Topping A90 Headphone Amplifier Review

[alto]

Can’t think on anything that can be improved in the A90 other than more power on SE outs which for that you have the A30Pro. Also, increasing power on SE outs would make the A90 running warmer than the A30Pro. In terms of performance, the A90 beats almost every HP amp bellow $3000, including the Benchmark HPA4.

Yeah it seems like a great product, but there are always things to improve, for instance both Joshua Valour and Z Reviews remarked on the volume knob being too short, i.e. it should stick out more for easier use. Also I think adding more power to SE outs would also be quite feasible since the case is very big, plenty of space there to add heat dissipation against the chassi.

I'm mulling over whether to get it sometime soon, maybe right after new years or something, but I still need to try out more things since I'm very new to high quality headphones as a whole. I'm just more of a 'buy once, cry once' type, so I often prefer to get good gear quickly if it's something that I know that I'll be enjoying, which this is, I listen to a lot of music while working etc.

 

[Skinner001]

Yeah it seems like a great product, but there are always things to improve, for instance both Joshua Valour and Z Reviews remarked on the volume knob being too short, i.e. it should stick out more for easier use. Also I adding more power to SE outs would also be quite feasible since the case is very big, plenty of space there to add heat dissipation against the chassi.

I'm mulling over whether to get it sometime soon, maybe right after new years or something, but I still need to try out more things since I'm very new to high quality headphones as a whole. I'm just more of a 'buy once, cry once' type. so I often prefer to get really good gear quickly if it's something that I know that I'll be enjoying, which this is, I listen to a lot of music while working etc.

I wouldn't put too much credence in what the average audiophile reviewer says - especially the two you mention here - especially Zeos - he's like an entertaining clown, who appears to be deaf

With both DACs and amps it's gotten to a point where you're paying for features and build quality/durability - the actual performance is already transparent and clean for DACs and clean and powerful for amps.

So figure out what your use case scenario is, which features you want and go with some of the well measuring gear. There would be no reason to regret buying an A90 now - nothing substantially better is going to come out any time soon. Sure, something slightly (inaudibly) better measuring is going to come out - since companies need to pump out new products and have some way of differentiating them from older ones - but nothing worth waiting out on.

If you are the type of person who is not into this hobby to collect multiple pieces of gear but are only looking into getting one stack or one combo that performs well - then no reason to torture yourself over what's around the corner. These aren't CPUs and GPUs - your stuff will not be lacking in 6 months when a new generation of products come out.

If the shoe fits as far as features, the A90 is as much as you're likely to ever need.

 

[alto]

I wouldn't put too much credence in what the average audiophile reviewer says - especially the two you mention here - especially Zeos - he's like an entertaining clown, who appears to be deaf

With both DACs and amps it's gotten to a point where you're paying for features and build quality/durability - the actual performance is already transparent and clean for DACs and clean and powerful for amps.

So figure out what your use case scenario is, which features you want and go with some of the well measuring gear. There would be no reason to regret buying an A90 now - nothing substantially better is going to come out any time soon. Sure, something slightly (inaudibly) better measuring is going to come out - since companies need to pump out new products and have some way of differentiating them from older ones - but nothing worth waiting out on.

If you are the type of person who is not into this hobby to collect multiple pieces of gear but are only looking into getting one stack or one combo that performs well - then no reason to torture yourself over what's around the corner. These aren't CPUs and GPUs - your stuff will not be lacking in 6 months when a new generation of products come out.

If the shoe fits as far as features, the A90 is as much as you're likely to ever need.

I totally agree with you, I was just curious of whether or not there was any talk of a new revision of the A90 coming out soon, as I'm not in a hurry to get it. And yes, I've also noticed that Zeos is not exactly a source of much analysis of the products he reviews other than hands-on showing of the functionality which I think is decent, audio-wise everything he tests seems to be fantastic.

My thought at this point is that my endgame is to get the A90/D90(se) stack and I'll probably be happy there for a very long time. That stack seems to be very well performing while having all manners of connections and the ability to run balanced as well, I can't think of anything more that I would need for the foreseeable future. I'm specifically curious about the T60RP Modhouse Argon, for which I think the power in the A90 will come to good use, and I also appreciate having amplification which won't limit any future choice of headphones, I'm not a fan of constantly swapping out gear.

 

[Veri]

I totally agree with you, I was just curious of whether or not there was any talk of a new revision of the A90 coming out soon, as I'm not in a hurry to get it. And yes, I've also noticed that Zeos is not exactly a source of much analysis of the products he reviews other than hands-on showing of the functionality which I think is decent, audio-wise everything he tests seems to be fantastic.

My thought at this point is that my endgame is to get the A90/D90(se) stack and I'll probably be happy there for a very long time. That stack seems to be very well performing while having all manners of connections and the ability to run balanced as well, I can't think of anything more that I would need for the foreseeable future. I'm specifically curious about the T60RP Modhouse Argon, for which I think the power in the A90 will come to good use, and I also appreciate having amplification which won't limit any future choice of headphones, I'm not a fan of constantly swapping out gear.

Maybe a Singxer SA-1 competitor (discrete; more power than A90) will come from Topping. An A90 pro/plus does not seem to be something that will be made anytime soon, no.

 

[enricoclaudio]

I remember reading in a review that the volume knob got changed a few months back and now it is something like 6mm bigger. Not sure if that’s accurate. I got my A90 just two weeks ago and I find the volume knob been the perfect size.

Here is the review that mentions the increased size of the volume knob.

Topping A90 Review

The Topping A90 is a compact balanced desktop headphone amplifier featuring both XLR and 4.4mm outputs and offering up to 7.6W of power. It is priced at $499.99 Disclaimer: The Topping A90 sent to us

headfonics.com

 

[frogmeat69]

Being a guy with big, arthritic hands, and sausage like fingers that are usually stiff and sore (imagine Mickey Mouse's hands but with the right amount of fingers, lol), I have no problems using the knob on my A90, and I got it within the first few months. It's a little shallow, but my thumb and forefinger grips it fine.

 

[alto]

I remember reading in a review that the volume knob got changed a few months back and now it is something like 6mm bigger. Not sure if that’s accurate. I got my A90 just two weeks ago and I find the volume knob been the perfect size.

Here is the review that mentions the increased size of the volume knob.

Topping A90 Review

The Topping A90 is a compact balanced desktop headphone amplifier featuring both XLR and 4.4mm outputs and offering up to 7.6W of power. It is priced at $499.99 Disclaimer: The Topping A90 sent to us

headfonics.com

This is interesting, wonder if that extension will be part of all future batches of the A90?

 

[Tachyon88]

That has been my only complaint as well, its too short.

 

[JDiSilverstein]

I just ordered a Topping L50. I realized that I'm primarily a headphone guy. As such, I look forward to my new system: D90SE + L50 > HD650's. Now I'm fully balanced. I'm done until I can someday afford Revel M16s to be powered by my PA-3s speaker amp.

 

[Malaj]

Looking for a high powered amp for the ether C flow that not cost an arm and a leg. I have a problem in that the best amp for my orthos is a used budget receiver I got for 20$ which make it hard to justify silly amount of money. However an issue with that is you won´t get a pitch black noise floor and probably measures silly in the distortion apartment as I hook it out of the speaker terminals but boy do it make my magneplanar sings. I do have a NFB10.32 with plenty of power but I am locked to it´s dac and never liked that one.

I also got the THX 789 AAA but it just doesn´t take off the same way. I don´t enjoy it that much at all for anything tbh. In an analytical sense I can think it sounds right but it just like to sound edgy and hollow in the mid range to often with most of my headphones. One comparison mentioned that the topping is not as sharp whatever that means so thinking it might work better. I am planning to destroy the great specs of it by using a tube amp as preamp to introduce a bit of warmth and create the perfect tube/solid state hybrid with the power of the Topping to hopefully finally manage to loose that big bulky receiver. On the other hand if there would be such a thing with a stereo amplifier that somehow don´t create noise on the speaker terminals that would be a cheap option. But doubt there is

The power requirements make the options limited when trying to keep some budget on dedicated headphone amplifiers. Want at least close to 5W per channel at 23 ohms.

 

[Skinner001]

Looking for a high powered amp for the ether C flow that not cost an arm and a leg. I have a problem in that the best amp for my orthos is a used budget receiver I got for 20$ which make it hard to justify silly amount of money. However an issue with that is you won´t get a pitch black noise floor and probably measures silly in the distortion apartment as I hook it out of the speaker terminals but boy do it make my magneplanar sings. I do have a NFB10.32 with plenty of power but I am locked to it´s dac and never liked that one.

I also got the THX 789 AAA but it just doesn´t take off the same way. I don´t enjoy it that much at all for anything tbh. In an analytical sense I can think it sounds right but it just like to sound edgy and hollow in the mid range to often with most of my headphones. One comparison mentioned that the topping is not as sharp whatever that means so thinking it might work better. I am planning to destroy the great specs of it by using a tube amp as preamp to introduce a bit of warmth and create the perfect tube/solid state hybrid with the power of the Topping to hopefully finally manage to loose that big bulky receiver. On the other hand if there would be such a thing with a stereo amplifier that somehow don´t create noise on the speaker terminals that would be a cheap option. But doubt there is

The power requirements make the options limited when trying to keep some budget on dedicated headphone amplifiers. Want at least close to 5W per channel at 23 ohms.

 

[Veri]

I am planning to destroy the great specs of it by using a tube amp as preamp to introduce a bit of warmth and create the perfect tube/solid state hybrid with the power of the Topping to hopefully finally manage to loose that big bulky receiver.

I hate whatever YouTuber started this silly trend..

 

[enricoclaudio]

Tube amps are the perfect match for electric guitars, period.

 

[Malaj]

I hate whatever YouTuber started this silly trend..

Well I did this before youtube was even a thing but I am not an influencer. It´s just another way to eq which seem to be more accepted practise?

In the best of worlds this amp would just be the perfect match for ether c flow and my ears on it´s own

 

[Skinner001]

Well I did this before youtube was even a thing but I am not an influencer. It´s just another way to eq which seem to be more accepted practise?

In the best of worlds this amp would just be the perfect match for ether c flow and my ears on it´s own

The best of worlds practically exists. It's called - clean, neutral gear. Buy a reliable, good DAC and amp, buy well measuring headphones which fit your comfort/build quality needs. That's a nice, clean foundation.

Then EQ to personal preference. Gear is not supposed to do sloppy EQ - even if you get gear that's close to your preference, you might find something irritating in a particular song, on an album or genre - and then what do you do? Buy some more gear?

Of course, if you find pleasure and satisfaction from having a bunch of gear, specific gear etc. then go for it. Just don't say it's for a specific sound or sound quality because it's certainly not.

The 789 and A90 will sound the same, they are both transparent well measuring amps, and no amount of deaf, biased, deluded audiophiles can change that. Placebo is real though, if you convince yourself things are going to change, you'll be happier after spending the cash. That will last for some time, then you'll want something else and that will sound better. And down the line you'll have a bunch of gear, most of which you won't use.

If there are situations in which you can't EQ, then having more than one pair of headphones is perfectly fine, so you can get close to your preference without the need to EQ.

There are a lot of us here with multiple headphones/amps/dacs - while being perfectly aware that we don't do it only for sound quality.

It's up to you to choose, if you don't care about spending money, then go for it, but if someone asks for advice, be honest, point them to measurements - rather than deaf people like Zeos and that ilk.

 

[Malaj]

Well you can spare me the lecture been around to long for that

 

[Malaj]

Just went back and realised amirm used ether cx for the testing. I recon it would be similar to the ether c flow in term of amplifier requirements so I shouldn´t have to worry about that part here

I am curious about the voltage swing of the amp though. There is some theory that many speaker amps have higher voltage swing in their design versus most headphone amplifiers and magneplanars loves that. And it may actually not all be about the wattage.

 

[Hi_Fil]

Can I use the XLR outputs for the power amp and the RCAs for the subwoofer at the same time?

 

[enricoclaudio]

Can I use the XLR outputs for the power amp and the RCAs for the subwoofer at the same time?

Yes you can. Both, RCA and XLR outs are active in PRE amp mode.

 

[Malaj]

Received my Topping A90 today. It´s going back. But I believe I learned a lot. THX 789 AAA is likely enough to drive my ether c flow but it´s the design of the thx and topping amps that is lackluster. Neither of these are as transparent as my old yamaha RX-V 440 rds receiver on the ether c flow though they certainly aren´t world apart at all in signature. Actually similar but just the delivery that differs. I can´t get the sense of being there with the A90 and THX the same way there is a veil in them. Dynamics is not the same. They sound dryer despite having compressed dynamics. Biggest difference is in the treble whereas the bass is just so slightly more textured and tighter on the receiver where topping and thx 789 actually do more bass. Again subtle but it makes such a difference. Mid range feels a bit clumsy on the A90 where on the Thx that is at least quite decent.

Now I suppose there is capacitors needing to burnin on the A90 but I lost all faith it can get there.