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Modern DACS vs Vintage: Topping D30 vs EAD Enlightened Audio Designs DSP-1000 Mk II

EdM

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First of all, thank you Amir for the time and effort spent sharing your expertise! I also appreciate all of you who participate in constructive dialog on here.!

I've spent a few days browsing Amir's DAC tests and I understand that Topping D30 would be a recommended inexpensive DAC to purchase today as per Amir's real life DAC performance measurements. I am curious though how today's Topping D30 or any other modern sub-$300 DAC compares to older more expensive units. For example, I happened to own a EAD Enlightened Audio Designs DSP-1000 II unit that's been sitting on a shelf (for variety of reasons).

EAD is a $1000 DAC from a decade ago.
Topping D30 is a $120 modern DAC.
For my implementation, either one will connect to my HTPC via Toslink.

Is EAD still good today? Or should I sell it and get a modern DAC like the Topping D30 instead? This is for stereo music listening: HTPC -> DAC -> Denon Receiver -> Rotel amp -> Floor standing speakers
 

Blumlein 88

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https://www.stereophile.com/content...dsp-1000-series-iii-da-processor-measurements

Measurements of your DAC above. Looks like you should always be careful to feed it only 16 bit files, and not 20 or 24 bits as it truncates those. Truncation can cause added distortion.

So the Topping D30 or similar is probably going to measure a bit better, work with 24 bit files better, and work at higher sample rates if that is important to you. But it might not be a highly noticeable difference to you.

Does your Denon receiver have any digital inputs? You might skip a DAC altogether if it does.
 

JohnYang1997

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D30 uses cs4398 and opa2134 which are also decade ago. It's a matter of design principle and engineering competence with better assisting tools.
 
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