The New King?

[TheTalbotHound]

Probably because it is a single 9038 solution. And I guess it not due to the fact itself that it is two chips instead of one, but using two chips allows to have the tracks on the PCB farther from each other, reducing inductive coupling. But, really, -113Db of separation at 20Khz is overkill also for audiophile bats. Even the around -118Db of separation at roughly 13Khz it probably 90Db more than we can hear at that frequency... So, yeah, they missed THOSE bragging rights (also, real world music signals are not that separated anyway). I could live with that.

@JohnYang1997 Is the D90SE Single or Dual Chip 9038Pro?

 

[JohnYang1997]

@JohnYang1997 Is the D90SE Single or Dual Chip 9038Pro?

Single.

 

[Gorgonzola]

This ^^^^^^ 100%. Does no good for Topping to keep churning out new DAC's when people keep complaining about the same issues that seem to be prevalent across their DAC lineup's. Click's, pop's, dropouts etc.

I've had three Topping DACs including two presently and have never had any clicks, pops or dropouts that could be blamed on the DACs.

 

[ShiZo]

I've had three Topping DACs including two presently and have never had any clicks, pops or dropouts that could be blamed on the DACs.

Have you tried the d70s?

 

[Gorgonzola]

Have you tried the d70s?

Not the D70s. I have the D90 and D50; a while back I had a DX7s. All have performed flawlessly.

 

[Tks]

Yeah. Crosstalk itself though is the only measurement that the D90SE does not ace. Compare crosstalk for this to the crosstalk of the Gustard X26 Pro, especially in the treble.

Are you looking at the diagram marked "12K25616AVG" ?
I think that one and the following ones are about Jitter (at 48Khz sampling frequency).
The crosstalk is the one above ;-)

But that means that there is essentially *no* jitter - from that point of view this may be one of the lowest jitter devices on the planet, irrespective or price.

Yep I'm blind..

 

[Matias]

The best multitones so far were a little below -130 dB in all frequencies. The D90SE is now closer to -140 dB. Of course the difference is not audible, but still, wow!

 

[Veri]

The best multitones so far were a little below -130 dB in all frequencies. The D90SE is now closer to -140 dB. Of course the difference is not audible, but still, wow!

View attachment 130476

Yep. Just about 10dB better than D70s. Which was one of the best so far. I think -140dB is unbeatable

 

[TheTalbotHound]

The best multitones so far were a little below -130 dB in all frequencies. The D90SE is now closer to -140 dB. Of course the difference is not audible, but still, wow!

View attachment 130476

About 5db better than the Gustard X26 Pro. Nice.

 

[DHT 845]

Single.

The big question is WHEN Topping will release mono power amplifiers in class AB (with GaN technology?) that will surpass Benchmark AHB2 power amp in measurements and sound?

I am waiting

IT MUST BE DONE, PERIOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who thinks the same give me like

 

[MRC01]

... Once we get past audible transparency, who cares what the SINAD is? Anything over 100 is over engineering for the sake of a glorified number. And at what cost?

Is it prudent to go a little past transparency, as you may have multiple devices in the chain, and you may applying DSP. That way the sum of all the distortion, noise, etc. from all devices is still fully transparent.

 

[Tokyo_John]

I wonder what they changed in the SE version relative to previous versions of the D90? It is the same chip, so...anyone know? Any guesses?

I heard a rumor that Asahi Kasei may not make any more 4499 DAC chips after the fire, but there would be a newly improved/upgraded version of the chip coming out maybe early next year.

interestingly, I am looking for a house in Tokyo and might buy one that is made by Asahi Kasei...I’ll be sure to have music playing through an AK chip in the house if it goes through.

 

[Lupin]

That's exactly the point I am trying to make in another thread

Once we get past audible transparency, who cares what the SINAD is? Anything over 100 is over engineering for the sake of a glorified number. And at what cost?

Pretty much sums up why I don't get this huge hype.

I already have a DAC which by all means is "transparent" so why would I care about a SINAD number that is maybe 5 to 7 points higher... Transparent is transparent, all about bragging rights I guess.

Going from one transparent DAC to the next transparent DAC is not upgrading IMHO. The upgrade could be build quality, looks and feature set. It seems to be a Topping device so build quality is mediocre at best and feature set same as 99% of what already is out there. No real upgrade there either.

I expected a bit more objective and realistic point of view from people on ASR.

 

[Atanasi]

interestingly, I am looking for a house in Tokyo and might buy one that is made by Asahi Kasei...I’ll be sure to have music playing through an AK chip in the house if it goes through.

Make sure the house won't burn down.

 

[ceausuc]

Is this Topping's response to Gustard X16's measurements?

I wonder what is the difference between this and dx7pro ...

 

[Veri]

I wonder what is the difference between this and dx7pro ...

More attention to output stage, power filtering and DPLL.

I wonder what they changed in the SE version relative to previous versions of the D90? It is the same chip, so...anyone know? Any guesses?

Well it's not the same chip. D90 = AKM4499. D90SE is confirmed to be ESS9038Pro.

 

[linger63]

About 5db better than the Gustard X26 Pro. Nice.

Wouldn't care if it was 15db better............
My X26 Pro is magnificent just as it is.

 

[JohnYang1997]

View attachment 130005

Like this but for d90se.

SGD1 and KTB use the mobile Q2M. Hence my question, can't imagine this is not based on 9038Pro, but the 90kHz BW pattern is a recurring thing with 9038Q2M chip (be it due to filter characteristics or ASRC settings, I'm not sure).

See for example:

The line in red is tone board. The others are all ESS 9038 Pro, tends to perform better, way flatter line. Yet this D90 SE does the same thing as KTB.

Puzzling.

It turns out to the filter that was used.

Filter 3 5 7 being the best in this test. So no issue in this regard.

 

[Veri]

It turns out to the filter that was used.
View attachment 130658
Filter 3 5 7 being the best in this test. So no issue in this regard.

Excellent, thanks JohnYang. I'd still use 3/5/7 for that extra flat line haha.

 

[TheTalbotHound]

It turns out to the filter that was used.
View attachment 130658
Filter 3 5 7 being the best in this test. So no issue in this regard.

Which filters are those? Apodising Linear Phase, Brickwall and Hybrid phase?