Singxer SU-1 Owners

[joseph69]

Congrats! Hope it works well in your chain!

Thank you!
(HERE'S) how it went.
 
I was all for the separate SU1 threads, but maybe they should be combined like someone else mentioned?

 

[T Bone]

No hehe. The Apollo AV Lightning V2 and WireWorld utilize a flat design. It core wires (data & clocks) are better separated, isolated, and shielded. It's not close to other bundled wires as with conventional design, so suffers less from issues that normally can affect the jitter within the cable (crosstalk, impedance, signal attentuation, etc).



For i2S you'll want a flat design. The only reason why I recommended the Sewell Silverback S6 so much was because it's a decent conventional design in 0.5FT, which works good for i2S as the shorter the length the better. But for those who doesn't want their Singxer SU-1 directly sitting on top of their DAC, then for longer lengths I recommend the higher quality Apollo AV Lightning V2. To me, even at long lengths, due to its better build design, it still manages to perform as well as a 0.5FT good conventional design cable.

If you want the best of the best you'll want a 0.5FT WireWorld or Apollo AV, but too bad the shortest length available is 0.3M (from WireWorld). But after my many listening A/B test's, it's only 'better' in terms of theoretical and technical specification, but sound wise, under 1 meter they all sound the same.

 
I really like the "flat" design used by WireWorld and Apollo - it totally makes sense to me.
Based on my "current" system placement and limited space, I find that I a 0.5M cable fits better.  For illustration purposes - here's a Supra 0.5M HDMI cable (i will be testing soon)

 
The WireWorld UltraViolet 7 at 0.3M (1 foot) is just too short for my system in its current placement.
If I can find an audible difference in the two cables - I would reorg my system to accommodate the shorter WireWorld cable.  

 
BTW - the build quality on the WireWorld cable is outstanding!  It's only 1' long, but it is very "stout" for it's size.
I've long been a fan of WW cables, their build quality and feel never ceases to impress me.  

 

[rafabro]

Congrats! Hope it works well in your chain!
All capacitors should be replaced with same capacitance value otherwise they'll go through a prolonged charging state. I doubt an insignificant amount can affect this circuit though, but it can affect some. This is why I always keep my capacitance the same and only increase voltage rating.

I'm very surprised you can hear sound quality differences from capacitor change in a digital circuit.

I've never been able to unless there were many caps with low enough capacitances that can be replaced with film or if it's an analog circuit.

You're replacing the stock voltage regulator? With what?
Flat design is better for i2S because the wire groups that carry signal data (DATA) and clock (BCLK, WCLK, and MCLK) is separated horizontally. This makes the main wire groups only affected from crosstalk by themselves. However, even then they're properly shielded from one another in both low frequency (tinned copper braid) and high frequency (aluminum foil) electromagnetic interference. This should correlate to less jitter.

Because of this reason, I seem to understand how you find AudioQuest to be more smooth considering their design. It's made with 5 twisted pairs, one extra for audio and ethernet, but is only optimized for HDMI TV. It's not the best in terms of crosstalk, however I can't argue against what another person hears may it be placebo or not.

I will have to praise AudioQuest on one advancement and it's their field termination design. It works better at keeping 100 ohm impedance compared to traditional cables crimp and solder designs that needs the wire's insulation removed prior to workability. This impedance improvement may be what you're hearing.

SPARKO regulator.
 
Finally I stayed with 220uF Audio Note close to xmos chip and two Nichicon Fine Gold 220uF at power input. It sound the best for me. Instruments has full, rich sound and the sound stage is most 3 dimentional.
Audio Note Kaisei could suite someone, very smooth and detailed without harshness but more flat sound stage.

 

[T Bone]

Here are 2x HDMI cables that I will soon be comparing - the 0.3M WireWorld and the 0.5M Supra

 
The Supra is considerably longer - which is what I need based on my current configuration.

 
With everything stacked, I need a little more length than I can get with the WireWorld.

 
If it turns out to be audibly better, I will try rearranging my stack to use the shorter cable.

 

[Superdad]

  Here are 2x HDMI cables that I will soon be comparing - the 0.3M WireWorld and the 0.5M Supra
 
 
The Supra is considerably longer - which is what I need based on my current configuration.
 
 
With everything stacked, I need a little more length than I can get with the WireWorld.
 
 
If it turns out to be audibly better, I will try rearranging my stack to use the shorter cable.

 
Hi T-Bone:
 
I will be interested in your take on the Supra.  They are among the few companies that actually make their own wire (most of the audiophile firms contract it out--not that there is anything inherently wrong with that, though it does explain Supra's affordable pricing advantage).
 
I have a 0.3m WireWorld Chroma 7 arriving on Monday.  But I am now thinking that 0.5m would better suit my rack, allowing me to run the 20cm Curious Cables "USB REGEN Link" I have from my Mac mini to the ISO REGEN>SU-1.
 
Ciao,
 
--Alex C.

 

[Superdad]

P.S.  A little birdy told me that a external PS conversion kit for the SU-1 (metal plate drilled for AC outlet cover with mounted DC jack and wire pair with connector for PCB) will soon be available very cheaply.   I'd make my own but am too busy--so I've been promised one of the first ones.
Of course you all know what isolated, leakage-blocking, ultra-low-noise LPS I'll be attaching to my SU-1.  

 

 

[uncola]

Nice, the dc input kit will make it super easy to upgrade..  even I have a 5V external lps sitting around doing nothing.  But I have my KTE version which is a nice one box solution

 

[LarryMagoo]

   
Hi T-Bone:
 
I will be interested in your take on the Supra.  They are among the few companies that actually make their own wire (most of the audiophile firms contract it out--not that there is anything inherently wrong with that, though it does explain Supra's affordable pricing advantage).
 
I have a 0.3m WireWorld Chroma 7 arriving on Monday.  But I am now thinking that 0.5m would better suit my rack, allowing me to run the 20cm Curious Cables "USB REGEN Link" I have from my Mac mini to the ISO REGEN>SU-1.
 
Ciao,
 
--Alex C.

Alex,
 
From what I have read about the Curious cables is it is supposed to preclude the need for any converter boxes....but you use both....and you hear an improvement in each one or just both?
 
Thanks,
 
Larry

 

[Superdad]

 
Alex,
 
From what I have read about the Curious cables is it is supposed to preclude the need for any converter boxes....but you use both....and you hear an improvement in each one or just both?
 
Thanks,
 
Larry

Hi Larry:
 
Well a USB will cable with modify signal integrity and impedance some (that's why people hear any difference between USB cables in the first place), but a cable is not going to perform any of the functions of a USB regenerator/isolator, nor of an external USB>I2S converter that runs from far better clocks than those in the DAC.
 
So yes, with the Holo Spring Level 3 I own, both our ISO REGEN and the Singxer SU-1 are terrific contributors to sound quality.
 
Best,
--Alex C.

 

[Energy]

Well a USB will cable with modify signal integrity and impedance some (that's why people hear any difference between USB cables in the first place), but a cable is not going to perform any of the functions of a USB regenerator/isolator, nor of an external USB>I2S converter that runs from far better clocks than those in the DAC.

So yes, with the Holo Spring Level 3 I own, both our ISO REGEN and the Singxer SU-1 are terrific contributors to sound quality.

Best,
--Alex C.

So you recommend attaching the ISO Regen to the Singxer SU-1 through a Male to Male adapter so that the characteristic impedance doesn't affect signal integrity that much as it's short?

Also, what is your perspective on the partial galvanic isolation within the Singxer SU-1?

Since your ISO Regen already offers full galvanic isolation through the use of Silanna ICE08USB chip, wouldn't going through the extra isolation within the Singxer SU-1 add latency among other things such as impedance mis-match, packet noise modulation, frame noise, ground noise, and degrade signal integrity? Wouldn't it be better to bypass this entire area and send the data directly to the clock side of the board?

My theory is that if true galvanic isolation is present, anything extra will degrade the regenerated signal. Like with the isolation inside the Singxer SU-1 prior to the reclocking phase. Since it uses asynchronous XMOS and vbus power for it's duties, I suspect it's not transparent.

Because of this sole reason, I figure it would be best to have an ISO Regen (or iGalvanic 3.0) and pair it with a DDC that doesn't offer extra isolation. The problem with this however is that it's hard to find a standalone DDC that offers a good clock like the Crystek CCHD-575.. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Cable Monkey]

Has anyone seen an item designated FUN01 on eBay? It looks very much like a cut down SU-01, it loses a coaxial output, the word clock output and has RJ45 for i2S. But the board layout is clearly very similar. Most importantly it comes without a PSU or with one housed in a different case.

 

[ogodei]

Interesting little knock off design.  Just bought one to compare with my stock SU-01.

 

[Cable Monkey]

I have a populated board on its way. It should be interesting to see if it gets close.

 

[chauphuong]

Has anyone seen an item designated FUN01 on eBay? It looks very much like a cut down SU-01, it loses a coaxial output, the word clock output and has RJ45 for i2S. But the board layout is clearly very similar. Most importantly it comes without a PSU or with one housed in a different case.

Please provide the link on eBay. I just couldn't find it. Thanks

 

[Cable Monkey]

Try this.

Edit links to eBay seem not to work but if you Google or search FUN01 XU208