Topping D30 Upgrade to D50 III?

[btkli]

Hi everyone,

I am new member on this forum, even though I have followed Amir's reviews here for many years. Thank you for all measurements and review, and all the valuable feedbacks from all the members here.

In 2018, I bought the Topping D30 after reading Amir's raving review. What a lovely device, and it is still going strong (this thing is built like a tank). I used the D30 with my computer setup on my computer, hooked up to different amplifiers over the years (currently on a Rogue Audio Sphinx V3 - I know it reviewed poorly here), and paired to a pair of Revel M16. I ordered the Topping MX3s and tried the sounds, but was surprised to hear the sound was a bit off. In fact, the MX3s sounded better when my D30 is connected to it as preamp.

Anyways, I am tempted to upgrade the D30 to the Topping D50 III, to get the PEQ and also the balanced TRS output (I also ordered a new Aiyima A70). Do you think the Topping D50 III is a worthy upgrade to the D30? Anyone have any experience with D50 III with the Aiyima A70 combo? I welcome any advice. Thanks in advance!

 

[VientoB]

Topping D30 DAC Measurement and Review

Time for another bargain DAC, the Topping D30 DSD/PCM DAC. It retails for a mere $120 on Amazon including shipping: https://www.amazon.com/TOPPING-Decoder-Coaxial-Optical-CS4398/dp/B01L1SDKUQ I will do a hardware tear down later but for now, the enclosure seems nice quality and a step above...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[btkli]

Topping D30 DAC Measurement and Review

Time for another bargain DAC, the Topping D30 DSD/PCM DAC. It retails for a mere $120 on Amazon including shipping: https://www.amazon.com/TOPPING-Decoder-Coaxial-Optical-CS4398/dp/B01L1SDKUQ I will do a hardware tear down later but for now, the enclosure seems nice quality and a step above...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Thanks, but I don't see any recent posts here?

 

[VientoB]

I was just linking the review of the old DAC

 

[ternam]

Just upgrade to the latest D90 III Discrete, or wait for 2~3 months for the new flagship DAC D900.

 

[VientoB]

Just upgrade to the latest D90 III Discrete, or wait for 2~3 months for the new flagship DAC D900.

Why? Costs a lot more.

 

[btkli]

Thanks, and ya, the D90 III is too expensive, and I'm happy with the D50 III. I doubt I'll need any upgrades for this for a while.

Any good amp suggestions? I have both the Aiyima A70 and the Douk A5, and the A70 sounds better in my humble opinion. Ideally I want something with a subwoofer output, since I like a little bit of base too (I have a SVS SB2000 sub).

 

[JeremyFife]

Hi,
You won't get any improvement in sound by upgrading the D30. It's good enough that other gear may measure better but the improvement will be inaudible.
Balanced output would be nice (again, inaudible) and PEQ can definitely give you an improvement.
Change for features you want, not for sound.

Similarly, there's nothing much wrong with those amps (Aiyima) as long as you get the volume you want.
The Revels are great speakers too. No change needed.

ASR makes upgrading a real pain sometimes!

The next sensible step is room correction / PEQ and subwoofer integration.

Have you thought about a WiiM Ultra - good DAC, room correction, PEQ and subwoofer management. Not just a sub out, but proper controls. The D50 III can't do that. Worth a thought

 

[btkli]

Hi,
You won't get any improvement in sound by upgrading the D30. It's good enough that other gear may measure better but the improvement will be inaudible.
Balanced output would be nice (again, inaudible) and PEQ can definitely give you an improvement.
Change for features you want, not for sound.

Similarly, there's nothing much wrong with those amps (Aiyima) as long as you get the volume you want.
The Revels are great speakers too. No change needed.

ASR makes upgrading a real pain sometimes!

The next sensible step is room correction / PEQ and subwoofer integration.

Have you thought about a WiiM Ultra - good DAC, room correction, PEQ and subwoofer management. Not just a sub out, but proper controls. The D50 III can't do that. Worth a thought

Thanks Jeremy, my experience is exactly as you said. There were no improvements in the sounds between D30 and the D50 III. And I doubt there will hardly be any audible differences between the D90 III too. Yes I wanted the D50 III for the PEQ, since I have the NAD HP50 headphones, and I saw Amir's recommended EQ settings for it. That said, I seem to have issues using the Topping Tune PEQ system. For some reason, I can't seem to enable the PEQ settings, they are always greyed out (maybe I will start a new thread for this).

In terms of the Aiyima A70 and Douk A5 I did notice a bit of a differences, especially at the lower volumes. The A70 sounds more open when used at lower volume than the Douk A5. Yes at higher volume, not much difference at all. For this reason, I am keeping the A70. I also love that the A70 has the 12V trigger on/off, which works flawlessly with the D50 III, and all turns on/off automatically when my computer turns on/off.

Anyways haha I agree, being on ASR is tough.. trying to find the next upgrade is simply tough. I think probably best to save upgrades on speakers, where likely we can find the most differences. But I am really happy with the Revel M16. These things are a beast (I currently also have KEF R11's to compare to too). The M16 is simply awesome for its value.