[jsmiller58]

exactly, many of these products, measure very good, then they sound too sharp, or the volume wheel is a piece of sh... the measurement reviewers not even use them or listens to them apparently.

In any case, this one at least is not silver, and is not with blue numbers like the other smsl dacs... pity of the silver edge of the volume gear, but china...

also, I think AKM is the way to go really, like topping a90 or rme... this one will go down in price for sure though. This one with a proper discount is a great device. Then again, I would need myself a dac/amp combo better.

UPDATE: Oh boy, they went with the rappy blue thing on the user interface. Quite a no go for me, I can't look at something so ugly unfortunately, it's beyond me. dx7 pro better.

I think it is a rather strikingly good looking unit. As the expression says, to each their own.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Seriously, something is a no go based on the colour of the display ... really? Such a non-important factor if I am to be honest.

 

[Lolito]

Seriously, something is a no go based on the colour of the display ... really? Such a non-important factor if I am to be honest.

yes, for over 400$, they better know what a user interface is. Enough of blue LED please, they are ugly, and if some people like blue leds, doesn't matter, they are still very ugly. I do not mind blue leds, if you pay the 400$, hell yes, bring me those blue LED dacs. But I am not paying one single dollar for anything with a blue LED, cause it makes no sense at all, having to look to such a cheap looking thing.

 

[jsmiller58]

yes, for over 400$, they better know what a user interface is. Enough of blue LED please, they are ugly, and if some people like blue leds, doesn't matter, they are still very ugly. I do not mind blue leds, if you pay the 400$, hell yes, bring me those blue LED dacs. But I am not paying one single dollar for anything with a blue LED, cause it makes no sense at all, having to look to such a cheap looking thing.

Just to check, because I am not sure I am following... You don’t like blue LEDs? sorry, just messing with you!

 

[omegaorgun]

I generally can't tell much of a difference between sources if they are quality and hooked to the same amp/speakers. That said I did notice a huge difference in the sound of the TEAC UD-301 and my audioengine d1 dac. The D1 is warm and smooth and the TEAC piercing and shrill. The D1 and my cheap denon receiver sound the same whether using denon's internal or D1's dac with same speakers and denon's built in amp. There is also zero perceivable difference in sound from the D1 and my Krell preamp from the late 90s that uses bur browns. This is evident when hot swapping the signal between the 2 with the same speakers and amp while being level matched. I'll be surprised if there is much of a difference in sound quality between the smsl and d50 since they seem to be based on the same platform. Hopefully they will not be shrill. I've had an Essence Hdacc II 4k dac for a bit and it also had a sabre chip(9012 i think) and it sounded good as a dac, but had terrible white noise from the headphone out that made it unusable with Hphones. So as long as the implementation is good it seems I can't really tell much of a difference between the D1(akm dacs), Krell(burr brown dacs), and the Hdacc II(sabre dacs) when hooked to the same equipment in the same room. I'll be using a JDS labs EL amp with the Sennheiser hd558 hphones and an Essence hifi class D power amp with def tech sm55 bookshelfs in the setup.

Weird I think opposite in that the SU-8 has a less natural timbre and more emphasized highs.I don't find the UD-301 shrill at all and that is on a 789, I do have the XB version so not sure if they revised anything on there.

 

[Voxata]

The SU-8 is still definitely an awesome pairing with the 789. It is just flat-out engaging and enjoyable. I'll sadly be parting ways with my SU-8/789 combo due to the purchase of a new set of speakers to cover costs but, I'll definitely regret letting that synergy go at some point.

 

[omegaorgun]

The SU-8 is still definitely an awesome pairing with the 789. It is just flat-out engaging and enjoyable. I'll sadly be parting ways with my SU-8/789 combo due to the purchase of a new set of speakers to cover costs but, I'll definitely regret letting that synergy go at some point.

Ya know it's actually harder to say which is better, your correct the SU-8 is good. I just don't find the TEAC shrill and have been enjoying it with the 789. I have the M300 and it's a tad warmer but again very close.

 

[ranchowner]

Recently received my SU-8 from Amazon, together with a Loxjie P20.

First impressions is that it's more analytical, engaging and detailed compared to Aune X1S/X7S that I was running previously.
Vocals and mid range is noticeably more forward ( or at least more present ), highs are more expressed, and it ( imo ) pairs excellent with my 6xx.

Imaging and seperation seems to be a step up, soundstage is a step up, and I'm noticing parts of the music having a wider sense of space to play with.

Very clean bass, I can feel my ears tickling / sense of "air" from the low-end rumble in my 6xx when the song calls for it, which is something I've only experienced with my Beyers on my previous stack before.

Kinda surprising when running unbalanced aswell, as I've heard plenty others that've stated that P20 doesn't give enough power in unbalanced to a 300 ohm headphone.

How much the amp colors the sound is still an unknown factor, as I don't have any other amps to pair the SU-8 with at the time being.
I'm running the SU-8 / Loxjie P20 unbalanced at the time being with stock tubes, waiting the arrival for new tubes and balanced cables.

This combo in my opinion is far superior to the Aune stack that I was running before in terms of technical and engaging performance, even when running unbalanced.

I guess you should take my opinion with a grain of salt, as I have more limited experience than many others in here, but I'm very happy with this combo, and got a lot more for my money than I was expecting.

 

[robo24]

Recently received my SU-8 from Amazon, together with a Loxjie P20.

First impressions is that it's more analytical, engaging and detailed compared to Aune X1S/X7S that I was running previously.
Vocals and mid range is noticeably more forward ( or at least more present ), highs are more expressed, and it ( imo ) pairs excellent with my 6xx.

Imaging and seperation seems to be a step up, soundstage is a step up, and I'm noticing parts of the music having a wider sense of space to play with.

Very clean bass, I can feel my ears tickling / sense of "air" from the low-end rumble in my 6xx when the song calls for it, which is something I've only experienced with my Beyers on my previous stack before.

Kinda surprising when running unbalanced aswell, as I've heard plenty others that've stated that P20 doesn't give enough power in unbalanced to a 300 ohm headphone.

How much the amp colors the sound is still an unknown factor, as I don't have any other amps to pair the SU-8 with at the time being.
I'm running the SU-8 / Loxjie P20 unbalanced at the time being with stock tubes, waiting the arrival for new tubes and balanced cables.

This combo in my opinion is far superior to the Aune stack that I was running before in terms of technical and engaging performance, even when running unbalanced.

I guess you should take my opinion with a grain of salt, as I have more limited experience than many others in here, but I'm very happy with this combo, and got a lot more for my money than I was expecting.

I had the same about 2.5 years ago and I thought with a tube roll that it was every bit as good as the Woo WA7 I had at the time (using all balanced, never bothered with single ended). The SU-8 has been on nearly 24/7 since and never any problems. Also had the 6XX then too and agreed it was a good match. Your opinion certainly seems valid and similar to my experience.

 

[Sonic Defender]

The SU-8 is a very competent DAC, certainly capable of complete audible transparency. I owned the V2 version, as I'm sure yours is as well. I moved up to the SMSL M200 as I really wanted to have the excellent Bluetooth functionality. I also have the Gustard X16 and with both DACs (different systems) I use Bluetooth exclusively and they sound every bit as good as the USB, can't possibly tell the inputs apart (nobody could). Enjoy the SU-8, it is quite nice for sure.

 

[Daiyama]

I have a question to this very old device.

Does anybody knows, how the 37-step-volume-control is implemented?
Is it completly in the digital domain by reducing bit depth?
and therefore not really recomended, when not internally upsampled to 32 bit.
or is there some kind of analog pre amp intergrateted? (I doubt this, because of remote control)

Or the other way around: Would recommend to use the SU-8 as a preamp, for example in combination with a fixed power amplifier and or active speakers?

 

[kumar402]

I have a question to this very old device.

Does anybody knows, how the 37-step-volume-control is implemented?
Is it completly in the digital domain by reducing bit depth?
and therefore not really recomended, when not internally upsampled to 32 bit.
or is there some kind of analog pre amp intergrateted? (I doubt this, because of remote control)

Or the other way around: Would recommend to use the SU-8 as a preamp, for example in combination with a fixed power amplifier and or active speakers?

At its price point it must be digital one

 

[Daiyama]

At its price point it must be digital one

Quite likely.
Does anybody know if the SU-8 does upsampling to 32 bit? DAC would be capable.