Review and Measurements of the Topping D70 DAC

[trustlaw]

Audio gd , matrix audio , ps audio dacs with hdmi lvds will do the trick

Thank you very much for your great advice. I wonder whether Matrix X-Sabre Pro MQA and/or AudioGD D77 are compatible or not? Have you tried out for these combinations? May I please know which DACs you use to connect with Cocktail X50D via HDMI I2S or RJ45 I2S?

 

[Rokker79]

Thank you very much for your great advice. I wonder whether Matrix X-Sabre Pro MQA and/or AudioGD D77 are compatible or not? Have you tried out for these combinations? May I please know which DACs you use to connect with Cocktail X50D via HDMI I2S or RJ45 I2S?

At the moment I use aune s8 with hdmi connected, i have seen x50d to matrix x by hdmi work , so I have great confidence the audio gd does it to, sins they'll have the same pinout hdmi . Aune s8 needed a modified hdmi cable to work properly, Aune used the ps audio pin out but switched place on the data + and - , nothing a 10min session on Google and another 10 with a solder iron couldn't fix =)
BTW in my opinion (and many other's) the I2S is superior since it separates all signals from each other with all the benefits that brings..

 

[Veri]

BTW in my opinion (and many other's) the I2S is superior since it separates all signals from each other with all the benefits that brings..

This is some claim that has little substance to it. USB is not inferior to I2S. Where does your HDMI/I2S come from? USB? You see the fallacy there?

 

[Rokker79]

This is some claim that has little substance to it. USB is not inferior to I2S. Where does your HDMI/I2S come from? USB? You see the fallacy there?

Well it's my opinion AND since I2s is made for audio and not a Universal Serial Bus , I my self and others find that it sounds better! Have you tried?

 

[SIY]

Well it's my opinion AND since I2s is made for audio and not a Universal Serial Bus , I my self and others find that it sounds better! Have you tried?

Have you and these others done the evaluation ears-only? Double blind, level matched, with the same masters?

 

[Rokker79]

I can only speak for myself !
And of course I listened and compered. It makes more difference with dsd 256 and higher then pcm signal.
And it's foremost in soundstage and 3d feel there is a difference . A little deeper ,a little wider . Again nuances..
If you want a more technical explanation, go look at Paul McGowan from ps audio explain I2S at his YouTube channel!

 

[SIY]

I can only speak for myself !
And of course I listened and compered. It makes more difference with dsd 256 and higher then pcm signal.
And it's foremost in soundstage and 3d feel there is a difference . A little deeper ,a little wider . Again nuances..
If you want a more technical explanation, go look at Paul McGowan from ps audio explain I2S at his YouTube channel!

So no, you haven't done an actual listening test.

McGowan is, to put it mildly, not a reliable source of technical information.

 

[Veri]

Well it's my opinion AND since I2s is made for audio and not a Universal Serial Bus , I my self and others find that it sounds better! Have you tried?

Where does your I2S signal come from? If it's from another device also connected over USB, how is your I2S signal any different? If you didn't know, a common XMOS/Amanero USB interface also interfaces to an I2S signal to your DAC. All you're doing is adding an extra device and an extra HDMI cable, using a standard that is absolutely not standardised ("ps audio pin out but switched place on the data + and -" and that sorta thing).

Amir also tested my own Singxer SU-1 in this thread. So I own an I2S interface and I still think this connection is entirely pointless. don't tell me I should try it first cause I did I'm perfectly happy using USB at computers and optical from game console/TV. Works fine, sounds fine. My SU-1 is only used to interface AES signals, which is an actual, balanced industry standard.

 

[Rokker79]

Well I didn't tell you to do sh*t , i asked if you tried..
Reading and understanding what's written is obviously not a criteria for being a member LOL

 

[Veri]

Well I didn't tell you to do sh*t , i asked if you tried..
Reading and understanding what's written is obviously not a criteria for being a member LOL

You have 7 posts here, just waltzing in and claiming things about anecdotal magical properties about the wonderful I2S protocol.
Might want to reconsider this forum going by your attitude and absolute head-fi mentality and naivety.

 

[BDWoody]

Reading and understanding what's written is obviously not a criteria for being a member LOL

This is certainly true... There is a ton on the site about this subject. Don't see a lot of evidence of either reading or understanding any of that, just standard unsupported claims.

 

[Rokker79]

I see, many self acclaimed popes ..
I just didn't realise the underlying hate of I2S .
Since I have not claimed anything other than that I find it superior over the other interfaces. In MY equipment ( streamer to dac )
I use Usb from my computer to dac in that system.
I may in the future by a dac with a usb that is better then my current setup.

 

[Rokker79]

Sorry Veri
Words came faster then I intended to ..
All I intended to do was to help trustlaw with a dac that works nicely with the X50D lvds out .. my mistake was to write a personal perception of that equipment then all hell broke loose..
I sincerely apologise to all offended!

 

[Veri]

Sorry Veri
Words came faster then I intended to ..
All I intended to do was to help trustlaw with a dac that works nicely with the X50D lvds out .. my mistake was to write a personal perception of that equipment then all hell broke loose..
I sincerely apologise to all offended!

No problem at all. happens to us all from time to time. But all I wanted to make clear, if you make use of standard USB connections on your audio gear, internally it also gets converted to I2S. This can happen synchronously or asynchronously, and usually there is very little jitter on USB connection (but there are exceptions, like older Schiit modi 2 as a bad example). Usually USB is totally fine, so I would not recommend anyone to buy a special device for I2S. Your DAC already does this internally after all. It is audio manufacturers and audio marketing that makes you believe you need this. Just accepting I2S input already makes you wonder if you should buy something that outputs it, lol. They create a need!

Now, on other forums like audiophilestyle or head-fi there are many claims that interfaces can sound "better" or different, sound stage wider and more detail etc. On this audio science forum you will find very few people that will believe such claims, because there's no science to it, just beliefs. Anyway, thanks for listening and for the apology have a nice day

 

[Rokker79]

Thanks Veri
I shall, sun is shining and I have the weekend off

And as a post script i like this forum , I've been reading reviews and following different topics for a year .
I started my account because I could help a member when nobody else had .

Btw i am the typical restless audiophile, can't keep my fingers from the inside of my equipment. Not always with better outcome ,but when that happens I'm king for a day

 

[trustlaw]

At the moment I use aune s8 with hdmi connected, i have seen x50d to matrix x by hdmi work , so I have great confidence the audio gd does it to, sins they'll have the same pinout hdmi . Aune s8 needed a modified hdmi cable to work properly, Aune used the ps audio pin out but switched place on the data + and - , nothing a 10min session on Google and another 10 with a solder iron couldn't fix =)
BTW in my opinion (and many other's) the I2S is superior since it separates all signals from each other with all the benefits that brings..

Thank you very much, Rokker79

As AudioGD DAC and Matrix-X Sabre Pro are not available here, I would like to seek your experience before ordering one that matches with my Cocktail X50D. I am not good enough to do any technical tests, but just to my ear, since the first time I tried the I2S connection, I immediately felt it is superior to other connections. I also have other DAC like Chord Qutest and Audiolab but neither of them have I2S. As I feel the advantage of the I2S (to my ear), I try to look for a DAC that supports DSD signal from my Cocktail I2S output.

Kind regards,

 

[trustlaw]

I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all of you, Rokker79, SIY, Veri, BDWoody for your great contribution, helpfuness, opinion, advice, experience and technical clarifications with regard to I2S connection that would certainly further my understading thereof.

I will try more and compare I2S with USB connections to see whether there a real difference in sound quality (just to my ear).

I might think twice before buying an I2S DAC that would not better sound quality in this connection.

Have a nice weekend.

 

[Soundstage]

Too bad.
My D70 has a 5dB channel imbalance.

 

[Soundstage]

Audiophonics will send a new DAC. But they did not test channel imbalance (pictured below, with UMIK as I don't have a line in on my computer). The ERR_DAC message on the screen was enough for them to send me a new one. Even though I could get over this message thanks to Factory Reset every time.

 

[blackthrash]

Recently started running into an issue with my D70 where I get about 60 seconds of music before it cuts out to silence. Unplugging/plugging the USB cable back in resolves it to where I can get another 60s of music. Anyone else run into this?

This is a 2012 MBP running MacOS Catalina 10.15.6