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Review and Measurements of Topping D50 DAC

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amirm

amirm

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Would it be compatible with iFi iPower? It is affordable and I saw somewhere on Computer Audiophile that it is the most excellent measuring (in terms of noise) wall-wart on the market right now.
iFi iPower leaks AC mains into its output. As such, I would not power anything related to audio to it. I have measured it many times with the same effect. See this for example: https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...asurements-of-sonore-microrendu-streamer.577/

index.php


The USB power out of my laptop is far cleaner (as indicated by the cyan curve above).
 

bunkbail

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iFi iPower leaks AC mains into its output. As such, I would not power anything related to audio to it. I have measured it many times with the same effect. See this for example: https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...asurements-of-sonore-microrendu-streamer.577/

index.php


The USB power out of my laptop is far cleaner (as indicated by the cyan curve above).
Woah! Haven't seen that one before. So what's with the results everyone was getting from other sites then? Even iFi themselves claiming it has the lowest noise AP analyzer can measure. Can't you try D50 anyways just to have another data to compare to, more data is better right?
 
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So looks like external power is mandatory. The unit will NOT power on with just the USB data cable. It comes with a USB to 5 volt barrel cable that you need to use to power it in addition to USB cable. When I use that with my laptop port, I get this:

Topping D50 DAC Jitter with Laptop Power Measurement.png


We get that tiny bit of noise below 1 Khz which from testing other DACs I know to be coming from my laptop. They are well attenuated at some -132 dB so not an audible concern but it is worse than powering with Lab Supply.

I then tested it with my Anker portable battery bank I use to charge my phone and I get this:

Topping D50 DAC Jitter with Anker Power Measurement.png


The Power bank is definitely cleaner than power from my laptop. The Lab supply is a hair better but that is it.

Again, these are at extremely low level so I would not rush out and get fancy power supply for it based on this data.

Too lazy to post but I also tested it with a random external USB power supply I had and the noise was half-way between my laptop and the power bank.
 

Blumlein 88

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So looks like external power is mandatory. The unit will NOT power on with just the USB data cable. It comes with a USB to 5 volt barrel cable that you need to use to power it in addition to USB cable. When I use that with my laptop port, I get this:

View attachment 11032

We get that tiny bit of noise below 1 Khz which from testing other DACs I know to be coming from my laptop. They are well attenuated at some -132 dB so not an audible concern but it is worse than powering with Lab Supply.

I then tested it with my Anker portable battery bank I use to charge my phone and I get this:

View attachment 11034

The Power bank is definitely cleaner than power from my laptop. The Lab supply is a hair better but that is it.

Again, these are at extremely low level so I would not rush out and get fancy power supply for it based on this data.

Too lazy to post but I also tested it with a random external USB power supply I had and the noise was half-way between my laptop and the power bank.

Oh this is very good news. So you could get tweaky lab supply performance (or darn close) for the price of an Anker power bank. Or use powered USB adapter for not enough noise to matter. So in my never ending quest to keep Amir busy, how many milliamps does the DAC pull when in use? How many hours would a charged Anker 13000 or 20000 power bank make it work?
 

Blumlein 88

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Forgot to measure and just disconnected. The documentation says 1 amp at 5 volt. Will measure later when I am in the lab again.
So not too bad. Anker 20000 would provide 20 hrs of use (maybe less for full fidelity). Enough anyway one could use it every day and let it charge when not in use.
 

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Damn... this does REALLY good, and now makes me not want to get a DAC I was considering. I was thinking about the JDS Labs EL DAC(b-stock for 200), since the OL DAC did reasonably(I assume the EL DAC would do similarly well given the measurements we can see in reference to the testing of the OL DAC here and their posted OL DAC measurements) and the customer support is great. This in the same price ballpark with such good measurements though. That's REALLY tempting, even if I won't need half the features for my music collection.

Sometimes I hate my indecision.
 

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So not too bad. Anker 20000 would provide 20 hrs of use (maybe less for full fidelity). Enough anyway one could use it every day and let it charge when not in use.
That's quite alot of work, I would plug it into a 1A phone charger and call it a day.

Damn... this does REALLY good, and now makes me not want to get a DAC I was considering. I was thinking about the JDS Labs EL DAC(b-stock for 200), since the OL DAC did reasonably(I assume the EL DAC would do similarly well given the measurements we can see in reference to the testing of the OL DAC here and their posted OL DAC measurements) and the customer support is great. This in the same price ballpark with such good measurements though. That's REALLY tempting, even if I won't need half the features for my music collection.

Sometimes I hate my indecision.
Might as well get the best for a little more money.

I don't think Amir has tested the EL DAC yet.
 

Blumlein 88

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That's quite alot of work, I would plug it into a 1A phone charger and call it a day.


Might as well get the best for a little more money.

I don't think Amir has tested the EL DAC yet.
Yes, but you lose valuable hair shirted audiophile credential points bypassing the chance for tweakery of only listening to your DAC from pure battery supplies. :p
 

Sylafari

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So this DAC also acts as a preamp with digital volume control?
 

stunta

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Oh this is very good news. So you could get tweaky lab supply performance (or darn close) for the price of an Anker power bank. Or use powered USB adapter for not enough noise to matter.

With this DAC, yes. Some DACs may show a larger difference right?
 

Jimster480

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Yes, but you lose valuable hair shirted audiophile credential points bypassing the chance for tweakery of only listening to your DAC from pure battery supplies. :p
That's perfectly fine with me lmao, I like convenience.
With this DAC, yes. Some DACs may show a larger difference right?
Yes it all depends on the Design of the unit itself.
 

Zilfallion

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Might as well get the best for a little more money.

I don't think Amir has tested the EL DAC yet.
He hasn't, however the measurements were fairly close on the OL DAC. (Amir tests at 0, they test -0.15) This leads me to believe the EL DAC measurements to be FAIRLY accurate, which at 200 for a B-stock unit would make it a decent DAC for the money, if lacking DSD support. I also liked the aesthetics. This doesn't look bad though it isn't as decorative. Hmm. I shall think on this more. Right now I'm leaning to the D50 now for it's surprisingly good linearity and good performance in general.
 

chungjun

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I am in the market for a standalone DAC and with plethora of offerings in the market it does not make selecting one easier (of course, part of the fun). Objective and unbiased input that rise above the marketing noise / hype is hard to come. Kudos to ASR and keep it up!
 
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amirm

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This doesn't look bad though it isn't as decorative.
The Topping D50 is one of the most attractive DACs I have. The EL DAC actually looks similar to it, sans the display.

You are right that JDS Labs folks seem to be honest shooters and like Topping, measure their stuff and make sure they are performant.
 

Zilfallion

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The Topping D50 is one of the most attractive DACs I have. The EL DAC actually looks similar to it, sans the display.

You are right that JDS Labs folks seem to be honest shooters and like Topping, measure their stuff and make sure they are performant.
Yeah, it really doesn't look THAT far off. The display and buttons on the front aren't quite as nice looking, but they do offer additional controls and information, so I can't blame them for that. It DOES look good. Just subjectively, not quite AS good as the EL DAC to me.
 

astr0b0y

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Nice review. Thanks, Amir.

Anyone wanna buy a DX7s? Unused, not even delivered...
Moving to a D50 would mean one less power plug as I could just plug into the USB outlet on my multi board.
 
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