S.M.S.L SU-9 MQA Full Decoder ES9038PRO DAC XMOS DSD512 PCM768kHz/32Bit Bluetooth 5.0 UAT APTX-HD USB Balanced Decoder

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.

TL;DR: A bit expensive, but worth the money. Has plenty of features and it works just fine (with Linux). While the sound quality, crispness or clarity isn't any different than that of my Topping D10, I think that the main selling points of this DAC are its features, and of course its god-tier ESS chip. It's has what pretty much any mid-high end DAC has except for I2S and AES inputs, which aren't that common to be honest. The sound color/filter options barely make any difference in the sound, as far as I can hear, but it's nice to have options. Oh, I almost forgot: this thing supports a myriad codecs. So far I've used Bluetooth+LDAC (from both my phone and laptop) and well, it works pretty well, no hiccups or sound crackling, and MQA on my desktop. MQA is pretty much snake oil but hey, it's good to have support for that. To my surprise this DAC works extremely well under Linux (I use Arch btw). The sampling rate changes just fine depending on the song being played and if you use deadbeef you can play MQA files with no problems. My chain is as follows: Arch Linux laptop -> SMSL SU9 -[balanced]-> Behringer 14-band EQ -[SE] -> Sony AV receiver. The distance between my EQ and this DAC is ~3 meters but the sound is crystal clear with no noise to be heard. There's no noise when used with Bluetooth as well. Personal advice: if you've got the money and need a DAC with ***XLR outputs***, go for it, you won't regret it. I emphasize XLR outputs because if you aren't using balanced then you could get anything from Topping for less money.

This DAC is an upgrade from the SU-8 v2, IMHO, keeping in mind that I've only had it a few days. I first bought the SMSL SU-8 v2 (v2 going forward) because I wanted to go balanced when I upgraded from Ananda to Arya. The v2 seemed to be the best value - features, price, and availability considered - and I was not disappointed in it's sound quality either. Then I saw the Su-9 with full MQA decoding being released at a price that I could afford. I've been a Tidal subscriber for a couple of years but the MQA devices with the features and form factor that I want have been just out of comfortable financial reach. Enter the SU-9. From unboxing to hook-up to listening, I'm pretty satisfied. I was even able to use the same updated device drivers from the v2, no mess, no stress. The sound quality is also more linear, having a more refined sound than the v2, whose bass was on the warmer and thicker side. Plenty of power and no switching glitches with the SE outs like the v2. I haven't used BT yet as I don't use BT very often but it's good to have the option. If I had the budget I'd dive on the M400, the D90, or the Bifrost 2, but that's not a possibility right now. With my limited experience the SU-9 so far seems like a keeper. Addendum: After a few months of use I'm still satisfied with the SU-9. I don't feel like I'm missing out as far as sound quality and features - and the best part is I don't feel the need to upgrade any time soon.

The best sounding DAC I have ever heard! Huge improvement vs the internal dac in my peachtree nova 220se . Night and day difference. Mids and lows are so much more impactful. Highs are warm, not too bright. Tidal MQA files sound amazing, especially 352.8kHZ songs. Negatives - Remote does not work at all. Tried multiple batteries, nothing. Volume control dial is not smooth at all. You feel some resistance after a full turn. Still love the DAC, although I will exchange it with another one to fix the above issues.

Did SMSL send sugar with this DAC because it sounds sweet!! I’ve only listened to it with my audio technicia ath-ad700x open back headphone connected directly into the rca out. I used a rca to headphone jack (female) converter to connect. I’m still waiting for parts for my diy speaker build so I connect this with SMSL da-9 and out to the speakers. So it’s initial review only. So where do I start? … I never owned a dac before. I researched a lot of reviews .. and I came across this on audiosciecereview and I trust their measurements. This dac is very impressive. You can find video about this on cheap audio mans YouTube channel. The sound was amazing. I never heard vocals this good in my life without being there and hearing to someone’s voice. Highs are clear and not fatiguing. It’s got some body to it Bass is clear and controlled and rich. Mids are to die for. Overall this is A+. Best dac at its price so says everyone who tried it. The sounds that comes from this dac is not colored or changed one bit. But the details it gets you is awesome. So much better than built in dac in iPhone or laptop or even receivers.

This is by far the best DAC I’ve heard in my audio system ... which consists of an Audio Research VT130 power amp, Nelson/Reed 804C loudspeakers, and a JFET based buffer preamp of my own design. This replaced a Schiit Modi3 and I’ve also owned the Cord Mojo and PS Audio DACs ... all good DACs. Sound quality - This DAC has an incredibly natural sound, creates a large open soundscape and is very detailed as well. No hint of hardness or brightness with high quality recordings. Bad recordings sound bad as one should expect but not unlistenable ... I guess this would qualify as a ‘warm’ sounding DAC, though in my opinion it is giving you what’s on the recording. It is dead quiet, has super low distortion, and almost no jitter. There is a great review on it online ... search on the web for “Audio Science Review SMSL SU-9” :) Very Pleased with it, Highly Recommended!!!

I'm using a Dell Precision M480 as a sound hub with 12TB of SSD into two Behringer headphone amps feeding six self-powered speaker systems, a Bluetooth transmitter and, yes, a headphone. Using a normal sound card or, God help me, the laptop headphone jack - full range was out of reach and distortion was common in low range, and mid-tweeter range. The latter always gave every mp3 a screeching, thin ring sound. This processor has no distortion. You are left with simply the sound of the recording. That makes some mp3 files sound worse, but only because they were bad to begin with. Using this, you can tell the difference and upgrade your library. Recording with this is a professional experience since you loose all your digital noise. My recording noise is almost -98db... unheard of in the analog world outside professional studios. And I did this at a fraction of the cost. The key is SMSL also packs this box with a very clean power supply and a strong paid of balanced outputs, which you are going to want to use. Consider feeding balanced into a small mixer for a very strong, clean, workable sound.

A warmup period of a few days is needed before passing judgement on this impressive device. Out of box and just plugged in, the SU-9 sounds a bit bright and hard in its default settings. After a couple of days it springs to life as a major improvement over my other dacs. It is focused and neutral and captures musics timbre beautifully. The powerful and detailed bass as well as dynamics are really stunning! Cable differences are easily noticed with the SU-9 and can make a significant qualitative difference in your opinion of this units sonic delivery...choose carefully! The SU-9 is well worth the money and delivers the goods musically.

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 .

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

Ich hatte schon das Vorgänger Modell, den SU-8. Schon dessen Klang empfand ich als transparenter als den der Classé Vorstufe. Der SU-9 ist geringfügig größer und leider nicht in Silber erhältlich. Da er aber so kompakt ist, passt er überall hin. Es gibt auch einen angeblich fantastischen Kopfhörerverstärker aus der gleichen Serie. Nach dem Test auf Audio Science Review und aus einer Laune heraus habe ich nun den SU-9 bestellt. Eine deutliche Steigerung, vor allem in der Bedienbarkeit, ein tolles Drehrad plus das Display, das sehr gut ablesbar ist. Anschlüsse sind weiterhin gleich, ich nutze symmetrisch. Weitere Feature ist MQA, was ich aber nicht nutze. Klang: deutlich höherer Ausgangspegel, bestimmt 4dB. Ich habe die Pegel der beiden SMSL DAC per Gehör gleich eingestellt. Rauschen war schon früher ein Fremdwort. Der SU-9 klingt dabei ein Stück präziser, vor allem in den Höhen, aber keine großen Unterschiede, eher ein Schritt zu "noch besser und transparenter". Man kann sich nur freuen, dass DACs, die früher mehr als 5000€ kosteten, heute für wenige Hundert erhältlich sind.