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Review and Measurements of New Topping D50s DAC

Veri

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OK, I promised the Apos rep I would spread the word:

So, I had ordered the D50s on drop.com but had to wait until 11/19 to ship. On the recommendation of @josiah I checked with apos.store. A. They have it in stock. B. Chat guy (he's a star) immediately agreed to price match. C. No tax! So It's a done deal, should arrive by Friday. I'll compare to my Musical Fidelity V90 and report back. :cool:

Thanks, @josiah !!

Oh, apos.store guy also said the SMSL SP200 will be in stock shortly at $289 and he'll email me after a conf call with SMSL that's coming up.

They already have a very pretty product page!
https://apos.audio/products/smsl-sp200-thx-headphone-amp
 

TomB19

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Is there any thought of testing with the P50? It's tough to imagine it would make much difference but it would be interesting to quantify.
 

Veri

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Is there any thought of testing with the P50? It's tough to imagine it would make much difference but it would be interesting to quantify.
He already tested with Sbooster and Hdplex though. Both times lower ultrasonics and switching noise, both times no difference in audible range...

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LPS would be a waste of money. For sure.
 

TomB19

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Regarding the P50,

Amazon has a package deal P50/D50s right now that makes the P50 about $90 CAD. The vendor is DILVSHI.

I certainly respect the data showing there will be no audible improvement but I like the look and I try to stick with equipment that is substantial so as to feed my ego.
 

Berwhale

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Regarding the P50,

Amazon has a package deal P50/D50s right now that makes the P50 about $90 CAD. The vendor is DILVSHI.

I certainly respect the data showing there will be no audible improvement but I like the look and I try to stick with equipment that is substantial so as to feed my ego.

Or you could just keep the $90 CAD in a little pot by the D50s to remind yourself of a rational purchasing decision backed up by objective data (I almost bought the P50 as well).
 

Veri

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Or you could just keep the $90 CAD in a little pot by the D50s to remind yourself of a rational purchasing decision backed up by objective data (I almost bought the P50 as well).
I bought the Sbooster myself... thankfully sold it with zero losses. It really made no difference at all.
 

Berwhale

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@amirm did you conduct any testing on the bluetooth input on this? Would be interesting to see how Bluetooth LDAC measures up...

LDAC is lossy, so I think you would just end up measuring the performance of LDAC rather than the D50s.

Subjectively, I can't tell the difference between the USB input (Windows 10 with ASIO), the optical input (connected to Chromecast Audio) or the Bluetooth input from my phone (USB Audio Player running bit perfect into LDAC on a Samsung Galaxy Note 9).
 

Alou

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Its been a while i followed this forum as guest ,so i decided to join.
I own a D10 dac which plays exceptionally well.After reading all the good measurements decided to order a D50 but hen changed my mind since most if not all D50 are malfunctioning sooner or later,So i mailed Topping and they replied that they stopped the D50 and do not know how to repair yet the faults of the D50 .So the next choice was the D50s eventough Bluetooth is no needed ,then i read that coax is not working ,the filters can not be bypassed ,you have to chose one and also you can not bypass volume control in case you hook up a separate preamp.
Too many defects here.
So the logic here tells me keep the D10 and get another D10? (I was going to get the D50 for home and use the D10 at the office) Or look at the SMSL SU-8 ?Event the TEAC U301 came to mind ,you can find these at almost the same price of the D50s,not ESS but AKM still dual mono though + XLR .
Based on specs i would have prefered a D50 but too many defects from what i read .on DROP (former massdrop ) allot have receieved untis that poped one after the other so ,is the D50 just a timebomb so to speak. What ealse to look at the 250 price range?
 
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Alou

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After reading your post, I tested the coax on my Topping d50s and found my coax input didn't seem to work either. I googled around and saw some posts that indicated that the coax input on the Topping is sensitive to the cable. I have bunch of audio and video cables. I tried them all. I did find one cable, a 75 ohm RCA RGB video cable that works. I have some fairly good (I thought) 75 ohm audio cables that didn't work. I am using a Raspberry Pi Zero with a JustBoom DAC. The coax output on that works fine with any cable on my other preamp. Maybe the Topping is impedance sensitive or the JustBoom just isn't capable of driving it?
Get a bulk professional video cable psf-1/3 and use it with some good quality RCA.This is the best cable for digital signals used in hundreads of studios.
 

Hoinar

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Hello again.
I threw myself to a d50pro topping. But I see that it has no power supply included. Do you necessarily need 5v with 1 a ... or does 5v2a work?
 

Hoinar

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After all, I ordered topping dx3 pro v2 ....
I hope I didn't choose the wrong one. Thanks
 

Alou

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dx3 is a completely different DAC then d50.
Depends on what you were looking for though.
 

Hoinar

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dx3 is a completely different DAC then d50.
Depends on what you were looking for though.

I want to have a nice sound, but at the same time be detailed, have a punch. Do you think I can find it in dx3 pro v2? Please also tell me what the differences between them would be.
It will be used only dac.
I do not listen to the IEM
 

Alou

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Besides technical specs i can to say much because i don't own either ,perhaps others can share info on this,but the dx3po is also dual moxo 2x AKM dac instead of ESS ,same architecture as the DX7 pro so probably a personal taste .You can read the topic on the DX3 pro here.
Specwise its quite qood and you also get a headphone amp
I am trying to find info myself if it is worth getting the d50s ,since i want a second DAC and i already have a D10.
The d50s (D50 is out of production) has some things that bother me and wish someone could answer ,see post above.
 

Alou

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Well i went ahead and ordered a D50s just based on the better specs,since D50 is out of production,BT is not needed at all.
 

Alou

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I got my D50s in about a month ago and was listening to it a lot for about a week. I thought the sound was a little fatiguing but thought it sounded so clear and wonderful in most ways that I didn't mind. Now I have hearing damage, validated by a ENT doc. There's ringing in my ears that he says might go away in 4 to 6 months. I don't remember anything else that could have caused it. No loud noises, wasn't playing my music too loud, nothing but the new DAC. It could be a coincidence but I can't see how it is. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
Yes,i have a friend who has a similar case and went to a specialized otolaryngologists ,the thing was that the ear nerves were not getting enough or proper blood supply ,so to speak He gave him some medication to recover this and he was fine in less then 15 days. Stress can also cause humming or the so called "bee" sound as well.
 

yodog

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Can the D50s be a preamp or a DAC and is configurable by a switch like the D70?
 
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