Topping D30Pro Review (Balanced DAC)

[Veri]

Ok, just noticed this. It's not Apos shipped a used item. It's the goddamn customs! Now what do i do? Can I ask US custom for compensation?

Yeah , that's what I thought. They inspected the package is what it is. Contact apos for info, they should know what to do depending on what carrier they used.

 

[mkawa]

ugh, sorry about that.

ordered mine. bit cheaper and smaller than the su-9, so i went for it.

 

[Rottmannash]

Yeah , that's what I thought. They inspected the package is what it is. Contact apos for info, they should know what to do depending on what carrier they used.

Doesn't Apos ship things from the US?
When I bought my E30 it came from their US address.

 

[renaudrenaud]

Still nu explanation or measurements showing what the extra filter that comes with the firmware-update means or do?
F-6 Ultra-fast roll off linear
F-7 Ultra-fast roll off minimum
F-8 Brick-wall linear
F-9 Brick-wall minimum
I find it very poor that Topping do not provide an explanation. I also have an RME ADI. In their forum you always get very detailed information about the Firmware updates.

I tried to search any information for the Cirrus Logic DAC on the product page:

https://www.cirrus.com/products/cs4...next,features to drive design differentiation.

Form this page I was able to find some information

https://statics.cirrus.com/pubs/proDatasheet/CS43198_F1.pdf


And found a lot of details regarding the filters.

Is it this kind of information you're looking for?

 

[mkawa]

Doesn't Apos ship things from the US?
When I bought my E30 it came from their US address.

Apparently they are all working from home so the us warehouse is pretty bare

 

[hotdogsandwich]

Both Topping DACs greatly benefit from having a weight on their top. I strongly suggest to put something on the top that does not ring: for example, I have an extra stratified glass shelf, and I placed it on the top of each Topping DAC (actually i put also some thick rubber on the bottom, so as not to ruin its feet). The bass becomes more convincing and real. Otherwise the sound is a bit thin for my taste. It is ok with the weight on the top.

I have a D30pro as well, how much weight is required to provide the improvements you observed? I have an old rotary dial telephone which would fit neatly on top, it is of a nice mass, but you mentioned ringing, it does ring occasionally. Would it be ok when its not ringing?

 

[Veri]

Is it this kind of information you're looking for?

F6 to F9 are Topping custom filters programmed onto a firmware update.

 

[Sray]

I personally prefer brick wall (F-8). Also, F-5 is good to my ear.

 

[Makauu171]

So I just discovered something, when the D30pro is set to RCA+XLR out which enables both outputs at the same time, I get really bad distortion from the RCA out. But when set to RCA out only, the distortion completely goes away. Is that something to be worried about or is that something that is not uncommon with DAC's that can output both XLR and RCA at once?

false alarm, the problem was with my cables, whew

 

[rawrJ]

Doesn't Apos ship things from the US?
When I bought my E30 it came from their US address.

Never used APOS pre-covid but I hope they were better before. Ordered d30/a30 combo and the d30 was shipped from China immediately. The A30 (said ships 4/2) didn't ship until yesterday, also from China, and they never told me it was backordered or delayed until I kept pestering. Ordered LCD-X and paid extra for express shipping; it's actually shipping from a US warehouse but it took them almost 3 days to even get it to USPS (which still hasn't delivered and it's been 8 days). Granted USPS has been hot garbage for a while now....Ugh.

 

[Human Bass]

Mine works perfectly, I didnt any upgrade. Feeding via xlr to my Edifier 3000. I really like it, very compact, dac wise Im set for life.

 

[mariachideath]

Being lazy not wanting to go thru 48 pages; anyone using D30 Pro and A90 stack? How's the sound? I would rather use the D90, but of course, unavailable.

 

[Human Bass]

Being lazy not wanting to go thru 48 pages; anyone using D30 Pro and A90 stack? How's the sound? I would rather use the D90, but of course, unavailable.

Besides bluetooth, they are pretty much the same. And you can get a nice bluetooth receiver with ldac for 35 dollars.

 

[robpap]

I have a D30pro as well, how much weight is required to provide the improvements you observed? I have an old rotary dial telephone which would fit neatly on top, it is of a nice mass, but you mentioned ringing, it does ring occasionally. Would it be ok when its not ringing?

Sorry for the late reply, I could not before.

In the experiment below, I used RoomEqWizard (REW) to measure the room frequency response (FR) with a USB UMIK-1 mic at 80cm from my mini monitor. (I do not know how to upload the mdat file produced by REW, please PM me to get it.)

As you can see, the weight on the top of the D30pro (in blue) tends to flatten the FR in the range 200Hz-370Hz, which is good.
However, as the weight is a glass stratified shelf, it starts ringing in the mid range (see 370-400 Hz).

A possibile approach is to use sorbothane pads between the top of the D30pro and the weight on its top. It's a bit of trial and error, as the sorbothane should be charged with the correct weight (it's written in the product notes). I suggest you to put also sorbothane feet on the bottom of the D30pro, as otherwise its original feet are prone to deformation because of the extra weight (in case you want to sell it one day).

As a side node, my Hapi DAC does not benefit fron a top weight as its U1 chassis is already quite solid. Instead, I found that the sound of the D30pro improves in this way.

Cheers
-R

 

[mkawa]

anyone else with a delay on shipping from a shenzhenaudio order of the d30pro right after the 16th?

 

[alekksander]

anyone else with a delay on shipping from a shenzhenaudio order of the d30pro right after the 16th?

i put an order from them at the beginning of april just to find out they were resupplying (i presume), as the shipping was supposed to be delayed about a week. official information from the store was that it's a chinese holidays therefore the delay, but as they were not able to point specific date i cancelled my order and ordered from another store which sent the device within 3 days previously contacting me that they just run out of EU plug version and parcel will depart at monday. that was good enough for me. both stores (shenzen and aoshida) were fast to reply and left me with feeling they care for customers satisfaction. anyway if Your order was made on 16th (friday) that could in indicate that shenzen is either not working weekends or still having some sort of issue they wish they have not.

 

[chocomamey]

I'd bet a lot that if someone reports differences, that they didn't do a valid, controlled comparison.

These are both clean, transparent DAC's. They will both sound just like the music.

Ive bought SMSL Su9 for now and im not impressed by MQA and I´d prefer Dsd hands down..but the chip Ess9038 pro its good and Bt antenna with uat codec its a great plus also ..so it may be an END GAME for me when its come to dacs .. Im not gonna find something super sexier besides that..I would need to invest the double or triple in some device only to have 10%-15% of better performance so no way for me.. better spend in better amplification or nicer speakers (if that).

 

[khark]

In before iFi and Audioquest start selling DAC weights.

 

[Cc-Mode]

Sorry for the late reply, I could not before.

In the experiment below, I used RoomEqWizard (REW) to measure the room frequency response (FR) with a USB UMIK-1 mic at 80cm from my mini monitor. (I do not know how to upload the mdat file produced by REW, please PM me to get it.)

As you can see, the weight on the top of the D30pro (in blue) tends to flatten the FR in the range 200Hz-370Hz, which is good.
However, as the weight is a glass stratified shelf, it starts ringing in the mid range (see 370-400 Hz).

A possibile approach is to use sorbothane pads between the top of the D30pro and the weight on its top. It's a bit of trial and error, as the sorbothane should be charged with the correct weight (it's written in the product notes). I suggest you to put also sorbothane feet on the bottom of the D30pro, as otherwise its original feet are prone to deformation because of the extra weight (in case you want to sell it one day).

As a side node, my Hapi DAC does not benefit fron a top weight as its U1 chassis is already quite solid. Instead, I found that the sound of the D30pro improves in this way.

Cheers
-R

View attachment 124831

Did you measure the speakers? Compute the mean from several positions ? Find a delta with difference <0.5 ? And conlude this "Instead, I found that the sound of the D30pro improves in this way" ?

 

[robpap]

Did you measure the speakers? Compute the mean from several positions ? Find a delta with difference <0.5 ? And conlude this "Instead, I found that the sound of the D30pro improves in this way" ?

I think what I did was enough, for two reasons:

(1) The mic was at 80 cm in front of the speaker, so the effect of the room was limited in this way.

(2) The average from several positions is needed when the mic is at the listening positions to average over the room modes and the reflections, including pointing the mic to several different directions. This is particular useful for frequencies below Schroeder's. In this case, it was unnecessary because of (1) and, BTW, I did several measurements in (1) to double check this outcome.

Hope this clarifies.
-R

P.S. Sorry, why is delta < 0.5? Where is this mentioned in the literature?

P.S.2. (edit) Cleary, if the D30pro is in another room or very far from the speakers, a weight does not make a difference. This is for completeness' sake.