I think the same way regarding service and support and so have considered what I would buy to make sure I have service and support after the sale. Topping is available through Amazon.ca, JDS Labs and Schiit must be ordered through the CAN-USA border via courier. It's not a biggy although it adds more than. I have a 6lb when packaged PC water cooler being replaced via the 5 year warranty and it cost me $49.00 CDN to ship it to Ontario California with extra insurance and tracking. So not cheap to do and if repetitive would become tedious at best.I don't understand those that think 3 year lifespan is adequate or $700 is "throw away" pricing for a DAC.
I have no idea if Topping products have a high failure rate, but I try to avoid products with no local (U.S. in my instance) support. Sometimes I feel like the early adopters of new Topping, SMSL, etc. products are little more than Beta testers. Which seems ridiculous for "solved problem" such as a DAC or head amp.
In the U.S. there's Schiit, Benchmark, JDS Labs, as others here have mentioned.
I think the same way regarding service and support and so have considered what I would buy to make sure I have service and support after the sale. Topping is available through Amazon.ca, JDS Labs and Schiit must be ordered through the CAN-USA border via courier. It's not a biggy although it adds more than. I have a 6lb when packaged PC water cooler being replaced via the 5 year warranty and it cost me $49.00 CDN to ship it to Ontario California with extra insurance and tracking. So not cheap to do and if repetitive would become tedious at best.
"In the event that your product doesn’t work as expected, or you’d like someone to walk you through setup, Amazon offers free product support over the phone on eligible purchases for up to 90 days."How long does AMZN.ca honor the Topping warranty?
So what is the warranty on JDS Labs stuff and Schiit?
"In the event that your product doesn’t work as expected, or you’d like someone to walk you through setup, Amazon offers free product support over the phone on eligible purchases for up to 90 days."
I imagine that a Amazon return would be done online. That and I consider the display, driver ccty and related power supply stuff to be just more to go wrong. Schiit and LDS Labs have it together that way for inexpensive DACS and headphone amps. From what I understand the DACs work and no need for mucking with settings and stuff. The Topping is probably better in some ways.The above is for "product support" over the phone, it says nothing of returns/replacement. And what's an "eligible purchase"? A Topping DAC?
Honestly, I'd feel better knowing I could speak to someone at Schiit or JDS, over someone at Amazon.
I imagine that a Amazon return would be done online. That and I consider the display, driver ccty and related power supply stuff to be just more to go wrong. Schiit and LDS Labs have it together that way for inexpensive DACS and headphone amps. From what I understand the DACs work and no need for mucking with settings and stuff. The Topping is probably better in some ways.
JDS has the Element II: https://jdslabs.com/product/element-ii/What I'd like to see from Schiit and or JDS is a DAC pre in the $350-$400 range, with a volume knob.
JDS has the Element II: https://jdslabs.com/product/element-ii/
It is definitely not that, but while you lose in not having a balanced connection, you gain in having a beautiful *ahem* knob.Ha, I was editing as you posted, to add 'balanced'.
I imagine that a Amazon return would be done online.
By the time a CDN buyer imports a JDS Labs or Schiit product it would maybe be better to buy the Topping from amazon.ca and get the extra totaling 4 years full warranty for the extra $45.13 CDN. No idea...lol but a 4 years warranty with payment for irreplaceable units is pretty good service.Surely. Up to 30 days if I'm not mistaken.
By the time a CDN buyer imports a JDS Labs or Schiit product it would maybe be better to buy the Topping from amazon.ca and get the extra totaling 4 years full warranty for the extra $45.13 CDN. No idea...lol but a 4 years warranty with payment for irreplaceable units is pretty good service.
I got that wayy back. I stay out of that because it gets political. I dig the JDS and Schiit DACs for the simplicity and the one headphone amp from Schiit has great power output specs.And to keep this in context, both the OP and I are in the U.S. Hence the recommendations and discussion for U.S. based products.