• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required as is 20 years of participation in forums (not all true). Come here to have fun, be ready to be teased and not take online life too seriously. We now measure and review equipment for free! Click here for details.

Topping D10 2019 or D30

D10 2019 or D30

  • D10

    Votes: 14 70.0%

  • D30

    Votes: 6 30.0%
  • Total voters
    20
D

Daverz

Addicted to Fun and Learning
#22
Joined
Mar 17, 2019
Messages
661
Likes
522
#22
La!$ said:
My speakers have RCA and 3.5mm inputs. So I guess the D10? Also, does USB power and wall wart have an audible difference in audio quality? The D10 has optical inputs too no? Also, 99% of my FLAC files are 24/196. The rest, 24/192 and some DSD files.
Click to expand...
I mentioned the D30 wall wart to contrast with the D10 which is powered off the USB bus. It's not a performance issue, I just hate dealing with wall warts. But the D10 has no coaxial or optical inputs. The differences in performance are not significant, so choose based on features.
 
OP
L

La!$

Member
Thread Starter #23
Joined
Aug 5, 2019
Messages
80
Likes
5
Thread Starter #23
Daverz said:
I mentioned the D30 wall wart to contrast with the D10 which is powered off the USB bus. It's not a performance issue, I just hate dealing with wall warts. But the D10 has no coaxial or optical inputs. The differences in performance are not significant, so choose based on features.
Click to expand...
Can a good RCA cable make up for the SQ decrease of not being able to use an optical cable? Or an RCA cable is just as good as optical? If so, recommend me a good cable under $50. How about the QED cables? Also, which should I upgrade first. The RCA or the speaker wire? Currently using the stock audioengine a5+ speaker wires.
 
Last edited:
Eirikur

Eirikur

Senior Member
#24
Joined
Jul 9, 2019
Messages
318
Likes
467
#24
La!$ said:
I have my desktop pc. Will get a raspberry pi soon with Volumio!
Click to expand...
D10 (I chose this)
  • PRO: easy PC connection with only USB, no power-cord
  • PRO: up to DSD256 and up to PCM 384kHz/32bits, so unlikely that any useful audio format won't play
  • PRO: more "modern" ESStech ES9018k2m chip (ES9018 is from 2010/2011, the k2m from 2013)
  • CON: no other digital inputs
  • CON(maybe): no detailed information on how DSD is handled
D30
  • PRO: power switch + separate power supply if you want to power it with something special
  • PRO: coax and toslink inputs
  • PRO: can do DSD direct, i.e. bypass all processing (DSD volume + 50kHz filtereing optional)
  • CON: massively older CirrusLogic CS4398 chip (2003)
  • CON: no 32bit PCM, i.e. digital attenuation is less accurate
They measure about the same (SINAD ~105dB) so both will probably be audibly transparent.
My choice was to go for simplicity (USB powered) and that fancy D10 screen ;)

When connecting to a Pi check your power supply: according to specs the Topping D10 will use about 0.5A out of the USB port... I hear the "official" wall-wart is a little under-powered! This also depends on your Pi generation, e.g. v4 likes more juice more than v3, which in turn drinks more than v2.
 
OP
L

La!$

Member
Thread Starter #25
Joined
Aug 5, 2019
Messages
80
Likes
5
Thread Starter #25
Eirikur said:
D10 (I chose this)
  • PRO: easy PC connection with only USB, no power-cord
  • PRO: up to DSD256 and up to PCM 384kHz/32bits, so unlikely that any useful audio format won't play
  • PRO: more "modern" ESStech ES9018k2m chip (ES9018 is from 2010/2011, the k2m from 2013)
  • CON: no other digital inputs
  • CON(maybe): no detailed information on how DSD is handled
D30
  • PRO: power switch + separate power supply if you want to power it with something special
  • PRO: coax and toslink inputs
  • PRO: can do DSD direct, i.e. bypass all processing (DSD volume + 50kHz filtereing optional)
  • CON: massively older CirrusLogic CS4398 chip (2003)
  • CON: no 32bit PCM, i.e. digital attenuation is less accurate
They measure about the same (SINAD ~105dB) so both will probably be audibly transparent.
My choice was to go for simplicity (USB powered) and that fancy D10 screen ;)

When connecting to a Pi check your power supply: according to specs the Topping D10 will use about 0.5A out of the USB port... I hear the "official" wall-wart is a little under-powered! This also depends on your Pi generation, e.g. v4 likes more juice more than v3, which in turn drinks more than v2.
Click to expand...
Can you shed some light on my RCA/Optical question.

Thanks for this info! ☺️
 
BDWoody

BDWoody

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
#27
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
2,462
Likes
4,757
Location
Mid-Atlantic, USA. (Maryland)
#27
La!$ said:
Can you shed some light on my RCA/Optical question.

Thanks for this info! ☺️
Click to expand...
You would use optical only if you were trying to convert the usb to optical to feed another DAC, that may not have usb in, or some other reason. For your use, it is to actually convert the digital to analog, and generate the analog signal. That will always end up going through RCA. (Or xlr, but we aren't talking about that).
 
D

Daverz

Addicted to Fun and Learning
#28
Joined
Mar 17, 2019
Messages
661
Likes
522
#28
La!$ said:
Can a good RCA cable make up for the SQ decrease of not being able to use an optical cable? Or an RCA cable is just as good as optical? If so, recommend me a good cable under $50. How about the QED cables? Also, which should I upgrade first. The RCA or the speaker wire? Currently using the stock audioengine a5+ speaker wires.
Click to expand...
No, the RCA is the analog output from the D10. The D10 lacks the optical digital input that the D30 has.

The interconnects and cables you have now are probably fine.
 
Eirikur

Eirikur

Senior Member
#30
Joined
Jul 9, 2019
Messages
318
Likes
467
#30
La!$ said:
Can a good RCA cable make up for the SQ decrease of not being able to use an optical cable? Or an RCA cable is just as good as optical? If so, recommend me a good cable under $50.
Click to expand...
Optical or coax will likely be worse than USB, since you'll be connecting the clocks via PLL.
The great thing about USB is that you'll have a jitter-free connection using a $2 cable. The USB data connection is a twisted pair differential signal, and assuming a USB2.0 or better specced cable there will be very few lost bits in your lifetime.

You'll still need a pair of RCA cables for the analog signal - sorry, no recommendations from me. I often use two strands of a high-quality RGB video cable for this since I can't (subjectively) hear the difference with expensive "interlinks" and had these available.

PS: For digital coax I've always used the 3rd strand of that high quality RGB video cable (75 ohm), they're relatively cheap and very reliable - never any glitches. Toslink has the advantage of galvanic separation of source and destination, but that comes in play when you may have a ground loop.
 
D

Daverz

Addicted to Fun and Learning
#32
Joined
Mar 17, 2019
Messages
661
Likes
522
#32
La!$ said:
So I should stick with the stock RCA and Speaker wire since there will be no audible SQ improvement?
Click to expand...
The standard audiophile doctrine is to upgrade from stock interconnects and cables because all such changes are an improvement. You will not get that standard doctrine here.
 
OP
L

La!$

Member
Thread Starter #34
Joined
Aug 5, 2019
Messages
80
Likes
5
Thread Starter #34
Daverz said:
The standard audiophile doctrine is to upgrade from stock interconnects and cables because all such changes are an improvement. You will not get that standard doctrine here.
Click to expand...
I don't understand what you said sir. English is not my first language.
 
D

Daverz

Addicted to Fun and Learning
#35
Joined
Mar 17, 2019
Messages
661
Likes
522
#35
La!$ said:
I don't understand what you said sir. English is not my first language.
Click to expand...
If you go to many other audiophile forums and ask the same question, you'll get recommendations for more expensive RCA cables and more expensive speaker cables because the usual belief is that they will make an audible difference. However, most people on this forum don't share that belief.
 
W

Willem

Major Contributor
#36
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Messages
1,538
Likes
2,455
#36
They will sound equally good. Both connect to your speakers by rca cables. The D10 also has spdif output but why would you need that? You are converting to the analogue rca inputs of your amplified speakers. I would go for the D30 because it also has an optical input which you can use to connect eg your television.
 
OP
L

La!$

Member
Thread Starter #39
Joined
Aug 5, 2019
Messages
80
Likes
5
Thread Starter #39
Willem said:
They will sound equally good. Both connect to your speakers by rca cables. The D10 also has spdif output but why would you need that? You are converting to the analogue rca inputs of your amplified speakers. I would go for the D30 because it also has an optical input which you can use to connect eg your television.
Click to expand...
I won't connect it to my Television. Only music from PC to speakers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
Rix403 Topping D9 dac Audio Equipment For Sale 0
ThatM1key Can I use the P50 with the topping L30? Headphones and Headphone Amplifier Review 1
P Topping USB Input/Windows 10 Issue - Possible Driver Issue Digital To Analog (DAC) Review and Discussion 11

Similar threads

Top Bottom