90SE puts the Topping on discretion! @Purité Audio

[Purité Audio]

Being a discrete sort of fellow I thought I might try the new Topping D90SE III it’s a one bit dac ( don’t know really what that means) but here at Purité Audio we are all about chewy midranges and buttery soft highs so it should fit right in.
Topping are distributed in the U.K. by Mark Dear at ‘Electromod’ he also imports Dan Clark !
Mark says that they are still at least a month away and even that might be optimistic.
I don’t really expect to sell any/many because everyone shops at Amazon, but it appears to have some valuable features ( peq) and of course it will enable me to write one of my exhaustive yet entertaining ‘Blogs’ in which after many hours comparing level matched and unsighted I can never hear any difference.

Electromod Home

Powerful sound with the utmost delicacy

www.electromod.co.uk

Keith

 

[Chester]

I’ve met Mark a few times, he’s a nice guy.

 

[staticV3]

Before you order anything, note that the D90SE is an old DAC released in 2021, using an ES9038Pro chip:

Topping D90SE Review (Balanced DAC)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping D90SE flagship balanced USB DAC. It was sent to me by the company for testing and I believe costs US $899. The D90SE comes in the same clothes as current class of Topping products which is just fine with me: We have the usual inputs...

www.audiosciencereview.com

If you want to try Topping's discrete DAC design, then it's the D90 III Discrete that you're after (or the upcoming D900).

 

[Purité Audio]

The D90 III is now on the Topping site but yes the 900 looks cool!
I haven’t met Mark but he does appear to be a charming chap, I was planning to meet him at the London headphone show but …things crop up.
Keith

 

[Purité Audio]

I will have to ask Mark about the D900,

 

[sigbergaudio]

I remember having a top-of-the-line Kenwood with a 1bit dac in the late 90s.

 

[Purité Audio]

I am just too young to remember that Thorbjørn!
I suppose the D900 is the equivalent to DCS’s ‘Varese’ only at 1/100th of the price.
Keith

 

[DVDdoug]

but here at Purité Audio we are all about chewy midranges and buttery soft highs so it should fit right in.

Most of us here want a transparent DAC, and most DACs are transparent.

"Chewy" and "buttery" are not defined and certainly not scientific. Can I get 3dB more butter? To me "soft highs" means rolled-off highs which is not nigh-fidelity, not desirable, and unlikely in any non-broken DAC.

What is a blind ABX test?

Audiophoolery

 

[Purité Audio]

I always keep my butter in the fridge.
Keith

 

[Soniclife]

I always keep my butter in the fridge.
Keith

Heathen, it should be room temperature.

 

[sernikus]

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dac-with-volume/topping-d90-iii-discrete-dac-black-p-19814.html .....

 

[antcollinet]

Heathen, it should be room temperature.

I have a temperature controlled butter dish. It is amazing.

 

[Purité Audio]

Have you thought about getting it a linear power supply?
Keith

 

[antcollinet]

Have you thought about getting it a linear power supply?
Keith

Would it put those pretty lines on my butter?

 

[Mtbf]

I remember having a top-of-the-line Kenwood with a 1bit dac in the late 90s

Right. Likewise I still own and use a top-of-the-line Meridian CD-player of the 90s, equipped with the famous CDM4 transport and dual 1-bit DACs and chipset made by Philips. Dual to improve the SNR an extra 3dB. 1-bit of old wine in new bottles from the Topping guys, it seems, to convince you to buy yet another DAC that again sounds the same as the previous one.

 

[sq225917]

I'm tempted by this, just for fun's.

 

[Purité Audio]

Exactly my thought , new toy, it does have peq though and that’s always useful, xlrs and it probably won’t sound any worse or indeed different to what I have now.
I see that Jez has been pardoned!
Very Best,
Keith

 

[amper42]

The only remarkable thing Topping could actually do is create and sell a remote that offers a halfway decent range and doesn't require a laser focus on the DAC.

 

[pkane]

Exactly my thought , new toy, it does have peq though and that’s always useful, xlrs and it probably won’t sound any worse or indeed different to what I have now.

More is better. What am I paying for if all I get is one lousy bit compared to 24 or even 32 bits I get from others? I want a discrete R-2R ladder DAC from Topping with 256 bits. Now that'd be worth some money!

 

[Purité Audio]

That will be next month’s release.
Keith