A midrange-priced DAC sporting essentially every possible option.
The SMSL SU-9 is an ESS Sabre chip-based desktop DAC with a middle-of-the-road price tag. It features balanced outputs, the latest and greatest Bluetooth codecs, support for 32bit/768kHz files, DSD512, and full native MQA decoding. If you like to peruse technical specifications, you’ll soon notice that the SU-9 boasts just about every top-of-the-line option.
Priced well under $500, it may also be the most affordable DAC that’s chock-a-block full of all these premium features. SMSL is one of a few Chinese companies delivering feature-rich products at almost unbeatable price to performance ratios. It’s exciting to see how these companies are pushing and advancing the personal audio industry.
There’s no question that the SU-9 more than fulfills the DAC needs for a great number of systems and audiophiles. If you are in the market for an ESS-based DAC, and your budget allows, there are very few reasons you should be considering anything else than the SU-9.
Available at Official Website
- Support for all high-resolution music formats
- Native MQA decoding and rendering
- Remarkably full-featured menus system allows for virtually unlimited tweaking
- Transparent but smooth sound
- Support for all Bluetooth formats including UAT
- Balanced XLR and single-ended RCA outputs
- The internal power supply does not require wall-wart
- Clear and bright screen
- Included remote
- The menu system may be overwhelming for those looking for a more streamlined experience
- Three rubber feet are not as stable as four
- Display always shows ‘99’ in fixed-output mode
- Remote control shared is between devices and not intuitively labeled
The SU-9 is an upgrade to the SU-8, and while it maintains the previous model’s footprint, the SU-9 significantly updates its functionality. The SU-9 adopts SMSL’s current black aluminum case design with a front LCD screen and an aluminum knob. The [mobile version] ES9038Q2M DAC chip from the SU-8 is replaced by the ES9038Pro chipset, with Bluetooth and MQA support added to the SU-9 as well.
As you may imagine from the combo of SMSL’s pedigree and a TOTL ESS chipset, the SU-9 is designed to dominate the measurement-based DAC category. Its technical prowess is undeniable. The feature set is incredibly robust. Adding to the SU-9’s resume is an interface full of user-selectable sound and filter modes. In short, the SU-9 is a music-loving tweaker’s dream!
I guess we’d better give it a listen to see if it delivers on all that promise.
Company Overview
SMSL stands for the Foshan ShuangMuSanLin Technology Co., Ltd. Founded in 2009, SMSL is located in Shenzhen, China. They have their own R & D, manufacturing, and marketing teams and specialize in producing audio products, including DACs, stereo headphone amplifiers, speakers, and power amplifiers.
SMSL has established a comprehensive sales network, and its products are exported to more than 30 countries worldwide. SMSL states that they are “quality-based, technology-guidance, customer central.” They strictly execute the Electronics Industry rules [EICC] and have passed the CCC, BQB, MFi, CE, FCC, RoHS, CE-EMC, CE-LVD, WEEE certifications.
Technical Specifications
- Form: DAC
- Digital inputs: USB/Optical/Coaxial/Bluetooth
- Analog outputs: RCA/XLR
- THD+N: 0.00009%[-121dB]
- Dynamic range: XLR 130dB, RCA 123dB
- SNR:130dB
- Output impedance: XLR 207Ohms, RCA 142Ohms
- Bit depth: USB 1bit,16-32bit, Optical/Coaxial 1bit,16-24bit
- USB sampling rate: USB PCM 44.1-768kHz, DSD 2.8224-22.5792MHZ,
- Optical/Coaxial sampling rate: PCM 44.1-192kHZ, DSD dsd64[DoP]
- Bluetooth sampling rate: UAT: 24bit/192kHz [1200kbps/900kbps/600kbps], LDAC: 24bit/96kHz [990kbps/660kbps/330kbps], aptX-HD: 24bit/48 kHz-576kbps, aptX: 16bit/44.1 kHz-352kbps, SBC: 16bit/44.1 kHz-328kbps, AAC: 16bit/44.1 kHz-320kbps
- Power Consumption: 5W,