SMSL SU-9 Balanced DAC Review

[Moderate Dionysianism]

Got my SU-9 last weekend, and I've been struggling with the bluetooth connectivity. I'm able to pair it with my phone, but then the DAC keeps toggling between "searching" and "connected" statuses every 3-5 seconds, disconnecting and connecting again.

Interestingly, when I start playback on the phone, it sort of 'forces' the connection which stays on, uninterrupted until I pause/stop the playback myself. Then the whole circus with flashing statuses on the phone and the DAC starts again

So it doesn't seem to be purely a connectivity issue. I'm keeping the phone 20cm from the SMSL and, as said above, once I hit 'play' the connection seems stable.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? It's rather annoying, especially as I want to use LDAC without upsampling. To do this I select the sample rate and bit depth matching my file manually in the Android dev options. But every time the connection is lost and established again, the defaults kick in (32bit @96kHz).

I tested with two phones (LG G6 and LG V40), with the same results. Tried googling, but didn't find anything similar reported so far.

 

[4udio]

Got my SU-9 last weekend, and I've been struggling with the bluetooth connectivity. I'm able to pair it with my phone, but then the DAC keeps toggling between "searching" and "connected" statuses every 3-5 seconds, disconnecting and connecting again.

Interestingly, when I start playback on the phone, it sort of 'forces' the connection which stays on, uninterrupted until I pause/stop the playback myself. Then the whole circus with flashing statuses on the phone and the DAC starts again

So it doesn't seem to be purely a connectivity issue. I'm keeping the phone 20cm from the SMSL and, as said above, once I hit 'play' the connection seems stable.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? It's rather annoying, especially as I want to use LDAC without upsampling. To do this I select the sample rate and bit depth matching my file manually in the Android dev options. But every time the connection is lost and established again, the defaults kick in (32bit @96kHz).

I tested with two phones (LG G6 and LG V40), with the same results. Tried googling, but didn't find anything similar reported so far.

I haven't had that problem. Everything works fine when paired with LG V30. Maybe you should check settings for your paired device on phone. Go to Bluetooth options, find SU-9, press wheel icon , then check Connection type. I have best sound quality selected. You should experiment with options. For "Best sound quality" there is a statement " "Using this in high Wi-Fi traffic areas may result in an unstable connection".

 

[Moderate Dionysianism]

I haven't had that problem. Everything works fine when paired with LG V30. Maybe you should check settings for your paired device on phone. Go to Bluetooth options, find SU-9, press wheel icon , then check Connection type. I have best sound quality selected. You should experiment with options. For "Best sound quality" there is a statement " "Using this in high Wi-Fi traffic areas may result in an unstable connection".

Thanks a lot for the response! I did play around with those options. Right after pairing the default setting is "Most stable". The phone asks if I want to switch to best SQ, but the other one is on by default, and the connection is still breaking until I start playing a track.

I made sure there is no router/other WiFi device between the phone and the DAC. Plus, once a track is playing, there are absolutely no interruptions. They only happen in this 'idle' state.

 

[4udio]

Thanks a lot for the response! I did play around with those options. Right after pairing the default setting is "Most stable". The phone asks if I want to switch to best SQ, but the other one is on by default, and the connection is still breaking until I start playing a track.

I made sure there is no router/other WiFi device between the phone and the DAC. Plus, once a track is playing, there are absolutely no interruptions. They only happen in this 'idle' state.

Ok. I'll try to reproduce behavior later.

 

[Moderate Dionysianism]

I just tested with a laptop (HP ZBook running Win10) standing on a rack directly above the SU-9, and I'm getting the same behavior, with the bonus of super glitchy, interrupted playback.

 

[Hoinar]

today I got smsl su-9.
contrary to what said some amateurs on this forum there is no comparison between this dac and a topping dx3 pro v2 or ifi micro idsd.
the Dac is superior to many Dacs even at double the price.
thank you to those who were in no hurry to give me advice on this Dac and his sound.
you are very kind ,, in quotes ,,.
Bleah

 

[4udio]

I just tested with a laptop (HP ZBook running Win10) standing on a rack directly above the SU-9, and I'm getting the same behavior, with the bonus of super glitchy, interrupted playback.

I've tried to reproduce your problem multiple times but everything is OK with my unit.
Stupid suggestion: Check if BT antenna has been attached firmly.

 

[Veri]

today I got smsl su-9.
contrary to what said some amateurs on this forum there is no comparison between this dac and a topping dx3 pro v2 or ifi micro idsd.
the Dac is superior to many Dacs even at double the price.

Well the most important thing is that you enjoy what you enjoy

 

[Moderate Dionysianism]

I've tried to reproduce your problem multiple times but everything is OK with my unit.
Stupid suggestion: Check if BT antenna has been attached firmly.

Yeah, it's attached nice and tightly, I checked multiple times. I've ordered a short extender cable to keep it even closer to the phone, but I don't think that's the root cause. As I said, once I start the playback while the DAC still says 'connected', then it plays nicely with no interruptions, at least from the phone.

I got in touch with HiFiGo's support. They responded within an hour and relayed all the info to SMSL. I hope they'll be able to find a solution.

Once again, thanks a lot for checking with your device!!

 

[boblo]

Hi,

I finally got this amazing device, it's brilliant, my old sound system has come back to life. I have no complaints so far, although the USB input is not very reliable, I think it's a design flaw.

That being said, I'd like to show the bit depth of the source along with the sample rate on the OSD. How can I achieve that?
If this is not possible with the current firmware, how could I get in touch with SMSL in order to pass this suggestion on to them?

Thanks in advance

 

[Mark Dirac]

I'd like to show the bit depth of the source along with the sample rate on the OSD. How can I achieve that?

More generally, why is it that so few (none?) of today's DACs show bit depth alongside sample rate? It is shown on my 10 year old Audiolab MDAC, and there have been several occasions when it has been useful to see that the DAC is not receiving the bit depth that it is meant to be seeing.

 

[boblo]

More generally, why is it that so few (none?) of today's DACs show bit depth alongside sample rate? It is shown on my 10 year old Audiolab MDAC, and there have been several occasions when it has been useful to see that the DAC is not receiving the bit depth that it is meant to be seeing.

I agree, hence my request. My guess is that is not hard to implement it, it's just an additional information for the TFT display and a firmware update could add this feature. In fact, the remote control has additional buttons like Fn, A, B and C reserved for future use (for additional features, I suppose).

However, I have bad news. I got in touch with Shenzhen Audio on another forum, and their reply was at least 'disappointing':

Hey,

Thanks for your inquiry, It cannot achieve yet, friend.

That's all. Not even there is a reason to reject this suggestion. I don't think they want to give too much support to this device. It's a shame because this DAC is awesome for the price.

If you want to see my request and their reply, here it is.

 

[Moderate Dionysianism]

Just a quick update on my 'unstable Bluetooth' situation.

After some more testing with unsatisfying results (3 different phones and a PC, tried the pigtail cable too), capturing the issue on video, and a quick email exchange with HiFiGo (kudos to them for being super responsive and clear in their communications!), my unit is on its way back to Shenzhen for inspection, and I'm back to my good ol' HUD-MX1>CAL! combo

I got in touch with Shenzhen Audio on another forum, and their reply was at least 'disappointing'

@SMSL-Mandy @SMSL_Liu is it really impossible to include these two features for the SU-9 in the near future:

1. turning the screen completetly off
2. display incoming signal bit depth?

These two minor tweaks would really make it near-perfect product for many potential clients out there

 

[boblo]

Is there any other DAC with ~120 SINAD like this? But with acceptable after sales support, coaxial/optical/USB/BT inputs, Full MQA decoding and a minimally customizable display.. all these features under $600, of course. Is this impossible or does SU-9 only exist with these features and price (save for the customizable display)?

 

[Gradius]

Is there any other DAC with ~120 SINAD like this? But with acceptable after sales support, coaxial/optical/USB/BT inputs, Full MQA decoding and a minimally customizable display.. all these features under $600, of course. Is this impossible or does SU-9 only exist with these features and price (save for the customizable display)?

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../smsl-m400-balanced-usb-mqa-dac-review.13732/

But is over $600.

MQA is totally useless, don't be hyped by that.

 

[boblo]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../smsl-m400-balanced-usb-mqa-dac-review.13732/

But is over $600.

MQA is totally useless, don't be hyped by that.

Thanks, but I meant of a DIFFERENT brand. In my view, SMSL do not offer a good after sales support because nobody gives a satisfactory explanation to the screen 'issue' (it is not really a 'problem', but an improvement that some users are asking for). It also seems to me that the USB input is not well assembled, in fact, another user on Head-Fi.org complained about this.

There are other chinese brands like FiiO with very good customer support (I know because I have a BTA30 transceiver and EH3 NC headphones). They answer fast on forums and are willing to help users even with customized firmwares for their needs. It's a shame that this brand does not sell desktop DACs like the SU-9.

 

[Gradius]

Thanks, but I meant of a DIFFERENT brand. In my view, SMSL do not offer a good after sales support....

Well, you can go with just D50s + Atom HP amp, for around $350 and be super happy with it.

I have that combo and I am happy, except the support is also not good, as I asked when they would adopt the last v5.0 USB audio driver, and so far not a single reply from days.

 

[Veri]

I have that combo and I am happy, except the support is also not good, as I asked when they would adopt the last v5.0 USB audio driver, and so far not a single reply from days.

I'm really struggling to feel sorry for you. Not a reply and you only asked few days ago? Also not a single manufacturer pushes out these XMOS drivers with every update, they tend to wait for only major updates and not every single bugfix. Probably 5.00 will come soon. Exert some patience, do you even have any kind of issues or bugs with current driver whatsoever?

 

[boblo]

Well, you can go with just D50s + Atom HP amp, for around $350 and be super happy with it.

I have that combo and I am happy, except the support is also not good, as I asked when they would adopt the last v5.0 USB audio driver, and so far not a single reply from days.

Now I would prefer a DAC with similar SQ to SU-9 plus a good streamer. Max budget is now $1000. I was thinking of an alternative to SMSL DP-5 (with a very bad review on ASR, by the way), with BT 5.0, Wi-Fi for seamless streaming from Tidal, Qobuz..., USB input to connect portable hard disks, screen for file navigation... is this possible with a DAC+streamer combo or only the Matrix Element X can do this admirably? (but it's out of my price range, even the M model too). I don't want DIY solutions like HifiBerry or RaspTouch.

How is the Matrix Mini-i 3 Pro? It's under $1000 and its specs are very good on paper.

Thanks again.

 

[Rottmannash]

I don’t really understand what most of that means unfortunately

Me either but I've been wondering for quite some time what the f is up with these different filter types. Still confused.