Endgame headphones amp

[Kaligogrrrrr]

But if you want service you have to pay significantly more, that doesn't work for these prices.

Excellent point I like your angle on this. Fair.

 

[zonk]

Driving a car is dangerous, riding a bike is dangerous, walking across the street is even more dangerous, you can read it everywhere.
When was the last time you left the house? The written word is patient, no matter the medium.

Every device in this world can break, no matter what it costs.
But if you want service you have to pay significantly more, that doesn't work for these prices.
Or would you have spent €300 with the service?

My recommendation is buy your stuff at local seller and not in China

 

[Roland68]

Excellent point I like your angle on this. Fair.

Most users don't realize how little the manufacturers receive per device. And not only the device, but all the costs incurred have to be paid for, but also packaging, operating costs, rent/building, energy, personnel costs, development, measuring equipment park, storage costs, etc.
If you consider that service/support/warranty costs have increased by a factor of 4-5 over the last 25 years...

It's actually great to be able to buy such well-developed and well-measured devices so cheaply, you just should be aware of why these devices are so cheap.

 

[Roland68]

My recommendation is buy your stuff at local seller and not in China

That gets you your money back, you very rarely get an exchange, but then you don't get the devices repaired either. My own experience with 4 devices and over 20 in my circle of friends in the last 5 years.
This is particularly annoying if you bought a device on sale, the device has become significantly more expensive and only returns are accepted.
And after the warranty it doesn't help either. Also personal experience.

Don't get me wrong, this has nothing directly to do with topping and we have a much larger number of well-functioning devices from the same manufacturers.

 

[MAB]

That's not entirely true, so I have to defend Topping a little.
With the L30, a maximum of 3-5 cases are known where headphones were damaged.
This initially had nothing to do with DC in the music signal, but only with the ESD sensitivity of the devices.
DC protection was actually installed, but it was discovered at the time that the DC protection did not respond quickly enough. There were also coupling capacitors at the input.

Also, this ESD problem came together due to several unfortunate technical circumstances and in reality only a few units were even affected under unfortunate circumstances. Among other things, it was the perfection of Topping that caused the problem in the first place.

Thanks for the clarification.

edit: I wasn't implying that DC content in music blew the L30. Rather the lack of protection against fault. Topping are not the only example, Schiit had problems too early on.

 

[IXOYE]

I thought the RME ADI-2 was the endgame for me until I bought the Violectric V-222, a wonderful warm sounding and very powerful amplifier, highly recommended.

 

[Peepo]

Please excuse me if I contradict you, but all topping devices with these stupid modules filled with casting compound are time bombs.
I now know 5 people with defective Topping A90Ds and for all of them Topping refuses to repair them under warranty. There is a charge for shipping to China at your own risk, ditto return shipping and there is no information about the repair costs.

If Topping doesn't stop with these idiotic modules filled with molding compound, it will eventually be their downfall. I suspect that topping already has a loss of at least 30-50% in sales just for PA5 (II) and LA90(D), or more.

You can add 6th to that list. I have the Topping A90D and it started to have crackling, hissing and popping sounds on the left channel. I tried different power outlets, different sources, ground and lift modes and different connection combinations (balanced, unbalanced, XLR, RCA) but the issue persists across all scenarios.

I've been looking for potential fixes online but have not found anything.

 

[Zibi]

I thought the RME ADI-2 was the endgame for me until I bought the Violectric V-222, a wonderful warm sounding and very powerful amplifier, highly recommended.

Same here, after listening to the RME ADI-2 with DC Aeon2 Noire for few months I knew that it was not the best match. I checked V-222 in balanced connection from RME and pull/push to Noire. Noticeable improvement ! But I got lucky and found Ferrum OOR second hand and I must say that RME (XLR balanced) -> OOR -> pull/push DC Noire (or HFM HE1000SE) is and outstanding chain. Probably end game for me.

 

[Roland68]

You can add 6th to that list. I have the Topping A90D and it started to have crackling, hissing and popping sounds on the left channel. I tried different power outlets, different sources, ground and lift modes and different connection combinations (balanced, unbalanced, XLR, RCA) but the issue persists across all scenarios.

I've been looking for potential fixes online but have not found anything.

I'm very sorry for you. Unfortunately, one problem is that the device has a processor control, which makes repairs much more complicated than, for example, a PA5.
Try to clarify with your dealer or Topping.

 

[raif71]

My endgame amp is SMSL sp400 (paired with SMSL m400) although when I paired ti with SMSL m500 (original / mk 1), the sound is not bad too.

 

[John B]

I had a defective A90D which crackled and popped now and then and failed. Picked up another second hand rather than deal with the outrageous "service" from topping. (shipping to China at 1/5th the cost of the unit for them to handle a widely known manufacturing defect) The second failed yesterday with the same -5 problem. I will NEVER buy another Topping AMP, or be first in line to buy their DACs again. Good to see many alternatives closing the gap on performance for the pricing. I think they are an important company in implementing certain DAC chips well but leave a lot to be desired outside that.

 

[Roland68]

I had a defective A90D which crackled and popped now and then and failed. Picked up another second hand rather than deal with the outrageous "service" from topping. (shipping to China at 1/5th the cost of the unit for them to handle a widely known manufacturing defect) The second failed yesterday with the same -5 problem. I will NEVER buy another Topping AMP, or be first in line to buy their DACs again. Good to see many alternatives closing the gap on performance for the pricing. I think they are an important company in implementing certain DAC chips well but leave a lot to be desired outside that.

I can understand that completely.For this very reason I did not buy three devices, the DX9, A70 Pro and LA90d, and left my money with other manufacturers.Topping still does not seem to realize how much they have lost in the meantime.Any manufacturer with an ounce of honor would take responsibility for their mistakes for at least 5 years and not pass the costs on to the customers. Above all, an honorable manufacturer would not continue to sell such faulty devices.
Topping's behavior continues to be a slap in the face.

 

[robbiekhan]

I found my endgame headphone amp this week. The Questyle M15i driving the Ananda Nano. It does a better job with better soundstage and detail than my Topping MX3s, Topping DX3 Pro+, Fiio K7.

I never thought anything this size could drive 14 ohm sensitivity planars yet here we are. It's a slightly warm/smooth organic/analogue type of sound that's just totally clean and free from any noise. I like how they engineered safety fade-in when a fresh signal is received so if the next track is loud of suddenly audio comes in and your host is at high volume, the drivers and your ears are protected.

Topping amps are the only other amps I have heard that embody that old skool "NAD sound", too which I was always fond of from my NADs from the late 90s and early 2000s, though the soundstage compared to the M15i on the MX3s is ever so slightly narrower which I can hear on the Nano, but not on the S5 which are closed back planars. Still fantastic though so will always have a Topping powering my speakers, especially as it has tone controls onboard, which bizarrely the DX3 Pro+ did not have...

 

[WalterW]

I found my endgame headphone amp this week. The Questyle M15i driving the Ananda Nano. It does a better job with better soundstage and detail than my Topping MX3s, Topping DX3 Pro+, Fiio K7.

I never thought anything this size could drive 14 ohm sensitivity planars yet here we are. It's a slightly warm/smooth organic/analogue type of sound

Topping amps are the only other amps I have heard that embody that old skool "NAD sound",

I thought the RME ADI-2 was the endgame for me until I bought the Violectric V-222, a wonderful warm sounding and very powerful amplifier, highly recommended.

So amplifiers have "sound" and soundstage? The Topping amps have "NAD sound" and the Violectric sounds "warm" (i.e. it doesn't have a linear frequency response or has high distortion?). Very confusing to read all this here on ASR.

 

[zonk]

I have an A90 and A90D, both work perfect since 1-2 years and I use them every day. I prefer the A90 because I prefer the toggle switches on the front.

I have used other amps as well (THX AAA 887, RME DAC FS2) and I have never noticed any differences in sound characteristics.

All of these are endgame in my opinion.

 

[Loomynarty]

SMSL makes some damn good headphone amps. I've never had an issue with the few I've owned.

 

[raindance]

I never thought anything this size could drive 14 ohm sensitivity planars yet here we are.

Impedance has NOTHING to do with sensitivity.

 

[Human Bass]

Impedance has NOTHING to do with sensitivity.

It has, but it is not everything.

A 32ohm 90db/mw is easier to drive than a 600ohm 90/mw for 99,99% of the amps

 

[Deleted member 2702]

Amplifier: Topping A70 Pro

Less than a month later, the amp is dead. It’s showing the “HP DC Abnormal” error on its display, as so many people have experienced here.

I’mmdone with Topping, and looking for another endgame amplifier. The Benchmark HPA4 comes to mind, but… it really is pricey. I don’t mind spending more than I did on the Toppng amp for better QC, but HPA4’s price make me feel uncomfortable.

Are there any other endgame headphones amps that perform as well as the Topping, but don’t cost as much as an HPA4?

I think your reasoning is great. Benchmark is well known for excellent quality (both regarding QC and the products measurements), support and products with detailed manuals. I have been a Benchmark products owner for a lot of years: DAC1 (sold) and now: DAC2 HGC, AHB2 (two units) and have never had any issues. A second hand DAC2 HGC may be a an option or you could be looking for a second hand HPA4. No offense to Topping owners, but I would also never buy something from that brand.

 

[robbiekhan]

So amplifiers have "sound" and soundstage? The Topping amps have "NAD sound" and the Violectric sounds "warm" (i.e. it doesn't have a linear frequency response or has high distortion?). Very confusing to read all this here on ASR.

They absolutely do have soundstage and differences in stereo imaging. I can swap connectors between two DACs on my desk right now and tell exactly which is which in the dark because one has a more spacious sound than the other, and one has vocals that sound more in the middle of my head than in front and projected wide like in a live lounge bar type setting.

Some folks need to stop focusing solely on what a graph tells them, graphs are great but they don't tell the whole story.