Topping D30Pro Review (Balanced DAC)

[JohnYang1997]

@amirm

Could we get a toslink in jitter measurement? How does it handle spdif sync anyway? If the usb measurements hold, this could be a great dac for pro audio.

quote from the review:
When I measure jitter on DACs these days, usually USB is great but Toslink and Coax, not so much. D30Pro goes against the trend, producing superb and identical results with all three inputs:

 

[Adahn]

Oh wow, how did I miss that? Thanks, that's amazing compared to the D70s which was already pretty good, just not on par with usb. Great job @JohnYang1997

Very, very interested in the price reveal.

 

[chris719]

@JohnYang1997 Is there a way to enable the CS43198 Wideband Flatness Mode via firmware, or did you test this at all? I'm curious as to how it impacts the distortion at higher sample rates and the noise shaping.

 

[CedarWind108]

Hello. I am new here and found several of the forum topics interesting and even entertaining. I am in the market for a new DAC so I thought I'd read the review. Perhaps I am missing something here, but how does this thing sound?

Everyone on here will roll their eyes and disagree seeing this, but in reality, similarly high measuring DACs often do sound very different. Try it for yourself before believing me or this forum.

 

[solderdude]

uh huh...
Indeed they do sound louder when you do not adjust the volume on the amp behind it so yes, that will sound different.

 

[Veri]

Everyone on here will roll their eyes and disagree seeing this, but in reality

"In reality", right..

 

[bennetng]

Thanks, and apologies if some of us seem over-critical of the filters on an otherwise exemplary product. Full attenuation as late as 24k just seems WRONG. ;-)

It looks to me (no expert) as if they were designed for 48k sampling and they couldn't be bothered to design another set for 44k. Why else would 24k be such a common cutoff?

More investigations about Motu M2's "perfect" filter:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...view-audio-interface.19911/page-6#post-674665

 

[SimpleTheater]

I won't say I won't.

I'm hoping for the same thing, but with analog inputs, like the Hypothetical A1.

 

[Robin L]

Everyone on here will roll their eyes and disagree seeing this, but in reality, similarly high measuring DACs often do sound very different. Try it for yourself before believing me or this forum.

You mean in WandaVision?

 

[AudioSceptic]

More investigations about Motu M2's "perfect" filter:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...view-audio-interface.19911/page-6#post-674665

Thanks. This fs/2 filter business doesn't seen to get the attention it should, considering its importance in Nyquist-Shannon <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyquist–Shannon_sampling_theorem>

 

[BDWoody]

Try it for yourself before believing me or this forum.

That part is exactly right. No need to believe anyone, as doing some simple controlled subjective listening tests will do more to convince one of the depth of the nonsense out there than anything else could.

Problem is, most people listen with their eyes involved, and without other basics (matching levels closely), so the results are generally going to be less than meaningful.

If you aren't using controls, you'll pretty certainly hear differences.

 

[bennetng]

Thanks. This fs/2 filter business doesn't seen to get the attention it should, considering its importance in Nyquist-Shannon <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyquist–Shannon_sampling_theorem>

Well, as well as this:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-d30pro-review-balanced-dac.20259/post-668061

 

[AudioSceptic]

Well, as well as this:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-d30pro-review-balanced-dac.20259/post-668061

I've just found this, which although the title suggests it's mainly about MQA, gives a good (IMO) overview of filter choices <https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/mqa-time-domain-accuracy-digital-audio-quality>

 

[ninetylol]

I've just found this, which although the title suggests it's mainly about MQA, gives a good (IMO) overview of filter choices <https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/mqa-time-domain-accuracy-digital-audio-quality>

Well, as well as this:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-d30pro-review-balanced-dac.20259/post-668061

can someone give me an TLDR or ELI5 for people who cant read science papers after 10 hours of work?
Like how important is attentuation at 22kHz instead of 24kHz?

 

[bennetng]

can someone give me an TLDR or ELI5 for people who cant read science papers after 10 hours of work?
Like how important is attentuation at 22kHz instead of 24kHz?

Only 4 pages, so not too long.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...cplus-filter-mirror-images-short-study.20318/

 

[bennetng]

I've just found this, which although the title suggests it's mainly about MQA, gives a good (IMO) overview of filter choices <https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/mqa-time-domain-accuracy-digital-audio-quality>

The whole thing has nothing to do with "time domain accuracy" though. Completely unrelated to what my linked posts mentioned. It is about tradeoff between stopband attenuation, transition width and passband ripple. Totally irrelevant to MQA, don't mix up things. I am all anti-MQA.

 

[ninetylol]

Only 4 pages, so not too long.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...cplus-filter-mirror-images-short-study.20318/

Thanks for the link, but all i see is you arguing with someone else, and both have good arguments (for someone whos not really understanding filtering in depth anyway)

 

[AudioSceptic]

The whole thing has nothing to do with "time domain accuracy" though. Completely unrelated to what my linked posts mentioned. It is about tradeoff between stopband attenuation, transition width and passband ripple. Totally irrelevant to MQA, don't mix up things. I am all anti-MQA.

I thought that the ripples caused by sharp filters were all about smearing in the time domain?

 

[bennetng]

I thought that the ripples caused by sharp filters were all about smearing in the time domain?

Passband ripple = ripple in frequency domain, like this.
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?pid=132178#p132178
Don't try to twist the meaning of my posts again.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Passband ripple = ripple in frequency domain, like this.
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?pid=132178#p132178
Don't try to twist the meaning of my posts again.

Hey, not my intention at all!