Review and Measurements of Topping D50 DAC

[bunkbail]

While you could this will probably be a waste as the head will be a much weaker link in the chain not to mention all the road/car noise. I'd just get a cheapo powered USB hub and something like e1da-9038s and call it a day.

I think 9038S has too much gain for a car head unit as most of them have low input sensitivity.

 

[gvl]

I think 9038S has too much gain for a car head unit as most of them have low input sensitivity.

You can adjust volume on the phone, which will hopefully invoke the digital volume control on the DAC. I'm using an Emotiva Little EGO which is conceptually similar and no issues with too much gain running at 90% volume.

 

[aniki78]

While you could this will probably be a waste as the head will be a much weaker link in the chain not to mention all the road/car noise. I'd just get a cheapo powered USB hub and something like e1da-9038s and call it a day.

Thank you for your suggestion but I have customized car audio set up and Fiio BTR3 as USB DAC already bring much improvement over my phone 3.5mm output for Tidal & Spotify

 

[gvl]

Thank you for your suggestion but I have customized car audio set up and Fiio BTR3 as USB DAC already bring much improvement over my phone 3.5mm output for Tidal & Spotify

Chances are you've already reached the limit with the Fiio. E1DA performs close to D50. A blind level-matched listening test should settle it. Do not attempt while driving.

 

[aniki78]

Chances are you've already reached the limit with the Fiio. A blind level-matched listening test should settle it. Do not attempt while driving.

Hahahaha yeah I won't, thank you for your input, unfortunately E1DA still a project and there's a lot of D50 & NX4 DSD local sellers here so it's competitively priced.

 

[restorer-john]

A blind level-matched listening test should settle it. Do not attempt while driving.

No double blind tests with passengers either, OK?

 

[Jimster480]

No double blind tests with passengers either, OK?

Double blind driving testing

 

[Chilli]

You could measure the background noise in the car with an app on your phone.
D50 is powered by a USB line so a power bank or just a car charger will be fine. 2RCA to 3.5mm aux into your head amp and you’re away. Hope you have some mother quiet amps and some great speakers though.
9038s won’t work, as it’s balanced out. Your Fiio (or a UP2) should be quite good as you can just leave it dangling from the aux in. I still use an iPod in the car, as they might give me a ticket if I’m seen changing to the next track on my phone.
If you do end up doing it, let us know how it goes. I wish I had a nice quiet car.

 

[TopCat]

Hi guy's, I just joined. I found this forum when looking for info on the D50 and boy what a great job Amirm does with reviews, Outstanding! I have a question about the Bit readout on the lcd screen and I hope it isn't too redundant because with over 2000 posts in this thread I didn't go through them all. Anyway I am just using the D50 as an upgrade dac for my cd player so I am not streaming any music with it yet. I am connected to the D50 using the digital coax out on my Toshiba HD-XA2 to the coax in on the dac. I am not getting a readout on how many bits there are it just reads 0.0. I contacted the seller I bought it from and I am being told that when using DC connection it doesn't show how many bits the dac is receiving. Is this normal for this dac? It sounds great so it seems to be working fine. I tried the obvious things, new cable, and it is a digital 75ohm double shielded coax cable, I tried 2 of them with the same result. I also tried a different cd player and still no bit readout. Thanks for any info on this issue. Tom.

 

[AresHarvest]

Using the coax and optical inputs will show "00BIT" and that's normal behavior.

 

[TopCat]

Using the coax and optical inputs will show "00BIT" and that's normal behavior.

Thanks AresHarvest, That makes me feel better. I do like the sound of this dac and I got a good deal on it so I am glad it isn't faulty.

 

[aniki78]

You could measure the background noise in the car with an app on your phone.
D50 is powered by a USB line so a power bank or just a car charger will be fine. 2RCA to 3.5mm aux into your head amp and you’re away. Hope you have some mother quiet amps and some great speakers though.
9038s won’t work, as it’s balanced out. Your Fiio (or a UP2) should be quite good as you can just leave it dangling from the aux in. I still use an iPod in the car, as they might give me a ticket if I’m seen changing to the next track on my phone.
If you do end up doing it, let us know how it goes. I wish I had a nice quiet car.

Thank you for your feedback, that's exactly what I have in mind. I'll let you know once I have tried it.

 

[Alkyno]

Hello, i received the Topping D50 DAC along the JDS Labs Atom AMP.
As I saw a few weeks ago, the D50 is capable of using a sampling rate of 768kHz but I only have 384kHz max on Windows.
Is it normal?
Thank you!

 

[BYRTT]

Hi @Alkyno,

Its probably a normal limitation into Windows sound system (WSS) where everything piece of played audio will be sample rate converted to whatever setting you set there. To really see all of your interfaces covered rates you should use a player that support direct hardware access via WASAPI or ASIO, then typically non covered rates for WSS as 88,1 and 176,4 will also show up in list : )

 

[Veri]

Like @BYRTT says it is the Windows Audio stack being what it is... if you push 768Khz via wasapi or asio and you have the driver installed, it should simply play.

 

[Julf]

As I saw a few weeks ago, the D50 is capable of using a sampling rate of 768kHz but I only have 384kHz max on Windows.

And why would it matter, unless you are listening to radio frequencies? Not even bats heard above 300 kHz. Not only that, but where do you find recordings that have been recorded at 768 kHz?

 

[Veri]

And why would it matter, unless you are listening to radio frequencies? Not even bats heard above 300 kHz. Not only that, but whetre do you find recordings that have been recorded at 768 kHz?

This is a common misconception, it means it samples at a rate of 768kHz.

 

[Julf]

This is a common misconception, it means it samples at a rate of 768kHz.

Yes, "recorded at" is the same as "sampled at". That is why I wrote "above 300 kHz".

 

[Veri]

Yes, "recorded at" is the same as "sampled at". That is why I wrote "above 300 kHz".

Ah! OK point taken

 

[starkiller]

Need some set up advice and such on the D50...only going to use it for my CD transport...nothing else...probably will use a digi cable though I do have a couple of optical ones as well, just don't quite understand the front panel and such...I be old and not too bright in knowing about today's tech stuff (computers included), and just want to plug and go, probably will be awhile before I try the different filters out also...anyone have some quick start stuff for me? Read the included manual but it was not as helpful as i would have liked....thanks!