and THEN, come back to tell use what you experienced. If your are so sure about it you won't be afraid to do so.
 

zajogungster

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Science has already proved what difference you can hear and what you can't. The audiblue difference betwen two good dacs is : no difference. Period
ABX your DACs and THEN, come back to tell use what you experienced. If your are so sure about it you won't be afraid to do so.
maybe it's good to clarify what is perceived as a DAC here, as for the DAC chip itself, it's clear... but DAC as a device that also contains an analog output, where there are different opamps, the differences are audible just by replacing it with another one. and yes there was an ABX test
 

Trell

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maybe it's good to clarify what is perceived as a DAC here, as for the DAC chip itself, it's clear... but DAC as a device that also contains an analog output, where there are different opamps, the differences are audible just by replacing it with another one. and yes there was an ABX test
Did you measure before and after replacing that opamp?
 
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xnor

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@zajogungster You've already evaded the issue and derailed the point made through irrelevant comments on Wednesday, right after it came up:
I expected such a response. I'll leave it like that for now. By the way, I have a recording studio available.. and of course real time comparisons!
Nobody asked for a studio or realtime comparisons. What was asked for is a test that produces usable evidence, such as DBTs.
Instead you you just move on, repeat your evidence-free claims, ridicule and attack.

Please take a step back and grow some self awareness.
 

zajogungster

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Zvážte, že počutím nerozoznáte rozdiel medzi 2 DAC v modrej alebo dokonca v zelenej stupnici. Čo musíte mať na pamäti, je: konektivita pre váš účel, cena a tvar, prípadne diaľkové ovládanie. Nemôžete sa pokaziť, ak zostanete zelený a vyššie.

@zajogungster You've already evaded the issue and derailed the point made through irrelevant comments on Wednesday, right after it came up:

Nobody asked for a studio or realtime comparisons. What was asked for is a test that produces usable evidence, such as DBTs.
Instead you you just move on, repeat your evidence-free claims, ridicule and attack.

Please take a step back and grow some self awareness.
maybe I'm putting myself out there wrong, so I apologize if it seems like an attack on someone.
when I get to the materials again, or there will be new measurements, I'll put them here!
but it's all about details and a few misunderstandings.
But I have the right to disagree that there is no audible difference between two DACs with different SINAD.
 

Trell

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maybe I'm putting myself out there wrong, so I apologize if it seems like an attack on someone.
when I get to the materials again, or there will be new measurements, I'll put them here!
but it's all about details and a few misunderstandings.
But I have the right to disagree that there is no audible difference between two DACs with different SINAD.

No one suggested that you don't have a right to disagree, just that you'll have to give better evidence to support your statements.
 

HelpMeToo

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I need firmware help for the SU-10. There are two recent versions available but the most recently posted is the V1.02 and the pervious was V1.03. Which is the latest and why are they posted in opposite order? One in December and the other in January under the "Date" column. What's the difference in these? Oddly they have different versions numbers on the download page such as "V2.4" & "V221101" different from the actual "HEX" file names. All very confusing.
 

Progronom

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I need firmware help for the SU-10. There are two recent versions available but the most recently posted is the V1.02 and the pervious was V1.03. Which is the latest and why are they posted in opposite order? One in December and the other in January under the "Date" column. What's the difference in these? Oddly they have different versions numbers on the download page such as "V2.4" & "V221101" different from the actual "HEX" file names. All very confusing.
And what version do you have now?
 

HelpMeToo

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And what version do you have now?
When it arrived the V1.03 was installed and so I updated it to the V1.02 because that version was listed with a more recent version date. Opposite of logic, lesser number listed as most recent version. Now there are additional characters can't recall exactly but something like "V1.03 0b" verses "V1.02 1c". Have no clue what that means. Now today I see a newer update dated Mar 30th noted as V1.04. Let me see what happens with this version. UPDATE: I loaded V1.04. They never seem to state what the update is supposed to do. Display looks the same and options are the same. Nothing detectable.
 
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DeepSpace57

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Guys please check the sound samples. I hear 400ex vibrates the instrument more than su-10 (like more body) and reveals high frequency more.
 

RandomEar

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@DeepSpace57 I'll quote myself:

Let me show you the signal chain here:

Unknown source (including unknown settings, which may not even be the same for all amps) -> DAC -> amp -> speakers in random room (level matched?) -> microphone (level matched?) -> audio capture, editing and potential lossy compression -> YouTube lossy compression -> your PC or streaming device (including all settings) -> your DAC (including all settings) -> your speakers in your room -> your ears

That are 9 elements in the signal chain between the original source and your ears. And they are all relevant, because the video creator might have knowingly or unknowingly changed settings on any element outside of your control. It is beyond ridiculous to claim that you can make out a difference between DACs in such a test setup
 
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