Any other cheap balanced dacs besides the Topping D10 Balanced

[Xii-Nyth]

So I was about to get a magni heresy and modi 3+, was gonna get heresy and atom dac+ but then id have to pay 30$ shipping to canada twice.

Then I noticed the smsl sp200 went down to 140 on drop, and if you spend more than 500 you get an extra 30$ gift card, and the headphones I was gonna get were 400, effectively making the sp200 110$. Since they are from the same place I would now still be paying for shipping twice. Hopefully the channel imbalance is fixed like smsl said, but I usually control the volume digitally from the volume wheel on my keyboard so I believe I already avoid this problem (I never fully understood how that graph works).

So id be paying 10$ more and then some more on top of that for the more expensive interconnect cables, so if I don't get the ground loop protection by having a dac with balanced outputs there is not really any point, so I found the topping d10 balanced. Only thing is that of any brand Ive heard the most issues with topping and their return policy. Now as for number of things breaking this could just come down to their popularity, but there's no excuse not to have a good return policy/free replacement even if it was user error. (btw guys if you want to get rid of your bad look over buying from american brands this is what you need to fix)

So is there any other good options for a balanced dac in a similar price range? (100 us-150 canadian ish)

If not ill just go for a magni/modi for convenience and peace of mind

 

[Dunring]

I have the SMSL SP200 with a Khadas Tone Board with RCA and it works perfect, and the most detail I've ever heard before. The M300 DAC sounded amazing but no better with balanced "Worlds Best Cables" on XLR. In fact I thought I was listening to one and had the switch over to the other for hours and wasn't able to notice which I was listening to. On Amazon you can get a tone board, plastic case, and good RCA cables for about that price. The SP200 is grounded, it's not like the Drop 789 One that depends on the DAC connection to provide it. If you want the D10 balanced, go to Apos and do the price match, and tell them you want to match the $118 price that Topping has for them on their official eBay store and they'll do it, with free shipping and warranty service through them. Just send them the eBay link to the listing.

 

[Xii-Nyth]

I have the SMSL SP200 with a Khadas Tone Board with RCA and it works perfect, and the most detail I've ever heard before. The M300 DAC sounded amazing but no better with balanced "Worlds Best Cables" on XLR. In fact I thought I was listening to one and had the switch over to the other for hours and wasn't able to notice which I was listening to. On Amazon you can get a tone board, plastic case, and good RCA cables for about that price. The SP200 is grounded, it's not like the Drop 789 One that depends on the DAC connection to provide it. If you want the D10 balanced, go to Apos and do the price match, and tell them you want to match the $118 price that Topping has for them on their official eBay store and they'll do it, with free shipping and warranty service through them. Just send them the eBay link to the listing.

yeah I ended up buying it from apos when they had it on sale for 118 with free shipping to canada just like on amazon.ca where it was the equal in canadian. A place like that will probably have good customer service if anything ever happens

 

[cinemakinoeye]

If you are looking for an affordable DAC with good measurements and balanced output, I think the Schiit Modius is a strong contender, and this is backed up by Amir’s review and detailed measurements.