SMSL SU-8 Version 2 Balanced DAC

[yapst38]

I'd have thought the only reason to would be if you need balanced outputs. The differences in measured performance are tiny.

Tks ultrasonic yes I thot of going xlr. If its tiny gain than perhaps I should wait for better dac

 

[Ultrasonic]

Tks ultrasonic yes I thot of going xlr. If its tiny gain than perhaps I should wait for better dac

My point was that the measured performance of the D50 and SU-8 are virtually identical, with the differences virtually certain to be inaudible. In terms of waiting for a 'better' DAC the question is probably one of whether any further improvements would be audible. There are of course a number of DACs that do measure a bit better, but for considerably more money.

Are you thinking in terms of speaker or headphone listening? It sounds like your real question is whether a change from unbalanced to balanced connections is worth the change?

 

[yapst38]

My point was that the measured performance of the D50 and SU-8 are virtually identical, with the differences virtually certain to be inaudible. In terms of waiting for a 'better' DAC the question is probably one of whether any further improvements would be audible. There are of course a number of DACs that do measure a bit better, but for considerably more money.

Are you thinking in terms of speaker or headphone listening? It sounds like your real question is whether a change from unbalanced to balanced connections is worth the change?

Ah u read my mind ultrasonic. I am into headphone listening. A change from unbalance to balance will it reap better sq. My headphone lcd2 fazer. Iem FH5.
Recently I had a chance to listen to the kinki vision dac 1.like it v much but as its too big couldn't keep it.

 

[Ultrasonic]

Ah u read my mind ultrasonic. I am into headphone listening. A change from unbalance to balance will it reap better sq. My headphone lcd2 fazer. Iem FH5.
Recently I had a chance to listen to the kinki vision dac 1.like it v much but as its too big couldn't keep it.

I'm a loudspeakers rather than headphones guy so I'll leave this to others to comment on.

 

[THEV]

Does anybody have Kali LP6s monitors? When I hook them up to the XLR output of the smsl su8 it sounds horrible

 

[badyard]

Does anybody have Kali LP6s monitors? When I hook them up to the XLR output of the smsl su8 it sounds horrible

what do you mean by "sounds horrible", please articulate it so that I can understand your issue.

 

[snowsurfer]

Does anybody have Kali LP6s monitors? When I hook them up to the XLR output of the smsl su8 it sounds horrible

Do they have some kind of input gain control? On my LSR305s there is a gain switch, -10dB for regular, single ended, sources, and +4db for sources with higher output like the balanced output of the SMSL. Sound on -10dB on mine was really strained, not horrible though, but perfect as soon as I changed it to the +4dB setting.

 

[THEV]

what do you mean by "sounds horrible", please articulate it so that I can understand your issue.

I am new to the audio world but I hear lots of crackles throughout the music, mostly hear them during higher frequencies. RCA-RCA and RCA-XLR sounds perfectly fine and while XLR-RCA has the same problem..

Do they have some kind of input gain control? On my LSR305s there is a gain switch, -10dB for regular, single ended, sources, and +4db for sources with higher output like the balanced output of the SMSL. Sound on -10dB on mine was really strained, not horrible though, but perfect as soon as I changed it to the +4dB setting.

I don't think I can manually change the input sensitivity, only the volume. I assume it would switch by itself depending on the input?
Back of LP6

 

[amirm]

I am new to the audio world but I hear lots of crackles throughout the music, mostly hear them during higher frequencies. RCA-RCA and RCA-XLR sounds perfectly fine and while XLR-RCA has the same problem..

XLR to RCA will overdrive the input and cause serious distortion. Do you not have the option of XLR to XLR?

 

[THEV]

XLR to RCA will overdrive the input and cause serious distortion. Do you not have the option of XLR to XLR?

Sorry for being unclear, XLR-XLR sounds as distorted or crackly as XLR-RCA. So basically all XLR output sounds worse than RCA outputs. I was sure my XLR output on the SMSL SU8 is just broken, however, the Adam T5Vs do not have an audible difference between RCA-RCA and XLR-XLR..

 

[deafenears]

@SMSL-Mandy , any plans for SMSL to release a revision of this, and others, with fixes to the "ESS hump"?

 

[Ultrasonic]

Sorry for being unclear, XLR-XLR sounds as distorted or crackly as XLR-RCA. So basically all XLR output sounds worse than RCA outputs. I was sure my XLR output on the SMSL SU8 is just broken, however, the Adam T5Vs do not have an audible difference between RCA-RCA and XLR-XLR..

Are you saying that if you connect the SU-8 to a pair of Adam T5Vs XLR-XLR you have no problem, but with Kali LP6 speakers you do have a problem? Have you use the XLR input on the Kalis with anything else? The issue may not be with the SU-8...

Edit: do you have exactly the same issue with both the left channel and the right channel?

 

[Ultrasonic]

@THEV Looking at the bottom of p13 of the manual for the LP6 (linked below) I think it's possible the solution to your problem might be to switch off the RCA input using the dip switch (guessing that you haven't so far).

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...b4d50531/1541388873409/LP-68+User's+Manual.pd

 

[THEV]

.

Are you saying that if you connect the SU-8 to a pair of Adam T5Vs XLR-XLR you have no problem, but with Kali LP6 speakers you do have a problem? Have you use the XLR input on the Kalis with anything else? The issue may not be with the SU-8...

Edit: do you have exactly the same issue with both the left channel and the right channel?

Yes both channels have the issue and you are indeed correct that the T5Vs XLR-XLR do not have the same problem and unfortunately, I dont have any other dac available with XLR output to test the Kalis with. Within 2 weeks my local audio dealer should have the Kali LP6s in stock so I will try to test their demo unit with my dac.

@THEV Looking at the bottom of p13 of the manual for the LP6 (linked below) I think it's possible the solution to your problem might be to switch off the RCA input using the dip switch (guessing that you haven't so far).

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a6a2d73bff200e7e9dde1f9/t/5bdfba43cd836658b4d50531/1541388873409/LP-68+User's+Manual.pd

Unfortunately, I already tried all possible dip combinations without success

Do you think that it might be possible that the Kali input XLR pins are somehow in a different order than the T5Vs and my dac? Or am I saying dumb stuff now?

 

[amirm]

Sorry for being unclear, XLR-XLR sounds as distorted or crackly as XLR-RCA. So basically all XLR output sounds worse than RCA outputs. I was sure my XLR output on the SMSL SU8 is just broken, however, the Adam T5Vs do not have an audible difference between RCA-RCA and XLR-XLR..

Does the crackling go away if you lower the volume good bit on the SMSL?

 

[SMSL-Mandy]

Hi SMSL-Mandy,
Hoping for some clarification:
1) In terms of the red wire and diode, or the upgrade, do you have a before an after photo, which ties into my next question,
2) Understanding that if you don't have electrical knowledge then this upgrade shouldn't be attempted, where/what is the "anode of the diode" that should be un-soldered?
Thanks

The photo on the page 5th,#100.Thank you so much.

 

[unicore]

XLR to RCA will overdrive the input and cause serious distortion. Do you not have the option of XLR to XLR?

I use XLR (SU-8) to RCA (JDS Labs Atom), sounds good, no crackling/popping or other issues.
amirm do you suggest I should try RCA to RCA combination, or leave is as it is?

 

[unicore]

Does anyone while using USB input have a delay while switching/changing between different source bitrate? When I start playing a song which has a higher or lower bitrate from previous one, I can hear a pop and there is a delay of 1-2 seconds while I can hear sound again. When using S/PDIF there is not problem like that.

 

[badyard]

Does anyone while using USB input have a delay while switching/changing between different source bitrate? When I start playing a song which has a higher or lower bitrate from previous one, I can hear a pop and there is a delay of 1-2 seconds while I can hear sound again. When using S/PDIF there is not problem like that.

I suggest you switch to RCA ->> RCA, this most likely will fix this issue as well as preventing you from overdriving your JDS Lab Atom inputs.

 

[amirm]

I use XLR (SU-8) to RCA (JDS Labs Atom), sounds good, no crackling/popping or other issues.
amirm do you suggest I should try RCA to RCA combination, or leave is as it is?

Yes, you should use RCA.