Review and Measurements of Topping D10 DAC

[FireLion]

THere are a few justifications. One is balanced output that relieves you from worrying about ground loops. More expensive units also have larger displays, and internal power supplies. And yes, the best ones do measure better and guarantee transparency to the source.

All of this said, no, you don't have to buy the most expensive. I have a lot of gear yet use the $200 Topping DX3 Pro for my everyday use. I like the functionality and look and feel of it.

Mmmm ABX'ing DAC's is er..fun. D10 might sound a little leaner but hard to say if I am honest.
I'll have a HiFi berry USB module this week along with the DAC+ Pro XLR so that will be fun.

 

[minhquanma]

Hi guys, I'm new here.

I already have Magni 3, I know that Modi 3 has better performance as well as better measurement compared to D10 but Topping D10 is priced at 90$ meanwhile Modi 3 is priced at 140$ in my country.
Should I go for Modi 3 or get the D10 for better value?
Thanks.

 

[daftcombo]

Hi guys, I'm new here.

I already have Magni 3, I know that Modi 3 has better performance as well as better measurement compared to D10 but Topping D10 is priced at 90$ meanwhile Modi 3 is priced at 140$ in my country.
Should I go for Modi 3 or get the D10 for better value?
Thanks.

D10 is crazy good.
But do you need coax or optical in?

 

[minhquanma]

D10 is crazy good.
But do you need coax or optical in?

No, I just need analog lineout for my amp

 

[daftcombo]

No, I just need analog lineout for my amp

If you just need USB in & RCA out, go for D10 without hesitation. It is transparent to me and the drivers are very stable, which is not to neglect.

 

[GioF71]

Hello, I just wanted to share my experience with this dac.
I have repurposed a relatively old Celeron J1900 build (no fan, DC power socket on the mainboard) with LibreElec. My purpose was gaining easy access to Internet Radios (using various kodi plugins) with the convenience of a simple remote control and the ability to choose the content I want to play using the living room tv.
The optical port of my existing dac was already used, so I could not consider the spdif output of the mainboard itself and I did not want to add a spdif splitter, so the D10 came in: I can now use the coaxial input of the dac as well as the amp's Tuner input (how appropriate?).

Kodi also happens to offer decent support for Qobuz via a plugin, so that's perfect.
Also the dac turns on and off with the computer, making its use even simpler for everyone.

I continue to keep a asus tinkerboard with mpd/upmpdcli if I do not want to turn on the TV and when I want to play on of my few dsd albums (which does not happens very frequently I have to say).

Thanks @amirm for the nice review of this great little and unassuming DAC

 

[Deku]

Hi all. New to this forum, so forgive me if I’m posting in the wrong place. I recently received my Topping D-10 DAC. Love it! Only problem is my MacBook won’t see it unless I use the supplied 4’ USB2 cable. I tried a 10’ USB2 cable—nothing. Figured it was a bad cable, so I ordered another—still nothing. Anyone else run across this? Perhaps 10’ is too long for a passive cable? Unfortunately I don’t have another USB2 device to test the cables on. Thanks for any help—Paul

Too bad for Paul's sake and my own I'm finding this nearly a year after his original post. I'm also having the same problem with my D10 just delivered yesterday.

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro 13" which sports two USB/Thunderbolt 3 ports. I've used this Cable Matters 1m (3.3ft) USB2 C-to-B cable for the past year to connect to a Schiit Modi 2, SMSL SU-8 and more recently an Airist RDAC with no problems. Upon connecting it to my D10, my Mac did not recognize anything was connected and the unit displayed only "- - -" followed by " . " Confused, I opted to test my backup Tripp Lite 3ft USB2 A-to-B cable with an A-to-C dongle, which yielded the same result. At this point I was worried the unit might be defective, but as a last resort I tried the included 4ft USB2 A-to-B with the same dongle and voila -- it works flawlessly.

I'm not really sure what to think. Has anyone else experienced this behavior with their D10? Does anyone know why this might be? I'd prefer to do without the generic cable and the dongle but I have no idea what alternatives would work. Any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[memphiskat]

Too bad for Paul's sake and my own I'm finding this nearly a year after his original post. I'm also having the same problem with my D10 just delivered yesterday.

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro 13" which sports two USB/Thunderbolt 3 ports. I've used this Cable Matters 1m (3.3ft) USB2 C-to-B cable for the past year to connect to a Schiit Modi 2, SMSL SU-8 and more recently an Airist RDAC with no problems. Upon connecting it to my D10, my Mac did not recognize anything was connected and the unit displayed only "- - -" followed by " . " Confused, I opted to test my backup Tripp Lite 3ft USB2 A-to-B cable with an A-to-C dongle, which yielded the same result. At this point I was worried the unit might be defective, but as a last resort I tried the included 4ft USB2 A-to-B with the same dongle and voila -- it works flawlessly.

I'm not really sure what to think. Has anyone else experienced this behavior with their D10? Does anyone know why this might be? I'd prefer to do without the generic cable and the dongle but I have no idea what alternatives would work. Any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I wonder if this is a Mac only issue since you both are using them. I have been using a very long USB cable, at least 10 feet, that is actually connected to another USB cable (probably another 4 feet) that then goes to the D10 with two different Dell Windows 10 laptops without issue. Both laptops recognize/see the D10 every time and operate flawlessly with it.

 

[Deku]

I wonder if this is a Mac only issue since you both are using them. I have been using a very long USB cable, at least 10 feet, that is actually connected to another USB cable (probably another 4 feet) that then goes to the D10 with two different Dell Windows 10 laptops without issue. Both laptops recognize/see the D10 every time and operate flawlessly with it.

I wish it were that simple, but I tried two different USB2 A-to-B cables with a desktop PC running Windows (drivers installed) and alas I had the same result. Windows will only recognize the D10 when it's connected with the included cable. I'm stumped.

 

[HAL9000]

View attachment 29045

If this is a real D10 schematic - the OPA1612AID opamps would be more suitable for both I / V and differential summing positions.
You will probably get lower distortion and will adversely affect dac sound quality.
Using OPA1612 that are more tolerant of RF is a good start. And they can supply a little bit higher output current which is necessary for use with ESS9018K2M.
With OPA2134 - D10 is designed to measure well first, and do so at a low price point. That means sound quality is not a consideration for anything, only the numbers that will be measured matter. What you get is what the numbers alone sounds like.

 

[Krunok]

Using OPA1612 that are more tolerant of RF is a good start. And they can supply a little bit higher output current which is necessary for use with ESS9018K2M.

 

[HAL9000]

OPA1612 is less sensitive to RF then LME49720 - such as 2GHz from DECT phone base stations and wifi . If OPA1612 doesn't sound good, then there is a problem somewhere before analog stage in DAC. When that opamp sounds perfectly right, you will know you have a killer dac. Ende…

 

[777]

OPA2134 is not perfect for I/V converter (too lazy) but it work better for summing RCA buffer. For I/V converter we need a higher slewrate and bandwidth like LM6172 or ADA4898 for example.

 

[Krunok]

"sensitive", "lazy".. Wow, I admire the passion you guys are talking about opamps, almost as they are live beings!

 

[HAL9000]

The ultimate DIYer is the one who thinks what he wants, writes what he wants, does what he wants, and don't care what others want

 

[777]

"sensitive", "lazy".. Wow, I admire the passion you guys are talking about opamps, almost as they are live beings!

Man, if you do not understand what I talk about, put your hand on book and read. OPA2134 is slow for a I/V conversion if you want the best results. Is has high output impedance at hundred of khz and megahertz. OPA2134 is suitable for voltage low-pass filter.

 

[Nemo]

I wonder if this is a Mac only issue since you both are using them. I have been using a very long USB cable, at least 10 feet, that is actually connected to another USB cable (probably another 4 feet) that then goes to the D10 with two different Dell Windows 10 laptops without issue. Both laptops recognize/see the D10 every time and operate flawlessly with it.

I am using a 5 meters (>16 feet) USB cable with my 2012 MacBook Air with no issues: perhaps you should try a different USB cable... I am using a Nanocable 10.01.1205 I got from Amazon for $5, and if it doesn’t work, can always be returned. Good luck!

 

[poimandres]

From what I have read the D10 does not suffer from the ess hump, unlike the tone board or the NX4. The hump from what I have read should be inaudible correct?

I do like the retro look of the D10, the display reminds me of the Heath kits my father used to assemble. How well does the D10 stack with the Atom?

Is there a better unbalanced combo than the D10 and atom?

 

[Veri]

From what I have read the D10 does not suffer from the ess hump, unlike the tone board or the NX4. The hump from what I have read should be inaudible correct?

I do like the retro look of the D10, the display reminds me of the Heath kits my father used to assemble. How well does the D10 stack with the Atom?

Is there a better unbalanced combo than the D10 and atom?

The D10 pairs well with most small amps like atom, liquid spark etc. (image source: reddit)

 

[guenthi_r]

OPA2134 is not perfect for I/V converter (too lazy) but it work better for summing RCA buffer. For I/V converter we need a higher slewrate and bandwidth like LM6172 or ADA4898 for example.

Tested the OPA1642 for the I/V of D10. Similar Sound compared to OPA2134 but Bass is little better under control.
Measurewise there's not really a difference comparing OPA2134.

Edit:
It is not always the best solution implementing the fastest OPAmp for I/V!