Review and Measurements of Topping D10 DAC

[dajczu]

Ok... after a lot of switching under the desk the conclusion: If i unplug powered speaker from wall adapter its all ok. So what to do?

 

[mtnbrit]

I would recommend you look at iDefender.

 

[dajczu]

Plunging powered speakers to a different outlet in a separate room fixed the problem completely. But now i have a long cord in the middle of my room . So most likely it's a ground loop issue. I will check with different cables.

 

[pwjazz]

I didn't feel great about severing the ground on my monitor, so I went looking for other solutions. Oddly enough, using a 3.5mm to RCA cable to plug into the Atom's 3.5mm input made the hum almost completely go away?! If I crank up the volume to max on low gain (with no audio signal playing), I can just barely hear a hum, but at actual listening volumes it's not an issue.

If anyone here who knows something about wiring could provide an explanation for why that made a difference, I'd love to know. The only thing I can think of that's different is that the 3.5mm TRS connector connects both channels' ground to the same sleeve on the amp's end, whereas the standard RCA interconnect keeps the grounds separate for both channels between DAC and amp. I don't know why that would make a difference though ...

 

[pwjazz]

I didn't feel great about severing the ground on my monitor, so I went looking for other solutions. Oddly enough, using a 3.5mm to RCA cable to plug into the Atom's 3.5mm input made the hum almost completely go away?! If I crank up the volume to max on low gain (with no audio signal playing), I can just barely hear a hum, but at actual listening volumes it's not an issue.

If anyone here who knows something about wiring could provide an explanation for why that made a difference, I'd love to know. The only thing I can think of that's different is that the 3.5mm TRS connector connects both channels' ground to the same sleeve on the amp's end, whereas the standard RCA interconnect keeps the grounds separate for both channels between DAC and amp. I don't know why that would make a difference though ...

Okay, found one more hum I had a couple of powered LSR305 monitors connected to the Atom's preamplifier output. They were plugged into two different outlets, one shared with my new monitor. Plugging the two LSR305's into the same outlet, separate from the monitor, took care of this one.

Ugh.

 

[miguelx74]

hello guys, to join the Jds Atom, better the Topping D10 or the d30? thank you

 

[daftcombo]

D10 cheaper and no ESS hump, just saying.

 

[miguelx74]

Thanks for the reply. Leaving aside the cost which is better than the two? I was looking for a comparison here but I didn't find it

 

[jasonq997]

hello guys, to join the Jds Atom, better the Topping D10 or the d30? thank you

It depends on the features you need. D30 has optical and coaxial inputs. D10 has optical and coxial outputs which allow it to daisy chain with other dacs. Both measure well and are good matches for the atom. And btw the d30 @daftcombo does not use an ess dac. I own both and can report no audible difference.

 

[miguelx74]

Thanks for the reply. I have no special needs. I have to use the DAC with the Atom JDS to listen to music with the Desktop PC. The only requirement is that I would like to connect the soundbar of the PC and I would like to play the soundbar without having to remove the headphones. So which one do I take?

 

[jasonq997]

Thanks for the reply. I have no special needs. I have to use the DAC with the Atom JDS to listen to music with the Desktop PC. The only requirement is that I would like to connect the soundbar of the PC and I would like to play the soundbar without having to remove the headphones. So which one do I take?

If the soundbar has an optical input you will want the D30. It has a switch to go from USB to optical or coaxial. You can leave the headphones plugged in and use the switch to go back and forth.

 

[miguelx74]

hello, maybe you wanted to say that I have to buy the D10 because it has coaxial and optical output connectors. In contrast, the D30 has input connectors

 

[miguelx74]

PC speakers or soundbar should be connected to AMP. They should not be connected to the DAC.

 

[daftcombo]

It depends on the features you need. D30 has optical and coaxial inputs. D10 has optical and coxial outputs which allow it to daisy chain with other dacs. Both measure well and are good matches for the atom. And btw the d30 @daftcombo does not use an ess dac. I own both and can report no audible difference.

You are right, I messed up D30 and DX3.
As you say : if one just wants a USB DAC, go for D10. Otherwise consider the inputs and outputs.
I use the D10 on 2 systems simultaneously: as a DAC in the living room and as a optical sender to a FDA in another room, with a 10m Toslink cable.

 

[jasonq997]

You are right, I messed up D30 and DX3.
As you say : if one just wants a USB DAC, go for D10. Otherwise consider the inputs and outputs.
I use the D10 on 2 systems simultaneously: as a DAC in the living room and as a optical sender to a FDA in another room, with a 10m Toslink cable.

I do a similar thing. Extremely versatile. I am glad that Topping decided to make a device like that, since I don't think most people have this kind of use case in mind. Big fan of the D10.

 

[miguelx74]

The Topping D10 is connected to the Atom with the RCA cable. How to select the optical output on the Topping D10? I would like to send the audio signal to a PC speaker. I hope I don't have to remove the headphones from the Atom to select the optical output on the D10!

 

[Krunok]

The Topping D10 is connected to the Atom with the RCA cable. How to select the optical output on the Topping D10? I would like to send the audio signal to a PC speaker. I hope I don't have to remove the headphones from the Atom to select the optical output on the D10!

Optical output on D10 is always active so just connect your speakers and you will have sound.

 

[miguelx74]

Thanks for the reply.
I would like to connect the D10 to this device:

device

with an optical cable.
Then I would like to connect the PC speaker to this device (it is a soundbar and has a single RCA audio input / 3.5 "jack).
Is it a good idea or could I do better?

If I connect the soundbar to the atom, I have to remove the headphones to make the soundbar sound.

 

[Zek]

So. If I want it for none headphone, only usb it's not recommended?

Where does this come from?

 

[AndrovichIV]

I have a critique regarding the D10.

1. If you want to upgrade firmware you have to execute Chinese software. Nothing against Chinese people, but we've all heard about backdoors from the Chinese government in software from reputable outlets. I really dislike having to expose my computer to security risks to upgrade performance.
2. The firmware itself is downloaded from Topping's website which doesn't use HTTPS. This means that anyone in transit can modify the firmware. So we can't even be sure we are downloading the software from Topping directly. Needless to say, this is a large security risk. This would be solved if Topping cryptographically signed it.

Issue 1 might be controversial to some. Issue 2 shouldn't be controversial. It's just common sense not to execute stuff you downloaded from HTTP, even if it comes from reputable sources (because you cannot verify that it hasn't been tampered with). I hope Topping changes this.