E174: The Amazing S.M.S.L SU-1 DAC

0:00 Intro 0:18 Today's Topic: What an amazing time to be a music-loving audiophile 0:35 The beginning of my musical journey 1:07 Enter, the modular stereo record player 1:40 Feature-driven, not sound quality 2:09 The “dawn” of the golden age of “stereo” 2:58 The “second” golden era 3:58 Besting the “best” from a decade or so ago 4:30 Enter, the S.M.S.L SU-1 DAC 6:07 A closer look 7:20 The Asahi Kasei Microdevices AK4493S XU316 DAC 7:58 MQA, if you care 8:44 More about the superb AK4493S 9:28 Shoot out - WiiM Pro+ vs. the WiiM mini driving the S.M.S.L SU-1 9:50 Which will win, The Pro+ @ $219, or the Mini/SU-1 combo @ $169 10:12 First, what I learned during run-in in my big rig 11:12 Why not try my phone as the streaming source 11:52 What is our first takeaway 12:33 Into the Second Space system for the decisive test 12:47 What is our second takeaway 13:37 “Related to One,” The Buster Williams Trio, 65 Roses 15:46 “Calming Notion,” The Carl Saunders Sextet, Live in San Francisco 17:57 What a winner 18:18 Supporting my opening comments 18:41 ANYONE can afford this DAC at just $80 18:48 What this affordable DAC REALLY offers… 19:52 Munich bounty on the immediate horizon 20:17 Martini Time 20:42 Outro-Subscriptions Today I will introduce you to an overachieving, absurdly affordable DAC that I accidentally discovered, the SU-1 from S.M.S.L. – and it sells for eighty bucks - retail! But what it offers ANYONE who has been holding back, especially those hesitant due to the fear of taking an expensive misstep, is an über affordable opportunity to dip their toes into the waters of building a high-quality streaming and digital playback system. LINKS ASSOCIATED WITH TODAY’S EPISODE the audio analyst© Second Space System details: https://www.theaudioanalyst.com/secon... E147: The WiiM Streaming Experience    • E147: The WiiM Streaming Experience   Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation VELVET SOUND 32-bit, 2-ch premium audio D/A converter AK4493S: https://www.akm.com/us/en/about-us/ne... The Foshan ShuangMuSanLin Technology Co., Ltd., manufacturer’s official site… https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/abo... The S.M.S.L SU-1 DAC purchase links From Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/S-M-S-L-MQA-CD... From Shenzhenaudio.com https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/sm... Ways to support the audio analyst©: Become a member - Patreon:   / theaudioanalyst   One-time gift to “[email protected]” via PayPal One-Time Gift to “@theaudioanalyst” via Venmo Website: http://www.theaudioanalyst.com Facebook:   / theaudioanalyst   Twitter:   / audioanalyst   Instagram:   / audioanalyst