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D10 2019 or D30

  • D10

    Votes: 16 61.5%
  • D30

    Votes: 10 38.5%

  • Total voters
    26

Willem

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I quite like the better tv sound. Anyway, the argument is that you get more flexibility. Many sources and not just television have optical outputs. A good example would be the Chromecast Audio that I use for streaming. I find that far more convenient than a computer.
 

Willem

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What do you mean by wireless streaming? From where to what?
 
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La!$

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Optical or coax will likely be worse than USB, since you'll be connecting the clocks via PLL.
The great thing about USB is that you'll have a jitter-free connection using a $2 cable. The USB data connection is a twisted pair differential signal, and assuming a USB2.0 or better specced cable there will be very few lost bits in your lifetime.

You'll still need a pair of RCA cables for the analog signal - sorry, no recommendations from me. I often use two strands of a high-quality RGB video cable for this since I can't (subjectively) hear the difference with expensive "interlinks" and had these available.

PS: For digital coax I've always used the 3rd strand of that high quality RGB video cable (75 ohm), they're relatively cheap and very reliable - never any glitches. Toslink has the advantage of galvanic separation of source and destination, but that comes in play when you may have a ground loop.
The signal that goes from audio file to streamer via USB to the DAC, the DAC connects via RCA to the speaker. The bus power from the streamer is the only power source for the D10. Will that be a problem?
 

Willem

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Power source does not make a difference unless something is rather wrong.
Usb is marginally better than coax or optical but you will not hear the difference. So it is down to functionality.
If you want to control from your phone I would suggest a Chromecast Audio as the source. It can also control the volume but it is nice if you also have some volume control on your speakers (do you?) or altenatively on the DAC.
 
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La!$

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Power source does not make a difference unless something is rather wrong.
Usb is marginally better than coax or optical but you will not hear the difference. So it is down to functionality.
If you want to control from your phone I would suggest a Chromecast Audio as the source. It can also control the volume but it is nice if you also have some volume control on your speakers (do you?) or altenatively on the DAC.
Yes my speakers have volume control! It's the Audioengine A5+ ☺️
 
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La!$

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Power source does not make a difference unless something is rather wrong.
Usb is marginally better than coax or optical but you will not hear the difference. So it is down to functionality.
If you want to control from your phone I would suggest a Chromecast Audio as the source. It can also control the volume but it is nice if you also have some volume control on your speakers (do you?) or altenatively on the DAC.
Something like this? https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/153461288874

Can it store FLAC music files?
 

Willem

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No that is the video Chromecast. You need the Chromecast Audio. It has been discontinued but you can still find it. It will connect to a computer or NAS via BubbleUPnP. Its primary purpose is streaming from services like Spotify etc.
 
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La!$

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No that is the video Chromecast. You need the Chromecast Audio. It has been discontinued but you can still find it. It will connect to a computer or NAS via BubbleUPnP. Its primary purpose is streaming from services like Spotify etc.
Ah! I'd rather stay wires then! haha.. Ordering my D10 now! ☺️
 
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La!$

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No that is the video Chromecast. You need the Chromecast Audio. It has been discontinued but you can still find it. It will connect to a computer or NAS via BubbleUPnP. Its primary purpose is streaming from services like Spotify etc.
Currently using a UGREEN RCA audio BT receiver to play music from my iPhone to Speakers. Can a BT 5.0 high end receiver many codecs show significant audio quality while streaming from my phone? Was wondering if I would benefit from a device like this: https://www.fiio.com/btr3
 
Last edited:

sajunky

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Currently using a UGREEN RCA audio BT receiver to play music from my iPhone to Speakers. Can a BT 5.0 high end receiver many codecs show significant audio quality while streaming from my phone?
With Bluetooth there is always codec conversion. Even when you play MP3 and receiver is MP3 capable, it is converted to PCM and back to MP3 (with different parameters). It is always beneficial to have your library stored in losless format. Maybe AAC streaming with iPhone is an exception, I don't know.
 
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La!$

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With Bluetooth there is always codec conversion. Even when you play MP3 and receiver is MP3 capable, it is converted to PCM and back to MP3 (with different parameters). It is always beneficial to have your library stored in losless format. Maybe AAC streaming with iPhone is an exception, I don't know.
Please shed some light on my latest thread! ☺️
 

L5730

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5.1v 2.5A PSU > Raspberry Pi 3B + Volumio image on a uSD > Topping D10 USB > whatever analogue amp/speaker setup.
Windows PC with Foobar2000 + uPnP Renderer (can't recall which one, might be the more complicated component).
Play music in Foobar2000 in Windows, audio comes out of Raspberry Pi>D10.
Also, if things are setup right, you can control Foobar2000 and select songs from Volumio controlling Foobar2000, which is snazzy!

Works fine with PCM material, seemed a little unstable with DSD (DoP?), but it did play over Ethernet.
I'm sure things would be fine over WiFi so long as you have a relatively current WiFi router and WiFi device on the PC.
There is also a uPnP renderer thing that allows whatever is playing to Windows to play over uPnP, although that is probably 16bit 48kHz and all input is re-sampled garbage.
Probably works with Linux/MacOS and WINE to run Foobar2000 in, not tried that yet.

As for a 2019 version, I think what they might be trying to say is that it's the current iteration, latest firmware installed and the early firmware kinks are not going to be an issue.
 
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La!$

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5.1v 2.5A PSU > Raspberry Pi 3B + Volumio image on a uSD > Topping D10 USB > whatever analogue amp/speaker setup.
Windows PC with Foobar2000 + uPnP Renderer (can't recall which one, might be the more complicated component).
Play music in Foobar2000 in Windows, audio comes out of Raspberry Pi>D10.
Also, if things are setup right, you can control Foobar2000 and select songs from Volumio controlling Foobar2000, which is snazzy!

Works fine with PCM material, seemed a little unstable with DSD (DoP?), but it did play over Ethernet.
I'm sure things would be fine over WiFi so long as you have a relatively current WiFi router and WiFi device on the PC.
There is also a uPnP renderer thing that allows whatever is playing to Windows to play over uPnP, although that is probably 16bit 48kHz and all input is re-sampled garbage.
Probably works with Linux/MacOS and WINE to run Foobar2000 in, not tried that yet.

As for a 2019 version, I think what they might be trying to say is that it's the current iteration, latest firmware installed and the early firmware kinks are not going to be an issue.
Possible with Topping D50S?
 

L5730

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^ I don't see why not. D50 / D50s have external PSU need to use a second USB for power which is the only limiting factor, oh and there being driver support for it - I think the driver would be very close to the D10, so Volumio should find it without problem. Hardware volume control then works from Volumio, controls the ESS DAC chip 32(?) bit gain.
You may need an external PSU for the D50/D50s - what current does it draw?
 
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La!$

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^ I don't see why not. D50 / D50s have external PSU which is the only limiting factor, oh and there being driver support for it - I think the driver would be very close to the D10, so Volumio should find it without problem. Hardware volume control then works from Volumio, controls the ESS DAC chip 32(?) bit gain.
Thank You! ☺️
 

L5730

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@La!$ The D50s requires 5v @ 1A according to what I could see on Topping's site.
The Raspberry Pi 3B (and 3B+) will put out a maximum of 1.2A shared between all 4 USB ports and the RPi consumes 400mA-500mA itself.
A 2.5A 5.1v PSU should be adequate to power the RPi and the D50s, but don't expect to put much else on the RPi, like little TFT screens and such.

I'd be more inclined to just buy a cheap 5v 1A+ charger block thing. Put the USB>Barrel connector on that and power the D50s externally, and just run the other USB cable from RPi>D50s. Leaves more room for the RPi to operate as designed, and you should have enough current to drive a little screen, keyboard mouse or other little things.
 
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La!$

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@La!$ The D50s requires 5v @ 1A according to what I could see on Topping's site.
The Raspberry Pi 3B (and 3B+) will put out a maximum of 1.2A shared between all 4 USB ports and the RPi consumes 400mA-500mA itself.
A 2.5A 5.1v PSU should be adequate to power the RPi and the D50s, but don't expect to put much else on the RPi, like little TFT screens and such.

I'd be more inclined to just buy a cheap 5v 1A+ charger block thing. Put the USB>Barrel connector on that and power the D50s externally, and just run the other USB cable from RPi>D50s. Leaves more room for the RPi to operate as designed, and you should have enough current to drive a little screen, keyboard mouse or other little things.
The D50S has a power supply of its own sold separately called the P50. What's the difference?
 

L5730

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It's nearly as big as the D50s for one thing! Has a nice box it's in and is a Linear PSU
There's a lot of talk about PSUs in other threads. I am sure someone better equipped than I might be able to answer the question of it's it's worth it over a cheap switch-mode PSU.
Powering from a RPi is going to be somewhat noisy because of the things happening on the RPi board and lack of extensive filtering. These Topping DACs seem to be unphased by a little bit of 'dirty' power.
 
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La!$

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It's nearly as big as the D50s for one thing! Has a nice box it's in and is a Linear PSU
There's a lot of talk about PSUs in other threads. I am sure someone better equipped than I might be able to answer the question of it's it's worth it over a cheap switch-mode PSU.
Powering from a RPi is going to be somewhat noisy because of the things happening on the RPi board and lack of extensive filtering. These Topping DACs seem to be unphased by a little bit of 'dirty' power.
Will this do the job?
 

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