Topping A50s Headphone Amplifier Review

[Spojkovic]

the DAC and RCA to RCA cable should arrive tomorrow, i will let you know if it change the output power / volume... if not at least i will have cleaner source and im curious if there will be a noticeable difference, but i think there should be a difference because of filters which i cannot turn off on that DAC and i have to pick one

 

[Veri]

the DAC and RCA to RCA cable should arrive tomorrow, i will let you know if it change the output power / volume... if not at least i will have cleaner source and im curious if there will be a noticeable difference, but i think there should be a difference because of filters which i cannot turn off on that DAC and i have to pick one

People grossly overstate filters' effect unless something is extremely slow/broken..

but yes let us know how it goes! In theory you should have a nice boost in end volume.

 

[ReaderZ]

https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/khadas-tone2-pro/
https://forum.khadas.com/t/tone2-pro-firmware-v1-2-mcu-update/11944/42
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/khadas-tone2-pro-review-dac-amp.20684/ (Amir's review was before the MCU update that solved some jitter/distortion issues)

Some subjective reviews with direct comparisons:
https://headfonics.com/khadas-tone2-pro-review/
https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/khadas-tone-2-pro-review-khadas-1-hi-end-dac-market-0/

I see, I only saw the review here with major issue for 44.1 and weak amp section. Guess after update at least DAC part is very good. But still no where close to be unanimously considered a better DAC than the E30 as usability issue reported by both review will make user experience considerably worse than E30 with it's remote.

 

[Spojkovic]

well, cables arrived but DAC is delayed so it should arrive on monday... i hate when this happens, and it happened to me few times when something should arrive on friday but something happen and its delayed to next work day so i have to wait all weekend

 

[Spojkovic]

Umm yeah, it is quite likely whatever output you are using there is low voltage and is (severely) limiting your amp output. This one was only 1.1 Vrms! https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...te-z390-aorus-motherboard-audio-review.13083/

i did some research and yeah, my motherboard is the same and the majority of motherboards are like that, only new and more expensive have 2 Vrms output (after a few years it should be standard in motherboards) and even then its detecting the impedance so i dont know how it works if you would connect headphone amp what it is detecting, cuz when it is not detecting very high impedance it will not deliver those 2 Vrms

so i am very curious what volume i get with that DAC, cant wait till monday, im not saying that often

 

[Spojkovic]

In theory you should have a nice boost in end volume.

tested with a DAC Topping E30 and it is louder, in one song i could go to full volume without a DAC and it was very loud but i could handle it no problem and with the DAC, i get that loudness at maybe 2 oclock on volume and i cant go past 3 oclock in that song

so thanks for bringing that out, that motherboard maybe does not delivering those standard 2 Vrms
and this solution is pretty nice and not very expensive and that DAC was very good even in the test here on this website, i got that DAC for 149€ and nice RCA to RCA cable

one more question, what sample rate should i choose? 96KHz? 192KHz? less or more? or can i go full what that DAC is capable of 384KHz?
i have it at 48KHz @32bit for now

im listening to music on TIDAL HiFi, playing games, watching youtube or series, if that can tell you what is best for me

 

[Veri]

one more question, what sample rate should i choose? 96KHz? 192KHz? less or more? or can i go full what that DAC is capable of 384KHz?
i have it at 48KHz @32bit for now

im listening to music on TIDAL HiFi, playing games, watching youtube or series, if that can tell you what is best for me

I always use 44 or 48k @ max bit rate. For games and movies 48k is probably best. So good call! Some put it immediately to max but it's just sample rate, it won't do anything useful (Windows will most likely upsample in a pretty bad way, even, better not use a silly rate like 384kHz )
So I think you're golden already

 

[Spojkovic]

ok and again, THANKS for the help

 

[ApOphis]

Salve,

Ho il "trio" Topping (d50s, a50s e p50) e come cuffia una Sennheiser HD 560S... La cuffia ha un'uscita sbilanciata con Jack 3.5 mm e adattatore da 6.3...
L'a50s ha un'uscita bilanciata da 4.4mm e stavo pensando di prendere una Sennheiser HD 660 S per poterla sfruttare e sentire "in teoria" meglio visto anche la cuffia...

Ma le 2 uscite dell'a50s se collegate ognuna ad una cuffia, le fa suonare contemporaneamente?

Non parlo dell'uscita posteriore visto che so già andrebbe a disabilitare le cuffie o viceversa...

Traduzione con Google Translate...
Translation with Google Translate ...

Salutations,

I have the Topping "trio" (d50s, a50s and p50) and a Sennheiser HD 560S as headphone ... The headphone has an unbalanced output with 3.5 mm Jack and 6.3 adapter ...
The a50s has a balanced 4.4mm output and I was thinking of getting a Sennheiser HD 660 S to be able to use it and hear it "in theory" better also seen the headphones ...

But if you connect the 2 outputs of the a50s each to a headphone, does it make them play at the same time?

I'm not talking about the rear output since I already know it would disable the headphones or vice versa ...

 

[Veri]

The a50s has a balanced 4.4mm output and I was thinking of getting a Sennheiser HD 660 S to be able to use it and hear it "in theory" better also seen the headphones ...

But if you connect the 2 outputs of the a50s each to a headphone, does it make them play at the same time?

I'm not talking about the rear output since I already know it would disable the headphones or vice versa ...

Both outputs will produce sound yes. Things can only go "bad" if you combine really difficult loads at the same time, for example two low-impedance planar magnetic headphones at both 4.4mm and single ended output. The device might start to shut down for brief moments of time because your P50 can't handle the peak power draw. That's when you know that you're overloading things (so better avoid that).
Multiple dynamic headphones like Sennheisers should work though, but note that balanced plays considerably louder than single ended, so in practical terms you can't "really" use two headphones output at the same time in terms of volume. One will go much louder than the other very quickly.

 

[ApOphis]

Both outputs will produce sound yes. Things can only go "bad" if you combine really difficult loads at the same time, for example two low-impedance planar magnetic headphones at both 4.4mm and single ended output. The device might start to shut down for brief moments of time because your P50 can't handle the peak power draw. That's when you know that you're overloading things (so better avoid that).
Multiple dynamic headphones like Sennheisers should work though, but note that balanced plays considerably louder than single ended, so in practical terms you can't "really" use two headphones output at the same time in terms of volume. One will go much louder than the other very quickly.

Grazie della celere risposta…
Altra domanda…
In realtà sarebbe sul DAC d50s…
Cmq…
Mi pare abbia un 7 profili ma non mi pare di sentire differenze durante lo switch, sbaglio qualcosa?!

—————————

Thank you for your very good answer,

Another question.

It's actually DAC 50s.

Anyway,

I think you have seven profiles but I don't feel like there's any difference during the switch, do I miss something?!

 

[Veri]

Grazie della celere risposta…
Altra domanda…
In realtà sarebbe sul DAC d50s…
Cmq…
Mi pare abbia un 7 profili ma non mi pare di sentire differenze durante lo switch, sbaglio qualcosa?!

—————————

Thank you for your very good answer,

Another question.

It's actually DAC 50s.

Anyway,

I think you have seven profiles but I don't feel like there's any difference during the switch, do I miss something?!

But powered by P50 right? D50s/A50s/P50

yes, not abnormal, the seven filters are extremely subtle... it is there to experiment but it is my opinion a manufacturer could just as well pick one and lock it. It is very hard to hear any difference from it at all.

 

[ApOphis]

But powered by P50 right? D50s/A50s/P50

yes, not abnormal, the seven filters are extremely subtle... it is there to experiment but it is my opinion a manufacturer could just as well pick one and lock it. It is very hard to hear any difference from it at all.

Should I change the power supply? I thought it was better to take their power supply ...

 

[Veri]

Should I change the power supply? I thought it was better to take their power supply ...

No. But I think the stock power supply has bigger peak power than the P50. So if you should notice max power problems then the P50 might not suffice. But it's probably fine. And the P50 is a 'linear' power supply so you should be getting perfect clean power.. (audible concern, not really, but it's clean power ). Bottom line: if it works it works.

 

[Foulchet]

Hello,

Sorry if it has already been answered but do you think this would be enough for a DT770 Pro 250 Ohm ? I will use it at work and I do not need a DAC (motherboard jack or iPhone dongle will be enough).
I do not need a beast so if a cheaper solution exist, it is even better.

 

[Rayman30]

Hello,

Sorry if it has already been answered but do you think this would be enough for a DT770 Pro 250 Ohm ? I will use it at work and I do not need a DAC (motherboard jack or iPhone dongle will be enough).
I do not need a beast so if a cheaper solution exist, it is even better.

I would recommend something along the lines of a Schiit Hel. This is going to be a very competent DAC/AMP and will easily power your DT770 Pro, while being cheaper than an A50S.

 

[Foulchet]

Sorry I forgot to mention that Schiit was not an option because I leave in Europe (France).I wanted to buy a Schiit product in the past but stocks are very rare from Ue reseller(s).
Too bad because your proposal had a great form factor and knob.

 

[audiofilet]

I recently got the DT 990 600 Version dirt cheap and was wondering if the A50s could drive them?
I have a Steinberg Ur22 mk2 interface and would connect via Line Out 2x Trs to 2x RCA.

 

[Vijay_kumar74]

After rave reviews and exceptional measurements, I bought A50s only to be disappointed! It is not transparent. It changes sound. It makes it smoother, taking the music out of it leaving behind only sound!
OK lot of subjective terms on Objective platform but would like to understand if any graph/measurements can explain it or my ears deceived me to dump the amp (Grudge .. for buying a non satisfactory amp despite stellar measurements)?
The seemingly big difference, can be observed by first directly listening from the dac using IEM (or easy to drive HP like 598) and then hearing through A50s. Hope this way measurements can bring out the amount of delta for amps, if any?

 

[Vijay_kumar74]

The seemingly big difference, can be observed by first directly listening from the dac using IEM (or easy to drive HP like 598) and then hearing through A50s. Hope this way measurements can bring out the amount of delta for amps, if any?

BTW, that delta was very less when A50s was replaced by quite old JDS labs O2.