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Can't decide between a few DAC's and i would like to know what technical data matters :)

Nobunaga

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Hey guys

I was wondering which stat matters the most for DAC's (dynamic range, SNR, SINAD etc).

Also i am curious to know, how much does SNR matter for a DAC? coming from a PC hardware backround i know that for an internal soundcard SNR does quite a lot, because of all the electrical noise and from fans, power supply etc within the PC case.

However i am not sure how much it matters for a DAC.

For instance the Schiit Modi III has only 110db SNR and is higher on the list than the Orchard Gala that has 130 SNR. So i am not exactly sure what numbers i should look at

Also i am indecisive between a few different DAC's, they are all chinese around the 100usd price range, but i'll gladly hear some other suggestions I would appreciate if someone could reccomend me one from the ones that i have selected :)

Topping D10 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/201...ef-4f4c-86ea-e009ee8cbe52&transAbTest=ae803_5

Topping D30
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/NEW...a6-48b6-9075-3f320b973961&transAbTest=ae803_5

SMLS Sanskrit
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SMS...f1-4c80-86e7-cdbd3258ed47&transAbTest=ae803_5

This chinese guy here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/dec...af-4168-a56c-ecd6d4694585&transAbTest=ae803_5

Or this ugly chinese guy here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Dou...000&pvid=43b5378a-fb29-427e-9670-ef7f82214a50

Best regards
 
Last edited:

Ron Texas

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Get one of the Topping DAC's if you are on a budget. I have a D30, it works great.
 

Hypnotoad

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Get one of the Topping DAC's if you are on a budget. I have a D30, it works great.

I agree, the D30 is one of the best things I bought, sounds great.
 
OP
Nobunaga

Nobunaga

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B
I agree, the D30 is one of the best things I bought, sounds great.

It's definetly the best looking. Love those old school switches.

But it supports only up to 24bit/192khz while the others go up to 32bit/ 384 khz.

Is this of any relevance and why does it cost more?

Why please no Schiit?
 

la2ygoo

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I think imd is the most important because it is bigger than thd+n , easier to hear. Some dacs have "ESS IMD HUM" then the imd is even bigger.
 

M00ndancer

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They are all good choices, get the one with features you need. Don't worry about the specs, you probably wont hear any difference anyway.
 

ghostfox

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ive got the Topping D10 for 5 months now and im really satisfied with my purchase. nothing to complain.
 
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Nobunaga

Nobunaga

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I am probably going for the D30, heard so many good things about it.

However, i am curious about the Sanskrit 10 which apparently needs additional power to run at it's full potential. The DAC has 2 USB ports, couldn't i just plug 2 USB cables in to my PC? instead of one to to the PC and the other one to a power supply
 

Archmage

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I actually think the Topping D10 is better than the D30. The downside is it has USB as its only input (and I like optical due to isolation). There are also reports (on this forum) that the USB cable provided by Topping is of poor quality.

Edit: There are also several threads about the D10 and ground loop issues. I hate dealing with this issue, which is why I mentioned that I like optical and/or a DAC with measurably good built-in isolation. I dislike having to add in USB isolators, or ground-lift solutions including anti-parallel diode voltage offset... "cleaning" the USB power won't do much, usually. The whole thing is a PITA, and the D30 and ToneBoard have SPDIF as a backup. Right now I'm actually looking at trying the Creative SoundBlasterX G6 and keeping it below 97% volume... I don't need ASIO, It's $130-$140 now, and I already have a JDS Atom amp: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...w-and-measurements-of-sound-blasterx-g6.7016/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ad-distortion-comparison-graph-for-dacs.4814/

SINAD:

D10 = 105 (106 in the chart, but 105 in the March 2019 IMD measurements below),
D30 = 107,
Khadas ToneBoard = 110.

Linearity: D30 does poorly here...

D10 = 18.3 bits - https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...iew-and-measurements-of-topping-d10-dac.2470/
D30 SPDIF = 15 bits - https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...n-of-schiit-modi-2-uber-and-topping-d30.3207/
TB - ~20 bits (full -120dB at well below 0.5dB deviation) - https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-of-wesiontek-khadas-tone-board-dac.4823/

Unfortunately, the TB does not come with an enclosure.

But the D10 bests both the D30 and the TB (due to mid-level "hump") in IMD, without the rise at high output that the DX3pro suffers:

D30 IMD: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...phone-amplifier-review-and-measurements.2286/ - looks like poor IMD distortion results in this test, at least relative to the old DX7 (which seems to measure similar to the D10).
TB IMD: already linked above
D10 IMD: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s-of-topping-d10-dac.2470/page-67#post-157302
DX3pro: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...of-topping-dx3pro-dac-and-headphone-amp.4967/ - also higher jitter there.

D30 vs D10 Jitter: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nts-of-topping-d10-dac.2470/page-4#post-71128 - D30 wins, but D10 doesn't spike above about -127dB anyway. Also mentions D10's better linearity here.

Edit: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-measurements-of-smsl-sanskrit-10th-dac.5702/ - The Sanskrit 10th doesn't seem like a good buy, and USB is much worse on this DAC.
 
Last edited:

bravomail

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Khadas Tone Board has no case, and has dreaded ESS Hump. Whoever will start selling cases for it, or just cased config for it - will win. I also would love to see optical input. Schiit Modi 3 and Topping D30 win in my book.
 

Svperstar

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A word to the wise, be careful ordering random stuff on aliexpress. It may look nice but people have ordered random DACs/amps and have them sound absolutely horrible and measure worse. I'm not saying any of the ones you listed are bad but you might get really unlucky buying random gear nobody has ever heard of.
 
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