smsl su8

well mates, i finally got a SMSL SU8 to replace me trusty but lower tier PreSonus AudioBox USB DAC. The PreSonus AudioBox USB DAC is a decent DAC... primarily used for hobby recording studios. It is clear and won't get you into any trouble when tracking. I did use a Wyred4sound re-clocker. After some discussion on removing extraneous wires and electronic junk in the circuit (i run the balanced outputs), I tried running the PreSonus DAC without the Wyred4Sound unit. All I got was bleeps and bloops... seems the USB output of my trusty MacBook Pro does not have sufficient nut to power the DAC on its own...

so I have had the SMSL SU8 using the balanced outputs without the reclocker and sans the big volume knobby thing...hooked up for an hour... and the change is very evident. I fired up Missy Elliot - Iconology through Tidal and the SU8 switched right to 32bit-768 sampling rate... and the bottom end coming from my JBL S310 sub was not just glorious, but crystal clear. The SU8 does not do MQA.  I spun up Robert Plant-Now and Zen... DAC switched to 32bit-705.6 sample rate and the soundstage is clear and wide and much deeper. Imaging is more pinpoint. Tidal Source is 16-44.1... I am gonna enjoy playing with this... a whopping $207 investment for my mid-chi-fi and it sounds good...