Topping D30Pro Review (Balanced DAC)

[Doodski]

Do we really know the failure rate? How many have been sold and how failures?

I suspect the failure rate is probably low and comparable to NAD or Cambridge but I don’t have any numbers there either.

I remember when I was selling HiFi in the 70-80’s 4 out 5 HK units we sold came back.

Now that you mention it. We sold JVC full line and car audio and every single JVC car electronic tape head unit came back for replacement. Those where replaced too. We had to give a return or sell the customers a different head unit. We learned not to sell early 1980's to mid 1980's JVC tape head units. We had car audio brands like Mitsubishi, Carver (Amp), Sony, Linear (Amp), JVC and what where purported to be the first polypropylene 6"x9" car speakers. If memory serves me correct they where Hart Car Audio speakers in a 2 way supplied with a large bright yellow poly capacitor.

 

[Kilrady]

Went to a local hardware dealer earlier today with a shortlist of DACs/amps to listen to with my HD600, built based on measurements here. For s couple of hours I was listening to DX3 Pro+, EX5, DX7 Pro, SMSL M500 MkII and D30 Pro/A30 pro stack. I liked the sound of D30 Pro/A30 Pro the most by far, mostly due to the way DAC plays, and extra power being just a nice side benefit really. Brought home D30 Pro/A30 Pro. Was a bit above my initial budget, but seem to be worth every penny I paid. Thank you so much @amirm for providing us with info to build our shopping lists to start with.

 

[gmas]

Honestly, although this device sounds terrific (and obviously measures superbly), I am strongly considering getting a refund and buying a DAC from a more traditional vendor like Cambridge. So far as I can tell the level of failure of Chinese-made DACs is much higher than I want to have to deal with, based on user reports here on audiosciencereview.

I'm in the same boat. Just tried a few Soncoz and iFi DACs and all of them had problems. One had a channel imbalance that I couldn't get rid of no matter what it was connected to, others were DOA. I'm tempted to give Topping a try but at this point I'm just tired ..

 

[raif71]

thankyou this is exactly the information I was after ! for the i2s imput over hdmi where does one find a i2s transport ? is this a rasberry pie thing ? I think the d30 pro looks outstanding value for money for the measured performance available

You could try Topping M50 media player. It has the i2s output which you can connect to a DAC that has i2s in. My M50 is connected to a Gustard X16 DAC.

Topping M50

OK, I was completely unaware about this one! https://hifigo.com/collections/new-arrival/products/topping-m50-digital-music-player Not my cup of tea, but if this means that EQ (hopefully PEQ) is going to arrive to other topping products, a very much welcome product

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[jamescarter1982]

You could try Topping M50 media player. It has the i2s output which you can connect to a DAC that has i2s in. My M50 is connected to a Gustard X16 DAC.

Topping M50

OK, I was completely unaware about this one! https://hifigo.com/collections/new-arrival/products/topping-m50-digital-music-player Not my cup of tea, but if this means that EQ (hopefully PEQ) is going to arrive to other topping products, a very much welcome product

www.audiosciencereview.com

hey thanks for that looked interesting but reading more into it seems that only one digital output can be used at a time maybe a audio jnterface with lots of digital outputs would work

 

[raif71]

hey thanks for that looked interesting but reading more into it seems that only one digital output can be used at a time maybe a audio jnterface with lots of digital outputs would work

Yes my experience with this player is that when connected to usb and i2s, only one can be played at any time. There is a selector to select between i2s and usb. I haven't tested if usb/coax/optical can play at the same time but my setup now is the i2s connected to gustard x16 and usb connected to Denafrips Ares II.

 

[jamescarter1982]

Yes my experience with this player is that when connected to usb and i2s, only one can be played at any time. There is a selector to select between i2s and usb. I haven't tested if usb/coax/optical can play at the same time but my setup now is the i2s connected to gustard x16 and usb connected to Denafrips Ares II.

what is the purpose of i2s is it just a better connection ?

 

[raif71]

what is the purpose of i2s is it just a better connection ?

Sorry, I don't have the answers. If it was me, I'd preferred DAC to have multiple usb inputs and players to have multiple usb outputs instead of i2s or AES

 

[MaxBuck]

I'm in the Palm Springs area.

BTW, currently in discussions with Apos customer service.

Okay, I have sent the D30Pro back to Apos, and they've confirmed that the unit is defective. They promise to send me a replacement, but they're asking me to pay $10 for shipping. That doesn't seem right to me, and I've asked them to confirm that is really my responsibility. More to follow ...

 

[domiji]

Hello ASR Community,

does anyone know if the the D30 Pro does only "direct DSD" in DSD128 mode? I've found a post in this thread but it was nevery really answered. I want to try out some different upsampling mechanism and it would be great if i know what DSD mode will be DSD direct.

@JohnYang1997
Do you may have some insight for that?

Thanks for your help

 

[Sray]

Hello ASR Community,

does anyone know if the the D30 Pro does only "direct DSD" in DSD128 mode? I've found a post in this thread but it was nevery really answered. I want to try out some different upsampling mechanism and it would be great if i know what DSD mode will be DSD direct.

@JohnYang1997
Do you may have some insight for that?

Thanks for your help

D30Pro supports both DoP and direct DSD over USB for DSD128
Manual for reference.

D30Pro user manual and drivers for Windows 7 or above-TOPPING

www.tpdz.net

 

[arichman]

I asked this question elsewhere, but this is the right forum. I have a Topping D70 DAC which I'm very happy with, but I'm using it in my main system which sits 10 feet away and I cannot read the volume setting. Am I right in thinking that the D30 Pro is the best measuring Topping DAC that has the hi vis orange read out? I do need the multiple inputs and remote, and I like the internal power supply as well.

 

[Jimster480]

Is this discontinued? I don't see it in stock anywhere.

Edit: Nevermind found some on ebay. Amazon is just out of stock.

 

[despoiler]

Is this discontinued? I don't see it in stock anywhere.

Edit: Nevermind found some on ebay. Amazon is just out of stock.

In stock at Apos, Shenzhenaudio, and Audiophonics if you are in Europe.

 

[Jimster480]

In stock at Apos, Shenzhenaudio, and Audiophonics if you are in Europe.

Nah I am in the USA. I checked amazon and another retailer that had Topping products before and both showed out of stock. I found some on ebay. Never been to Apos though.

 

[D700]

Nah I am in the USA. I checked amazon and another retailer that had Topping products before and both showed out of stock. I found some on ebay. Never been to Apos though.

I bought through APOS and shipped from China, had it in a few days. This was last year. Great units

 

[elole]

Does anyone know was the usb source in this review a PC? Is D30pro immune to electrical noise from PC? Thx

 

[MaxBuck]

My replacement D30Pro is now in the house, having been airshipped from China direct to me. Seems fine. Let's see how long it works.

 

[Lupin]

Does anyone know was the usb source in this review a PC? Is D30pro immune to electrical noise from PC? Thx

Amir mentioned in another review that his usual setup is to connect the DAC to the USB hub of his monitor which is connected to his workstation.
So yes USB source is an computer.

 

[Walter]

Does anyone know was the usb source in this review a PC? Is D30pro immune to electrical noise from PC? Thx

For listening he uses his computer. For testing, the source is an APx555 Audio Analyzer. No DAC is completely immune but some reject it better than others, while some computers have much fewer problems than others in this regard.