Ask me questions.

[Purité Audio]

Perhaps. I had an RME ADI-2 DAC FS for a time. I found the onboard EQ to be effective, but a pain to set up and adjust due to the tiny screen, sub-menus, etc. I’m not sure if there are competing products with better ergonomics, but the RME failed in this regard.

On the music production side Sonarworks is pretty ubiquitous. It’s dead simple to set up and provides a number of features that are important to producers (zero latency, speaker emulations, target presets, etc.). The ease of use is off the charts compared to the RME. The musicians I know are much less inclined to want to fuss with this stuff than audiophiles.

Despite the 27 measurement positions? RME is pretty straightforward once you master the push/pull/turn controls.
Keith

 

[JohnYang1997]

@JohnYang1997 is the global labor shortage affecting Topping too? It's reportedly very disabling for some sectors.

Not particularly. Just difficult to find awesome people as always.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Topping, SMSL, Zidoo ( Eversolo) and others have started a revolution providing SOTA components relatively inexpensively, my question is were you ever tempted ( or are you tempted ) to add a ‘milled from solid case’ and pitch at the audiophile world?
Keith

Idk, both you mentioned have been confirmed copying our designs.

 

[JohnYang1997]

About TP RA3​

Do you plan to produce a more powerfull version with same form factor ?
Or a bridged mono version ?

More powerful yes. Mono no.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Does Topping have any plans to produce a true power amplifier (instead of an integrated amp)—one without a volume control or source selector? If they could be removed from a version of the LA90 so that it would cost less to make, that product would probably be a big seller.

Yes.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Real youth unemployment over all of China is estimated to be at 20%. I don't think labor shortage is a problem in China.
It's probably that the factories and offices are not where the unemployment is or that certain special skills that need decades to build are needed.

@JohnYang1997

• Why is it that there is no cat food with mouse taste?
• When do we see your first DAC with PEQ?
• When do we see your first Plate amp with DAC, PEQ, crossover and 2 or 3 channels to activate speakers?

1, My cat said : mmrrrrr
2, Not too far in the future.
3, Not in the plan.

 

[GXAlan]

Yes.

Can you add attractive Accuphase or McIntosh like power meters?

It should be a true watt meter that uses both the voltage and amperage outputs to display the real watts output by the amp. McIntosh originally had two versions or their amplifiers (with and without meters)

Benefits:
1) Puts Topping in a higher tier of products
2) Many people overestimate the power requirements of an amplifier. Seeing this will reassure people when using low power amps
3) Many people underestimate the power requirements as volume increases and during transients. Seeing this will encourage customers to upgrade

 

[JohnYang1997]

Is there any chance to avoid low input impedance in all future devices?
Is there any chance to lift warranty/returning/service issues up to USA or European standards (so everyone can pay for it's own mistakes,the fair thing to do)
Will the upcoming audio interfaces be suitable for measurements also (as the rumor says that they will be world's lowest noise ADCs )

1, I'm not sure.
2, I don't understand what you mean. There are regional resellers that do very good job. Namely, Apos, audiophonics, Addicted to audio.
3, Not in the sense of the likes of e1da. Competitive yes, sota no.

 

[ZolaIII]

Say what you will, but Creative's current processing suite is hardly a gimmick. Their only issue as I see it is that their hardware is rather lacking in quality, especially their headphone amps. People who complain about their acquisitions and subsequent dissolve of technologies are not factoring in the nature of the business where things quickly become obsolete as fixed hardware functions have periodically moved over to software. People glamorize past companies like Aureal and continue a narrative as if Creative put an end to some groundbreaking tech, just as graphics aficionados still glamorize 3dfx and blame Nvidia for stunting innovation when they are actually the most technologically advanced company in the world.

There weren't really any ASIC ever (nor it will be any), there where locked down DSP's with property programed decoders and bunch of stuff you need as last winter snow. Closest it got to something useful whose with community driver's employing effects on DSP (back in Audigy days). While Creative many core ADSP before their last fall (sometimes about 2006) whose rather advanced it whose far from ground braking or having any design wins compared to competition like CEVA or Tensilica. It whose a to big bite for Creative and they went down once again.
Most of today effect library's are write for general purpose CPU cores and more advanced one's for FPU (even offloading to SIMD is still just only in planing stages). This makes it easier to; maintain the code, make it less rendurant, more scalable between architecture and such. DSP's are much harder to program put in the simple and easy to understand words. Chances to get a good DSP development board with class wining Tensilica P6 design (with great tool's and documentation) vanquish with Huawei ban.
Have fun and read a little about it when you find time if you are interested in it.

 

[Zensō]

Despite the 27 measurement positions? RME is pretty straightforward once you master the push/pull/turn controls.
Keith

Not a big deal to setup given the excellent software. Plus accurate, repeatable EQ at the listening position. This was well-researched by SW and is not a random number (it’s actually 37 points).

I used the RME for over a year, it has nowhere near the ease of use or features provided by the better software solutions. YMMV…

 

[JohnYang1997]

I'm curious, what made you start working for Topping? Were you working as a technician/designer before working there?

PS. Awesome that you do this!

It's quite funny. I was at university during the time and I need an intern(in 2019). I design and mod headphone amplifiers as hobby in thay period and found the "secret" to sota amplifiers. Also I was a Topping user, original dx3pro and d30. So I said to them I have a design that rivals THX789/888 (to compete with SMSL and THX789/THX887). And the rest is history.

 

[Zensō]

It's quite funny. I was at university during the time and I need an intern(in 2019). I design and mod headphone amplifiers as hobby in thay period and found the "secret" to sota amplifiers. Also I was a Topping user, original dx3pro and d30. So I said to them I have a design that rivals THX789/888 (to compete with SMSL and THX789/THX887). And the rest is history.

That’s a great backstory. Amazing!

 

[JohnYang1997]

Hi John, what are your current favorite IEMs and headphones?

Oh this is a huge topic. I'll try to make it concise.
Firstly it kinda depends on the price range.
But apart from that, current favorite overear is still the Susvara(and one named Nan-NB but that one is not on sale). There are also ones that I enjoy in day to day use. Koss 95x is also quite good, super comfortable and non-tiring sound. Takstar pro82, although not liked by Amir, it's the most close to speaker sounding headphones under 400 dollars. I also like Ananda, very enjoyable sound with huge sound stage. Beyer's dt900prox probably has the flattest bass in all dynamic headphones and overall tonality is pretty good.
In terms of IEMs, I still like Moondrop Kato's sound quite a lot albeit the housing touches a part of the ear that becomes painful after 10 minutes. Truthear is very popular now but I am not that impressed by the zero:red even less so with the original zero. Hexa is ok with foam tips, pretty enjoyable sound but I prefer the comparable Tanchjim Darling. Sennheiser Ie200 is an interesting IEM that deserves a listen. My favorite is probably still the good old er4s with tri-flange or er4b with tsx100 tips.
I've been playing around with speakers recently. Kef Q150 is definitely much better than it seems on measurements, a giant killer even. Super clean from mid to high. No roughness in the sound. Super imaging. The tip here is to forget about toe-in. Can't really find any downsides besides the bass don't go deep. But I'm also the few R3 enjoyers so... Apart from two pairs of kef R3s, I have wharfedale linton, diamond 12.2, elac dbr62, JBL Arena 130(extremely good for the price). I like Q150 almost more than R3.

 

[JohnYang1997]

I don't think DM7 having poor sales has anything to do with multichannel power amplifiers. The latter complements AVRs and AVPs mostly. But then you have to get the reliability right. Don't you beta test with a dozen users for a couple of months before releasing to the world?

Also on power amplifiers. Instead of building around the existing chip amps, why not go the hard way and design a proprietary discrete design including PFFB loop and the iterations refine from there?

I have tried for two years with self oscillating class D. Minor success in the beginning but due to some critical problems that I can't solve I pretty much stopped the development.

 

[RangerAudio]

Hi, John I recently bought a topping A70 pro and I keep getting a HP DC abnormal output error. I ordered from Hifigo, and it was delivered less than 6 days ago. They are asking that I ship the unit back to them?

A forum donar recomended that I ask you here before I send it back. This is what he said:

"Totally unacceptable. Topping should send you an amp immediately, especially for a $500 amp. And paying for shipping back on their broken stuff (the good companies offer a prepaid label) ???

I'e had 3 Topping amps go POP! I no longer desire to be a beta tester for their amps and don't buy.

I would ask John "

The original thread is here. https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...g-a70-pro-hp-preamp-review.44636/post-1644479

I have contacted Hifigo and Topping. Hifigo has got back to me ask that I ship it back at my expense, topping hasn't got back to me, unfortunately.

 

[Vladetz]

Do you have power amp with highpass filter (something like 50 hz in smsl a300) in development? We really want some kind of bass management

 

[Ashimaru]

Oh this is a huge topic. I'll try to make it concise.
Firstly it kinda depends on the price range.
But apart from that, current favorite overear is still the Susvara(and one named Nan-NB but that one is not on sale). There are also ones that I enjoy in day to day use. Koss 95x is also quite good, super comfortable and non-tiring sound. Takstar pro82, although not liked by Amir, it's the most close to speaker sounding headphones under 400 dollars. I also like Ananda, very enjoyable sound with huge sound stage. Beyer's dt900prox probably has the flattest bass in all dynamic headphones and overall tonality is pretty good.
In terms of IEMs, I still like Moondrop Kato's sound quite a lot albeit the housing touches a part of the ear that becomes painful after 10 minutes. Truthear is very popular now but I am not that impressed by the zero:red even less so with the original zero. Hexa is ok with foam tips, pretty enjoyable sound but I prefer the comparable Tanchjim Darling. Sennheiser Ie200 is an interesting IEM that deserves a listen. My favorite is probably still the good old er4s with tri-flange or er4b with tsx100 tips.
I've been playing around with speakers recently. Kef Q150 is definitely much better than it seems on measurements, a giant killer even. Super clean from mid to high. No roughness in the sound. Super imaging. The tip here is to forget about toe-in. Can't really find any downsides besides the bass don't go deep. But I'm also the few R3 enjoyers so... Apart from two pairs of kef R3s, I have wharfedale linton, diamond 12.2, elac dbr62, JBL Arena 130(extremely good for the price). I like Q150 almost more than R3.

Ah, thanks for your reply.
About the speakers, I hear Moondrop are developing their first passive speaker. Would love to hear your opinion when the product is released in the future.

 

[BeerBear]

Perhaps. I had an RME ADI-2 DAC FS for a time. I found the onboard EQ to be effective, but a pain to set up and adjust due to the tiny screen, sub-menus, etc. I’m not sure if there are competing products with better ergonomics, but the RME failed in this regard.

On the music production side Sonarworks is pretty ubiquitous. It’s dead simple to set up and provides a number of features that are important to producers (zero latency, speaker emulations, target presets, etc.). The ease of use is off the charts compared to the RME. The musicians I know are much less inclined to want to fuss with this stuff than audiophiles.

The ADI-2 is an exception, with its exclusively onboard UI. Most RMEs (and other soundcards/interfaces with DSP) have a UI you can use through the computer, as it should be.
And Sonarworks correction is still just software, with all the annoying limitations, like having to use a plugin inside your DAW, if you want ASIO. Having DSP on the device itself leaves your DAW projects unmolested and also stays out of the way when you're live streaming and whatnot. It's a more convenient and safer solution, IMO.
Anyway, I can't guarantee that it would be a massive success. But I wish someone would at least try to offer this at the affordable price point.

 

[mrbungle]

Not a big deal to setup given the excellent software. Plus accurate, repeatable EQ at the listening position. This was well-researched by SW and is not a random number (it’s actually 37 points).

I used the RME for over a year, it has nowhere near the ease of use or features provided by the better software solutions. YMMV…

My mileage: RME is very nice for a desk setup when you regularly switch between the same headphones and IEMs. It automatically sets the EQ to the output used. Also if you use multiple inputs, PEQ works for all - in my case Roon from the RPi and everything else from the Babyface. Just posting to highlight the feature request to have different EQ profiles for all the different outputs.

 

[Zensō]

The ADI-2 is an exception, with its exclusively onboard UI. Most RMEs (and other soundcards/interfaces with DSP) have a UI you can use through the computer, as it should be.
And Sonarworks correction is still just software, with all the annoying limitations, like having to use a plugin inside your DAW, if you want ASIO. Having DSP on the device itself leaves your DAW projects unmolested and also stays out of the way when you're live streaming and whatnot. It's a more convenient and safer solution, IMO.
Anyway, I can't guarantee that it would be a massive success. But I wish someone would at least try to offer this at the affordable price point.

I run Sonarworks on a Mac at the system level, hosted by SoundSource, with no DAW required and no limitations at all. I can imagine it would more difficult to do this on a Windows box though. I use RME’s TotalMix FX for routing in my Babyface Pro.

I assume Topping has done their market research and it doesn’t sound like something they think is worth pursuing. I see an awful lot of ADI’s on the used market, and plenty of people grumbling about the fussy menus and knobs on the forums, so I can’t be the only one who tried it and went back to software. That said, an ADI killer at half the price does sound very appealing…