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Topping D30Pro Review (Balanced DAC)

vco1

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We are preparing a firmware update. Hopefully it will fix the 384KHz play back issue for everyone.

For those who are thinking returning the unit, I'm not here to say these things to stop you from returning. You gotta do what you gotta do. If you believe in us, you can hold on to it and wait for the update.
I don't have a D30Pro (yet). But would like to know if, and if so approximately when, the FW update will be made available.
 

Lupin

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I'm aware of the "issue" but still ordered the D30Pro which is in shipping right now.
Perhaps I'm completely missing something but.. why would I be interested in PCM 384 in the first place?
 

Mulder

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I'm aware of the "issue" but still ordered the D30Pro which is in shipping right now.
Perhaps I'm completely missing something but.. why would I be interested in PCM 384 in the first place?
Because it is reasonable to ask that a DAC meet the specifications and the performance promised by the manufacturer. It does not matter if you are interested or not in a certain sampling frequency, because this is not a question about you personally.
 

Pdxwayne

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@JohnYang1997, I got the d30 pro. My windows 10 laptop is seeing it as E30. I have been using e30 with the laptop for a while. Is that OK? Should it says D30 instead?

Thanks!
 

JohnYang1997

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@JohnYang1997, I got the d30 pro. My windows 10 laptop is seeing it as E30. I have been using e30 with the laptop for a while. Is that OK? Should it says D30 instead?

Thanks!
You can try delete the driver in the device manager. Or simply reinstall the driver(with usb cable unplugged). This is a common phenomenon with on Windows.
 

Pdxwayne

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I tried using standby and the power switch to turn on and off the d30pro with my L30 still on, at a good listening volume. Either way, I only hear faint click sound. I am feeling much safer now moving this to my ~$15K amp, speakers, and subs setup in my living room, replacing the X16.

BTW, the channel separation is 0.05db. Right channel is 0.05 lower than left. It is about 0.16 to 0.21 dB lower in volume as compared to E30, when being fed same signal.
 

Pdxwayne

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@JohnYang1997, this is a bit strange....

When I first got my x16, my initial impression was that it lacks a bit sparkles as compared to well used E30. After some time, x16 sounded better.

Now, I have the same feeling about d30pro. It sounded less clean as compared to x16. Lacks the sparkles as compared to x16. I don't think it is related to freq response as I used F9 and it measured fine.

When I did 1khz tone and check the second harmonic, it was like 100db down. About the same as my E30. My previous x16 measurements second harmonic was way better, like 30db better, at around -130db.

However,I think my previous and current check was not using similar DAC volume level. I am going to check both d30 and x16 using same chain and with DAC mode to see if I get better results for d30.
 
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gvl

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I'm hearing all sorts of differences on my setup time after time without any changes in it. It's all in our heads.
 

kaydubbed

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I'm hearing all sorts of differences on my setup time after time without any changes in it. It's all in our heads.

Be careful throwing around those words around here. You may get burned at the stake.
 

Pdxwayne

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I'm hearing all sorts of differences on my setup time after time without any changes in it. It's all in our heads.
I have done two double blind tests so far because I heard a difference between DAC I own.

Both cases, the difference could be explained by measurements.

But this time, I don't see anything obvious yet in term of differences in measurements.....

Really don't want to do third double blind tests. : (
 

Pdxwayne

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I have captured 1Khz, 2Khz, and 3Khz tones for both X16 and d30Pro. 1Khz and 2Khz not much difference. However, at 3 khz, I start to see that d30Pro is noisier around 3khz. Could this be the cause of d30Pro not sounding as clean?

Here is the Delta of Spectra from DeltaWave app, comparing x16 with d30pro 3khz captures:
detla_of_spectra_x16_vs_d30pro_3khz.PNG


Additional info:
I captured 3khz tone one more time, compared d30pro with d30pro second capture, the delta was around +-2db for all freq. Comparing x16 with second x16 capture, the delta was also around +-2db for all freq.

Big differences around 3khz only show up when comparing x16 with d30pro.
 
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gvl

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What are we looking at? Is it the d30pro/x16 difference of spectrum at 3kHz 0db stimulus? If so, why is there 15dB difference for the fundamental? What device did you use to capture it?
 
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Pdxwayne

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What are we looking at? Is it the d30pro/x16 difference of spectrum at 3kHz 0db stimulus? If so, why is there 15dB difference for the fundamental? What device did you use to capture it?
Not at 0db. I used -17db for both to simulate my typical listening level.

The 15db difference, I believe is for tones around 3khz and not 3khz itself.

The loopback device is Focusrite Scarlett Solo (3rd Gen).

As mentioned, 1khz and 2kz, there are nothing interesting around the fundamental when comparing the two DAC.
 

gvl

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Widening is not ideal but not too bad. I'd be more concerned about those high order harmonics. Can you show your 3khz d30 pro spectrum with values on the Y axis and logarithmic frequency scale?
 
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