SMSL SU-6 pops and stutters

[savoirfaire]

This was probably a bad idea, but I bought a used SMSL SU-6 for use with my Mac Pro back in July. It worked and sounded great up until about a week ago when it started popping and stuttering (only when playing audio or video, not during periods of silence). It does this with the optical connection and with Bluetooth whether connected to the Mac or my iPhone, but USB seems to be mostly fine. I switched to the USB connection, but I still notice occasional drop-outs lasting only a split second without the pops that happen when the audio cuts back in on optical or Bluetooth. I assume this is just the DAC gone bad? I attached a brief audio recording from my phone. It totally goes off the rails toward the end of it.

 

[AnalogSteph]

This might be a known problem.

SMSL SU-6 crackling sound issue

Dear all, sorry I am not sure if this is the right forum. So please apologize if I should find another forum/section. A couple of days ago I identified a crackling sound issue with my SMSL SU-6 DAC which is a couple of months old only. The issue comes and goes and it is very difficult to...

www.audiosciencereview.com

SMSL SU9-n issue

About one year ago I bought the SU9-n based on Amir's review. I wanted a good quality DAC that had impeccable measurements and the SU9-n ticked all the boxes. The lack of MQA is not an issue. I I do have a TIDAL subscription but I'm ok with CD quality only. After enjoying the DAC for about one...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Even if your surface mount soldering skills are not up to par, the ghetto fix (workaround) with a small stick-on heatsink may still be within reach.

 

[savoirfaire]

This might be a known problem.

SMSL SU-6 crackling sound issue

Dear all, sorry I am not sure if this is the right forum. So please apologize if I should find another forum/section. A couple of days ago I identified a crackling sound issue with my SMSL SU-6 DAC which is a couple of months old only. The issue comes and goes and it is very difficult to...

www.audiosciencereview.com

SMSL SU9-n issue

About one year ago I bought the SU9-n based on Amir's review. I wanted a good quality DAC that had impeccable measurements and the SU9-n ticked all the boxes. The lack of MQA is not an issue. I I do have a TIDAL subscription but I'm ok with CD quality only. After enjoying the DAC for about one...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Even if your surface mount soldering skills are not up to par, the ghetto fix (workaround) with a small stick-on heatsink may still be within reach.

Thanks for those links! Very interesting for sure. They have very inexpensive heatsinks for Raspberry Pis that look like they would be the right size. I might stop by the Microcenter and see if they have one first. I'm not an electronics guy so my soldering skills definitely leave much to be desired.