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Topping A90 Headphone Amplifier Review

Harmonie

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I'm glad it's not my set up, thanks guys
I guess it's a very wide opener for me realizing just how many songs/videos are mastered terribly. What confused me at first i notice an issue, then look at comments and realize zero people mention it.... So i then think my system has issues and then downhill from there. But looks like A90+analytical headphones is just very good at separation / imaging.
I tested again with this video;
First guy talking, sounds like he is on the right side because he is obviously on the right side of the camera, so makes sense why it picks it up like that. (thanks stereo).
When was that recorded ??
Love the dedicated LS electrical wires at the speakers output.
 

bahamot

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What game were you playing ? Do you have an A90 as well ? This has happend to me twice while playing modern warfare. Game froze and went to a real loud white noise sound. I'm connceted to a su8 via balanced and optical though. Had to yank my headphones off in a hurry and did a hard reset of my pc. I seriuosly doubt an amp would do this, but what you described sounded similar to what happened to me.
It must be the USB driver and the game that causing it.
 

Audimon

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I am very curious. Everyone is so scientific. Please explain to me the sound of seagulls at sunset by the sea at hi gain. It is very similar to what I am experiencing right now. Pease tell me in mV wtf should i feel like? Cause I have not received a single acceptable comment from anyone besides JohnYang1997. Since I've joined the forum it is mostly like a bunch of people pushing their opinion. Everyone claiming knowledge differs from the truth.
 

Audimon

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Then there is nothing passionate about your vision. Get apple airpods and be happy. Why you even here?)))
 

Audimon

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Kick me but i am not going to damn rolls royce forum to prove something, I either have the cash or i don't. So far I am enjoying the A90 quality and absolutely no problems with the nob or sound quality and it is a cheap piece of equipment
 

HeyFkFace

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What game were you playing ? Do you have an A90 as well ? This has happend to me twice while playing modern warfare. Game froze and went to a real loud white noise sound. I'm connceted to a su8 via balanced and optical though. Had to yank my headphones off in a hurry and did a hard reset of my pc. I seriuosly doubt an amp would do this, but what you described sounded similar to what happened to me.
I was playing the same game you were (COD), and yes i also own the A90. Yeah, sounds like we had the exact same experience.
Possibly the game, but I'm hooked in optical to my dac, not usb.
I have my doubts, only ever happened to me with Topping equipment, all my other previous DACS were also connected via USB without a single issue.
 
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JohnYang1997

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I was playing the same game you were (COD), and yes i also own the A90. Yeah, sounds like we had the exact same experience.

I have my doubts, only ever happened to me with Topping equipment, all my other previous DACS were also connected via USB without a single issue.
It will not have anything to do with the amplifier. It has to do with the game incompatible with the USB driver. D90 wise, I don't play COD so I don't know. I'm using D90 right now and since day one there has been no issue. Maybe try to play it without the headset on and see if you can replicate it.
 

JohnYang1997

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I am very curious. Everyone is so scientific. Please explain to me the sound of seagulls at sunset by the sea at hi gain. It is very similar to what I am experiencing right now. Pease tell me in mV wtf should i feel like? Cause I have not received a single acceptable comment from anyone besides JohnYang1997. Since I've joined the forum it is mostly like a bunch of people pushing their opinion. Everyone claiming knowledge differs from the truth.
Is it chirping sound? If yes it's related to ground loop. It mostly would happen when GPU is loaded. Or something is drawing current and dumping into the ground. The differences in different ground points caused the issue. You can try toslink input, try plug dac into phone, using balanced connection etc.
 

HeyFkFace

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It will not have anything to do with the amplifier. It has to do with the game incompatible with the USB driver. D90 wise, I don't play COD so I don't know. I'm using D90 right now and since day one there has been no issue. Maybe try to play it without the headset on and see if you can replicate it.
Fair enough, when i have some free time I'll try replicate the issue and post an update. Hopefully it was a once off in my case, but so far D90 is still running as it should.

No other issues have popped up since the hiccup last night.
 

bobbooo

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I am very curious. Everyone is so scientific. Please explain to me the sound of seagulls at sunset by the sea at hi gain. It is very similar to what I am experiencing right now. Pease tell me in mV wtf should i feel like? Cause I have not received a single acceptable comment from anyone besides JohnYang1997. Since I've joined the forum it is mostly like a bunch of people pushing their opinion. Everyone claiming knowledge differs from the truth.

 

makatech

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Here's a shorter one from Amazon:

4.4mm Balanced to Dual XLR Male Balanced Headphone Audio Headphone Adapter 8 Core Silver Plated Cable [ 4.4mm to 2 XLR ] 60cm
https://www.amazon.com/Balanced-Headphone-Adapter-Silver-Plated/dp/B083LYVT6V
View attachment 86056

A bit shorter yet, from 0.6m to 0.3m:

4.4mm to Dual XLR Male Balanced Audio Headphone Adapter Silver Plated Cable 1 FT 0.3M
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WTQ9M9B
View attachment 86063

I received this cable yesterday and it is working great. :)

4.4mm to Dual XLR Male Balanced Audio Headphone Adapter Silver Plated Cable 1 FT 0.3M
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WTQ9M9B

Not sure if I should have bought the longer 0.6m one though. I am reading it is good separating the DAC from the AMP if they are having their own power supplies? Stacking them on top of eachother is not optimal?
 
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Atanasi

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There are some more experiments connecting things to A90.
BTR5 is obviously not intended to drive an amplifier, so BTR5's balanced output is not very good. When connected to a grounded laptop and used as a USB DAC, it produced some buzzing. In practice, the buzzing would probably not be audible, because hearing it with Genelec speakers requires so high volume, but it's there.

In comparison, MOTU M4 using balanced connections did not produce any audible buzzing. Increasing the volume to the maximum reached the noise floor.

Finally, I tried Topping E30 both with A90's RCA inputs and RCA-XLR cables. RCA connection produced some buzzing, probably not audible at realistic volumes. RCA-XLR patch cable eliminated even that, so there has to be some common-mode rejection. The cable used was pro snake patch cable sold by Thomann, it's very cheap. With the XLR connection, there wasn't audible buzzing even with IEMs (CCA C16) connecting to 4.4 mm jack, but the maximum volume reached the noise floor.
 

Jimbob54

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I am very curious. Everyone is so scientific. Please explain to me the sound of seagulls at sunset by the sea at hi gain. It is very similar to what I am experiencing right now. Pease tell me in mV wtf should i feel like? Cause I have not received a single acceptable comment from anyone besides JohnYang1997. Since I've joined the forum it is mostly like a bunch of people pushing their opinion. Everyone claiming knowledge differs from the truth.

So real you fear the buggers will try and pinch your chips.

But seriously, what?
 

hmscott

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I received this cable yesterday and it is working great. :)

4.4mm to Dual XLR Male Balanced Audio Headphone Adapter Silver Plated Cable 1 FT 0.3M
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WTQ9M9B

Not sure if I should have bought the longer 0.6m one though. I am reading it is good separating the DAC from the AMP if they are having their own power supplies? Stacking them on top of eachother is not optimal?
I'd work with the space you have and see if you can make the short cable(s) work. I wanted to use 0.5ft cables, but that would have meant stacking and since I don't have a shelf like the one Topping offered for their 30 series for stacking 2-3 units, I decided to run with longer cables and set up the units side by side.

On top of each other is "pretty" and efficient for space on the desk, but I have my D90 MQA and A90 side by side connected with 1ft cables, you should be able to swap units side by side -one way or the other - so the cables can reach.

I have both units sitting on the right side of my workspace with the A90 first to my right with the D90 MQA to the right of the A90 - there is about 1.5" between the units - they don't physically touch - I could probably push them further apart, but I'd like to keep the D90 MQA within reach.

I'm glad the cable is working, no more noise?
 
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makatech

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I'd work with the space you have and see if you can make the short cable(s) work. I wanted to use 0.5ft cables, but that would have meant stacking and since I don't have a shelf like the one Topping offered for their 30 series for stacking 2-3 units, I decided to run with longer cables and set up the units side by side.

On top of each other is "pretty" and efficient for space on the desk, but I have my D90 MQA and A90 side by side connected with 1ft cables, you should be able to swap units side by side -one way or the other - so the cables can reach.

I have both units sitting on the right side of my workspace with the A90 first to my right with the D90 MQA to the right of the A90 - there is about 1.5" between the units - they don't physically touch - I could probably push them further apart, but I'd like to keep the D90 MQA within reach.

I'm glad the cable is working, no more noise?

No audible noise but I managed to get rid of all noise before though when having the Zen Dac connected through RCA.

Following steps made it quiet:
Supra USB 2.0 cable for $30, in Sweden I trust ;-) (I needed a longer USB cable anyway)
Using USB 2 port on computer
5V power supply for the Zen Dac (no new investment, I had the power supply before)

Qualities in USB cables is an interesting topic, perhaps the placebo and imagination factor is big here but I feel the Supra UBS cable made something for my system. Maybe it's simply the better isolation helping me a bit, it's a thick nice cable.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supra-USB-...e=111-1474&replacementKeywords=usb+2.0&sr=8-3

Perhaps I will have to return to the Topping A90 RCA topic in the future though, not sure but I have started thinking about adding a pair of active monitors since I do most of my music listening in front of the computer. Hopefully there are some active monitors with XLRs inputs but not costing a fortune. Now I will have to do tons of research again though, no single idea what to get. ;-)
 
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20396

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When you put a bottle of single malt Japanese whiskey on top of dave, the energy of dave is stimulated under 21 years of whiskey, and that power and atmosphere immediately blows over you

Wait a minute, what am I talking about? It should be: No matter what DAC you use, you can't block the charming sound of A90, including single malt whiskey
93544CEE-E161-4814-90E3-E0A326EA5E24.jpeg

A551FB96-17D7-40F3-A18E-7AEF759B4B4F.jpeg
 
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