that helps me a lot!
I will give it a try with single ended 3.5 to RCA.
Further I have planned to buy the SMSL SU-8 - can get it at Amazon Germany for 210 Euro but after reading the reviews of the Massdrop x Airist Audio R-2R DAC, I am not sure which one to get.
The SMSL SU-8 is the standard balanced DAC often reviewed and well measured.
The R-2R would cost me more than double with taxes and is not balanced.
I´m not into the filters or the remote control only usabilty of the SMSL SU-8
I´m more a fan of “keep it simple” like the R-2R DAC approach.
soundwise I search for transparent devices and let the diffenrent headphones do the soundtuning
You’re probably going to be better off with the SMSL SU-8. It’s the more transparent of the two units.
I wouldn’t worry about the “balanced” aspect of things. At least unless you’re dealing with long runs of cable or have ground-loop issues. It’s not a bad thing, but people get hung up on it unduly.
I found the SMSL unit to get somewhat fatiguing after a bit. I suspect that’s either due to what I perceive as an exaggerated sense of “detail” or some “tension” in the mids. Not uncommon for me and inexpensive ESS-based designs (even when auditioned blind).
That said, it’s going to outperform the RDAC on a technical level. I just happen to prefer the RDAC for relaxing and listening to music.
As to the “filters” on the SU-8, they’re not what most people assume they are. A lot of DACs let you choose between the different on-chip (i.e. native to the DAC IC) reconstruction filters (e.g. minimum phase slow-roll off, linear-phase fast-roll off etc.). On the SU-8 they’re using the programmable DSP functions on the ESS chipset to let you choose from nine different DSP profiles that vary the amount, and type, of artificial harmonic distortion applied. I didn’t find any of those interesting or preferable (the “Tube” settings sound nothing like tubes) and would just run the thing on “standard”.
On the SU-8 there are two different settings that can be selected, there are the “PCM Filters” that seem to be the normal options found on other DACs (Fast Linear, Slow Linear, Fast Minimum etc.) and then there are the “Sound” options (Standard, Rich 1 to 3, Tube 1 to 3, Crystal 1 to 3 and Original). I have always kept the latter on “Standard” as I agree that the others do not make a positive difference. For the PCM Filters, I struggle to tell the difference between them to be honest, not just on the SU-8 but on all DACs.
I think it may be interesting to graph the FR of the “Sound” options to see what they did to make them sound worse
I ran the thing on “Fast Linear”, which is invariably what I wind up choosing on ESS 9038 based DACs (was certainly the case with the Topping D50 and Pro-Ject Pre-Box S2 Digital).
In fact, in general, given the choice, I’ll go with a linear phase fast-roll off filter regardless of DAC. There have been exceptions for me, but they’re not common. The differences can be quite subtle and usually show up more over extended listening periods than being immediately discernible in quick A/B/X comparisons.
I’d have to borrow the unit again to measure all the different “Sound Color” options. Which given what I’m already behind on is probably not going to happen any time soon.
I have measured the general behavior of the different reconstruction filters on the ESS 9038, both for FR and impulse response, and those are basically the same across implementations (as would be expected):
I would like to say that I’ve been using the micro BL for the past few weeks and it’s so versatile ! It can drive the Hifiman Arya on turbo with authory and be quiet enough for the Campfire Audio Solaris on lowest gain & ultra sensitivity. Been using my Topping D70 as the DAC and only utilizing the black label’s amp. It’s fairly small as well ! Can easily fit in a backpack or something. Thanks everyone for the tips and recommendations
Definitely an iFi fan as well… probably would be in “fanboy” territory considering the number of their products I own and use (micro-iDSD BL; xDSD, xCAN, pro-iDSD, pro-iCAN). The pro-iDSD is a dream for someone who loves to “fiddle” with various settings and seeing what happens to the sound. They had some new desktop stuff at RMAF that looked interesting from a more entry level DAC/Amp perspective.
I do wish they give a bit more love/attention to the non-high end desktop setup. I think the xDSD is a fine portable dac/amp and the “pro” series are excellent high end but they maybe missing the market for someone looking for a nice desktop amp in the mid range. Something like an updated version of the micro-iCAN SE.
do you stack xDSD + xCAN for some hard to drive hf or do you simply use the micro BL in these occasions?
maybe the ufo shaped new bluetooth dac/amp will be a midrange ifi product - hope it there is a remote or app for it
Oddly enough, I haven’t really used the two together yet. I kinda came into them differently, I got the xCAN to drive some planars from my LG V30 when I travel and works well for that; I later got a good deal on the xDSD and that became more of my go to when traveling as it work great with the iPad Pro (with the USB-C). I may take them both on my next long trip in a couple months to have a “portable stack” and see how that feels. haha.
In talking to the iFi guys, it sounded like it was going to be a sub-$200 part (not knocking that as there’s great stuff under $200) and won’t have the power output, etc that the iCAN SE has (4 watts of power, etc). Also don’t believe it will have balanced nor the s-balanced circuitry. I take it that it was more to compete with things like the entry level JDS Labs, Schiit, type stuff.
oh ok good to know - curious about LDAC support on the new module
is the new xBASSii with the added “presence” feature really worth getting the xCAN in addition to the xDSD? played around with it at munich high end this year - liked it a lot
do you use mqa (Tidal) with the xDSD over the iPad Pro? if so - from what I read, there is no other iOS app than Tidal needed for full mqa unfold with the xDSD. Or did I miss out anything?
will test my wifes iPad Air 2 with the camera connection kit 3, cause my tablets usb port is a bit to loose
at the moment I use the xDSD as standalone DAC/Amp with the Focal Elegia in the office
and
as single ended DAC with THX AAA 789 - have also the SMSL SU-8 balanced connected but prefer the xDSD over it - I am still in the honeymoon period with some new components… hard to A/B for me
but what I know - the ifi xDSD is my center audio unit and swiss army knife
I use both ifi otg cables for USB-C(phone) and Micro USB(tablet) + the original blue usb 3 cable from notebook or pc - do you know any better fiiting OTG cables? the ifi ones are sometimes a bit wonky - tried 3 USB C and got one for free from ifi support
Yes, I use Tidal MQA on the iPad Pro through the xDSD with the iFi OTG USB-C cable; it works great. No extra steps, hiccups etc. The only drawback is the OTG cable is too short to use the iPad in any orientation other than laying flat; I’m going to see if I can get someone to make a longer OTG cable.
Curious, what do you like about the xDSD as a DAC over the SU-8?
yes the very short otg is a minus - in the office its ok, but at home I often would love to have a longer cable or a remote function with tidal, like on spotify
it´s maybe, that I am used to the xDSD DAC and its a rounder experiance - maybe I can chill out more because it´s the known one
the SU-8 is new… the THX AAA 789 is new… the balanced Elegia cable is new…can´t relax yet and A/B between balanced and single ended input- it is strange, because you have to change not only input, you have to change volume… driver in foobar…
the first hour I listened to 2 parts of one song over and over again
Respect to all reviewers- I am not made for this concentrated listening mode sessions
iFi has offered me a loan of one of these units (the ZENBlue) but I asked if I could give the yet to be officially launched ZENDac a try instead. Both look promising, and are very affordable compared to other options.
It looks like they’ve split up the functionality of the Nano iONE into two different products, and added balanced output to both.
The Zen Blue has taken the Bluetooth functionality of the Nano iONE, ditched the DDC and MQA capabilities, changed the DAC for an ESS chip, added more CODEC support (LDAC is quite welcome) and an updated Bluetooth chipset (more about power consumption than anything else), and reduced the price.
And the Zen DAC looks to be the DAC side of the Nano iONE without all the DDC and Bluetooth gubbins, but also with balanced output, XBASS and so on.
I’ll be interested to hear how they sound (though not interested enough to spend the time to find out for myself). A good quality, inexpensive, LDAC-capability Bluetooth receiver would be welcome … though a more conventional form-factor might make it even more so.
the form factor is ok for me
will get a huawei tablet with HWA support - meanwhile my old Samsung S8+ and my new S10 support LDAC
the lack of a remote control - from what I saw in the user manual - throws me a bit off
also the fact, that I have to switch between analog and digital output on the back of the unit
would like to be able, to switch outputs from the sofa with this standing near the TV connected to powered speakers with xlrs + optical to another dac to my headphone amp
