After posting the deal on the C100 yesterday I actually went ahead and bought the SU-1 instead for $119 last night. This morning I woke up to see that it has a 12% discount.
This DAC measures really well and has been getting good reviews from ear listeners as well.
CamelCamelCamel.
Shenzenaudio is the distributor, amazon honors the warranty.
amazon honors the warranty
That's not my experience lately. In my case it was up to the vendor to accept the warranty claim and return shipping (which I had to pay).
certain sellers are backed by amazon, and then there are 3rd party sellers.
Exactly, I purchased an SMSL SU-9 (it has that old firmware that everyone was on about that can't be upgraded, with a third harmonic problem, and I notice a pop between inputs/power on). It did sound good though, and two way BT5.. just a few idiosyncracies that come with Chi-fi (like the lineout displaying 99 for volume etc).
It took a bit of effort to get Amazon to let me do a simple return and refund. The seller (shenzhen) was wanting me to send back to China before sending a replacement - too much stuffing around and would have been would have been weeks and weeks.
That wouldn't be a bad cheap DAC to improve the sound from PC. Or a Topping D10s.
You'd still need a headphone amp.
Any recommendations? I've got a pair of focal clears without an amp
Not off the top of my head and not exatly sure what's perfect with what (for amps/headphones)
I got a THX AAA 789 from Drop last time (US$200 plus delivery). Good solid amp and quality.
I'd prob try and search amp for those speaekrs or for the DAC you got etc.
Topping and SMSL seem ok (maybe Topping L30?)
People could consider stuff from iFi as well, this is an entry leve dac+amp.
https://addictedtoaudio.com.au/products/ifi-audio-zen-air-da…
I got the iFi Zen V1 for $199 back in the day, they are more expensive now.
Awesome will check them out cheers
yeah L30 is a solid recommendation - I'd basically just decide on your budget and then head over to addicted to audio and grab whatever topping amp fits it, they have over 10 amps in the range $200 - $1k. also worth checking marketplace in case anyone is offloading anything for peanuts.
do stacks really make a difference?
there's no headphone out so would need to have multiple devices in that case.
Hard to konw what people are connecting it to, only has RCA outs.
Versus a combined DAC/amp? Absolutely, those either come with audibly increased distortion or weak transient power delivery, which is also audible on any remotely power hungry headphone.
Ear listeners as opposed to those who listen through their noses?
I love the sweet smell of music in the morning.
Bone conductors?
Can you connect it to your TV and process and output the sound?
As long as your TV has optical output. but whether its worth the effort that's another question.
OK. You mean the difference in sound is minimal?
If you have a Sony TV (possibly other brands), they no longer have a stereo out if you want to connect to a regular 2ch amp. You have to go via a dac from the TV's optical output.
So in that instance, yes, it is worth the effort given that any would give an improvement over no sound!
Most tv soundbars have Opt in, so buying this just to get sound from tv might not be worth it. even for 2ch amps don't have Opt in you can get away with a much cheaper DAC as you won't hear much difference (tv audio is fm radio quality) .
I have this for my desktop setup. Can't compare to other DACs but various people say it's as good as, or better than waaay more expensive models. Just doesn't have heaps of features or inputs. I like how it powers and supplies data from PC with the 1 cable.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/s…
If you're using a PC that's great but it's a pain if you want to use it in a Hi-Fi setup.
I'd much prefer using separate power supply as the quality of power from PC is not audiophile grade.
Opening up a can of worms and $$$ once you start looking into that stuff. I reckon it's aimed at people living in places with sub-par power supply and/or want to best of the best in their audio chain (including monster cables and expensive Optical leads).
If they don't supply it with the DAC I'm not spending $100 for one (like with the iFi stuff). I don't get any noise using USB from PC to my iFi Zen Dac (or nothing discernable/audiable anyway)
Sure but this is a small, efficient device and works great. You can still use separate USB power supply if your prefer and feed in optical or coaxial input
Can you comment on the difference between the C100 and SU1?
Why did you opt for the SU1?
There were a few anecdotal bad reviews on Amazon where the C100 just stopped working. I figured that I won't need the extras in the C100 (Bluetooth and an LCD) and that the extra components may make it more likely to have issues than the SU-1. The C100 is really new while the SU-1 has been out for a while and has really good reviews and I couldn't find any reports of issues with the SU-1.
Would an external DAC let me use my surround sound speakers connected to my PC? I currently have 5 speakers, but only 2 of them are playing because I need an audio card for the motherboard. If this improves the audio quality and removes the need for me to tear my PC apart to add an audio card I'd defo go for it.
So you don't have onboard audio? A lot have surround 5.1 jacks on the rear, may not be the best quality.
Most of these if not all DAC will be 2 channel. They are super easy to connect to PC via USB, then RCA out to your system (keep in mind may only be 2ch but could definitely hook them up to an old mini system etc.
I haven't been following PC DAC for the long time, I am using my old ibasso dx90 (dual Sabre ES9018K2M I think) as DAC for PC, and I have seperated amp.
Considering that DAC is upgrading fast and ES9018 is quite old now, would this be an upgrade?
Can anyone comment on whether this would pair up well with a SMSL SP200 amp? (Just to drive headphones on PC)
I don't see why not but others can comment.
Just depends if you want a balanced connection between the DAC and Amp, may not be necessary just something to be consider.
Also if it were me I'd prefer the stack to be components of same dimentions but doesn't really matter either (my iFi is a funny shape).
The smooth AKM house sound will go well with your more analytical sounding amp, but its technical prowess may be a little behind the SP200's true potential.
But if you're coming from double amping via a sound card, it's a big upgrade.
Out of curiosity, what are some of the best IEM's out there right now? Never owned a good pair and looking to dip my toe in with roughly a $100-$200 budget.
Truthear Hexa ($98 on Amazon right now), Sennheiser IE200 ($150 and under), 7Hz Timeless (sub-$250, ideally closer to $200).
I would just go with the Hexa, get some better tips if you want to improve technical performance, and then wait for xMEMS tech to come through.
There are better IEMs out there, but you'll find yourself jumping up to $500 very quickly, and there's just no point with all the Bluetooth and new driver tech coming through.
@jasswolf: Thanks, will give them a look.
Also saw on Amazon a "Moondrop DAWN Portable Amp" and other items like that. Would something like this be of benefit, and would it work with the iPhone 15 having USB-C?
@pharcyde: iPhone already works with a lot of USB-C gear via adaptors, so yeah I'd be surprised if they artificially locked things.
Truthear SHIO would be the preferred choice IMO.
I got a pair of TinHifi T3 Plus and they are great. They look the part and sound way better than my Sony XM3 headphones.
Would this one-stop the hissing sound coming out of my PC?
Most definitely. If the hissing sound is from your speakers or headphones that is. There will be less electronic interference from other components in an external DAC. But you will also need an amp.
Nice..thanks
Take note that this is not shipped from Amazon.