Topping D50 III Balanced DAC with EQ Review

[abdo123]

Both will obviously be a lot more expensive. But at least D90 III D will give PEQ on all inputs. I think for the price though it should also include a headphone amp.

Wait which input is this active on?

 

[Sokel]

Well yes, but the Topping is already at -120 dB, below the limit of audibility, this is what counts. If you chuck in additionally -180 dB to make Rob Watts happy, nice, but does not affect sound quality.

Nope,what you see in the chart is the FFT gain,not the actual noise floor which in the other post's comparison shows some 20db hit and that's the balanced output and with one filter at 100Hz.
Yes,probably it won't be audible but noise doesn't stay low for sure as it seems.

 

[DLS79]

Wait which input is this active on?

USB only for the D50 iii.

 

[CedarX]

Nope,what you see in the chart is the FFT gain,not the actual noise floor which in the other post's comparison shows some 20db hit and that's the balanced output and with one filter at 100Hz.
Yes,probably it won't be audible but noise doesn't stay low for sure as it seems.

Is this “true” (uncorrelated) noise? If the D50-III digital filters are processed/calculated in the Xmos XU316 chip, what would create random noise?

 

[Sokel]

Is this “true” (uncorrelated) noise? If the D50-III digital filters are processed/calculated in the Xmos XU316 chip, what would create random noise?

Have a look at this post and the links.

It seems that is common amongst many devices.miniDSP applied a partial fix as a result of one of the threads in the links.
In their forum they were complains for years about actual,audible noise that's why I measured Flex as soon as I got it with filters in place.

Would it be audible with my gear?Maybe yes,maybe no,I didn't even listen to it.Had the fix be applied by then maybe I would and I would keep it.
But I would sure prefer a nicer one.

 

[phantompowered]

I guess you’ve never set foot in a professional studio?

Used to work in one, in fact, worked in several. Please, be more condescending, I'd positively love that.

Balanced runs should be on XLR. At the very least they're a locking connector, which, personally, I trust a heck of a lot better than a 1/4 jack (unless it's a nice locking Neutrik at the female end.)

I understand that Topping is being budget conscious here, but come on. Even if it's balanced, being on 1/4 makes me have to get my adapters out to hook it up to other balanced gear. As @Labjr said, 1/4 connectors are prone to strain failures. It looks cheap, it feels cheap. Furthermore, it's easier to identify on sight what you need rather than wasting time sorting your TS cables from TRS, etc.

 

[DLS79]

I understand that Topping is being budget conscious here, but come on. Even if it's balanced, being on 1/4 makes me have to get my adapters out to hook it up to other balanced gear.

Then as I told @Labjr buy a different DAC, I'm sure the D90 iii D with have balanced XLR.

 

[Labjr]

Then as I told @Labjr buy a different DAC, I'm sure the D90 iii D with have balanced XLR.

Huh?? You seem a bit uptight.

 

[Dzhaughn]

Take my money!

 

[Pouyoux]

Overall, I was very impressed with fit and finish of the Topping Tune seeing how this is their first attempt at software development. On great addition there would be to be able to update the firmware in the DAC.

It's already doable to update the DAC with a standalone updater : https://www.tpdz.net/newsinfo/904685.html

It can make sense to know the firmware version used for the review because there are numerous bug fixes since the initial firmware release (the full release notes is available in the updater package).

There are 2 ways to know the running firmware release :
- launching the update tool with the DAC connected :

- Turn D50 III off by the power switch of rear panel. Then press and keep holding the knob, turn on D50 III by the same power switch, release the knob (can't make this one to work but you can have success on your own).

 

[Saponetto]

Sorry of extend you my bad memories with the early attempt of eq by Topping, the long time forgotten M50.
That device was unable to equalize any audio above 44.1.
@amirm, do you know if this new device shares a similar behavior?

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Sorry of extend you my bad memories with the early attempt of eq by Topping, the long time forgotten M50.
That device was unable to equalize any audio above 44.1.
@amirm, do you know if this new device shares a similar behavior?

 

[Saponetto]

Oh! : Thanks a lot!

 

[Inertiaman]

I don't understand -- for this product or others which have done the same -- why PEQ is implemented in a way that forces the same filter on L and R channels.

It doesn't save any significant hardware resources. It slightly simplifies the configuration SW, but imho that's not enough benefit when weighed against the loss of independent L/R filtering that virtually every use case outside of headphones would desire.

 

[IXOYE]

Finally another DAC with PEQ, it took a long time, RME apparently set the bar high, CrossFeed next please.

 

[thewas]

I don't understand -- for this product or others which have done the same -- why PEQ is implemented in a way that forces the same filter on L and R channels.

Also it seems the EQ works only for the USB input where actually its needed the least as most such typical devices can implement EQ per software.

 

[regan]

Isn't the Wiim Pro Plus already include a great dac and also eq? Is this topping model significantly superior?

 

[DLS79]

It doesn't save any significant hardware resources.

this is not necessarily true, when you get down to IC level programming you can run into issues that aren't common today in general computing today, i.e. lack of memory.

It slightly simplifies the configuration SW, but imho that's not enough benefit when weighed against the loss of independent L/R filtering that virtually every use case outside of headphones would desire.

It was released the same day as the A50 iii, so it is very much aimed at headphone users!

 

[Inertiaman]

Also it seems the EQ works only for the USB input where actually its needed the least as most such typical devices can implement EQ per software.

Based on earlier posts in the thread, the computing for the PEQ filters is in cores in the USB chip, and presumably there is no practical way to route other external sources into the USB chip. So as undesirable as PEQ-only-on-USB is, at least there is an obvious HW constraint that forced this limitation.

 

[DLS79]

Also it seems the EQ works only for the USB input where actually its needed the least as most such typical devices can implement EQ per software.

Several of use have hypothesized its because topping has leveraged the DSP of the XU316 USB controller, so that's why it would really only work with usb.

https://www.xmos.com/download/XU316-1024-QF60A-xcore_ai-Datasheet(26).pdf