Fanmusic S.M.S.L SU-9n ES9038PRO XMOS XU208 Bluetooth 5.0 SMSL DSD512 RCA/XLR LDAC APTX/HD Decoder High Resolution Audio DAC

Hace unos años tuve oportunidad de probar unos DACs basados en chips de ESS, que entonces empezaban a ser considerados como lo mejor que la tecnología de audio digital ofrecía para la reproducción musical, y mi impresión no fue buena. Me pareció que el sonido era un tanto metálico, estridente, muy poco natural, una opinión subjetiva, claro, que no coincidía con los resultados técnicos. Después resultó que en algunas pruebas había algo raro en las frecuencias medias (la ‘joroba’ ESS la llamaron en un foro técnico), problema que luego fue resuelto en la mejor implementación de los chips, por lo que decidí probar de nuevo con este SMSL SU-9n.Después de un mes de escuchar mi colección de música en mi equipo debo decir que este pequeño aparato es estupendo. Sin ruido ni distorsiones, una claridad y separación de instrumentos muy notable, una presentación ejemplar del contenido musical de los archivos que no agrega ni quita nada; si una grabación es de menor calidad que otras este DAC la hará evidente. SMSL ha hecho un muy buen trabajo. Repito, este SU-9n es de veras bueno, y le hará compañía a mi preferido sin pena. Tiene, sin embargo, algunos detalles que pueden molestar o no al usuario: de acuerdo a unos análisis la calidad de reproducción de señales DSD no está al nivel de las de PCM –para mis oídos esto es más bien académico, yo no escucho diferencia; más notorio es el diseño de la chica pantalla que muestra en números grandes y blancos el volumen y en una ínfima tipografía la calidad de la señal (el rango de muestreo) que me obliga a acercarme para verificar si lo que envía mi computadora es lo que recibe el DAC. También está lo del Bluetooth, que no le veo uso para mí, y una gran cantidad de filtros y de coloraciones que aún no pruebo; soy más bien de vieja escuela. Un pro valioso para mí: no tiene MQA.Aunque falta la prueba del tiempo -la longevidad de este aparato- puedo recomendarlo a quienes le gusta escuchar música, que es justo lo que entrega.

I've been living with an "emergency" DAC purchase (Schiit Audio Modi Gen 1) for many years after my very high end unit gave up on me prematurely. At the time, I was shifting as an audiophile that was chasing that "last 5%" to demanding serious bang for my buck. I had intended on upgrading to the Schiit Bifrost eventually, but the Modi served my system reasonably well enough.I've been paying attention to the DAC market as it has hit that "sweet spot" where the technology pretty much at the peak of perfection these days. It felt like the right time to upgrade. I seriously considered the Schiit Bifrost2, but again that "value seeker" in me urged me towards this recently introduced SMSL SU-9n. The spec's and measurements were absolutely stunning, putting it squarely in the top 10 DAC's available in the world at the time of my purchase. For sub $400, I just couldn't seriously consider anything else.My 2 channel HiFi system is fairly decent. I'm rocking a 1978 pair of Klispch LaScala's, overhauled with ALK Engineering crossovers. I run a Schiit Audio Freya preamp into a Bel Canto S300 amplifier using balanced connections. I run all my audio through either Bluetooth or a media PC these days, don't even have a CD player anymore. This DAC upgrade finally allowed me to get signal 100% balanced from input to output.Let's talk impact! It was a notable and distinguished upgrade for me. Light years beyond the Modi and that was a pretty good DAC. I get an excellent soundstage on the Klipsch's, wide and with excellent separation of instruments. Imaging is excellent, it's super exciting to close my eyes and just envision the soundstage. Demanding tracks seriously push my Klipsch horns harder and with greater clarity than I've ever heard them. I don't like to describe DAC's as being "warm" as it's a poor term for digital to analog conversion, but this DAC is neither overly shrill or lacking in detail. I have also noticed a marked improvement in the "tightness" and general response in the low end. Both of these aural extremes can present problems with legacy Klipsch speakers and this DAC seems to fit reasonably well, sonically.I would describe the sound as trending towards analytical, but with good "punch and forwardness" that balances musicality fairly well. This DAC definitely likes electronic music a lot, but is no slouch with traditional forms of music either. This DAC really shines in highly dynamic and suddenly silent passages, it's outright exciting when it gets dead quiet. I don't find myself longing for any more clarity, I think I've finally hit the limit of what the Klipsch LaScalas can do with this upgrade.I am not bedazzled by all the new audio formats (e.g. DSD, MQA) being pushed out there. In particular, I could be considered "anti-MQA" as my research into the format and company has really turned me off. For that ultra high-end audio itch, the age-old 24bit/88Khz tech still suits me just fine. I was really happy to see SMSL offer this non-MQA version of the SU-9, it was a selling point for me. There are a few, minor differences between this unit and the MQA version of the SU-9...but not anything major that would detract from the experience. Most notably, Bluetooth UAT is missing in the SU-9n, but when I want high end, it's going over a wire.Drawbacks? This unit is not aesthetically pleasing to me, at all. I'd opt a silver chassis myself and would prefer if it didn't look like it just fell out of a tree. (That "just slightly" off-center display irks me.) While the display is improved over older SMSL DAC's, I'm just not in love with the look overall. (I do like having a display, it's nice to see what the DAC is actually doing.) There's lots of knobs and dials I've yet to play with, but for the most part I'm uninterested in a DAC filtering audio for me. If I wanted those dials, I'd have an EQ...and I don't have an EQ. (I do attenuate my LaScala's tweeters by -3db via my crossovers, though.)Overall, I don't think it's a bad decision at all to settle on this DAC. You can chase that "last 5%" at immense cost, but I'm not that audiophile anymore. For the bucks, this DAC presents a massive value to the HiFi purist. That's pretty much my system these days...excellent gear getting me 95% of the way there. And I couldn't be happier. For now.

I wouldn't call myself an audiophile however I realise that the standard DACs blur the audio and smear the timing of CDs. I can hear the difference this S.M.S.L SU-9n makes - instruments are clearer for example (I connect the coaxial output of my CD player into the S.M.S.L SU-9n). There are a lot of settings in the menu - some make the bass very powerful. The display light can be turned off (NB. not that obvious how to do it). The Bluetooth I thought I'd never use but it's easy to play my smartphone into my hi-fi now (occasionally useful).

Edit2: Stellte sich heraus, dass Shenzhenaudio über Amazon Messages sehr nett und verständnisvoll war, auch den einfachsten Versand eingerichtet hat und der DAC wurde repariert. Er ist nun auf dem Rückweg zu mir, es war wohl "der Chip". Also bis auf weiteres, alles wieder gut. Ein Stern Abzug jedoch dafür, dass so ein Chip überhaupt kaputtgeht. Das Gerät ist thermisch nicht einmal stark belastet.Edit: Tja, das Chinesium sollte sich bewahrheiten. XMOS-Chip ist scheinbar hinüber nach zwei Jahren. Das war es mit China Hifi für mich.Ganz ehrlich, ich weiß nicht, was man bei einem DAC noch besser machen soll. Und dann für diesen fast schon lächerlich günstigen Preis.Neben dem phänomenalen SINAD von 120dB hat er noch Dinge, die einem das Leben in Komfort und Möglichkeiten:- Bluetooth in mehr als ausreichender HD-Qualität- Sound Color - womit man jeglichen theoretischen "Verstärkerklang" perfekt emulieren kann, darunter mit dem Tube Modus einen IDEALEN Röhrenverstärker- XLR und RCA Outputs- Auto Off des Displays (hatte der Vorgänger nicht)- keine sinnlosen MQA LizenzgebührenWichtig für Windows 10 Nutzer! Windows 10 kann kein sauberes Oversampling. Solange ihr nicht 100 % HiRes Dateien abspielt, belasst die Sample Rate bei Windows auf 44,1Khz/32 Bit. Erst hier funktionieren die Roll-Off Filter sauber. Ihr werdet es mir danken. Ach, und der Apodizing Filter ist für mich am angenehmsten.Wo man für wenigen Monaten für solch ein Paket noch 1000 € zahlen musste, ist es nun für schmale 350 € erhältlich. SMSL hat hier ein tolles Gadget im Angebot. Hier wird jeder seinen Audio-Frieden finden.

Ottimo dac che rispecchia tutte le aspettative, ho avuto negli ultimi anni più di 20 dac in 4 impianti differenti, testo provo, verifico. Il dac in oggetto lo trovo migliore di molti altri dac provenienti dalla stessa zona ben più commercializzati e recensiti. Hanno risolto tutte le lacune che sono presneti nella concorrenze e nei modelli precedenti. Potrei far una recensione lunga ore con comparazioni di sorta ma mi limito a dire che tende ad andar molto meglio. Nulla può con certi dac dal costo doppio o triplo sempre provenienti dalle stessa zona ma potrebbe essere preferibili a certi dac dal costo anche più che doppio. Molto spesso si parla di sinergie e posso diere che SMSL su9n è molto più sinergico in diversi impianti. La parte preamplificatrice se usato come volume è superiore a qualsiasi topping anche se non è consigliabile se l'impianto è buono. Al momento lo uso pilotato da pc tramite hqplayer, 4 finali mono icepower1200as1 per la biamplificazione di diffusori pagati 20 mila euro, un finale classe D da 6000watt 130 ampere a 10mila con DSP di fattore di smorzamento per i subwoofer capaci di 135db a 5 metri sui 23hz. Impianto da 10800watt, 290 ampere che arriva a pressioni di 135db, cavi potenza duelund, cavi segnale nordost valhalla, cavi alimentazione furuteck fp032n. Il dac è provvisorio ma non sfigura per nulla. Ho in casa RME e Rockna, chiaramente è una spanna sotto vistoil target del mio sistema ma lho configurato da diversi amici con impianti imortanti e si è sempre comportato egregiamente. Consigliatissimo!