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Review and Measurements of New Topping D50s DAC

jxs226

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Dec 12, 2019
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The unit continues to fail to power on and I have yet to receive a meaningful reply from Drop beyond the initial auto-reply. This is my first standalone DAC and it's been a deflating experience.

Did the unit powered up ?
 

mykeldg

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Just to clarify, you connected the supplied power cable (with circular connector dc to usb) to a usb power brick and then connected another cable via the USB-B Port to your computer is that right?
 

jxs226

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No such cable was supplied. Instead, I connected the supplied USB-A to USB-B to the Topping and MacBook Pro. As well, I connected a 5V power supply from another device to the DC input on the Topping. In both cases the unit fails to power up.

Just to clarify, you connected the supplied power cable (with circular connector dc to usb) to a usb power brick and then connected another cable via the USB-B Port to your computer is that right?
 

Snafu

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Use 5V phone charger etc and connect that to 5V input. Then connect USB to your source.

= use actual charger/psu not "another device"

see if it works
 

BogdanR

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Stuff like this is one of the reasons why I tend to buy from Amazon and got a Prime membership. It is dead easy to return things and get refunded for them if one has issues. My D50s came as an open box for instance instead of new/ sealed. It was obvious the unit was removed from the packaging, tested and returned to the vendor for whatever reason. I was also a bit deflated on this instance but the unit works well on all inputs, including BT and it’s been in almost continuous operation since I got it at the end of last December, with no issues so far. The vendor was also quick in recognizing the open box problem and offered a 20% discount. So, I’m pretty happy so far...
 

jxs226

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Indeed, while I have a Prime membership I found the $185 deal on Drop too good to pass up. Despite multiple attempts to power the unit it has failed and was dead on arrival. Drop has been slow to respond and anything but generous in their handling of this issue. I will not buy from them again.

Stuff like this is one of the reasons why I tend to buy from Amazon and got a Prime membership. It is dead easy to return things and get refunded for them if one has issues. My D50s came as an open box for instance instead of new/ sealed. It was obvious the unit was removed from the packaging, tested and returned to the vendor for whatever reason. I was also a bit deflated on this instance but the unit works well on all inputs, including BT and it’s been in almost continuous operation since I got it at the end of last December, with no issues so far. The vendor was also quick in recognizing the open box problem and offered a 20% discount. So, I’m pretty happy so far...
 

Gradius

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This scare me a bit since I also got it from $185 Drop deal, and I will only receive it in around 10 days more.

Anyone else got that deal at the end of december too? How is the unit? Is everything working fine?
 

Timbo2

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This scare me a bit since I also got it from $185 Drop deal, and I will only receive it in around 10 days more.

Anyone else got that deal at the end of december too? How is the unit? Is everything working fine?

Yes, I was part of that drop. No issues with my unit. Knock wood...
 

jxs226

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I snagged a new D50s from Amazon as it was offered with an 8% discount. The unit arrived today and works fine. The unit from Drop is going back and I have nothing but aggravation to show for the experience.

Indeed, while I have a Prime membership I found the $185 deal on Drop too good to pass up. Despite multiple attempts to power the unit it has failed and was dead on arrival. Drop has been slow to respond and anything but generous in their handling of this issue. I will not buy from them again.
 

raif71

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I bought mine at a local shop. Demoed it first before paying. After unboxing, the seller plugged his own cable to the unit to power it but it didn't work. Then he used the supplied power cable and the unit powered up. I brought my DAP connect it to coax and played several songs. Satisfied, I paid and am now using it at home...tried usb connection and it works. Happy camper here.
 
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Jarrett

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Has anyone moved on from the D10 to the D50s and would like to comment on any sound quality improvements? I know not just the DAC is different, but the output stage. Thanks
 

Veri

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Has anyone moved on from the D10 to the D50s and would like to comment on any sound quality improvements? I know not just the DAC is different, but the output stage. Thanks
I've seen people claim on other forums that the D50s is Toppings best budget DAC (under ~$400 range).
If there's any difference it's probably slight though, but at least people seem to love D50s a lot, in case you upgrade.
 
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Timbo2

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I've seen people claim on other forums that the D50s is Toppings best budget DAC (under ~$400 range).
If there any difference it's probably slight though, but at least people seem to love D50s a lot, in case you upgrade.

Having done this upgrade there are two things I would highlight. The output voltage is slightly less with the D50s. This isn't a problem, just something to note as initially I thought it sounded "just a bit weaker" compared to the D10 at the same volume level. Volume adjusted I doubt I could tell the difference. Second, the volume attenuation is really handy with my JDS Atom and IEMs. Even with 1x gain I didn't get a lot of adjustment with the volume level. So the ability to reduce the volume in the DAC and the lower output voltage was actually a plus.
 

Jarrett

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Interesting ;)

I just upgraded to the D10 from an HRT microStreamer (released in 2013). That is likely a more significant upgrade...as much as I still want to hear a D50s. Seems like the D50s has more in common with the D10 than their high-end D70, D90 line.
 

Dogway

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I just hooked it up and woow, so much depth and dynamic range, the bass, and that's with my ****** headphones (buying some soon). It blows my Denon M40 internal DAC out of the water.
For now I'm using a 5V 850mA wall charger, do you recommend something better, more power to spare?
Also I can't seem to be able to output 384Khz from the DAC sound properties, it shows 24bit 192Khz max, I'm on Win7, might this be an OS limitation? or should I install ASIO?
 

Veri

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I just hooked it up and woow, so much depth and dynamic range, the bass, and that's with my ****** headphones (buying some soon). It blows my Denon M40 internal DAC out of the water.
For now I'm using a 5V 850mA wall charger, do you recommend something better, more power to spare?
Also I can't seem to be able to output 384Khz from the DAC sound properties, it shows 24bit 192Khz max, I'm on Win7, might this be an OS limitation? or should I install ASIO?
-5V charger is fine
-Windows setting will resample everything with Windows internal resampler, it's much better to select 44 or 48kHz and let the DAC do filtering. Windows is not a particularly good resampler...
-You can however use ASIO or WASAPI plug-in to let any app take direct control and select any compatible sample rate (like 384kHz). Foobar2000 and others can do this.
 
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Veri

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I was worried that being below 1A the DAC would underperform. I will try installing ASIO, didn't see a sampling rate in LAVfilters but will investigate that.
What's controlling LAVfilters? I know mpc-hc for example has 'exclusive mode' for audio under settings.
 
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