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Review and Measurements of the Topping D70 DAC

gvl

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I see, maybe it's different on the first gen DX7? I don't have a DX7s.
I'm not going to open it to find out though as it works perfectly for the past 2 years now?

I'm not going to lose my sleep over it too, but it is not done properly from the safety point of view. The bare pins carrying mains voltage protrude from the back of the PCB and are within 2mm of the case. Fortunately there are no vents, so your kids wont be able to drop a penny inside.
 
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amirm

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The EGC doesn't land on the chassis in a secure fashion. The conductivity you saw is through PCB traces which will evaporate well before your circuit breaker trips in case of a ground fault. Well, at least it is the case on my DX7s, I had to open it up when I shipped the board for repairs. The EGC lands on the PCB ground plane, that's it. Somehow it escaped Amir's scrutiny, but hey, we all know he is a Topping schill :)
There is independent CE certification for the DX7s. I would imagine there is a CE test for this and it has passed.
 

gvl

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There is independent CE certification for the DX7s. I would imagine there is a CE test for this and it has passed.

Isn't CE just a manufacturer's claim that is not verified by a 3rd party? Someone said it here not long time ago.
 
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amirm

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Isn't CE just a manufacturer's claim that is not verified by a 3rd party? Someone said it here not long time ago.
You can self-certify but Topping actually hires a lab to do the testing:

1559262308688.png


The test agency is BST.

The PCB traces may be thick enough to handle the trip current.
 

gvl

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You can self-certify but Topping actually hires a lab to do the testing:

View attachment 26967

The test agency is BST.

The PCB traces may be thick enough to handle the trip current.

It's possible. In my examination of the contact points between the PCB and the case I could not find a trace of any effort to ensure good conductivity, the standoffs would land on anodized aluminum, etc. I was left with an impression that any contunuity there is is pure luck.
 

Daverz

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Thanks for the measurements. Could we get some info on how the volume control performs as this is a feature that Topping touts on their website?
 
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amirm

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Thanks for the measurements. Could we get some info on how the volume control performs as this is a feature that Topping touts on their website?
I tested the control by using the volume control or adjusting the input digital level and results were identical.

I plan to do a full analysis at some point on fidelity of different volume control and might do that with the D70. For now, I would assume its volume control is very good.
 
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amirm

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Is there a way to just turn the display off?
There are three brightness levels but I don't remember if one is off. Will check and report back.
 

maxxevv

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D70 will steal a lot of sales from the DX7s, one has to wonder what were they thinking. Or the DX7s is being discontinued?

The DX7s is on its way to being superceded by the DX7Pro.

Comes XLR-3, XLR-4, 6.35mm and TRRS 2.5mm outputs and also a BT 5.0 input. And a ES9038PRO chip.

Remains to be seen how well it will perform/measure when it comes out around July / August though.
 

JohnYang1997

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The noise performance is outstanding here. Would you try to measure the spectrum with different level. Or THD+N vs output level?
 

Music1969

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We can see why SINAD suffers a bit because once the levels get close to maximum, more distortion sets in than best of the best DACs. If you operate the DAC using its volume control you would avoid this and get all the benefits of the D70.

Hi @amirm what's SINAD at -3dB digital volume?
 

JohnYang1997

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At that price, I thought Topping would have mopped everyone in a stand-alone DAC config at this price bracket. I still think to this day the DX3 Pro was some designer throwing everyone a special treat. Topping are also about to cannibalize themselves seemingly in the mid-top end once the DX7 Pro releases, and then you have the D2 actual top-end flagship , but unless that thing mops the competition thoroughly, things like the RME and Okto will forever be encroaching on it as they offer a serious price/featureset at the price the D2 will be attempting to compete at.

With the specs, I'm surprised the top-end power wasn't more controlled for. Especially considering the delay this thing seemingly went through.
I believe that D2 is from Smsl not Topping?
 

onslash

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I for one am super happy, I ordered the D70 the day Amazon offered it. Now I feel even better after this review. I pretty amp'd since I will have a SMSL SU-8 and a Cambridge Audio Dac Magic Plus and soon the Topping D70. Not a bad lineup in my eyes. Thank you amirm for your work and dedication!
Let me know how it compares to the dac magic plus once it arrives , audibly. Looking to upgrade mine as well.
 

onslash

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The performance here is supurb, but the price is still getting up there. Although it does beat the VMV 1 or whatever (atleast in some aspects) for half the price.
I'm cheap though so.... If you are fine with RCA I still think that the D50 + JDS Atom can't be beat for roughly $350. Then you have $650 to drop on a technically excellent headphone like a mrspeakers Aeon. Or even buy a number of other high end low distortion headphones (depending on your tastes).
Which gives you a ton of performance for $1000.
Overall it's just amazing what can be had today for such a low price!
Agree, i my self use the aeon flow open , atom , and dac magic plus. The atom is a beast for $99, the dac side i don't know how cheap one can get to get good performance tho , maybe d30 is already good enough
 

777

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The music isn't at 0dB anytime. Generally speaking, only the bass frequencyes are very loud. The voice and highs frequencyes are much more smaller in amplitude, so, in that case, the -20dB level and lower levels are more important in real life. Even if we have 0dB, a very loud signal, SINAD and IMD are very good yet.
In my opinion Topping D70 is a fabulous DAC at this range of price.
 
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