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Overall, SU-9 offered a higher transparency compared to midrange DACs and a mind-blowing detail retrieval that I was not expecting at this price point. Since the SU-9 Pro simply upgrades the performance of the two previous generations with only a few minor updates physically, then the DX5 as an all-new design from Topping just last year is easily the more exciting one. All in all, I was surprised that SU-9 was keeping up with such a nice unit like SGD1. There was a clear difference in their tonalities as SGD1 sounded by a hair more linear and extended in the treble and SU-9 warmer, smoother and more natural sounding with a slight roll-off in the treble. In the end, it comes down to system matching and to the sound signature that is more to your liking. With a familial semblance, shut your eyes a bit and you might mistake the SU-10 for the SU-9 Pro. From the curved corners, flat top, and full-color display, the SU-10 is in a lot of ways a close derivative of the earlier SU-9 line. I want to be clear that SU-9 will still increase and decrease the stage size depending on the recording and gear used and if a record is meant to sound big and airy, it will sound that way with a small decrease of its size compared to top of the line DACs. Some bigger capacitors and a nicer power filtering would not limit the soundstage size and if that is crucial to you, look no further to the SMSL M400 DAC.
The Pro chipset is an 8-channel digital to analog converter and offers a 6dB SNR improvement over the ES9038Q2M. As you may imagine from the combo of SMSL’s pedigree and a TOTL ESS chipset, the SU-9 is designed to dominate the measurement-based DAC category. Its technical prowess is undeniable. The feature set is incredibly robust. Adding to the SU-9’s resume is an interface full of user-selectable sound and filter modes. In short, the SU-9 is a music-loving tweaker’s dream!
Sound Color – Standard, Rich 1,2,3, Tube 1,2,3 and Crystal 1,2,3. I like the standard one the most, but if you would like to alter its voicing, there are plenty of options to choose from. With a melodic voice carrying a strong vibrato, dynamics do show control as it comes shy of sibilance when the energy goes high. The delineation of breath is also flowy instead of dry and rough. Use the product with MQA renderer to complete the final deployment. Renderer including USB DACS and some headphones and other portable products.For example, AudioQuest DragonFly can connect to the MQA Core signal and complete the expansion of the MQA file. The analog section of the SU-9 Pro got an upgrade as well in terms of op-amp count. The older ones only received three OPA1612A which is now almost quadrupled at eleven.
Depending on where you live, the time it may take for your exchanged product to reach you, may vary. Please allow 3-5 business days for mail-in exchanges to be processed. Staging on the SU-9 Pro outperforms the DO100 when it comes to placing distant objects more accurately. Combine this with the less height the DO100 is giving, it makes it less convincing when listening to complex mixes. Cada bola que cae en la canción “Bubbles” de Yosi Horikawa parece caer en un lugar distinto alrededor de mi cabeza cuando se escucha a través del SU-9. Esto me da la impresión de que el SU-9 puede colocar con precisión elementos de sonido dentro de un determinado escenario sonoro. The SU-9 Pro also only has a low-noise power supply while the SU-10 is more advanced with two separate sets of linear power supplies for the digital and analog sections. Design The pleasing depth and emphasis won’t be ruining the balance since the climb up will reveal it is not the only card SMSL has in play. Where the SU-9 Pro impresses is in bringing vocals to the fore avoiding sounding sterile and not shouty.
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Treble is having a very good extension, presence and detail. It is the only range that is not overdone or elevated, yet there is plenty of driver movement in here. Texture is nice, drum impact is top-notch, snares are scary real, cymbals are metallic and raw sounding. The only thing that is missing in action is brightness and teeth clenching shrillness. SU-9 will render your treble nicely, but it will not induce unnatural excessive ringing in here. It might sound like rolled-off at first, but the more you listen, you start realizing that is not the case. Generally speaking, D/S DACs have higher ringing in the treble compared to good R2R and FPGA designs, but I’m not spotting it in here, so you can listen to brightest recordings all day long without a problem. It feels slightly less extended in here compared to the latest units I’ve reviewed but maybe that is for the better. I’ve found system matching to be quite difficult with linear sounding gear and much easier with warmer sounding gear. You simply add it to your chain and start blasting loud tunes to your neighbors, it’s that easy. All in all, there are small compromises that needed to be made to achieve such a low price point, but its digital and analog sections are looking very good, so I’m expecting some nice sonics out of it. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s dive in and listen to some tunes! All that processing power means the SU-9 natively and fully decodes MQA, supports 32-bit/768kHz PCM, and DSD512. I also do not mind the additional cost over its earlier versions since the upgrade to the newer ES9039MPRO is well executed. It outperf
I know with absolute confidence what to expect from a DAC because I’ve gone through the trouble of learning about the intricacies of digital audio—in other words, how a DAC works. The magic qualities you’re attributing to them make absolutely no logical sense based on what is going on under the hood. Until you can explain what you think is going on that makes one DAC sound different than another, the burden of proof is on you, and Russell’s Teapot arguments never end well.Frankly, amplifier and headphone choice have a more significant impact on the sound signature than does the DAC. There. I said it, and I stand by it. In my world, high-quality DACs should perfectly deliver the music with a minimum of coloration and imparted personality. They should provide a flawless foundation that the listener can build their own sound signature preferences upon. For MQA listeners, the full decoding functionality of the SU-9 for USB has been extended to the optical and coaxial inputs on the SU-9 Pro for greater flexibility. There is also MQA-CD reserved for the two SPDIF inputs. SU-9 has a clean looking front panel, with just a volume knob that works as a menu navigator, plus an LCD screen in the middle makes it quite a looker. LCD screen is moderately big, but thanks to its bigger lettering you can clearly see the volume level and the selected input from afar. With two design awards, the DX5 is made with two-tone rounded chassis that puts the face slightly proud of the rest. To make a case for the SU-9 Pro looking barer at first glance, it has a full-color display as its main design element.
El sonido general del SU-9 es bastante suave, pero no equivale automáticamente a que se le pase por alto. Tiene una buena dinámica en la región de los graves y unos agudos suaves y detallados. Audio DAC SMSL SU 9 Balanced con soporte MQA especificaciones ¿Vale la pena comprar el DAC? Nuestro veredicto El SMSL SU-9 es un DAC con una gran variedad de conexiones de entrada y salida que se puede utilizar en cualquier equipo de escritorio. If you want a more uplifting type of vocal staging, then the DX5 will give this region a more sparkling and hard-hitting perception. Here, SMSL went in a different direction as I am getting a more resonant and less strict tuning that is also more full-bodied. OperandiThere have been more than one review where it was flat out stated that listening impressions were not done, just benchmarks. Remember when I mentioned that the SU-9 Pro could be a cheap replacement for the SU-10 in the beginning? Sure, that’s possible but it’s also not the whole picture still.
SMSL DO100
A few takeaways I have with the HO100 are that it is less gentle with image placement and has a smaller spread with grander scenes that the C3R had no trouble sifting through for a more detailed impression. Bass is also more rounded on the cheaper amplifier with the bass lines coming through enough but with less finesse and room information. SOUND COLOR – Changes distortion levels to tailor the sound. A more noticeable impact on the timbre and overall sound than the PCM Filter options, but is subtler than most EQ presets. Levels 1-3 affect the intensity of the effect. Rich and Tube tend towards warmth while Crystal is brighter. I’m also spotting a nice AC filtering stage, plus an encapsulated ultra-low noise power supply that will be replacing a toroidal transformer. I’ve seen the same power supply in their SP200 and M200 where it was dead silent and noiseless even with the most sensitive loads.
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