Review and Measurements of New Topping D50s DAC

[Schlippwhip68]

On the D50s the Muses02 op amp has been highly recommended but I am more interested in the latest version the Muses03...

 

[kkeretic]

On the D50s the Muses02 op amp has been highly recommended but I am more interested in the latest version the Muses03...

Of course, if you want to colour the sound and screw transparency.

 

[Veri]

On the D50s the Muses02 op amp has been highly recommended but I am more interested in the latest version the Muses03...

MUSES02 is a dual amp, MUSES03 is a single amp. Also you're paying for a whole lot of fluff and marketing lol. I would advise against it.

 

[nighteagle]

I have the d50s together with a P50 power supply. Using USB from my computer. I just sold my SP200 and bought an A90. Now I am getting USB noise issues. Only thing that removes the noise is pulling the USB cable from the computer or DAC. Even when the dac is turned of I can hear the noise. Is the only way / best way to fix this for certain to buy a more expensive balanced DAC like the Topping D90?

There was no noise issues when I used the SMSL SP200

 

[Veri]

I have the d50s together with a P50 power supply. Using USB from my computer. I just sold my SP200 and bought an A90. Now I am getting USB noise issues. Only thing that removes the noise is pulling the USB cable from the computer or DAC. Even when the dac is turned of I can hear the noise. Is the only way / best way to fix this for certain to buy a more expensive balanced DAC like the Topping D90?

Damn. Ground loop from USB cable -> RCA output that doesn't escape when connecting to A90. You could get rid of it by connecting A90 XLR inputs to something which should provide a ground return path, but that doesn't help you of course. Can you easily return A90?

Personally when I had my A90 I had zero noise from RCA, but if you do have the issue it's really hard to get rid of.

 

[nighteagle]

Damn. Ground loop from USB cable -> RCA output that doesn't escape when connecting to A90. You could get rid of it by connecting A90 XLR inputs to something which should provide a ground return path, but that doesn't help you of course. Can you easily return A90?

Personally when I had my A90 I had zero noise from RCA, but if you do have the issue it's really hard to get rid of.

You think the problem is the A90 not the dac/usb connection? I am thinking about buying an ifi idefender.

 

[Veri]

You think the problem is the A90 not the dac/usb connection? I am thinking about buying an ifi idefender.

The iDefender with external power could break the ground loop, if you can order somewhere you can return it if it doesn't work, then yes I recommend to give it a try. Cheaper than an usb isolator for sure. But yes the problem is not A90 but an unfortunate combination of things.

 

[nighteagle]

The iDefender with external power could break the ground loop, if you can order somewhere you can return it if it doesn't work, then yes I recommend to give it a try. Cheaper than an usb isolator for sure. But yes the problem is not A90 but an unfortunate combination of things.

I switched from USB to optical connection between the computer and the dac. That solved the problem.

 

[nighteagle]

Question regarding optical from computer to d50s. Should I set the optical output on the computer to 24bit 48000? Or should I set it all the way to 24/192?

 

[Berwhale]

Question regarding optical from computer to d50s. Should I set the optical output on the computer to 24bit 48000? Or should I set it all the way to 24/192?

Get someone to change the setting for you (without you knowing which setting has been chosen) and see if you can tell the difference.

 

[Veri]

Question regarding optical from computer to d50s. Should I set the optical output on the computer to 24bit 48000? Or should I set it all the way to 24/192?

I use 24-bit 44kHz always since that's what most things use, and use mpc-hc as video player with "exclusive mode" on, which will override and push 48kHz to the DAC. Easy peasy.
192kHz over optical is a bad idea, it might cause dropouts it you have even a slightly underperforming optical cable.

 

[nighteagle]

I use 24-bit 44kHz always since that's what most things use, and use mpc-hc as video player with "exclusive mode" on, which will override and push 48kHz to the DAC. Easy peasy.
192kHz over optical is a bad idea, it might cause dropouts it you have even a slightly underperforming optical cable.

What about games? Do they use 44 or 48?

 

[Veri]

What about games? Do they use 44 or 48?

Depends but 44 kHz is again most of the time the best choice. Wouldn't obsess over it

 

[digitalfrost]

Most modern material is 48khz - especially anything related to video. I would wager that most games are running at 48khz as well but I don't know. For me, 48khz is the best choice. The only stuff that is 44.1 that I have are CD rips...

e: To further explain. I can very well control the playback of music and I can make sure everything resampled to 48khz in high quality. I cannot very well control material in the web browser or any other digital media like movies. So 48khz default it is for me...

 

[nighteagle]

What about youtube music and spotify? Do they use 48kHz?

 

[digitalfrost]

YT recommends 44.1 for music videos https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6039860?hl=en

But 48 or 96 for everything else: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en

 

[skyfly]

I heard youtube is 44.1k.

I heard that a classical music radio station that mostly plays CDs(44.1k) uses 48k for broadcasting.

 

[skyfly]

Well, I changed to the legendary (hard to find) 2x LME49990MA (yesterday). Of course, they are better than LME49720 (I was using the METAL version which is better than IC regular version), soundstage is in another level.

I can't describe into words, you just need to hear.

Yeah, soldering made by myself.

PS: Yep, the photos are horrible. They are so tiny, hard to make better photos.

Is there a surface mount OP amp to through hole adapter with a small power supply capacitor (recommended to be placed close to the OP amp by the chip manufacturer) on the adapter board?

 

[skyfly]

Did anyone try an OP amp with FET input such as OPA2132?

 

[kkeretic]

Did anyone try an OP amp with FET input such as OPA2132?

I’ve tried a bunch of different opamps before I forced myself to study what I was actually doing. By messing with opamps you are actually coloring the sound, messing with transparency and/or introducing distortion. Eventually I went back to the original. Opamp rolling looks ridiculous to me nowdays. But it was fun.