I’m looking at the SMSL SU-8 da-8s drop like
Is that an upgrade to the topping PA3? It’s running the JBL Studio 530 on my desk.
I would also be replacing my modi3+ with that SU-8. That an upgrade too? I’m interested in going balanced headphones sometime too.
Hi. Well, I can share with you what my experience has been so far as I have just purchased the S-8 stack. The SU-8 DAC and the DA-8S amp. I started out with a Topping MX-3 All-in one going into Neumi BS5 speakers. The MX-3 did a fine job for a desktop deployment, but I feel that this S8 stack is a huge upgrade. The extra power (in my case) just woke everything up. It’s great! This new German amp circuit sounds wonderful.
I can’t speak to the DAC-to-DAC comparison, But I can say that I am very happy with how this setup performs. And you have better speakers than I , so that is exciting for you! The DA-8S does have a few quirks, like the small screen and what some perceive as a clunky volume knob, but these things don’t bother me at all. I think for the price this amp kicks butt!
I hope this helped. Best of luck with your decision process. Obviously there are better amps out there, but for the price this is pretty hard to beat in my opinion.
Hell yeah that helps. I have the mx3 as well in the other room. It did a competent job on the JBLs. After some testing I’ll probably sell my schiit stack if I go with this set. Thanks for the help here!
Yessir! I am keeping my MX-3 as a separate headphone solution for now because of course the S8 stack does have a headphone component in the SH-8, but that is separate. Right now I am in no great rush to get that final piece (budget constraints!) because the MX-3’s headphone amp sounds really good! I have a CD plyer connected and of course, I can stream with my phone via bluetooth, which sounds pretty killer and comes with the bonus of being able to use the remote to control the “streamer”!
da-8s purchased from apos saturday afternoon, arrived this morning. magic dhl.
These sound great! Thanks for the rec @Raptor168
Incidentally, killed my drop order because buyers remorse on the su-8 (lack of need atm and need to upgrade to diff headphone amp so i’ll … save money and await a good balanced headphone deal).
Glad that the DA-8S is working for you. Pressure is off now! 
I continue to love mine. The one thing you can’t do with the S-8 series is run all three pieces as an integrated solution because there is only one balanced output. If I wanted to I could get an XLR AB switcher like the Nobsound Little Bear and that would solve the problem. And I still might do that. BUT… The S-9 stack is out there… I hear the SU-9 is an even better DAC. So I need to think about it some. My headphone solution is definitely not set in stone.
