This is a review and detailed measurements and comparison of Musical Fidelity V90-DAC against Topping D50. The unit is on kind loan from a member who has been patiently waiting for its review. 
The V90-DAC retails for $300 from what I can tell (it is sold through a dealer channel) so a bit more expensive than Topping at $250.
The V90-DAC is quite attractive and has a high-end feel to it despite the diminutive case:
There is a certain elegance to it that you don't normally find in this price category. Compared to it, the Topping looks decidedly industrial.
It comes with a nice little switching power supply no bigger than a USB phone charger.
From format support point of view, the V90-DAC trails the D50 by only supporting PCM up to 192 kHz and no DSD. The Topping goes up to 768 kHz and DSD512. And while the Topping has a volume control, the V90 has none.
Let's get into measurements and see how they do.
Measurements
Let's start with our Dashboard:
We see a healthy 2.2 volt output which is 10% more than the nominal 2 volts I look for. So there should be no problem driving any pre-amp after it.
Clock accuracy is a bit off at 1.00006 kHz or 60 parts per million. Not an audible concern but something to note.
THD+N and hence SINAD is pretty variable between channels. Like to see those closer. Still, both are in very respectable range. I averaged the SINAD for the two channels and this is where it fits:
It lands where it belongs: below state-of-the-art tier but solidly above the low tier on the right.
Looking at intermodulation distortion we get this:
There is higher noise and distortion levels until we get to mid-level where the Topping suffers. But then it loses at the highest levels. So a mixed picture and a draw.
A draw is also what we get for THD versus frequency:
For some reason, one channel in the D50 decided to have more distortion than it normally has. To that end, those two channels are the same but the other beats the V90-DAC. Still, the difference is not something to worry about.
Another even match is jitter and noise:
Both have a few spikes especially due to USB packet traffic on multiples of 1 kHz which state-of-the-art DACs don't have. Levels though are at -120 dB so absolutely inaudible.
Finally, everyone's favorite measurement, linearity:
Here, we see some variability in the output of V90-DAC that Topping does not have. I like to see less than 0.5 dB at -120 dB level and the V90-DAC exceeds that a bit. So a nod goes to Topping D50.
Conclusions
The Musical Fidelity V90-DAC is a beautifully executed small DAC. It exudes a feel of luxury that doesn't exist in products in this category/price. Design is competent with no glaring faults. All in all, I say it is a hair worse than Topping D50 but we are literally splitting hairs here.
So ultimately this comes down to the usefulness of more formats in Topping D50 and its lower price, versus the more elegant look of the Musical Fidelity V90-DAC. You pick.
-------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
If you like this review, please consider donating funds for these types of hardware purchases using Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/audiosciencereview), or upgrading your membership here though Paypal (https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...eview-and-measurements.2164/page-3#post-59054).
The V90-DAC retails for $300 from what I can tell (it is sold through a dealer channel) so a bit more expensive than Topping at $250.The V90-DAC is quite attractive and has a high-end feel to it despite the diminutive case:
There is a certain elegance to it that you don't normally find in this price category. Compared to it, the Topping looks decidedly industrial.
It comes with a nice little switching power supply no bigger than a USB phone charger.
From format support point of view, the V90-DAC trails the D50 by only supporting PCM up to 192 kHz and no DSD. The Topping goes up to 768 kHz and DSD512. And while the Topping has a volume control, the V90 has none.
Let's get into measurements and see how they do.
Measurements
Let's start with our Dashboard:
We see a healthy 2.2 volt output which is 10% more than the nominal 2 volts I look for. So there should be no problem driving any pre-amp after it.
Clock accuracy is a bit off at 1.00006 kHz or 60 parts per million. Not an audible concern but something to note.
THD+N and hence SINAD is pretty variable between channels. Like to see those closer. Still, both are in very respectable range. I averaged the SINAD for the two channels and this is where it fits:
It lands where it belongs: below state-of-the-art tier but solidly above the low tier on the right.
Looking at intermodulation distortion we get this:
There is higher noise and distortion levels until we get to mid-level where the Topping suffers. But then it loses at the highest levels. So a mixed picture and a draw.
A draw is also what we get for THD versus frequency:
For some reason, one channel in the D50 decided to have more distortion than it normally has. To that end, those two channels are the same but the other beats the V90-DAC. Still, the difference is not something to worry about.
Another even match is jitter and noise:
Both have a few spikes especially due to USB packet traffic on multiples of 1 kHz which state-of-the-art DACs don't have. Levels though are at -120 dB so absolutely inaudible.
Finally, everyone's favorite measurement, linearity:
Here, we see some variability in the output of V90-DAC that Topping does not have. I like to see less than 0.5 dB at -120 dB level and the V90-DAC exceeds that a bit. So a nod goes to Topping D50.
Conclusions
The Musical Fidelity V90-DAC is a beautifully executed small DAC. It exudes a feel of luxury that doesn't exist in products in this category/price. Design is competent with no glaring faults. All in all, I say it is a hair worse than Topping D50 but we are literally splitting hairs here.
So ultimately this comes down to the usefulness of more formats in Topping D50 and its lower price, versus the more elegant look of the Musical Fidelity V90-DAC. You pick.
-------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
If you like this review, please consider donating funds for these types of hardware purchases using Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/audiosciencereview), or upgrading your membership here though Paypal (https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...eview-and-measurements.2164/page-3#post-59054).
