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Topping A90 Headphone Amplifier Review
- Thread starter amirm
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TGIF!
I have a best practice question?
Do I need to power off the A90 unit by flipping the front steely know to off position AND the traditional plastic power button at the back? Or always keep the front knob to HPA and just use the switch at the back.
I make sure not to plug in any headphone jack when the A90 unit is on. Also pause any sound source music when turning the unit on? Thanks.
I have a best practice question?
Do I need to power off the A90 unit by flipping the front steely know to off position AND the traditional plastic power button at the back? Or always keep the front knob to HPA and just use the switch at the back.
I make sure not to plug in any headphone jack when the A90 unit is on. Also pause any sound source music when turning the unit on? Thanks.
I am using it with D10 balanced and it ROCKS. I did try Node2i as a DAC before and also momoprice monolith THX DAC and AMP combo as a DAC with A90.
escalibur
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Thanks! I though was curious about D10s unbalanced experience.
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D10s is a great DAC, should work just fine.Thanks! I though was curious about D10s unbalanced experience.
escalibur
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Sadly it is pretty much useless with the A90. The amount of USB noise is just so noticable that I cannot use it at all. SE has a bit less compared to BAL out but still. Any suggestions apart from using different DAC @JohnYang1997 ?
Strumbringer
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Question about the A90 vs. the headphone amp in the RME ADI-2 DAC:
I noted that several guys on this thread are using the ADI-2 DAC with the A90 as their external amp. Several comments have indicated that people may like the sound of the A90 better. This is interesting as the ADI-2 obviously measures well (objective) and is top-notch, but it seems that there might be a qualitative preference (subjective) to the sound of A90 despite the ADI-2 quantitative measurement data.
It makes me wonder if the A90 is subjectively better sounding than the ADI-2 headphone amp and if this combo is a winner. I don't require more power for my 300 Ohm ZMF headphones and the ADI-2 drives them well, IMHO. That being said, folks in this thread mentioned better (subjective, I know) staging, separation, etc. with the A90. Thoughts from those who own or have heard both?
I noted that several guys on this thread are using the ADI-2 DAC with the A90 as their external amp. Several comments have indicated that people may like the sound of the A90 better. This is interesting as the ADI-2 obviously measures well (objective) and is top-notch, but it seems that there might be a qualitative preference (subjective) to the sound of A90 despite the ADI-2 quantitative measurement data.
It makes me wonder if the A90 is subjectively better sounding than the ADI-2 headphone amp and if this combo is a winner. I don't require more power for my 300 Ohm ZMF headphones and the ADI-2 drives them well, IMHO. That being said, folks in this thread mentioned better (subjective, I know) staging, separation, etc. with the A90. Thoughts from those who own or have heard both?
I can’t really tell a difference with the Arya v2 or IEMs. I added the A90 only for convenience to have a single amp for multiple DACs via XLR switch, to keep headphones plugged in.
cheapmessiah
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Can the preamp outputs be used to feed other headphone amps?
I'm wondering if it would be possible to feed a tube amp from the SE of the a90 pre output so I don't have to change the D10b to get SE output directly from the DAC.
I'm wondering if it would be possible to feed a tube amp from the SE of the a90 pre output so I don't have to change the D10b to get SE output directly from the DAC.
Veri
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Yup that will work fine.
Thanks! I though was curious about D10s unbalanced experience.
I have D10s and A90. The important thing to remember about DACs and most modern HPAs is "signal chain" talk is basically a religion. So if overall sound quality is your concern, there's nothing to worry about here. Both of these devices sound like nothing, they just make your input louder.
The only caveat is the unbalanced D10s can't output the 2.9V required to maximize the A90's potential; it's limited to the typical 2V of most SE devices. Roughly guesstimating, that's still about 4W/ch coming out of the A90.
If you need A90's maximum output, my Q's would be: what headphones are you driving, are you hard of hearing (I don't mean this in the pejorative), and/or do you want to be hard of hearing (now I might mean it in the pejorative
)?
escalibur
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Thank you for your input!I have D10s and A90. The important thing to remember about DACs and most modern HPAs is "signal chain" talk is basically a religion. So if overall sound quality is your concern, there's nothing to worry about here. Both of these devices sound like nothing, they just make your input louder.
The only caveat is the unbalanced D10s can't output the 2.9V required to maximize the A90's potential; it's limited to the typical 2V of most SE devices. Roughly guesstimating, that's still about 4W/ch coming out of the A90.
If you need A90's maximum output, my Q's would be: what headphones are you driving, are you hard of hearing (I don't mean this in the pejorative), and/or do you want to be hard of hearing (now I might mean it in the pejorative
I have 'fixed' the problem by selling the D10s and replacing it with E50. E50 is such a great DAC for many reasons. Now I can use two amps at the same time and in addition to that my E50 stays under my desk because I'm not a huge fan of desk clutter.
cheapmessiah
Active Member
Would it be a good idea to get a refurbished a90? It's 20% discount, but, since we got new warranty laws this year I get 1 year, if I buy new I get 3.
Hello. I searched through the thread but couldn't find, but if it was specified earlier, sorry beforehand.
What are the max Voltage A90 can take on inputs, both in RCA and XLR?
I have a SMSL SP400 and as far as I know it can be fed up to 10V through XLR
Please educate me if I'm making no sense.
What are the max Voltage A90 can take on inputs, both in RCA and XLR?
Is 2.9 V confirmed for single ended? Because if so, then I would assume XLR should take 5.8ish V. There is 2.9 V on product page as input sensitivity on high gain but the numbers are all same for single ended and balanced so it doesn't make sense.
I have a SMSL SP400 and as far as I know it can be fed up to 10V through XLR
Please educate me if I'm making no sense.
Not entirely sure what you're asking; SE and balanced in and of themselves have no bearing on input sensitivity. The disparity is just something we've all gotten used to seeing over the years, mostly on the output side. High power SE connections are becoming more common, such as 6W (I think) on the A30 Pro, or uniquely, the iFi Diablo's 2.5W SE but only around 1.4W balanced if you use headphones <32 ohms impednance.
So, on the A90, anything beyond 9.5V doesn't net you very much. Maybe a reduction in noise/distortion assuming your source is ~10dB "cleaner" than the A90, but you're already so far beyond human audibility limits that I can't see any point in fussing over it
Well, let me clarify. As most of you know, some companies take their measurement with high Voltage inputs to get high output numbers, at least they did at some point. A90 outputs more power at the same 4V than SP400 as Amir's measurements show. However, it is confirmed SP400 can take up to 10V and I wanted to know if there is such a number with A90.
Well you can argue it doesn't matter and it probably doesn't but I'm somewhat underwhelmed with SP400's power. I'm not saying it isn't powerful but It doesn't feel as powerful as it is marketed. (To be specific, in single ended) I might swap it with an A90 but I don't want to have the same experience.
About the 2.9V thing, I wasn't gonna mention it because to my knowledge, it isn't related to what I'm after but since numbers were the same, I thought I might as well ask.
I vaguely remembered someone mentioning on the RME forum having contacted Topping:
Correct Ref Level paired with A90? (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum
Correct Ref Level paired with A90? (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum —
forum.rme-audio.de
Thanks, I'm trying to understand what did they mean by 5-8. I guess it is 5V max for RCA and 8V max for XLR.
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