I power my SU-1 with the Ifi iPowerX, and optical sound from my laptop trough a 3,5mm minijack toslink plug. This give me the best sonic performance and I truly love it! Thank you for pointing out the importance of a good power supply for the SU-1, it is really the key to make it shine.
Me gusta que no solo se haga una reseña de un producto, sino que se hable de sus distintas posibilidades de conexión. Es la primera vez que veo tu canal, porque mi SMSL SU-1 llega este próximo lunes. Felicidades desde Ciudad de México!!!
Hell yeah. I picked up some $1000 floor standing 3 way speakers that are like 25 years old now for about $120US, did some upgrades to them. Its a rediculously good sounding setup for about US$350. Makes me wonder why I spent $$$$$ on my good gear... well at least until i listen to my good gear
I have had this DAC for a bit, I was going to send it back to Amazon, but it is so inexpensive I kept it. The sound over my previous gear was rather veiled and congested sounding. Well, I broke it out to experiment with my new ToneWinner AD-2PRO+ integrated and was quite honestly blown away at the sound quality this was producing. It reminded me quite a bit of my Denafrips Ares II. It was not as good as the one in the integrated, but it was darn close. I also have a PS Audio and Bel Canto DAC here, and again this little SU-1 is very impressive with the right gear. Gear that is not so warm sounding, and I cannot even remember what I had in here... I go through a bit of gear.
Not sure why that happens, I only use coaxial connection and that does stop flashing. Have you tried switching it on and off once connected to optical?
Could you tell me what converter you use bet. PC USB port and SU1 RCA (coaxial)? Thank you. Also, what specific LPS model (wattage?) you had on the desk?
Have you tried different USB power supplies? I've had good luck with genuine Apple & Samsung phone chargers? Have you tried a several turns of the USB cable wrapped on a common mode choke* (plastic cased split ferrite core)? *the choke prevents high frequency common mode noise from your AC mains being injected into your system.
I have tried an Apple phone charger but I preferred the sound of the DAC using the LPS. In general I have always found an LPS improved the sound of a DAC considerably more than a SMPS.
The reason for my second suggestion is, an internal view of your LPS shows a common mode choke on the AC side of the LPS' transformer. In my system I use common mode chokes on the DC side of my streamer, DAC & CD player. Cheap & worth a try.
If you can pick up a linear power supply or even one of the battery 5v power supplies, you will be rewarded. This little DAC is worth the purchase, as the power supplies are more than likely going to cost more than the DAC itself.
so i got a MAcbook pro 2010 where it serves as my DJying source with iTunes, then a Mixer and from here it connects to 4 speakers. What is your thoughts about HOW to use this DAC having this set up ? I mainly play old Tango songs to big room audiences (Milongas)
@@ugrinilievski7970 The BRZhifi Linear PSU does not have a model number on it unfortunately. It has 2 x 5v outputs on the back. I think you just need to look for and BRZhifi LPSU with 5v output and I am sure they will be similar.
I have a lg v60 phone and I'm going to get a liquid spark amplifier. Can i use the smsl su1 together using what cables a little help here im new to the audio hobby?
I believe technically the way digital information is transmitted via USB compared to coaxial is different. SPDIF (coaxial) is a dedicated digital standard interface where as USB is a universal data transfer interface. The way they influence how digital information is transmitted is different and therefore sound quality can be affected especially as noise can be introduced using the USB connection for both power and data transfer . As with all things digital it is always best to try for yourself both connections and see if you hear a difference.
@@AudioRamblings I think I understand the difference. But in the video you seem to be saying the first leg of the transmission is via USB, which feeds into a converter to spdif in coaxial cable. If the signal in USB is bad, wouldn't that be bad downstream? And I thought whatever problems are present in the USB would be fixed in the DAC. USB 2.0 is asynchronous with error retransmission and should eliminate data loss.
Yes I was using the Rotel RCD 965BX. I will be trying another CD used as a transport soon. I believe the best CD transports help improve the sound quality a little more.
@@andrenunes2583 That's because the RCD-855 is much better utilizing a Philips TDA1541 DAC and not the bitstream DAC in the 965. And I'll bet that the RCD-855 outperforms the SMSL SU-1 DAC. Just more Asian junk, flavor of the month stuff that gets ballyhooed on Amazon. It's interesting when discussing how to build a cd player with the best engineers on the subject, everything matters, like a turntable design and that certain chips were great from the get go, the TDA1541a prime example. The designer of the Ypsilon CDT-100 said if the 1541 were still available, he would be using it, and called it the best most organic sounding DAC ever made. Now that's just one example.
Buyer beware .... If you are using this DAC on USB from a Windows computer, it will shut down the Windows onscreen volume control and the media buttons on your keyboard. Everything will be running at full maximum volume. If you use the volume control in your media player to manage the volume... other Windows sounds and programs will still operate a full volume, complete with the surprises you can expect from that.
I power my SU-1 with the Ifi iPowerX, and optical sound from my laptop trough a 3,5mm minijack toslink plug. This give me the best sonic performance and I truly love it! Thank you for pointing out the importance of a good power supply for the SU-1, it is really the key to make it shine.
Me gusta que no solo se haga una reseña de un producto, sino que se hable de sus distintas posibilidades de conexión. Es la primera vez que veo tu canal, porque mi SMSL SU-1 llega este próximo lunes. Felicidades desde Ciudad de México!!!
I use mine with an Aiyma A07 pro + streamer in optical for my external set up !! Works like a charm!!
Amazing little box, I have a Wiim Mini streaming into the SU1 and she's going to my Denon receiver and I must say best 79 bucks I have ever spent.
I use mine with a laptop as usb source and an Ayima A07. Unbelievably good for price.
Hell yeah. I picked up some $1000 floor standing 3 way speakers that are like 25 years old now for about $120US, did some upgrades to them. Its a rediculously good sounding setup for about US$350. Makes me wonder why I spent $$$$$ on my good gear... well at least until i listen to my good gear
Best DAC value ever.
I have had this DAC for a bit, I was going to send it back to Amazon, but it is so inexpensive I kept it. The sound over my previous gear was rather veiled and congested sounding. Well, I broke it out to experiment with my new ToneWinner AD-2PRO+ integrated and was quite honestly blown away at the sound quality this was producing. It reminded me quite a bit of my Denafrips Ares II. It was not as good as the one in the integrated, but it was darn close. I also have a PS Audio and Bel Canto DAC here, and again this little SU-1 is very impressive with the right gear. Gear that is not so warm sounding, and I cannot even remember what I had in here... I go through a bit of gear.
I connect this dac to my receiver in optical. But the optical light in the dac is always blinking.
Not sure why that happens, I only use coaxial connection and that does stop flashing. Have you tried switching it on and off once connected to optical?
Could you tell me what converter you use bet. PC USB port and SU1 RCA (coaxial)? Thank you.
Also, what specific LPS model (wattage?) you had on the desk?
I use the Douk audio U2 Pro USB convertor. It had optical and toslink outputs and USB input.
is there a usb to coaxial converter or connector. please specify the model
Hello. What kind of power can be supplied to SMSL - SU1? 6 volts 2 or is it possible?
My Marantz CD DVD player only has RCA and HDMI outputs I dont know how to connect it to this DAC.
Unfortunately you can’t , needs toslink or coaxial.
Have you tried different USB power supplies? I've had good luck with genuine Apple & Samsung phone chargers?
Have you tried a several turns of the USB cable wrapped on a common mode choke* (plastic cased split ferrite core)?
*the choke prevents high frequency common mode noise from your AC mains being injected into your system.
I have tried an Apple phone charger but I preferred the sound of the DAC using the LPS. In general I have always found an LPS improved the sound of a DAC considerably more than a SMPS.
The reason for my second suggestion is, an internal view of your LPS shows a common mode choke on the AC side of the LPS' transformer. In my system I use common mode chokes on the DC side of my streamer, DAC & CD player. Cheap & worth a try.
If you can pick up a linear power supply or even one of the battery 5v power supplies, you will be rewarded. This little DAC is worth the purchase, as the power supplies are more than likely going to cost more than the DAC itself.
I use it with a Yamaha Streamer, WXC 50 and it sounds good.
so i got a MAcbook pro 2010 where it serves as my DJying source with iTunes, then a Mixer and from here it connects to 4 speakers. What is your thoughts about HOW to use this DAC having this set up ? I mainly play old Tango songs to big room audiences (Milongas)
Any linear power supply recommendations?
I use a BRZ hifi Linear power supply, very reasonable price.
Este dac será mejor que el dac interno de los kliipsch the Fives? Gracias 😊 @@AudioRamblings
@@AudioRamblingsCoud you write the model of power supply of BRZhifi? Enjoyed every second of the video.
@@ugrinilievski7970 The BRZhifi Linear PSU does not have a model number on it unfortunately. It has 2 x 5v outputs on the back. I think you just need to look for and BRZhifi LPSU with 5v output and I am sure they will be similar.
I have a lg v60 phone and I'm going to get a liquid spark amplifier. Can i use the smsl su1 together using what cables a little help here im new to the audio hobby?
What is the minimum watts recommended. I have two, a 100 RMS WPC and a 250 RMS WPC setup?
Can we connect an ordinary CD player that can play normal audio CDs? Or does it support only mqa cds ?
You can connect a CD player if it has a coaxial or toslink output. The SMSL SU-1 will work with normal CDs.
Can you explain how adapting USB to coaxial improved sound quality? I thought it would be identical because they are both digital.
I believe technically the way digital information is transmitted via USB compared to coaxial is different. SPDIF (coaxial) is a dedicated digital standard interface where as USB is a universal data transfer interface. The way they influence how digital information is transmitted is different and therefore sound quality can be affected especially as noise can be introduced using the USB connection for both power and data transfer . As with all things digital it is always best to try for yourself both connections and see if you hear a difference.
@@AudioRamblings I think I understand the difference. But in the video you seem to be saying the first leg of the transmission is via USB, which feeds into a converter to spdif in coaxial cable. If the signal in USB is bad, wouldn't that be bad downstream? And I thought whatever problems are present in the USB would be fixed in the DAC. USB 2.0 is asynchronous with error retransmission and should eliminate data loss.
Thanks for the good info )
Can anyone tell me if I can use my iPhone with this?
What Rotel cd player are you using.Looks like a rcd 965?
Yes I was using the Rotel RCD 965BX. I will be trying another CD used as a transport soon. I believe the best CD transports help improve the sound quality a little more.
@AudioRamblings Amazing enough, I have the rcd 855 which to me sounds better than the rcd 965.((have both in my possesion)
@@AudioRamblings You mean Rotel not Denon
@@watdanuqta-mf5ms sorry yes Rotel
@@andrenunes2583 That's because the RCD-855 is much better utilizing a Philips TDA1541 DAC and not the bitstream DAC in the 965. And I'll bet that the RCD-855 outperforms the SMSL SU-1 DAC. Just more Asian junk, flavor of the month stuff that gets ballyhooed on Amazon. It's interesting when discussing how to build a cd player with the best engineers on the subject, everything matters, like a turntable design and that certain chips were great from the get go, the TDA1541a prime example. The designer of the Ypsilon CDT-100 said if the 1541 were still available, he would be using it, and called it the best most organic sounding DAC ever made. Now that's just one example.
Buyer beware ....
If you are using this DAC on USB from a Windows computer, it will shut down the Windows onscreen volume control and the media buttons on your keyboard. Everything will be running at full maximum volume.
If you use the volume control in your media player to manage the volume... other Windows sounds and programs will still operate a full volume, complete with the surprises you can expect from that.
l'alimentatore da quanti V e A? grazie
The power supply I use has 5v output.
Well, a tiny Apple phone charger works well. I would not be concerned with amperage, just make sure it is 5v.
Where did you purchase your linear power supply?
Many thanks.
~It was originally purchased via Aliexpress but it is a few years old now so may have been superceded with a newer model.