Topping E70 Stereo DAC Review

[gvl]

Thank You @amirm,
For those who are interested (or amused) with real-XLR outputs from a DAC, this is a worthy consideration.
But I have a question that has not been asked yet:
For a desktop "mini" system, what would be a matching/complimentary powerAmp (ClassD @60W/ch) which will readily accept real-XLR inputs (such as those from the E70)? << Equivalent 'Form/Fit/Function/Funds'
I did a few brief searches (and tickled my brain) but haven't come up with a reasonable answer yet!
Please help!

I suggest active monitors for desktop use.

 

[antcollinet]

actually yes, they all have that rise, but in some cases it's more significant than others. i'm not happy to see 20db+ difference!
here are few that have that rise insignificant to the point i never noticed it reading reviews.


i'm not granting wishes here. just unhappy to see last possible chance for this devices to make me interested in it. that is no low freq hump in imd reaching that 120db or so. going one step ahead: i already mentioned this is only to reach buyers satisfaction.….

So because the distortion rises from very very very inaudible, to just very very inaudible at lower frequencies, it makes you not interested in it?

That is a strange and (to me) illogical thought process.

 

[antcollinet]

@JohnYang1997 OK we get it... SINAD wars are now over... We've reached the SINAD singularity in DACs. WooHoo...

But you know what we'd all love - a "DX # Pro +" with a parametric EQ facility built-in. Something where we can config in software and push to the device. No more messing about. Set your EQ for the phones you got and enjoy witout needing to be by your computer.

Better still - allow for multiple EQ presets, so one can use with multiple phones, or just listen to multiple profiles.

That‘d be a mini dsp flex you are looking for.

 

[eddantes]

That‘d be a mini dsp flex you are looking for.

Unless MDSP Flex has a headphone amp - nope, it wouldn't. IL-DSP is closer, but not quite.

 

[antcollinet]

Low end multitone performance on this E70 is ~15db WORSE than the E30 II DAC.

I make it more like 5dB - but why care - the distortion is still inaudible.

 

[beagleman]

These signal to noise measurements are already way above what you need! If you consider the noise floor in a quiet room is 30db and your max home listening level should be no more than 100db so that's a range of 70db that's audible. Any equipment with signal to noise greater than 80db will have no noise that you can possibly hear over the ambient noise in a very quiet room.

There are several in here that will totally agree with you, and several that will contest what say.

Real world audibility is one thing.
Limits OF audibility in a perfect setting are another.

Doing some quick experiments, I have found that around -75 db below my normal loudest music playback levels, (95-100 db or so at most) that the music would mostly vanish completely.
My room background level runs around 27-29 db with no air handler or trains running a mile away or no street traffic.

So background "sound" drowns out my 20 decibel music. So approximately maybe 8 db or so of overlap, make it 10 to round off.

So I would estimate 80 as being a good max number also.

 

[pseudoid]

I suggest active monitors for desktop use.

Oh, Okay!

 

[dananski]

Thank You @amirm,
For those who are interested (or amused) with real-XLR outputs from a DAC, this is a worthy consideration.
But I have a question that has not been asked yet:
For a desktop "mini" system, what would be a matching/complimentary powerAmp (ClassD @60W/ch) which will readily accept real-XLR inputs (such as those from the E70)? << Equivalent 'Form/Fit/Function/Funds'
I did a few brief searches (and tickled my brain) but haven't come up with a reasonable answer yet!
Please help!

Aside from the already mentioned world of powered monitors, there's also a few amps around, e.g. Audiophonics HPA-S400ET, Topping's own LA90 and PA5 and most pro gear like rack-mounted amps (mixers are notably mostly XLR too). Hopefully the home audio industry can shift more to XLR, since the extra SNR is essentially free.

 

[okok]

just stop chasing the sun and stick with what you have, new gears are flooding and pouring in every hour, what's that, stock market?

 

[bequietjk]

Good lord almighty. And you know the L70 review is coming soon.

 

[don'ttrustauthority]

With this kind of "near perfection" gear we are getting closer to the end of our hobby. The fun will be over soon.

What is your definition of perfection? We have been past audibility for some time.

 

[don'ttrustauthority]

No MQA just becasue of you bunch!! Just because of your influence , now manufacturers shying away from MQA . I said this would happen!! And its already started! remember this community is influential. With great power comes great responsibility!!!

Yes, you did keep the faith, that we could do away with MQA!

 

[pseudoid]

For a desktop "mini" system, what would be a matching/complimentary powerAmp (ClassD @60W/ch) which will readily accept real-XLR inputs (such as those from the E70)? << Equivalent 'Form/Fit/Function/Funds'

My question was an attempt to bait @JohnYang1997 to consider offering such a powerAmp by Topping.

 

[Human Bass]

No MQA just becasue of you bunch!! Just because of your influence , now manufacturers shying away from MQA . I said this would happen!! And its already started! remember this community is influential. With great power comes great responsibility!!!

Good. I would be ok with mqa if the licensing was fair, but it seems to cost an awful lot. I've seen the same models of dacs costing 100 dollars more because of mqa and thats absurd.

 

[krappo]

Very impressed, will order one soon

 

[Entropy]

Looks... Fine. Not particularly special. $350 can seem like a good price, or a mediocre one depending on how you look at it. If you're looking at raw measured performance relative to the competition, sure, not bad. Relative to audibility? Not great. Doesn't seem especially refined in the display or build, so it gets a "fine" from me.

 

[berthold]

And don't forget about a pair of low capacitance XLR to TRS cables when buying... https://www.adamhall.com/shop/us-en...d-cables/balanced-cables/3388/5-star-bfv-0050

Isn't this the wrong cable? We need XLR male (!!!) to TRS!

 

[Entropy]

Very good NON MQA DAC, I wish my E50 also was non Mqa...

Wonder how much cheaper it'd be to produce, and how much they'd lower the price if they did that.

 

[amirm]

An APX555 does it with a chirp, lasting a fraction of a second.

So, yes, it's simple.

No it isn't simple. I don't use Chirp signals for electronics. Only headphones and speakers use that. Chirp sweeps lack accuracy and create response errors that are larger than the filters used here. As for time, each sweep has 60 points and there are 7+ filters. One frequency response test alone 10 minutes. Then there is the out of band version which takes another 5 to 10 minutes as each requires changing settings on the device to run. All in all, I spend 1 to 2 hours testing a product like this. I appreciate you not trivializing the work involved.

As to testing pure functionality, anyone can do that. It doesn't need my instrumentation or knowledge. My reviews always include some amount of this as I unpack and test the product. Those with amps in them also get listening tests.

 

[amirm]

At least as "we" are measuring and presenting things as of now. But maybe we are not looking deep enough? E.g. "Jitter is now nicely handled across both older S/PDIF and new USB interfaces:" - these charts struts at 1k

No they do not.

The graph starts at 20 Hz and goes to 20 kHz (full audible band). To with, hose spikes you see at the start are in the signal and are at multiples of 250 Hz.

As to USB and jitter, the interface clock itself is not used. But DAC internal activity can still generate jitter on its own. This is why I still measure USB jitter.