Purchase help - Topping

[vnhood]

Hello all,

Im quite new to audio in general and need some basic help with a purchasing decision.

I have a set of Eve Audio SC204 speakers I purchased a while back. Im looking into connecting them to my PC.

Im ok to spend 400-500 eur for a DAC to connect them to my PC however im very confused in terms of what exactly to buy. Im saying this price as id like to buy something that will last me in terms of the quality of the components and features it provides. I will however be unlikely to tell the difference between a higher quality product and a medium one for example.

Ive narrowed It to needing a DAC and to Topping as they seem to have what I need (balanced output as better than unbalanced - not sure why but I know this ) )

However im confused as to which product I need from topping. Im not looking to drive them at max volumes for sure. Headphone amp built in is not a must as im not currently planning on investing in headphones but down the line who knows. Might get bit by the bug.

For example is the d70 pro sabre I need or will I be fine with a DX5 for example.

Thank you in advance.

 

[notsodeadlizard]

You don't need any topping and no any external DAC at all, because your speakers already have DAC and DSP inside.
Async USB connection to your PC will be anyway better than the external DAC with additional unnecessary analog domain of "DAC analog output + cables + sockets".

 

[Elitzur–Vaidman]

Hello all,

Im quite new to audio in general and need some basic help with a purchasing decision.

I have a set of Eve Audio SC204 speakers I purchased a while back. Im looking into connecting them to my PC.

Im ok to spend 400-500 eur for a DAC to connect them to my PC however im very confused in terms of what exactly to buy. Im saying this price as id like to buy something that will last me in terms of the quality of the components and features it provides. I will however be unlikely to tell the difference between a higher quality product and a medium one for example.

Ive narrowed It to needing a DAC and to Topping as they seem to have what I need (balanced output as better than unbalanced - not sure why but I know this ) )

However im confused as to which product I need from topping. Im not looking to drive them at max volumes for sure. Headphone amp built in is not a must as im not currently planning on investing in headphones but down the line who knows. Might get bit by the bug.

For example is the d70 pro sabre I need or will I be fine with a DX5 for example.

Thank you in advance.

All of the Topping DACs will perform identically for your use case. The noise+distortion for any Topping DAC is orders of magnitude less than your speakers' internal amplifiers. Your decision should come down to form factor/aesthetics and input options.
If you only use a computer as your source and don't care about a headphone output, a Topping D10b will suffice.
If you don't care about having a headphone output or physical (knob-based) volume control, the E50 has everything you need.
A DX5 would fulfil every one of your needs (and provide a few extras)

 

[Elitzur–Vaidman]

You don't need any topping and no any external DAC at all, because your speakers already have DAC and DSP inside.
Async USB connection to your PC will be anyway better than the external DAC with additional unnecessary analog domain of "DAC analog output + cables + sockets".

Eve Audio SC204 monitors don't have a USB input option.

 

[vnhood]

Eve Audio SC204 monitors don't have a USB input option.

correct unfortunately. In hindsight should have bought all in one as options exist.

 

[vnhood]

All of the Topping DACs will perform identically for your use case. The noise+distortion for any Topping DAC is orders of magnitude less than your speakers' internal amplifiers. Your decision should come down to form factor/aesthetics and input options.
If you only use a computer as your source and don't care about a headphone output, a Topping D10b will suffice.
If you don't care about having a headphone output or physical (knob-based) volume control, the E50 has everything you need.
A DX5 would fulfil every one of your needs (and provide a few extras)

About the e50, it only has RCA.

I failed to mention is that from my understanding XLR > RCA. Now, cable length will be fairly short as everything will be on the same desk. Do you reckon xlr vs RCA quality is something I should be concerned with?

 

[notsodeadlizard]

Eve Audio SC204 monitors don't have a USB input option.

Oops, sorry.
What a weird design

 

[notsodeadlizard]

Eve Audio SC204 monitors don't have a USB input option.

So, there will be such a strange system in result:

external DAC -(analog)-> ADC -> DSP -> Class D amp ?

This is some kind of new world for me, I have not yet encountered such a logic.

OK.
Schiit Modius.

 

[solderdude]

D10 Balanced PCM384\u0026amp;DSD256 USB Balanced DAC-TOPPING

DX5 Lite DAC\u0026amp;Headphone Amp-TOPPING

DX5 DAC\u0026amp;Headphone Amp-TOPPING

E70 Fully Balanced Desktop DAC-TOPPING

or SMSL

D300

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

D400 EX

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

DO200 MKⅡ

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

DO100

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

Buy whatever looks and functionality you need/want.

 

[Elitzur–Vaidman]

So, there will be such a strange system in result:

external DAC -(analog)-> ADC -> DSP -> Class D amp ?

This is some kind of new world for me, I have not yet encountered such a logic.

OK.
Schiit Modius.

I think a speaker like this just uses a crossover on the line-level signal and independently amplifies the split signal. ADC -> DSP -> amp would be weird.

 

[Elitzur–Vaidman]

About the e50, it only has RCA.

The E50 has balanced output. It just uses TRS connections instead of XLR to save space.