Do You Really Even Need MQA? SMSL SU9N Review - A Brave New DAC Bucks the Trend!
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2021
- SMSL SU9n amzn.to/2YUwLqU
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Recommended Speaker List
Around $100 (These prices will fluctuate between $75 - $150)
Sony SSCS5 - Lively amzn.to/3pZNnGk
Pioneer AJ First Gen - Laid Back
Neumi BS5 -Neutral amzn.to/3q0SR3B
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Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ - Crystal Clear and Punchy emotiva.com?aff=9
Elac Debut b5.2 - Neutral amzn.to/2WPNQxw
Wharfedale Diamond 11.2 (In and Out of Stock) - Laid Back/Bassy/Detailed amzn.to/37W8hPA
JBL Stage A130 - Neutral/Great All Arounder at $179 the best value amzn.to/3t7gOHe
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Klipsch RP600M - Neutral amzn.to/3pBoXCf (This speaker’s price can fluctuate between $440-630 which is really dumb)
Jamo C93ii Bit - Boosted on Top amzn.to/3beIG6F (Can also be found cheaper at Crutchfield)
Q Acoustics 3030i - Neutral with Punch - amzn.to/2OQkpLo
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SVS Prime bit.ly/2LozJgF
Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 bit.ly/2ZckoD9
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Elac Uni-Fi UB5.2 - Neutral amzn.to/3s3srPG
Elac Debut Reference - Buttery but Detailed amzn.to/39bt6WC
Polk Reserve R100 - Neutral
Aperion Novus - Neutral and probably the best desktop speaker one can get $599 bit.ly/2Q1H9rW
Aperion Novus Open Box $449 bit.ly/3us8zGx
Wharfedale Diamonds Lush and Detailed amzn.to/3aBAso0 Come as singles
Recommended Amp List
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Aiyima A07 - Neutral and Full amzn.to/3g9YLNf
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SMSL AD18 - DAC/Amp Lively on top but solid tone controls amzn.to/3rVZxkN
SMSL SA300 $140 amzn.to/3u83oLs
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SMSL DA-9 Balanced Amp amzn.to/34SdbLs
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Emotiva TA-100 - DAC, Phono Stage, Pre Outs - Balanced and Tasty emotiva.com?aff=9
Vista Audio Spark www.vista-audio.com/products.htm
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Subs
Emotiva SE8 emotiva.com?aff=9
Emotiva SE12 emotiva.com?aff=9
SVS SB1000 Pro bit.ly/3scmwsc
------------SMSL SU9n amzn.to/2YUwLqU
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HI, Randy, why not reply our email?
I should have waited a bit longer before I bought a DAC. I picked up the Topping E30 last year, but I've been dealing with the over-analytical nature of that particular implementation of the akm 4493 chip. The Schiit Modi 3+ uses the same chip, but it sounds a bit Fuller then the Topping product. I really want to get a Geshelli Labs J2 and pair it with either an Aiyima A08 or the Sabaj A20a.
Congratulations on 50k!!!
I remember 100 subs, and wondering why YT was recommending this weird low sub channel to me lol.
Cut to the year 2030 and now president Randy signs new national bing music listening day!
“Turnie, turnie, pushie, pushie, clickie, clickie” oh yeah! Using the right technical terminology adds real technical bonafides to any review channel, especially when you are delving into details of thingamagies and whatchamacallits! Way to go! 😉
Hmm, that sounds like a great lyrics. I just need to find a good song to sample and I have the makings of a new hit single for the hip Tic Tok kiddies.
I try to convey as much technical terminology as I can.
@@cheapaudioman we love you like this, never change!
You need to get your thingymibobs and dodars from doings sorted out . Best reviewer on RUclips, well Tarun also..
Randy, your command of english and your eye to eye connectivity with your viewers makes for an outstanding review medium. Thank You. I have seen so many reviews on speakers, DACs, AMPs, etc., that I have now entered the "review the reviewer mode". Keep up the good work.
Congrats, on 50k subs. I believe back when you had like a couple hundred I told you I expected you to reach that mark by the end of 2021. Outstanding! Your hard work has paid off.
thanks so much, Tom. I'm very humbled by this. I was hoping for 40 by the end of the year.
Really great, attractive camera work and as usual, fabulous review. For the first time I feel strongly about heading over to Patreon to see how to support this talented dude. So good.
that's very nice of you. we have a good time on the patron zooms. good times. check it out. you can always cancel if you don't like it
Recently purchased a Toping D70s, and completely in love with it. Have you checked it out? I'd argue that it sounds more "r2r" than my r2r dac. Super clean, but flowing, rich, dynamic, detailed, BIG stage (actually). You're so right about the latest Chinese made dacs. Real passion for audio coming from SMSL and Toppings. Thank you for these great reviews, and congratulations on hitting 50K!
Randy Rocks!!! Congrats on 50k !!! Onward to 100k 👍🚀🎉
Thanks for giving me this great overview and comprehensive comparison.
Cheapaudiooooman! 50k brother, congrats cause you deserve it. Interesting MQA switcheroo they did here with the big "N". I wonder if others will follow since we don't really won't to peel of anything from music. Plus, the not so rich have a right to great sounds and some boogaloo too.
Thank you for this very helpful review. Based on your recommendation, I purchased the SMSL SU-9N and the DA-9 and paired them with a set of Kanto YU4s and a Kanto Sub8. The source is either my iPhone 13 (via optical or digital RCA through a Topping D10S) or my laptop via USB. The combination, used at my desktop, sounds great - very smooth and full. I am very satisfied with the complete setup. Thank you again!
Congratulations on 50k subs Randy, keep up the great work!
Thanks, man
Hi Randy. Great video and great channel too, by the way. Do you think this DAC would be a nice upgrade from IFI Zen Dac (generation 1) in terms of sound?
Congrats C.A on reaching 50,000 subcribers my man...keep moving on up!
Randy...you are the first to review this item! Congrats! The 3 main differences from this and the SU-9. Clock, MQA, and xmos.
50k !! Congrats Randy!
Randy, I think you should have a second RUclips channel as food critic, you really did a good job on the banana bread with butter thing, truly multi talented, thanks for the review.
Great videos as usual! Subbed after the audiophile rant hahahha. Keep them coming.
Also, you probably heard it during editing, but there seems to be considerable hum/noise in the background (ground loop?)
Thank you again for another informative video. Great information!
50 K subscribers.. Congratulations Randy 👏
Congratulations on 50k + subscribers 🎊👍🎉👏👏👏
Thanks so much!
Wow 51K subs! Good job man!
Great to see they have done this. Obviously read the feedback.
Great review, thanks a lot!
Do you think this will pair well with the Focal Clear („original“ / old one) and the Monoprice THX AAA 887?
Just ordered mine, its my first standalone dac so im excited for it, very happy they made one that dropped the scamware that is mqa. The removal of UAT is a bit sad but since I only own LDAC headphones, and neither are actually lossless, it doesn't really matter to me.
Love your show down to earth and with a hint of fun. 👍✌
Watching this channel SOLEY DUE to the Skeletor thumbnail I saw on a different video....well played sir..you have the power....
Randy, are the Sith Audio pennies suitable for Scotch taping to the turntable cartridge shells to keep scratched records from skipping?
Hi Randy, just wondering if the SMSL VMV D1se is on your radar? $750 DAC.
Hi Randy,
On the Geshelli, did you test for any audible difference between the outputs (RCA vs Balanced)? I noticed someone claiming the RCA is noticeably inferior on this device. I'm interested in buying one of these, but I'd only be using the RCA's. Thanks!
I use a couple Sith Audio audiophile pennies taped to the tonearm of my RCA portable tube record player. I recommend them highly when you need to get the correct tonearm balance.
Great review ! How would this compare to the likes of chord mojo 2
Thanks for the review. I have the SMSL DP5 and play my music tracks from an external SSD connected directly to it. I was wondering if this SU9N sounds better than the internal DAC in the SMSL DP5. The speakers are the Emotiva T2+ ( I love them, recommended by you by the way), and a Outlaw RR2160 MkII receiver.
I looked at that too and it seems to me that there is absolutely no reason this should sound any different than yours. They both have the same DAC chip (ES9038Pro) and probably most components around that chip are also shared.
I don't need MQA so I'm glad companys are offering high quality dacs at a more affordable price without out it but still offers the same enjoyment as warm banana bread with melted butter. Great review and congrats on 50k, now I'm off to bake and fill my soul in two ways. 🎶🍞😋🎶
Thanks, John!
It’s the same price as the su 9 dac, that has mqa .
@@r423sdex no the SMSL SU9N no MQA is $399 and the SMSL SU9 with MQA is $460
@@JohnScheppler just checked, and you are correct sir.
With a higher end class D amp (XTZ-A2 300 which uses Icepower chips) do you think the SU-9n would be a good choice or just save up a bit more for the Denafrips Ares II? I only really want to buy one more DAC and forget about it. Right now I've got a Hifi Berry DAC Pro Plus HAT on my Raspberry Pi streamer which is fine but looking for an upgrade. Was waiting for the DAC market to shake out a bit.
Thank you for the great review! Trying to decide between this (SU9n) and the Gustard X16. Can get the SU9n a bit cheaper than the X16. Still, it's a tough call!
@cheapaudioman .You had me at day old banana bread and molten butter...stay cool my friend!
Would you mind testing the MiniDSP Flex? There are very few reviews out there but it seems like good features with its killing feature being dirac room correction (if you buy that option)!
Congrats on the 50k. Don't change a thing. Maybe bring it back a couple.
Indeed, I will make a cup of coffee. Thanks for the reminder!
Bob's lawyers in the back heckling.
Could not agree with you more !! Well DONE ! For those that believe MQA makes a difference, go for it !
Hi Randy. great review. compared to SU-9, is this a dialed down features only or SQ is also different? thank you
currently using zen dac v2 with smsl sh-9. loving it without complains. not sure if it'll benefit to change to su-9 or 9n
What do you use as a switch. My tube amp (Nobsound 6P1) has 1 input. My Bellari tube preamp has 4 inputs, but now I need more.
Hi Randy! Are you going to put the SMSL SU9n in tier S ? Sorry if I missed that in the video. And just want to mention that I prefer new old stock pennies, yes they were better made..
Based only on sound quality, do you prefer the Topping E50 or SMSL SU9N ?
Great review as always. Thanks!
very close to my ear. whichever one has the right features for you I don't think you can go wrong
The chart at 03:30 is misleading. Bluetooth codecs are rated in terms of Kbps, not KHz. The most common codec, the SBC codec, only has a data rate of around 320 Kbps, but "CD quality" is 1,411 Kbps (44.1 KHz). Currently there is NO bluetooth codec available that can stream LOSSLESS CD-quality audio. Even LDAC tops out around ~900 Kbps. UAT is not even CD quality, since the highest rate of 1.2Mbps is still only 1,200 Kbps which is STILL less than CD quality at 1,411 Kbps
Great review
The advantage of not having UAT is that you can justify buying a new DAC later.
How about the comparison bet. SU-9n and SU-9? Appreciated.
Stablemate SD-9 NDAP supports two-way UAT/LDAC, together with HibyLink, which makes it an interesting companion for the SU-9.
There actually is "some" functionality without the remote on the Topping E50 DAC, by using the front touch sensitive button, though not a lot.
I've d50s topping. Is it worth it to upgrade to SU9N ? One thing that 9n better than d50s is it can change power line cable but sound improvement! I'm uncertain.
So I got this dac and I am trying to hook up to my pc but the pc doesn't see usb any advice? Down load the driver and tried a few ports first time hooking up dac so new to this
Hi, what about the combo SU-9N as dac with HO-200 as preamp?
I would like to connect them to my integrated to use it as a final.
I have Tidal and over the last few months, I’ve been listening to MQA and hi-rez tracks to see if I could determine a difference. In general, most of the MQA tracks are definitely louder but really don’t sound any better. However, SOME MQA tracks DO have more sparkle on the high frequencies and a fuller bottom end.
I honestly don’t know why. ✌🏻
If you're not imagining those differences, it's most likely the fact that Tidal has a bunch of different masters on their platform compared to the CD releases. The actual codec itself is likely making no difference at all.
Sparkle and a fuller bottom end....she sounds gorgeous!
@@scrout Yessir! Low End Theory all the way, not to mention those ‘ points sittin’ way up, firm, and high’😆
Note: the opinion expressed here is subjective.
Never drank the MQA Kool Aid but really like the Tidal interface. I'm teleworking a couple days a week, spend a lot of time listening to my office system. Tidal streams on an iPad/Schitt Modi3 combo. My main system streams Tidal on a Bluesound Node 2i. Put the Node 2i on my office system this AM. TBH I can't tell a difference between the same tracks on either the Modi or Bluesound streams. BTW: Tried Amazon music but hate the interface and lack of a "Connect" like feature. Since I'm a vet the cost difference is inconsequential.
I think tidal is cool. I just think that MQA doesn’t need to be included in every DAC. Thanks for your service, man.
I don't think the modi does mqa
@@kevingest5452 it doesn’t. That’s the point.
The blocks are building fast for the cheap chief audio man you’re awesome dude keep up the amazing work and congratulations on 50 K
Hey, this is off topic, but what do you think of the Yamaha A-S801 vs. Cambridge CXA81? Which would you say is a better value for the money and will most likely favor more speakers? They are about $300-400 difference. Appreciate it.
I haven't heard either of them unfortunately. I'd like to get a contact over at Yamaha to check out some of their affordable options
Did the Emperor replace Lincoln on the Sith penny?
I have a SU9 it was my first dedicated dac and my first way of streaming over 96 kHz. I am now looking a new better dac and pre amp but I don't care about mqa at all anymore. I hope Spotify got their shot together with hi res.
To clear things up. Jitter is a variation in the clock timing. In other words it’s the digital equivalent of your record, or tape not running at the correct speed. So the analog equivalent is wow and flutter. This is certainly not a perfect comparison between the two of course, but it’s pretty much the easiest way for someone new to the idea to understand what jitter actually means IMO.
I probably should have waited for the Geshelli Labs J2 to come out before I bought the topping E30. Grant it, the Geshelli Labs J2 did not come out until a year after I bought my topping E30, I'm in the process of trying to deal with the a bit over analytical sound of the E30.
Hi i am very new to hi fi does mqa make a difference in sound?
Have you heard the SMSL D300? I just bought one, and I like it better than my Emotiva DC-1.
My dac has a pushie, pushie, clicky, clicky button and a remote. PRICELESS!
"don't throw away your money, buy these pennies for a $1.12 each!" 😆
Those are audiophile pennies😏
Sith Audio has to be 50% of why I keep coming back to Randy's videos. Now I want mushy banana bread, too. Ugh!
Which has the best soundstage, this or E50?
14:30 the superb analogies are why i come here
And thus we add two more undefined terms to the audiophile dictionary of jargon: complete and smooth. Sean and Steve owe you for this. Soon to be confused with a description of a front panel.
MQA seems to be a cash royalty-generating product that few have any need for. Fits well with an audience of people who spend chunks of cash for ever-better cables.
Spend the money on speakers, an item so abjectly imperfect that improvement is actually rewarding. :)
I don’t use Tidal nor MQA but I respect that it was engineered to solve a problem true at its conception, but now not true. Bandwidth via cellphone wireless was once very limited. MQA squeezes the audio file into a package friendly to that bandwidth of old. But now that we can stream (compressed) movies over cell towers, the key advantage to MQA has receded and Tidal etc are forced to sell it on Sound Quality. SQ is not a clear MQA advantage over FLAC or uncompressed CD Quality. But that doesn’t make the MQA team profit pirates.
@@pdcragin33 Well, then maybe they should give it away for the public good, like MP3, FLAC, WAV and others codecs do. Giving it away doesn't make them profit pirates; charging big royalties (especially when it's unneeded) does. They have been trying to profit from hearsay benefits and perceived exclusivity. It's a lot like unobtanium cables: paid unbeneficial.
@@pdcragin33 It never solved a problem because barely anyone adopted it. You could make the same argument for opus which actually does sound better than aac & mp3 at lower bitrates. The thing is opus actually is useful for conference calls but MQA is just a snake oil to convince fools their ears can perceive 24 bit or 96khz. the extra bits and khz only matters for music production end of story.
Have you watched GoldenSound's videos about MQA?
Ηi Randy .I 'd appreciate your opinion on the new LOXJIE D30 v2 dac [270 euros in France]I am looking forward to a review . Stay safe .
Red book on a great DAC ..still = AWESOME MUSIC 🥳
Were you aware that Sith audio uses only Oxygen free copper? I know that gumballs, purchased with Sith Audio coin are much brighter iin color, sweeter, flavorful and, generally more enjoyable than those purchased with common pocket change.
My Sith Audio audiophile grade speaker grills are worth every penny.
My Sith Audio audiophile label printer uses copper free oxygen.
I’m waiting on the Kickstarter for their spinoff. Sith’s battery free bicycles.
How does Su9n compare to Geshelli j2 akm dac?
N is for now buy this. I will be picking this up on Black Friday.
Greetings to all. Can anyone confirm for me if the SMSL SU-9n DAC is compatible with an Android smartphone via USB port? Thanks in advance for the information.
Sith Audio pennies are the best way to keep your turntable level!
ok, help doing research and i have found smsl has 3 dacs that look the same seem to have same features so help... the su9, m400 and the vmv d1se su9 $459, M400 $859, VMVD1SE $719 can anyone tell me which i should consider....
Are Sith Audio Pennies tonearm balanced?
You can actually change the filters and settings on the e50 without the remote, its just not intuitive
What tier does it fit into?
Replaced Topping-D90 (the first version.)with SMSL-9n.The sound is cooler.The sound is more Natural, more drive, more patch, more punch.The built-in volume control also plays more efficiently.No"Standard".
The ideal sound is to turn on the filter to"Fast minimym", and set the sound color to "Rich1".It plays great as a preamp together with a power amplifier!I liked the USB input with P4.Who likes a lot of bass-here it is!
Have you paired it with a pre-amp? I've ordered mine today the SMSL SU-9n to be paired with the SMSL Ho200 PRE-AMP
IIRC, both the Hiby (the developer of UAT) R2 and R3 pro (sabre and masterhifi) DAPs, provide two-way support for UAT, and LDAC, amongst other codecs, together with other features such as Wifi, 4x MQA rendering, and built-in streaming apps, etc.
Hopefully we can get an American made "better sounding" DAC from like Schitt with a competitive price. Schiit bifrost 2 can go on sale and that's what I'd get more likely
Now that you said I don‘t need to buy it, I want it.
topping e50 can be used with his only front botton, thanks for the channel its great.
I wasa bit confused about that too. The black button on the E50 allows for cycling through the settings and inputs.
I'll have to check that out. I didn't notice that initially
@@cheapaudioman Maybe the black on black button wasn't a capital idea. :)
@@cheapaudioman theres no need man, multiples videos show that, please review the dx3proplus v2, for the poor countrys jjejeje. Greatings
Do you get a certificate of authenticity with the audiophile pennies?😮
yes. but it's counterfeit
@@cheapaudioman Nooooo!!!😭
Late to the party here, but I just want to highlight an issue with SMSL SU-9n. I bought mine second hand from a reputable user marketplace in Australia. All good for a few months, then it died. I ran it in fixed output. Now the UI seems to freeze for a second or two before changing (and repeat) and there is no audio on the unbalanced outputs but a loud crack every few seconds on the balanced output. I was going to investigate the issue but after trying it on the balanced output I don't want to damage my speakers. When I was young we had an old Methodist wall hanging with a lot of those trite observations. One was 'never buy anything because it is cheap'. Perhaps I should have paid more attention...
I already have the smsl 2. I need the smsl 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, but not 9, but I need the 10.
I'll absolutely choose a device that does not support MQA over a similar product that does support it, so It's good to see a great company provide a choice.
D0200 seems to be a SU8s on steroids (dual Dacs symetric layout with a better power supply)
Hiby devices and any dap running hiby os will transmit in UAT
A Bluetooth codec better than LDAC?? How exciting never heard of that
Not really a Tidal Fan , Spotify sounds good, Amazon sounds exiting, Qobuz sounded like it had a level of solidity over Tidal and Spotify. Realistically they all sound good you can't make a bad choice with sound quality and in a blind test it would be hard to tell.
Amazon's app is awful. Still waiting for Spotify Hifi to make the switch.
Placebo effect.
@@tonyt.5771 Not really, as on my pc tidal and amazon sounds exactly the same on the android is different story. Tidal app directs sound to any connected dac and amazon for now cannot direct to a dac on android even tho it could in the past and it makes quite big difference.
yes, dacs are getting really good.
Referring to Michael's comment down below that MQA is a ploy. When I listen to same recording MQA versus non MQA on tidal, I hear a significant difference in sonics and quality in general. Granted I'm listening through a 2k tube dac but still prefer MQA. I would love to feel this excited about all recordings so please people, convert me. From my understanding MQA is 24 bit and non MQA stuff is 16 bit. Please correct me if I'm wrong. So please clarify what I am missing or not understanding. I'll have to spend some time listening/comparing Qobaz and Spotify now that it's up to snuff vs. Tidsl. Oh and Randy I emailed SMSL and the 'N' stands for Nancy.
i've a/b tested mqa vs qobuz hi res, there was a slight difference in sound but i couldn't say one sounds better, they both sound fantastic. when i a/b mqa against my cd transport sometimes the cd sounds slightly better and sometimes the mqa file sounds slightly better. it's really impressive to my ears.
@Christopher , a small correction : there are 24bit MQA files... and 16bit MQA files on Tidal (even if the unfolding do the process at 24bit, and so sending a 24bit stream after that, the source was 16bit). It's a complex thing, as some MQA 16bit can appear as Master if they also have a FLAC version of the album. You do a search with the name of an album, and you can have two version, sometimes more, with several as Master (not talking about different version with Explicit or not, more tracks...). If there are several as Master, it means ost of the time one is 16bit and the other 24bit.
And there are albums without real FLAC, and it will use the 16bit MQA file.
You can get all info in the Tidal app, but using a player like Roon or UAPP will show it
(except with the new change of offer with Hifi being the old Hifi but without MQA/360/Atmos, and Hifi Plus with all formats, and now, even these app can play in Hifi setting a 16bit MQA without telling you it's one, or even a 24bit MQA unprocessed and reduced to 16bit before entering the DAC).
Regarding the "quality", MQA could have had potential but only if used all the whole chain. Most os the MQA you can listen, it's conversion, and if it's change the sound, it's no more what the artists/engineers wanted you to hear. And does the sound a bit, sometimes it can add something positive, sometimes negative, because it not really better or not, it's a difference, like adding a bit of transient exciter. You can add exciter yourself in the chain, which even if it's not exactly the same thing, would mean you are not listening to what artist created anymore. It's like MQA were coming in your house, add a EQ between your DAC and your amp, and say you "hey, it's now what the artist wanted you to hear" ;-)
You can control the E50 without the remote, if I am not mistaken.
You can maybe turn it on and off
Why the heck involve a lossy codec like MQA where nowadays our internet connections can stream bit perfect lossless music flawlessly? MQA is just a better sounding version of audio compression than MP3. Even Amazon HD Music is streaming lossless music in up to 192kHz 24 bits TODAY. That's more than adequate.
Like Randy noted on an earlier video, a dac is a higher priority than mqa.