Topping D30Pro Review (Balanced DAC)

[HiFidFan]

Multitone!!!!

 

[DeepSpace57]

I own the Modius

 

[HiFidFan]

Ad hominem argument. Hmmmm. . .

 

[jumos]

So i called my buddy up at Noon to see if he still had the Earmen, he did. Said it was just sitting in a drawer at home. Cool, i thought, and asked if i could come listen to it or borrow it. He told me come on over and he would dig it out. So i went and spent a few hours at his house.
While I was there listening, the dac sounded ok run through his Hegel. However, there was something that immediately jumped out at me. Where's the bass? It was as if someone had intentionally removed a lot of the bass frequencies. I said " what the hell? Did you do something or what? " He then said, why do you think it's sitting here in a drawer and no plans to use it for any system. He didn't even want to use it for his basic garage system.
So to say i was a little shocked would be putting it lightly. So now i am feeling as if i hadn't gained any insight on this chip, or had I ?

Hopefully Johnny, or someone else can chime in, regarding this dac chip and the possibilities of the bass issue i spoke of. Could this actually just be inherent to the chip itself, or was it just likely due to that Earmen Dac.
I know some will say this should not have happened, but it did. Once he switched back to his onboard dac in the Hegel 190, music sounded normal again. So i am left with a headache and feeling a little uneasy on this dac. Hopefully my fears are not justified. Cheers all, good night.

Just fired up my Cowon Plenue D2 DAP (CS43131) with Senal studio monitor headphones (clones of the ubiquitous Sony monitors). I do tend to listen to bass heavy stuff such as classic dubstep. For a bass test I played one of my favorite foundational dubstep tunes off the seminal Tempa label, D1 - Cocaine. For reference I have played this tune out of PA system as well as my own home setup. Of course it wasn't like hearing it on a 100,000 watt PA system tuned for bass output, or even hearing it on my regular speakers (Modius XLR>TEAC AX505>Philharmonic BMR), but respectable bass levels for a DAP. This unit does require a bit of EQ to get some bass out of it, to be fair-- but I am hoping that is just because it is a DAP and I am using headphones, albeit ones with a relatively flat EQ, and not something inherent to the DAC chipset. I will say I think I prefer the sound of my Tin T4 IEMs via balanced a bit more but they have a bit of V shaped EQ built in. I did also notice a bit more micro detail than my speaker setup, something I am hoping going to a different DAC chipset might improve. I remember when I switched from my JDS ODAC RevA (ESS Sabre) to OL DAC (AKM4490) there was a nice overall improvement in sound at a cost of loss of some perceived micro-detail and highs. I am hoping going to a D30pro will get me the best of both worlds.

Also note that I rarely even use headphones, so the perceived lower bass for me might be just from that. I will have to see if i can find my mini>RCA adapter so i can test it on my speakers.

 

[bilzebubba]

Apos started preorders tonight, shipping Mar 12...Pulled the plug on one to feed a VTV purifi amp cos my matrix mini-i from 2009 pops and clicks when it drops toslink feed for some reason when Roon changes to a different resolution track...

I had considered the x16, but the display put me off (it's a large room and i want to know the output level). The SU-9 wad also tempting but at least one owner here at ASR reported a similar noise to mine, which spooked me a bit!

 

[curiouspeter]

Apos started preorders tonight, shipping Mar 12...Pulled the plug on one to feed a VTV purifi amp cos my matrix mini-i from 2009 pops and clicks when it drops toslink feed for some reason when Roon changes to a different resolution track...

I had considered the x16, but the display put me off (it's a large room and i want to know the output level). The SU-9 wad also tempting but at least one owner here at ASR reported a similar noise to mine, which spooked me a bit!

Yeah, I would really appreciate if they use a dot matrix array that is visible from 12 feet away.

This can't be too expensive but only the likes of Moon and MSB have that.

 

[buckaboo49]

Topping should make a fully featured multi-ch AVR, or AVP with Dirac. I'm sure they'd knock it out of the park, as they've proven time and time again to put in a lot of effort into their engineering.

Just not their Q & A testing.

 

[curiouspeter]

Topping should make a fully featured multi-ch AVR, or AVP with Dirac. I'm sure they'd knock it out of the park, as they've proven time and time again to put in a lot of effort into their engineering.

I no longer wish to have Dirac. My modest PEQ-based room correction through Roon appears to work well enough. I like being involved with the process with REW.

 

[buckaboo49]

Is anyone else bothered that there isn't uniformity in the display backlighting?

 

[catalogguy]

Will the D30 Pro draw enough current to trip this power strip to control the amp?
https://www.tripplite.com/eco-surge...oules-accommodates-8-transformers~TLP1210SATG
Tripp Lite says the master needs to draw at least 15 watts.

 

[curiouspeter]

Will the D30 Pro draw enough current to trip this power strip to control the amp?
https://www.tripplite.com/eco-surge...oules-accommodates-8-transformers~TLP1210SATG
Tripp Lite says the master needs to draw at least 15 watts.

I won't count on it. 15W is not little. I won't be surprised if the peak draw is less than 15W. Using a power strip to control the amp is iffy at best. If this works why would there be 12V triggers?

Why not just leave the DAC on all the time and just switch the amp on/off?

 

[catalogguy]

Why not just leave the DAC on all the time and just switch the amp on/off?

This would go in the living room and the 2-channel system would be for Roon and the TV... I need to provide a simple solution to allow easily turning on the TV with volume by remote control. Easy enough to control the DAC, but it has no 12v trigger out to control the amp. So trying to get creative.

 

[curiouspeter]

This would go in the living room and the 2-channel system would be for Roon and the TV... I need to provide a simple solution to allow easily turning on the TV with volume by remote control. Easy enough to control the DAC, but it has no 12v trigger out to control the amp. So trying to get creative.

What about a w-fi controlled power strip?

https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/prod...ith-4-USB-Ports-2-Smart-Ports-120V/P-PH6U4X32

 

[catalogguy]

What about a w-fi controlled power strip?

https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/prod...ith-4-USB-Ports-2-Smart-Ports-120V/P-PH6U4X32

Nifty device... I may find a use for one. But this would be a pretty tough sell compared to clicking one button on a remote.

 

[curiouspeter]

Nifty device... I may find a use for one. But this would be a pretty tough sell compared to clicking one button on a remote.

It has Alexa support. So you don't even have to lift a finger.

 

[alekksander]

D30 pro is already available on popular Chinese market website. I'll wait for d10 pro to compare before buying… is there any known date for it?

 

[Slayer]

Itching to the pull the trigger on this. But the advert claiming Cirrus logic sound style has me a little iffy (what the hell does it mean).
No one has yet to comment from topping in this regards.

 

[Veri]

Itching to the pull the trigger on this. But the advert claiming Cirrus logic sound style has me a little iffy (what the hell does it mean).

Just marketing shtick.

 

[pedros_2005]

399 usd price:
https://shenzhenaudio.com/collectio...ps-xmos-xu208-dsd256-pcm384khz-hi-res-decoder

 

[raif71]

Itching to the pull the trigger on this. But the advert claiming Cirrus logic sound style has me a little iffy (what the hell does it mean).
No one has yet to comment from topping in this regards.

Just imagine the cirrus clouds...

The cirrus is thin and wispy. As such it is more airy and quite transparent. They are more drier, less congested and overall pleasant.