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Topping E70 Stereo DAC Review

Rate this DAC:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 8 2.1%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 8 2.1%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 45 11.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 317 83.9%

  • Total voters
    378

Atanasi

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And how much dB do you usually have to lower to get soft music? For active speakers?
Genelecs at their highest (default) sensitivity produce 100 dB SPL at -6 dBu (0.388 V). This is 20 dB attenuation from 4 V. So if you want something like 50 dB SPL, it makes 70 dB attenuation.
 

antcollinet

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And how much dB do you usually have to lower to get soft music? For active speakers?
Assuming your dac is at least 24 bits (which is better than the 130dB noisefloor mentioned) then you can attenuate by 48dB before you reduce the signal to 16 bits (eg redbook) resolution. -48dB from something at a loudish listening level is almost inaudible.

Good luck detecting a noise floor 96dB (16 bits) below something almost inaudible.


EDIT - lets put it another way. 24bits resolution puts the quantisation noise floor 144dB below full scale. Even if you are listening to music at 100dB (can cause damage to your ears after just 15 minutes), then you can turn that down by 100dB to 0dB : the quitest level the human ear can hear. The noise floor is still 44dB down from that.

Quality of digital volume control is a non issue. It also doesn't suffer from channel mismatch and crosstalk often a problem with analogue volume control.
 
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R.Vic

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Assuming your dac is at least 24 bits (which is better than the 130dB noisefloor mentioned) then you can attenuate by 48dB before you reduce the signal to 16 bits (eg redbook) resolution. -48dB from something at a loudish listening level is almost inaudible.

Good luck detecting a noise floor 96dB (16 bits) below something almost inaudible.


EDIT - lets put it another way. 24bits resolution puts the quantisation noise floor 144dB below full scale. Even if you are listening to music at 100dB (can cause damage to your ears after just 15 minutes), then you can turn that down by 100dB to 0dB : the quitest level the human ear can hear. The noise floor is still 44dB down from that.

Quality of digital volume control is a non issue. It also doesn't suffer from channel mismatch and crosstalk often a problem with analogue volume control.
130-48=82
82/6=13.6 bit

Why do I need a separate DAC (for the audio card)? For 13 bits?
 

antcollinet

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E70's best case is around 20-22.5 bit (multitone),so he's not entirely wrong.
OK - so we are talking the actual dac noise floor at -130dB : analogue electronics and distortion dominated.

So take that example of listening at 100dB but limiting it to 15 minutes so as not to kill your ears.

Turn it down by 70dB, and it is now at the level of a pretty quiet room noise floor. 10dB below that, and pretty certain you've already lost the music in the room noise.

The DAC noise floor is still 50dB lower. Think about that - 50db (300+ times) lower than something you already can't hear.
 

Sokel

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OK - so we are talking the actual dac noise floor at -130dB : analogue electronics and distortion dominated.

So take that example of listening at 100dB but limiting it to 15 minutes so as not to kill your ears.

Turn it down by 70dB, and it is now at the level of a pretty quiet room noise floor. 10dB below that, and pretty certain you've already lost the music in the room noise.

The DAC noise floor is still 50dB lower. Think about that - 50db (300+ times) lower than something you already can't hear.
You know I know all that,I just like to put them in real world conditions that's why I already said that even at 60 db will be inaudible.
Every decent DAC (at around 17-20 bit multitone) will be under right conditions.
 

R.Vic

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The conclusion is that even a cheap audio card with modest dac characteristics, but with analog volume control will be preferable to this and similar dacs. And if you have an audio card even without analog volume control, it is not really worth buying an external dac.
If you have to turn it down by 70 dB (with e70 we will listen to 10 bits at best)), all cats are gray in the dark room)).

Or as an option for this dac - a separate still analog volume control. But I don't really like the idea.
 

staticV3

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The conclusion is that even a cheap audio card with modest dac characteristics, but with analog volume control will be preferable to this and similar dacs. And if you have an audio card even without analog volume control, it is not really worth buying an external dac.
If you have to turn it down by 70 dB (with e70 we will listen to 10 bits at best)), all cats are gray in the dark room)).
Or you could just turn down the gain on your amplifier and keep the E70 at (close to) full volume, therefore benefiting from its full dynamic range.
 

Trell

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Or you could just turn down the gain on your amplifier and keep the E70 at (close to) full volume, therefore benefiting from its full dynamic range.
Or if that is not possible he can buy passive attenuators.
 

JustJones

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The conclusion is that even a cheap audio card with modest dac characteristics, but with analog volume control will be preferable to this and similar dacs.
I'll make a wild assumption that a cheap audio card with modest DAC characteristics will stay in its price point with noisy analog control so pick your poison.
 

BR52

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This measurement from page 1 can be helpfull
Topping E70 Stereo USB DAC Bluetooth Balanced THD vs Level Measurements.png
 
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Kane1972

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Can you run a pair of RCA cables from the E70 into the RCA inputs on the sub? Then set the E70 for XLR and RCA and see if that works. Another option would be to get an audio interface like a Drawmer CMC2 and connect the E70, monitors and sub to it. At $360, the CMC2 ain't cheap, though.
But you don't want both the sub and the main monitors to both be producing bass, you usually go via the subwoofer, and it sends on the rest of the signal, above the crossover frequency to the monitors, so the mains produce say everything 70hz and above and the sub everything below that.
 

MadMaxx

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But you don't want both the sub and the main monitors to both be producing bass, you usually go via the subwoofer, and it sends on the rest of the signal, above the crossover frequency to the monitors, so the mains produce say everything 70hz and above and the sub everything below that.
Well, I never claimed using XLR & RCA together was an optimal solution. ;)

An audio interface like the CMC2 is far better (and far more expensive). I'm using it for my PC audio setup. Works flawlessly.
 

Kane1972

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Most studio monitors have adjustable HPF.

jajmp9M.jpg
Not sure about most, none of mine do. However, in my opinion, it's still better for the sub to do the cross over, because the slope could be different on the monitors to what is on the sub. Maybe you have a sub and monitor system that is made with the same slopes etc?
 

sambol

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Maybe, not sure. Monitors are Focal Shape 40, subwoofer is KRK S8.4, I didn't notice any problems with the sound.
I had a problem with audible buzz when I passed the signal through the subwoofer and I did not manage to solve that problem (apparently the KRK was not up to the task). Using separate outputs from the L70 in preamp mode (RCA and XLR) solved the problem.
 
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