ESS IMD hump with AKM DAC? (specifically AK4499EXEQ in Topping E70 Velvet)

[rcstevensonaz]

The Chinese think differently, they are here and now, their products live now, they don't look into the future...

These aren't products that are supposed to last for decades, they are just supposed to bring profits.

Lets be careful with blanket ethnographic stereotyping such as "The Chinese...". After all, "China has the longest continuous history of any country in the world—3500 years of written history. And even 3500 years ago China's civilization was old!" (And that was in 1944... even older now) [Source: https://www.historians.org/resource/the-oldest-living-civilization/]

We can talk about market focus, product decisions, corporate cultures, etc. For example, I currently only buy Honda (and previously Toyota), but I will not even accept a GM car as rental (and avoid Ford almost as much) unless there is no other choice and I'll have to wait too long for a non-American vehicle. But that isn't a Japanese people vs. American people discussion. Rather, it is a comparison between those particular Japanese-based corporations and American Corporations in the area of vehicles, appliances, etc.

And yes, there are product design approaches that TOPPING and similar companies from China have chosen to take. One of which is to out-engineer the specs of the competitors from other countries, and then offer the product at lower cost. It is comparable to the playbook that many Japanese corporations used post-WW II, but with a deliberately different emphasis. Engineering for high precision manufacturing with extremely low defect rates and long-lasting durability is not the product strategy of TOPPING (vs. the historic focus at Toyota).

And IMHO, that is a FEATURE and not a BUG since the lower cost allows me to also innovate my home audio rapidly instead of only being able to afford an upgrade every 5+ years since the cost of each jump remains affordable.

But in all cases, this is not a "The Chinese do..." or "The Chinese don't..." conversation. But it can be a TOPPING does or TOPPING doesn't conversation.

 

[Burns]

I don't know from which countries people are writing here, I'm not judging. Mostly from America, a little from Europe. As I said, I managed to find e70 and e70V for the same cents on sale. Let's assume, however, that the average difference is $70. For me and in my country (PL) this is quite small money. This is often how much a computer game CD or a good album on vinyl costs. So why do people save so much on such an expense. Why do so many people buy Topping from the lowest d10 series even cheaper and a few decided to dx9 for about $1400 (this is already a large amount for me and then I have competition RME). To sum up. If someone now has a problem with buying e70V for $350, do you think they won't shed crocodile tears when this equipment is broken in 2 years? I don't, I'll throw away e70 and buy another e70, because I'm aware of what I bought and with what approach the manufacturer has...

It is precisely in this hole that Chinese products fit, giving more for less without wasting time and money on support. They are here and now. As you can see, there is a demand for it because there is no shortage of fans of low prices.

.If my attitude changes, I'll buy the RME ADI-2 DAC FS converter for $1000 and I don't know if I'll be better taken care of. I've read a lot about them but have no personal experience.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

It is precisely in this hole that Chinese TOPPING products fit, giving more for less without wasting time and money on support. They are here and now. As you can see, there is a demand for it because there is no shortage of fans of low prices.

Respectfully, I fixed the sentence for you.

There is a bias away from terms such as "ChiFi" or "Chinese products" as blanket statements that paint the entire industry or people of China (or any other country) with a single brush stroke, since such statements are often derogatory (even if not meant by you, frequently so by others). When you instead use the company's name TOPPING, the statement stands perfectly fine and is a reasonable opinion — and also an opinion that I share as well.

And for what it is worth, I have a TOPPING D10B connecting into my RME ADI-2 PRO FS R. So my audio chain includes both ends of the product spectrum.