Review and Measurements of Topping D50 DAC

[Alou]

If you want to use both a DAC and a great preamp and headamp yes go for a m903 ,but if you have a great DAC and just wanto the analog part you can look for a 902 ,i think they will be cheaper.
By they way i just spotted one 789 euros not bad ,new it was over 2,000 :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Grace-Desi...764536?hash=item48d508bb38:g:hUcAAOSwtdtdrMID

 

[neilmc]

There is one available right now on eBay in California for US $700 (630 euros). That is almost too tempting for words.

 

[Alou]

When you are not ready, that's when you fond all the goodies

 

[neilmc]

How well I know. In a few months, when I’m ready, it won’t be had for less than $1,000. It’s like those times when you misplace something around the house, and most likely you won’t find it until you no longer need it. Same Life Principle.

 

[I_L_Music]

@amirm could you pls explain me about ESS hump in simple English. How does it impacts sound output/music from the dac. I have Topping D50, which I bought after reading your review. I am enjoying listening music through D50.

 

[Alou]

In summary the 'ESS hump' is a hump that typically shows in the plots of intermodulation distortion vs. input level for a wide range of DACs using ESS

 

[mt196]

Guys do you know why if I connect my d50 via USB to my PC (Audio chain is pc-d50-atom-speaker amp) I get a hiss when listening through speakers (I cannot hear the hiss with headphones)? The hiss goes away only if unplugging the USB.
I also had to tape the GND USB's pin, otherwise there would have been a hell of a hiss + noise at each mouse movement. I tried to connect the second d50's USB (the one for power) to a smartphone wall wart and noise lowered a bit.

So how can I solve the issue of the hiss? Optical connection unfortunately is not available in my mobo. (Ah, I don't remember of any hiss when using Topping D30 with the same equipment)

 

[Alou]

DID you install the drivers form topping ?How are you connecting d50 rca out to rca in in your amp then to your spreakers ?
Does your amp have a gain switch ?

 

[mt196]

DID you install the drivers form topping ?How are you connecting d50 rca out to rca in in your amp then to your spreakers ?
Does your amp have a gain switch ?

Yes I installed Topping drivers. I use Topping RCA out to JDS Atom that controls the volume as a preamp to my anaview ams0100 that is the speaker amplifier (it is just a final so no volume control).

I tried connecting directly the d50 to the anaview (using d50 digital volume to control it) and the noise is still there, probably a bit worse than with the Atom.

The only thing that seems to work right now is to tape the USB wire GND pin going to the pc, this method removed a lot of noise but there is still a high pitched hiss coming from the speaker tweeters.

I probably have a ground loop but why it wasn't there with the d30? Is the d50 more sensitive to that stuff?

 

[Alou]

If you have a ground loop it would be in the analog area,so check your preamp and or amp otput with other sources in (A cd another DAC etc).
Try with another usb cable and dont mask or tape anything ,use a second usb port as power source or another wall wart.
But first try this ,the hum might be digital like hum or distortion and not analog so in that case it might be a latency issue.
Go tot he Topping driver control panel and play with the latency and or buffer settings.
Sometimes MB use PCi steering for usb devices and you ahve to find the proper ms settings.

 

[I_L_Music]

In summary the 'ESS hump' is a hump that typically shows in the plots of intermodulation distortion vs. input level for a wide range of DACs using ESS

Thanks Alou for the response... could you also tell me how ess hump effects music output. Can I hear audible noise or coloration or change in sound..

 

[mt196]

If you have a ground loop it would be in the analog area,so check your preamp and or amp otput with other sources in (A cd another DAC etc).
Try with another usb cable and dont mask or tape anything ,use a second usb port as power source or another wall wart.
But first try this ,the hum might be digital like hum or distortion and not analog so in that case it might be a latency issue.
Go tot he Topping driver control panel and play with the latency and or buffer settings.
Sometimes MB use PCi steering for usb devices and you ahve to find the proper ms settings.

I think it is coming from digital part since it goes away when unplugging usb but also when the DAC digitally mutes itself after it does not get audio from pc for a while. I am using an external power source 5v 2A wall wart amazon basic. When using the pc as power source the noise was really high (like radio noise and hiss when moving mouse), instead with the external power source I improved a bit, but as I was saying the major improvements came from taping the usb ground pin, meaning probably that the problem is coming from the usb power. I also tried two different usb cables and no improv at all. I’ll try with my laptop to definitely give the blame to my desktop usbs

 

[mt196]

Thanks Alou for the response... could you also tell me how ess hump effects music output. Can I hear audible noise or coloration or change in sound..

It should not change anything in the audible range

 

[Alou]

It should not change anything in the audible range

I agree ,its not something you hear ,you only measure it with dedicated equipmet like Amie has, and then do an analysis on results.

 

[Alou]

I think it is coming from digital part since it goes away when unplugging usb but also when the DAC digitally mutes itself after it does not get audio from pc for a while. I am using an external power source 5v 2A wall wart amazon basic. When using the pc as power source the noise was really high (like radio noise and hiss when moving mouse), instead with the external power source I improved a bit, but as I was saying the major improvements came from taping the usb ground pin, meaning probably that the problem is coming from the usb power. I also tried two different usb cables and no improv at all. I’ll try with my laptop to definitely give the blame to my desktop usbs

The whole thing sounds strange to me ,have you tried the latency settings ?If you remove USB how do you feed audio data into it.
Also usb cables need all the pins in order for the PC to detect properly a device.
Have you tried usb audio via a player like foobar or jriver and then play via all drivers ,ASIO,WDM ?
Yes try with the laptop as well.

 

[mt196]

I think it is coming from digital part since it goes away when unplugging usb but also when the DAC digitally mutes itself after it does not get audio from pc for a while. I am using an external power source 5v 2A wall wart amazon basic. When using the pc as power source the noise was really high (like radio noise and hiss when moving mouse), instead with the external power source I improved a bit, but as I was saying the major improvements came from taping the usb ground pin, meaning probably that the problem is coming from the usb power. I also tried two different usb cables and no improv at all. I’ll try with my laptop to definitely give the blame to my desktop usbs

If you have a ground loop it would be in the analog area,so check your preamp and or amp otput with other sources in (A cd another DAC etc).
Try with another usb cable and dont mask or tape anything ,use a second usb port as power source or another wall wart.
But first try this ,the hum might be digital like hum or distortion and not analog so in that case it might be a latency issue.
Go tot he Topping driver control panel and play with the latency and or buffer settings.
Sometimes MB use PCi steering for usb devices and you ahve to find the proper ms settings.

Ok, tested with the laptop and the hiss is not there

Tried also ASIO and WASAPI, via foobar but also direct sound and youtube. The noise is there as windows 10 loading screen goes up.
As for the usb pins, I tried and it seems to need only the 5V+ to be recognized by the SO, the GND can be taped without problems, but still a bit of the noise is there. I also tried with and without a UPS (Simulated Pure Sine Wave) and it does not change. Last resort I'll connect the d50 to the monitor's usb and see what happens, then I surrender and probably I have too much noise on the motherboard that goes into the USBs (MSI X99A Sli Krait + 5820K + Vega64)

 

[Alou]

Well you have issues with your PC then!

 

[Alou]

Ok, tested with the laptop and the hiss is not there

Tried also ASIO and WASAPI, via foobar but also direct sound and youtube. The noise is there as windows 10 loading screen goes up.
As for the usb pins, I tried and it seems to need only the 5V+ to be recognized by the SO, the GND can be taped without problems, but still a bit of the noise is there. I also tried with and without a UPS (Simulated Pure Sine Wave) and it does not change. Last resort I'll connect the d50 to the monitor's usb and see what happens, then I surrender and probably I have too much noise on the motherboard that goes into the USBs (MSI X99A Sli Krait + 5820K + Vega64)

Why dont you also try to remove anything that is connected to a USB port besides the D50 ?Try different ports as well and check from the device manager (view devices by connection) that in that usb port you only have the D50,sometimes MB internal usb hubs share devices, Also your PSU might be faulty i doubt it though.Your MB is a good one unless something faulty is there .I never has such an issue even with very cheap usb stick sound cards that i once bought just for fun!

 

[nicky]

Hello,
Finally, is the D50 a good pick? Is the ESS hump noticeable?
I need a DAC to pair to my valve amplifier, I have no need for bluetooth or remote.
The price gap between the 2 models is 40 euros.
The sumarise, is the D50S really better than the D50?

Thanks

 

[Alou]

The D50 is out of production anyway if you find one is older stock ,get the D50s and yes its better.