DAC / Preamp after failure of Topping D90SE at 82 days

[Rover]

You usually contact the seller first, not the manufacturer. When that fails you can do so and for RME the are a number of examples on their forum that they help the customers.

That's what I wrote about.The money was returned for the broken RME, but it's still unpleasant that there is no guarantee of 100% quality.Even from a well-known manufacturer.

 

[Trell]

That's what I wrote about.The money was returned for the broken RME, but it's still unpleasant that there is no guarantee of 100% quality.Even from a well-known manufacturer.

There can’t be such a 100% guarantee of no failure. What one can do is to minimize the number of failures and keep the customers as inconvenienced as possible when it does happen, and that is not inexpensive either.

 

[threni]

it's still unpleasant that there is no guarantee of 100% quality.Even from a well-known manufacturer.

You're not going to get that from any manufacturer. There's always the chance of a bad build, or a build from a bad batch of components. We're getting quality products cheaper than ever these days (check out what you paid for your hifi/computer kit in the 80's once you add inflation into the mix) but that's the downside of this.

I always buy stuff from Amazon or some store with a good warranty period. As they say, "Trust in Allah, but tie your camel".

 

[Rover]

As they say, "Trust in Allah, but tie your camel".

This is 100% true.

 

[Roland68]

Advice please on which SMSL DAC / Preamp to choose. The SU10, or the D400EX, or the D400ES, or other of similar capability. Great XLR output quality (power & SINAD) highest priority. LDAC is desireable but not essential. Two Topping failures in less than 8 months makes me nervous, so a company with great reliability also desired. Amp is Audiophonics HPA400ET, which was a revelation.

My very much loved Topping D90SE was 82 days old when it just stopped powering up. It replaced my Topping E50 which packed up after 2 months. My long lived E30 is now on secondment from the spare room.

Also consider Gustard, eg the X18 or even an "old" A18 with MQA (not because of MQA but because of the XU216 chip). It is really very rare to hear about defective devices, even if they are 5 years or older, like mine. My youngest Gustard DAC is 2 years old.
For me, the overall quality of the Gustard devices is amazing, even for the price, regardless of whether the quality of the circuit board, components, processing or engineering/development.

I have the same opinion about Xingxer, but I only own the headphone amplifier SA-1, but there are a lot of DACs and DDCs in my circle of acquaintances.
I would hesitate to spend more than € 200 with other companies, because I know where savings are made. The only device I kept after testing was an SMSL SP400 HPA, which performs great but falls short on all of the quality points listed above.

At Violectric / Lake People or RME I would not hesitate for a second to spend 4-digit amounts.

 

[Svensson]

Great suggestions kept me busy searching. Internet search for reliability is showing individual case examples. Difficult to assess who is better reliability becase there will be less complaints if customer or seller service is better.

For me costs need to be managed. I scratched my head and ordered the SMSL SU-10 from Audiophonics. Amazon price £999. Audiophonics €850 (with delivery). Exchange rate to UK means about £760. Also 2 years warranty is key. I hope a good decision.

 

[JeremyFife]

@Svensson You received a refund for the defective d90se, right?

SMSL is no better- you'd be much better off to buy some quality gear. Like @HarmonicTHD suggested- RME. Buy once and buy well.

Tricky question, but any recommendations?

My budget is limited, there are tempting options at below £250 GBP (new: Topping, SMSL). I'd love an RME but even second-hand these are pushing £700 GBP, if I can find one, and that's hard to justify for my second system.
Not obsessed with SINAD, but looking for audibly transparent performance. Are there other "quality" options at a level below the RMEs?

 

[restorer-john]

Not obsessed with SINAD, but looking for audibly transparent performance. Are there other "quality" options at a level below the RMEs?

There would be a bunch of guys here with perhaps US or EU made suggestions, where the reliability and performance balance is well known. Not saying it's RME or nothing, but honestly, their gear is seriously good.

Topping/SMSL and others may possibly be suffering from their own success. Sell enough units and the problems/failures will get disproportionate airtime, but based on what I have seen and heard, I still think they have a long way to go before ever being taken seriously.

 

[Marc v E]

Tricky question, but any recommendations?

My budget is limited, there are tempting options at below £250 GBP (new: Topping, SMSL). I'd love an RME but even second-hand these are pushing £700 GBP, if I can find one, and that's hard to justify for my second system.
Not obsessed with SINAD, but looking for audibly transparent performance. Are there other "quality" options at a level below the RMEs?

Your best bet imo would be second hand from a well known brand but not RME or benchmark as they are too popular to get one at a lower price.

Something like the c510 NAD (I own one). M52 is the high end version but without a volume on the device (only with remote control)

Or a Chord Qutest.

Or even better: a minidsp flex

 

[Gorgonzola]

@Svensson You received a refund for the defective d90se, right?

SMSL is no better- you'd be much better off to buy some quality gear. Like @HarmonicTHD suggested- RME. Buy once and buy well.

I can't really agree with you dissing of Topping or SMSL. I have owned four different Topping products and an SMSL with no problems whatsoever. To be sure, any maker can produce a "lemon"; the major consideration is what recourse you have if something goes wrong.

 

[Svensson]

Tricky question, but any recommendations?

My budget is limited, there are tempting options at below £250 GBP (new: Topping, SMSL). I'd love an RME but even second-hand these are pushing £700 GBP, if I can find one, and that's hard to justify for my second system.
Not obsessed with SINAD, but looking for audibly transparent performance. Are there other "quality" options at a level below the RMEs?

@JeremyFife Amir's list of top rated DACs can be compelling. I think there are a number within your price range here. My thought is to read Amirs reviews and then search for other reviews about the ones that you like the look of. My old Topping E30 is still in use daily in the other room and stil sounds good to my ears.

 

[JeremyFife]

Your best bet imo would be second hand from a well known brand but not RME or benchmark as they are too popular to get one at a lower price.

Something like the c510 NAD (I own one). M52 is the high end version but without a volume on the device (only with remote control)

Or a Chord Qutest.

Or even better: a minidsp flex

Thanks, even these are tricky to find ... I'd like another miniDSP Flex but the prices are pushing up here too. I'll keep an eye out.

Are the RME interfaces worth a look; Babyface and Fireface? I'm not at all familiar with pro gear. Source is likely to be a Windows Laptop

 

[enricoclaudio]

Fireface UCX II worths every penny. Best audio interface I have had, at least compared with Apogee Duet 2, 3, Quartet and UA Apollo Twin X Quad and Duo.

 

[MadMaxx]

I had the D400EX for about a month but returned it when the left channel flamed out. I enjoyed the sound it produced. Instead of buying another, I chose the E70 Velvet. It was $450 less and sounds as good to my ears as the D400EX.

 

[Jazz Tourist]

Just chiming in to say that RME is incredible. Last month I bought an old firewire Fireface 800 audio interface and I'm using their really good driver (and a thunderbolt-firewire adapter)... I have 3 external stereo effect loops going and I'm just abusing the hardware in general. It costed me 400 bucks shipped on eBay. Apparently the driver even works on the newest M1 Macs (mine is Intel).

Will buy RME if I can afford it in the future.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Fireface UCX II worths every penny. Best audio interface I have had, at least compared with Apogee Duet 2, 3, Quartet and UA Apollo Twin X Quad and Duo.

What did you like about it better than the UA Apollo? I like RME, but don't really dig TotalMix.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Thanks, even these are tricky to find ... I'd like another miniDSP Flex but the prices are pushing up here too. I'll keep an eye out.

Are the RME interfaces worth a look; Babyface and Fireface? I'm not at all familiar with pro gear. Source is likely to be a Windows Laptop

Yes, they make interfaces that perform well, and they support like no one else. Software support I don't think is matched by any other company. They'll basically keep them up to date as long as they can function.

 

[Jazz Tourist]

What did you like about it better than the UA Apollo? I like RME, but don't really dig TotalMix.

Well, I haven't really tried them. I've heard great things, but to get something equivalent to a Fireface I would have to invest ~2k (Apollo x6 and x8 line). I don't need to run VSTS on these interfaces either. The Fireface 800 (Firewire) with an adapter FW-> Thunderbolt up and running costed me a total of $430 USD. Latency is very good, even with the adapter. The quality of components of these Firefaces even if old, put a lot of newer "lower end" products to shame too. I think it's pretty hard to get something like this up and running for less than $500. I've heard the Fireface 800 even runs well (through two dongles) into M1 CPU macs (!!!), it does require some work to install the drivers in those setups, but it's something to consider honestly.