[richpjr]

Does anyone know what the output impedance for the SH-8 is?

Here are the only specs I have found on it:

SH-8 Headphone Amp

• Inputs: Unbalanced (RCA), balanced (XLR)
• Outputs: 6.35mm headphone jack, balanced headphone jack
• Unbalanced output: 32 ohms / 420 mW, 64 ohms / 377 mW, 150 ohms / 190 mW, 300 ohms / 100 mW, 600 ohms / 51 mW
• Unbalanced THD + N: 0.0009%
• Unbalanced SNR: 107 dB
• Balanced output: 32 ohms / 655 mW, 64 ohms / 835 mW, 150 ohms / 717 mW, 300 ohms / 400 mW, 600 ohms / 205 mW
• Balanced THD + N: 0.001%
• Balanced SNR: 109 dB
• Power consumption: 3.5 W
• Standby power: < 0.1 W
• Dimensions, W x H x D: 7.3 x 1.6 x 4.9 in (185 x 40 x 125 mm)
• Weight: 2.2 lbs (1 kg)

 

[stalkehard]

All good afternoon.
I have a sheaf 2.1 (a sabufer of jbl lsr 310s and the 2 monitors lsr 305)
All this works via my personal computer.
Here I buy smsl su8 ver2. Advise good xlr of a wire on 2 meters. 4 pieces are necessary (2 from a tsap to a sabufer, 2 from a sabufer to monitors). Whether it is worth buying expensive on 300$ apiece? Or in my case it is not required? Also if it is possible, usb a cable which from the personal computer to a tsap will go as I see that in a set nizkogno qualities. Thanks a lot for councils.
P.S. I apologize for an orfogrfiya, I write through the translator.

 

[cobrabucket]

All good afternoon.
I have a sheaf 2.1 (a sabufer of jbl lsr 310s and the 2 monitors lsr 305)
All this works via my personal computer.
Here I buy smsl su8 ver2. Advise good xlr of a wire on 2 meters. 4 pieces are necessary (2 from a tsap to a sabufer, 2 from a sabufer to monitors). Whether it is worth buying expensive on 300$ apiece? Or in my case it is not required? Also if it is possible, usb a cable which from the personal computer to a tsap will go as I see that in a set nizkogno qualities. Thanks a lot for councils.
P.S. I apologize for an orfogrfiya, I write through the translator.

Personally, I see no point of spending more money on the cables than the DAC!

 

[Marlowe]

I'm still debating on getting the SU-8 to pair with the XLR inputs on the THX 789 (atm leaning yes, though I am betting i won't hear a huge difference from the Mimby). If I get it, I'll be getting a one foot pair of XLR cables from Blue Jeans Cable in Seattle, which will run about $50 US (and roughly another $10 for shipping in the US and New Jersey sales tax). A two meter length will be more, of course, and since you are clearly not in the US, I have no idea how much more shipping, customs, taxes, etc. will cost you. I have other non-XLR cables from Blue Jeans and they are very well made, ship quickly, and represent (IMO, of course) a pretty reasonable compromise between silly expensive cables and basic Monoprice/Amazon cables (which honestly are probably all most people really need in most situations).

 

[cobrabucket]

I can hear a difference b/n Mimby and SU-8. Can't really decide which I like more though. I use SU-8 for Hi-Res and DSD and Mimbt for everything else. Mimby has a little bit extra bass and SU-8 is slightly moredetailed, IMO.

 

[ls13coco]

I can hear a difference b/n Mimby and SU-8. Can't really decide which I like more though. I use SU-8 for Hi-Res and DSD and Mimbt for everything else. Mimby has a little bit extra bass and SU-8 is slightly moredetailed, IMO.

Interesting to hear, would you say the bass is bloomier or more detailed with the mimby?
Also, what about with using some of the filters on the su-8 like "tube" etc?
I'm just having a hard time figuring out if the high specs of the su-8 outweigh dacs that measure worse in terms of actual sound.

 

[sonic0311]

I have yet to read a bad review on the SU-8. Mine has improved the overall quality of sound on both my Squeezebox Touch, and Sony XA5400ES cd player. And I'm using the 1st version, btw. Saw no need to change it out for later versions. Sounds great to me.

I have a pretty decent rig, and as a guy in his 60's who's been listening through all kinds of gear over the last 50+ years, I know that there are less and less quality pieces one can buy at a reasonable price (and this is more then reasonable) that delivers the type of high quality experience that the SU-8 does. For anybody sweating over this vs. some other DAC, I would encourage you to consider how many positive reviews there are here and on other sites and just go for it. I will be shocked if you don't end up being happy that you did.

 

[ls13coco]

I have yet to read a bad review on the SU-8. Mine has improved the overall quality of sound on both my Squeezebox Touch, and Sony XA5400ES cd player. And I'm using the 1st version, btw. Saw no need to change it out for later versions. Sounds great to me.

I have a pretty decent rig, and as a guy in his 60's who's been listening through all kinds of gear over the last 50+ years, I know that there are less and less quality pieces one can buy at a reasonable price (and this is more then reasonable) that delivers the type of high quality experience that the SU-8 does. For anybody sweating over this vs. some other DAC, I would encourage you to consider how many positive reviews there are here and on other sites and just go for it. I will be shocked if you don't end up being happy that you did.

Good points. I am personally thinking that getting the SU-8 as well as possibly the R2R dac from Massdrop might give a great couple options for beautiful pairings.
At the price of the SU-8 though, you are right in that it shouldn't be heavily debated on and the trigger should just be pulled if the interest is already there.

 

[corgifall]

Interesting to hear, would you say the bass is bloomier or more detailed with the mimby?
Also, what about with using some of the filters on the su-8 like "tube" etc?
I'm just having a hard time figuring out if the high specs of the su-8 outweigh dacs that measure worse in terms of actual sound.

I can’t really tell the difference with the sound filters in all honesty. It would be nice if they said what was changed in each sound filter. I’ve only tried a handful of amps and headphones so maybe there is a amp and headphone that really shines with the filter.

 

[richpjr]

Interesting to hear, would you say the bass is bloomier or more detailed with the mimby?
Also, what about with using some of the filters on the su-8 like "tube" etc?
I'm just having a hard time figuring out if the high specs of the su-8 outweigh dacs that measure worse in terms of actual sound.

I just received the SU-8 and am replacing a bimby with it (moving that to my office). I think the SU-8 is more neutral and more detailed than my Bifrost. I was kind of surprised to find that I greatly preferred the SU-8. I have only had the SU-8 for 2 days and the filters are definitely interesting. They aren't over the top, but do make a noticeable different.

 

[aisalen]

Hi gents, how do we know what version our SU-8 is. I also tried to open it as I want to align the display properly but unable to. Is anybody knows how to successfully open it without breaking it? Thanks.

 

[corgifall]

Hold the only button on the front while plugging power into it. It will reset the settings like filter and sound filter but it will show what version it is. If it shows 1.3 then that should be the newest.

 

[aisalen]

Hold the only button on the front while plugging power into it. It will reset the settings like filter and sound filter but it will show what version it is. If it shows 1.3 then that should be the newest.

Thanks. I will try later to check.

 

[XERO1]

Really good sounding DAC for the price. I just bought a version 1.2 from Amazon and really impress by sound quality of this little guy has to offer. I don’t detect any glaring harshness which is a good thing from cheaper DACs.

If Purk likes it, then you know it's legit!
Gonna have to pick one up.

 

[InAnimaTed]

Like @Marlowe I'm also considering getting this to pair with a THX AAA 789 as my new stack (coming from Schiit). This is one of the few DACs that has balanced outputs for a really great price (and the SABRE!) as I'm not a fan of combo DAC/Amps (want to leave room for upgradability in the future) and probably the only one with a display+balanced+Sabre+inexpesive. The Amir review on this (v2) is fantastic: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/smsl-su-8-version-2-balanced-dac.5433/

Will be sure to report back when I get it!