S.M.S.L SU-9 MQA Complete Decoder ES9038PRO DAC XMOS DSD512 PCM768KHz/32-Bit Bluetooth 5.0 UAT APTX-HD USB Balanced Decoder

At this price range I don't think this DAC can be beaten. Its expensive sure but its also high quality and well made! Measurment wise it is close to perfect. And how does it sound? like it doesn't exist! - it sounds very transparent and natural, you hear your Amp and speakers not the DAC! Has all the settings you need! The remote design is Meh but works fine. The worst part is that they used 3 rubber feet under it instead of 4 so if you go to use the knob on the front or plug anything in/out the back, it rocks around. but once installed thats not an issue. **UPDATE** My unit developed a fault after 10months of daily use, but SMSL have agreed that the problem is not my fault and agreed to replace the unit for me. The customer service recieved was very, very good, and i would happily still reccomend this product and certainly reccomend the brand SMSL as quality brand and caring about customers. Thank you so much SMSL. I will be buying more products from this company! 10/10 would use again!

I deliberated for a while over buying this. I read a lot of reviews before finally pushing the button and I am so glad I did! I was upgrading from a USB dongle type DAC, the Zorloo Ztella. The Ztella is an excellent DAC for the money and it renders MQA files. When I got it I was impressed with the improved sound quality over my PC's regular output. That was over a year ago and I was feeling that, maybe, I could improve on the sound quality. I read many reviews for similarly priced DACs (and DACs much more expensive) and decided that the SMSL SU-9 appeared to be the best value DAC with a sound quality well above its price point. Quite simply, I am blown away with how good this DAC is, for both regular FLAC files and for MQA! I've only had it for a few days, but the sound quality makes me feel like I have had my ears syringed it really is that good! I am running on a Windows NUC with Roon, but it works fine with Tidal too. Even if you are not interested in MQA decoding, this DAC sounds amazing on regular FLAC files and should be able to handle just about any hi-res file format you want to throw at it. All I can say is, if you are in the market for a new DAC then for this price you probably won't find anything better.

Su-9 Previously had a smsl M8 dac which was about £150 with which I am comparing with. I’ve tried to dispense with a separate preamp and go directly into a power amp with su-9 variable output. 5v output available through balanced connection which is what I’m using. Coaxial input So far best sound quality has been using CD player digital output into the coaxial input. No harsh edges that I was used to getting on smsl M8. Tidal/usb input Tidal masters are (were) in mqa format. The bit rate varies between masters. Su-9 has indicators for full unfolding of mq. Bluetooth It’s quite good for background music but not having the detail of the other digital inputs. Aptx is not available on iOS. Just aac. Uat, again I don’t think this is available for Apple iOS. There’s no indication of sampling for Bluetooth on the display so not sure what my iphone is outputting. It’s been easy and fun. Can stream to SU-9 via Bluetooth from upstairs with no drop-outs. Volume is lower on Bluetooth so careful when you switch inputs not to get loud volumes. Optical input Currently using this input from WiiM mini. Remote control Awful cheap plastic. The worst part of the whole package. The item you are likely to handle the most sadly. Maybe a third party learning remote could be a future upgrade. Requires too careful aiming. Unit Main unit solidly put together. No ventilation for the 9038pro chip is a worry as chip performance likely affected by rising temperatures. Rotary control doesn’t feel as cheap as I expected. Simple interface. Menu system seems to be only exitable via remote or lengthy timeout. Sound colour modes Hard to hear a difference, like the filters. Support Seller has been helpful. Some language difficulties. IEC mains cable Very cheap quality and oddly short at 1m. Bought in 2020 and is working fine. Remote I found a good quality aluminium learning remote on Ali for £32 to replace the original. Unfortunately got sent a silver one 🙄. Will post a picture.

Ive given this 5 stars as im happy with the overall high quality sound (especially with my Panasonic TV via optical cable) and its nice display and handy remote control. Some gripes... The Bluetooth feature is a receiver only. Would have been handy to connect a pair of Bluetooth headphones but i cant. You see Bluetooth and assume you can connect headphones but no. They should make this clearer in the blurb unless i missed it. The individual audio settings on the menu screen are a bit pointless because none of them make any discernable difference to sound quality in my opinion and i have a reasonably good system at home to listen for those differences. It definitely was a step up in sound quality from my Topping E30 dac. The SMSL presents a wider and doesnt in anyway take away the detail given to it by my Bluesound Node 2i. MQA is only accessible via the USB connection to your laptop. Not coaxial or optical cables. Its possibly over priced considering im not going to use Bluetooth or MQA despite having a Tidal Masters MQA account but it looks nice on my rack and has a quality feel to it so am going to keep it.

An absolute bargain at this price and tremendous this side of £2k as far as sound quality is concerned. Used largely for MQA playback and it does not disappoint. I can quite clearly discern differences between redbook and the MQA and even between MQA sample rates. The limits of this DAC are beyond what just about all headphones and speakers are capable of. It is quite clear it is not the weak link of my system. I have this paired with a Topping A50 headphone amp and both work well together. I have been rediscovering my music collection for the past week now with no sign of letting up.

I spent a lot of time on reviews and am so happy that I chose this DAC. The sound is so compelling and engaging I find myself listening to music more than I have since everything was vinyl. Plenty of space in the sound stage, instruments sound just as they should. I tried the Topping D30pro before this one and it was nice but nothing like the SU-9. It developed a fault which was fortunate as it allowed me to return it and buy this DAC. Things I don't like: The volume display always says 99 even in fixed mode: that display should really show some other value. That's it really - no other gripes at all. There are no digital outputs which doesn't worry me but if you use a Bluray to play CDs it might?!

1 It does not really start right away and, while I was preparing to send it back everything worked, especially the USB input - the most important in my opinion - does not seem to be recognized and then ... it comes! 2 The remote control does not work and after changing the batteries (not supplied) I read that you first had to press C. Well, but why this (little) unnecessary complication? 3 Finally I bought it for France and I paid 35 € (approximately) of customs duties (Nothing was indicated at the time of the order which obviously would have made me a little hesitant) in addition to the product is now on Amazon.fr for 399 € ALL INCLUSIVE. With the change I got ripped off about 40 €. Thank you Amazon UK...

Excellent all round.

10世代corei7のnote pcの内蔵ssdに入れたfoober2000とxlrでアキュフェーズe360と接続、b&w803dで音を出している。マニュアルは中国語と英語だがなんとか理解できる。付属の電源コードのオス側にアース棒が突き出ていて一般家庭のコンセントにはさせないので、電源コードは古いアンプの3芯のコードを流用した。それ以外は全く問題なく接続できた。コントローラーも問題なく作動。 e-onkyoのマリアカラスのmqaファイルをダウンロードして聴いた。 音はなめらかで極めてマイルドふくよか。オケとカラスの声がはっきりと分離して聞こえる。マリアカラスが目の前で歌っているイメージ、ゾクッとする、鳥肌が立つ感じ。オペラアリア46曲で1600円だか1800円、お買い得だ・・・。カラスに改めて惚れ直す。 同じくフルトベングラーのバイロイトの第九もe-onkyoのmqa音源を聴いた。古い録音だがリマスターの成果もあるだろうが素晴らしく聴こえる。オケの楽器の分離が良く演奏している楽器がよくわかる。4楽章の弦楽の歓喜の歌の折り返しのヴィオラの合奏が艶っぽい。特に素晴らしいのは4楽章の合唱だオケを背景にしたバリトンの歌い出しがこれほど明瞭に聴こえたことはない。 ディスプレイにmqa98、352.8 dsd128などとと表示されるので、動作確認がやりやすい。小型で扱いやすく、ケースの作りも丁寧で外見もよい。 古い32bitのタワーpcに入れたfoober2000で外付けhdに保存した音源でも全く問題なく作動した。 中国製品を使用するのは初めてだが、コスパ抜群、無駄なものがついてない。 耳で音楽を聴く人には一押し、買って損はないアメリカがビビるはずだ(笑) ☆追記・su9の私の使い方。 2023年01月12日 使い始めてから2年が過ぎたが、全く問題なく作動している。私にはPCM音源はどうも刺激的に聴こえるので、暇に任せて手持ちのcdの大半をメディアプレーヤーでflacに変換してhdに保存し、さらにkorgのaudio gate4でメタデータを書き込んでdsd64に変換（4tbのhdなのでそれ以上だと容量を食いすぎる）してfoober2000で聴いている。ニーベルングの指輪はラインの黄金から神々の黄昏まで全て連続で聴くことができるようになった。cdだと14枚くらいになるが変えなくてもいい。マウスの操作でつまみ食いしながらでも聞けるしfoober2000はギャップレス再生でトラックで途切れないのでオペラには理想的。タイトルによってはたまに切れ目で小さい雑音が入ることがあるが許容範囲。試しに手持ちのクナッパーツブッシュのパルジファル・バイロイトライブの古いcdをリッピングしたのとe-onkyoで出しているリマスター後のdsd版とmqa版と3種類聴き比べてみた。古いcdの方は前奏曲の間中、客席のあちこちから、ひっきりなしに盛大に咳が聴こえる。しかしリマスターで咳が雑音扱いしたのか非常に少なくなっている。演奏の音質はよくなっているかもしれないがライブの臨場感がすっかりなくなってしまいガッカリ。比較的新しい録音ではe-onkyoで出ている大友直人指揮・東京交響楽団・ミューザホール無観客ライブのサンサーンスのオルガン交響曲のdsd版が私的にはお勧め。東響の輝きのある緻密な音と切れのいいオルガンの掛け合いが聴きどころ。同じ曲ではsacdで出ている飯森範親指揮・東響の新潟のりゅーとびあライブ盤も素晴らしい。変わったところでは古今亭志ん朝の落語のcdをdsdに変換して聴いているが、私的にはpcmで感じる耳障りで刺すような残響感がなくなりとても心地よく聴くことができる。 su9は私のようなbc級の聴き手には十分。2年経ってからの結論は良い買物だったということ。

Doet zoals verwacht van SMSL is een buitengewoon toestel ,zowel klankmatig als bouw .

I am not what you would call a full-blown audiophile but I love my music and after buying what I would call an entry-level DAC/AMP I finally decided to 'upgrade' to a 'mid-level audio system. I kept reading about how something in the 500-800 dollar range was considered "mid-level" so I started looking for a 'stack' in that range. I was using an SMSL M100 and an iFi AMP and it was just fine. Sounded decent but as this pandemic was continuing I found myself buried in my music more and more. I also found I was listening to a lot more streaming music looking for new bands and music. Since I enjoyed the SMSL for about a year and a half I looked at SMSL line and noticed they had a new 'stack' (SU-9 and SH-9). I read review after review and watched video after video and thought on it for a while. I also looked at the Topping offering (a tad bit less in money for the stack but not much). I decided to go with the SMSL stack with some premium XLR to XLR cables (this would be my first 'balanced' setup) sorta to see what all this 'balanced' hubbub was about. It was more than I wanted to spend but I was tired of 'cheaping it' and then regret it down the road. I bit the bullet and pulled the trigger. Typical Amazon, two days and it was at my front door. I hooked it all up, installed the driver, plugged in my Fostex headphones, some IEM's I have, and just started to listen. At first, I was like "Really. All this cash and this is what I get?" Well, I kept playing with the sound and making some adjustments to my desktop (enabling HiRes Audio helped a lot), and boom! There's the sound I was looking for. Some have said it takes about an hour for the DAC/AMP 'stack' to settle in and I happen to agree. About an hour, maybe an hour and a half into my listening session, I'm not sure if it's my ears or the stack but everything started to open up and sound very layered and just fuller sounding. Like a lot of you I have a mix of MP3's and FLAC (and a few DSD's but the size...wow!) and they all sound layered and clean (the FLAC's sound better than the MP3's but...hey, it's an MP3). I can honestly say for the money this stack will be here for some time. I am really pleased with the sound, sound stage, volume level to my headphones, and just tone of the music. It's hard to explain. It's one of those things you have to hear. Simply put, everything just sounded warmer, a bit fuller, and overall better sounding. One thing that I really noticed after about 2 hours of listening my ears were not fatigued. I was not pulling my headphones off going "Wow! I need new headphones!" which I was doing after about an hour with my old stack. I had to really crank my old setup to get the volume to drive my 250 Ohm headphones. I did have to enable the high gain for the 250 Ohm Beyerdynamic's on the new stack but for the first time, they actually sounded like I thought they would when I bought them. Kinda cool. I'm very happy with my purchase. The DAC supports Bluetooth, LDAC, MQA, etc. It's a bit future-proof and will last me a good few years (knock on wood). Really nice setup. A little more than I wanted to spend but I am really glad I did. Now it's just time to sit back and listen. One more thing, if you are going to go with this stack go XLR to XLR. The RCA (which I did try) just does not cut it. Oh, and the 'red DAC/amp' in the picture is the new Tone Pro. I use it for my phone. It does not come with the stack. Just wanted to mention that before someone asked me.

La verdad es que era bastante escéptico en cuanto a que el dac pudiera mejorar el sonido que ya tenía con mi streamer Pioneer N 50 AE debido a que llevan los dos el chip de la misma marca ES Sabré solo que el del smsl es el último de esta firma y se supone que mejora a todos los anteriores. Aún así, ya se sabe que el sonido digital, llegados a un punto de calidad ya es difícil notar diferencias. Sin embargo me sorprendió este aparato ya que si bien la tonalidad de la música no cambia, si que se aprecia de una forma notoria como se abre la escena y se separan los instrumentos Es como si con el Pioneer, el conjunto tocara en un escenario de 6 metros de largo y con el smsl fura de 10 o 12. Además, al cantante lo acerca y lo pone delante de ti mientras que con el Pioneer se forma un triángulo mucho más profundo, los instrumentos están más cerca unos de otros y todo suena más junto. Además, hay detalles en los agudos y medios que se resaltan con más energía con lo que están más presentes y mejora la especialidad y el aire alrededor de cada instrumento Por último resaltar que los bajos también son más profundos y redondos. Tengo la sala ecualizada con un dbx y después de aplanar la señal, tuve que resaltar un poco más los bajos porque el ecu los había dejado un poco "flojitos" Desde que puse el smsl he tenido que quitar la ecualización personal que hice para resaltar los bajos y he dejado solamente la ecualización del dbx tal y como la hizo al principio. La verdad es que es un aparato que para el precio bque tiene, estoy seguro de que se pelea de tú a tú con otros de varios miles de euros. Yo estoy encantado con el!!

Urządzenie nie nadaje się do użytkowania z audio z uwagi na hałas jaki daje moduł zasilający- zbliżony do hałasu wentylatora