My (very) mini review of the Singxer SU-1 DDC

[pkane2001]

4 minutes ago, HallmanLabs said:

I'm using two identical SU-1 clones (FUN01 V1.1) to do capacitor comparisons and I am wondering what is the lowest voltage capacitor that is safe to use in the positions of the aluminum electrolytics on the SU-1/FUN01? I realize there are more than one version of the SU-1, but please just stick to my question and don't start ranting about why Chinese clones are the devil. 

From what I have read, the voltages are 5-7V, so would a 16V Sanyo OSCON be okay in all 6 positions? One other question, is there any truth in people saying that the capacitor nearest the XMOS has the biggest change? I wouldn't have thought so based on my experimenting, but curious if anyone has a comment on this topic.

I'm comparing against Rubycon BlackGate™ F, Rubycon RX30, Sanyo OSCON, Nichicon Muse, Nichicon Fine Gold, ELNA Cerafine, ELNA SILMIC, ELNA ARS SILMIC Super Gold, ELNA ToneRex, etc.

I had a decent amount of people asking me to test the OSCON series, but it only goes up to 16V from what I found (correct me if I am wrong).

Feel free to come by and check out my site, I'm working on the Potomac AA-51 for getting accurate THD, IMD, Phase and more measurements. I landed on using screw terminals in the capacitor holes and you can get the rest of the details if interested in the link below.

https://hallmanlabs.com/2018/10/11/...son-testing-in-progress-photos-and-a-preview/

 

 

If anyone has any suggestions on how to improve or general feedback/criticism, you can find my contact info on the site or comment at the bottom.


Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

Wouldn’t a PS capacitor comparison be better in a device that actually processes analog signal, such as maybe a DAC or an amp/preamp? Purely digital devices, like a DDC, will have a fairly constant current draw, putting a less complex demand on the power supply.

[rafa]

SU-1 is caps sensitive as any other device. 

 

Last thing I would do is to put all caps same in every place. The challenge is to find the best for each place on pcb

[rafa]

2 hours ago, HallmanLabs said:

I'm using two identical SU-1 clones (FUN01 V1.1) to do capacitor comparisons and I am wondering what is the lowest voltage capacitor that is safe to use in the positions of the aluminum electrolytics on the SU-1/FUN01?

If is so similiar to SU-1 you can use 10V and even 6.3V caps. There is no higher than 5V on pcb

[Superdad]

6 hours ago, pkane2001 said:

Wouldn’t a PS capacitor comparison be better in a device that actually processes analog signal, such as maybe a DAC or an amp/preamp? Purely digital devices, like a DDC, will have a fairly constant current draw, putting a less complex demand on the power supply.

 

Actually, digital circuits present a more complex load to a power supply as they draw with high frequency bursts.  Ultra-low PS output impedance--across a wide bandwidth--is extremely important to achieve best performance.  Due to that, physically big and high capacitance caps are often the opposite of what one wants in a digital power supply (high ESR and inductance are anathema here).

[pkane2001]

18 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

Actually, digital circuits present a more complex load to a power supply as they draw with high frequency bursts.  Ultra-low PS output impedance--across a wide bandwidth--is extremely important to achieve best performance.  Due to that, physically big and high capacitance caps are often the opposite of what one wants in a digital power supply (high ESR and inductance are anathema here).

 

That might be true if we were talking about comparing capacitors in a properly designed filter for those digital frequencies. What’s being proposed is a comparison of large valued, audio-frequency capacitors with ESR ratings specced at well below 1KHz.

 

[Superdad]

26 minutes ago, pkane2001 said:

That might be true if we were talking about comparing capacitors in a properly designed filter for those digital frequencies. What’s being proposed is a comparison of large valued, audio-frequency capacitors with ESR ratings specced at well below 1KHz.

 

Yes, I was not paying close attention to what parts and where they we making substitutions.  I was just responding to your statement that digital circuits don't have complex power supply demands. 

[NoNameNPC]

Can somebody say stock caps on power and main board?

On power 3x1000 and 1x470?

On main board 3x220 and 2x330?

[rafa]

main board all 220uF on rev 1.3 & 1.4

power board as you said

[roberto2]

A new Singxer:

https://m.shenzhenaudio.com/singxer-su-6-usb-digital-interface-xmos-xu208-cpld-femtosecond-clock-ship-interface.html

[Dave G]

Anyone else using a SU-1 between a Sonore ultraRendu (or microRendu) and a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC? 

 

I got the SU-1 a couple of weeks ago and presumed I could just insert it between the ultraRendu and the Yggdrasil, but I have not been able to get the combination to work.  For what it's worth, I powered on both the Yggdrasil and the SU-1 before powering on the ultraRendu, because the ultraRendu needs to have the downstream components already powered on in order to recognize them when it is powered on.  I also tried other power on sequences (Yggy then SU-1 then Yggy, SU-1 then Yggy then uR, Yggy then uR then SU-1, etc.), but none of them worked.

 

Sonicorbiter diagnostics indicate the uR recognizes the SU-1, but somehow an audio signal does not get to the Yggy DAC.  The SU-1 does power on, but the "play" light does not come on.  And the display on the Yggy does not show that it is getting a signal.

 

So I think the problem is with the SU-1, but before I go down that road I thought I'd ask here whether anyone who has this combination has any advice or suggestions.

 

Thanks.

[HallmanLabs]

On 12/9/2018 at 2:48 PM, rafa said:

If is so similiar to SU-1 you can use 10V and even 6.3V caps. There is no higher than 5V on pcb

 

Thank you for verifying this for me!

I'll let you guys know what I think once I get the AA-51 reading FUN01's THD accurately vs. the reference numbers from Singxer. I hope to have it finished before Jan 1, 2019

[HallmanLabs]

Does anyone think it's worth testing out NOS vintage capacitors that are between 80-120uF, such a Kemet Mil-Spec T140/T240 Solid Tantalum capacitors? Just one example of the type of vintage caps I could try.

I have so many I can test with such a low voltage requirement that I'm now overwhelmed with options, lol.

[cat6man]

On 12/12/2018 at 5:15 PM, roberto2 said:

A new Singxer:

https://m.shenzhenaudio.com/singxer-su-6-usb-digital-interface-xmos-xu208-cpld-femtosecond-clock-ship-interface.html

 

anyone hear this yet??

[sandston]

The new SU-6 has a supercapacitor power supply built in to boot!!! 

[sandston]

DC POWER input socket uses DC2.1 socket, supports 7.5V-9V DC input (for fast charging of super capacitor, power supply requirement is 3A).

[soundlogic]

I am selling my Kitsune Tuned Edition SU-1. Mint, 6 months old. PM for details.

Happy Holidays

Tim

[ThenewGearPPK]

On 12/25/2018 at 8:57 AM, sandston said:

The new SU-6 has a supercapacitor power supply built in to boot!!! 

 

So does that mean a LPS won't work with it?

[rafa]

17 minutes ago, ThenewGearPPK said:

 

So does that mean a LPS won't work with it?

What make you thing so?

[ThenewGearPPK]

6 minutes ago, rafa said:

What make you thing so?

 

A built in power supply negates the need for a external LPS?

Or will hooking one with the DC cable bypass the supercapacitor power supply?

[rafa]

It's audio. I would still keep noisy PS away from my gear. 

Many uptone power supply users use LPS to feed them anyway...

[Cortes]

3 minutes ago, rafa said:

It's audio. I would still keep noisy PS away from my gear. 

Many uptone power supply users use LPS to feed them anyway...

 

@Rafa, do you have any update on the Gustard U16?. I plan to buy a ddc soon, but still I don't know whether the new, and much more expensive, Sinxger SU-6 is something better. I know from you posts that at least the Gustard U16 is better than the sinxger SU-1. 

[buonassi]

apologies if this has already been covered - I tried searching to no avail:

 

My player software (Mac with Audirvana+) can be set to control the DAC hardware volume - in this case, it sees SU-1 as a DAC (really a bridge feeding my metrum DAC with coax spdif max of 24/192).  What volume attenuation method does the SU-1 use?  I'm assuming it pads all source bit depths to 24 bit, then bit-strips the LSBs to attenuate?  Can someone confirm this is the case?  

 

Also, since I use Audirvana+, I wonder if the iZotope MBIT+ dithering volume control is superior?  For 16 bit files, probably not, but for 24 bit source files, I can see where dither might make sense - maybe... i dunno enough about this stuff!  

[rafa]

On 12/27/2018 at 10:01 AM, Cortes said:

 

@Rafa, do you have any update on the Gustard U16?. I plan to buy a ddc soon, but still I don't know whether the new, and much more expensive, Sinxger SU-6 is something better. I know from you posts that at least the Gustard U16 is better than the sinxger SU-1. 

From my post you can read that U16 is better than strongly modified Su-1. More than what Singxer did with SU-1 to get SU-6.

Go for U16. Is more fluid and smooth than ever XMOS can be.

[ThenewGearPPK]

6 hours ago, rafa said:

From my post you can read that U16 is better than strongly modified Su-1. More than what Singxer did with SU-1 to get SU-6.

Go for U16. Is more fluid and smooth than ever XMOS can be.

 

How would you know it's better than the SU-6?  You never actually tried one?

In fact, seems no one here has bought one yet.

[rafa]

13 hours ago, ThenewGearPPK said:

 

How would you know it's better than the SU-6?  You never actually tried one?

In fact, seems no one here has bought one yet.

It is same design with modifications. If you know anything about electronics and have some experience with it you can assume w 90% accuracy...