Topping D50 III Balanced DAC with EQ Review

[johny_2000]

Does anyone know what the "Theme mode settings: Neutral (default), Cool, Warm" do to the sound of this DAC?

I'm guessing it's some DSP effects to simulate tube sound signature with the "Warm" setting.
"Neutral" is probably without DSP effects.
But what does the "Cool" setting do then?

And finally, are there any reliable methods for measuring the impact of these effects? Well, for example, frequency response, or harmonic distortion spectrum, or something else that clearly reveals these effects.

 

[JOCoin]

Does anyone know what the "Theme mode settings: Neutral (default), Cool, Warm" do to the sound of this DAC?

I'm guessing it's some DSP effects to simulate tube sound signature with the "Warm" setting.
"Neutral" is probably without DSP effects.
But what does the "Cool" setting do then?

And finally, are there any reliable methods for measuring the impact of these effects? Well, for example, frequency response, or harmonic distortion spectrum, or something else that clearly reveals these effects.

They just change the colour of the screen very slightly.

 

[johny_2000]

They just change the colour of the screen very slightly.

This is unexpected !
I thought the screen was just Black & White.

Again, in this case it would be helpful to have a better user manual or a translation of it.

 

[davmol]

Had a response from topping about PEQ being wiped. I haven't checked or tried this yet but the suggestion is that the peq settings are being wiped due to sample rate settings in windows, which still seems like a bug to be. Will try later.

Thank you for contacting TOPPING support. We are happy to assist.

PEQ supports up to 192kHz.

Please try to enter the system sound setting, and set the sample rate less than 192k.

 

[davmol]

OK, so to conclude, I can confirm there are no issues with Topping Tune or the DAC freezing as long as the sample rate is set at 192khz or below. I can even modify the bands and pre-amp gain while audio is playing, not that I would recommend it, so maybe this is the same issue Amir mentioned in his review (having to stop music to make adjustments).

In fairness to Topping, it does mention the limit at the end of the instruction guide for Topping Tune, but nobody reads the manual right?

Even so, this is all that's there, it doesn't say that tinkering with PEQ over 192khz will make the app go batshit crazy and lock up the DAC PEQ selection, so I still say it's a bug to work out on the app.

 

[Southernsounds]

Hello, greetings to everyone and congratulations for such excellent contributions that you all make.
I have a question: I just bought the d50 III + a50 III and everything works as it should, except for one thing that seems strange to me: the D50 never goes into standby mode if it is connected via USB to a PC. It always remains on, even if there is no sound activity. Is this normal or do i have a defective unit?
(of course it is set to Auto = ON)

 

[johny_2000]

Apparently Topping has chosen a standby mode for this device with the display always on, and the dot visible in the lower right corner. This is what you see after pressing the power button and SEE YOU message.

Additionally, the USB connection always remains active because Topping Tune sees that the device is connected and loads the PEQs when the device is supposedly turned off.

 

[Southernsounds]

Apparently Topping has chosen a standby mode for this device with the display always on, and the dot visible in the lower right corner. This is what you see after pressing the power button and SEE YOU message.

Additionally, the USB connection always remains active because Topping Tune sees that the device is connected and loads the PEQs when the device is supposedly turned off.

Thank you for your quick reply.
1) My d50 III only goes into standby mode (with the dot in the bottom right corner) when I manually turn it off, or manually disconnect the USB cable from the PC, or the PC goes into standby mode. But I think this is the normal behavior of this model after reading other users report this same behavior. Please confirm that this is the case.
2) Another problem is that sometimes, quite frequently, when I manually turn it off, it reboots immediately. This happens only when it remains connected to the PC's USB. I don't know if it is a problem with my unit or it is a bug of this model that happens to more people. Maybe it will be solved with a firmware update.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Anyone know if there's a signal sensing automatic on/off in this Topping?

 

[Bleib]

Anyone know if there's a signal sensing automatic on/off in this Topping?

Yes, through USB like with most Topping DACs. It automatically sense when the computer sends a signal and the display goes on.
Then if the computer is turned off the DAC will turn itself off after I believe it's 60 seconds

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Yes, through USB like with most Topping DACs. It automatically sense when the computer sends a signal and the display goes on.
Then if the computer is turned off the DAC will turn itself off after I believe it's 60 seconds

Thanks, that's good news.

 

[Southernsounds]

Attention: the official instructions for updating the firmware are wrong. On the download page it says:

https://www.toppingaudio.com/download/d50-iii-v1-37gu-jian-sheng-ji-2

"To upgrade the firmware, the product must be set to DFU mode: Power on while holding down the button on the left side of the front panel to enter DFU mode."

This is false. The update application requires the driver but not that the device is in DFU mode. The correct instructions come in the readme.txt (in the application folder) and it says:

1, Install drivers of this product (pass this step if you had already installed drivers successfully)
2, Connect the product to your PC and turn on.
3, Run the exe file from this folder.
4, Click Browse.. and select the bin file of this folder.
5, Click Start and wait for "Firmware upgrade finished successfully".
6, Check current firmware is already changed and click Exit and finish.

Putting the D50 into DFU mode before updating the firmware could be dangerous.

 

[johny_2000]

Attention: the official instructions for updating the firmware are wrong. On the download page it says:

https://www.toppingaudio.com/download/d50-iii-v1-37gu-jian-sheng-ji-2

"To upgrade the firmware, the product must be set to DFU mode: Power on while holding down the button on the left side of the front panel to enter DFU mode."

This is false. The update application requires the driver but not that the device is in DFU mode.

Thanks. I updated the firmware and never thought about putting it into DFU mode.

DFU stands for Device Firmware Update Mode and allows all devices to be restored from any state. As far as I understand, it's a kind of recovery mode if something else went wrong during a normal update. Maybe the DFU method will work too, but it's not necessary for normal updates.

 

[MWC]

Thanks. I updated the firmware and never thought about putting it into DFU mode.

DFU stands for Device Firmware Update Mode and allows all devices to be restored from any state. As far as I understand, it's a kind of recovery mode if something else went wrong during a normal update. Maybe the DFU method will work too, but it's not necessary for normal updates.

I put it in DFU mode to do this, as instructed, and it worked OK. Except I seem to recall being stuck for some time in DFU on subsequent restarts of the DAC, but that settled down eventually.

 

[Southernsounds]

Thanks. I updated the firmware and never thought about putting it into DFU mode.

DFU stands for Device Firmware Update Mode and allows all devices to be restored from any state. As far as I understand, it's a kind of recovery mode if something else went wrong during a normal update. Maybe the DFU method will work too, but it's not necessary for normal updates.

That's how I understand it and that's how I did it too.

I put it in DFU mode to do this, as instructed, and it worked OK. Except I seem to recall being stuck for some time in DFU on subsequent restarts of the DAC, but that settled down eventually.

Others are having the same problems as well. That's why I think it's best to advise against using DFU mode.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Attention: the official instructions for updating the firmware are wrong. On the download page it says:

https://www.toppingaudio.com/download/d50-iii-v1-37gu-jian-sheng-ji-2

"To upgrade the firmware, the product must be set to DFU mode: Power on while holding down the button on the left side of the front panel to enter DFU mode."

This is false. The update application requires the driver but not that the device is in DFU mode. The correct instructions come in the readme.txt (in the application folder) and it says:

1, Install drivers of this product (pass this step if you had already installed drivers successfully)
2, Connect the product to your PC and turn on.
3, Run the exe file from this folder.
4, Click Browse.. and select the bin file of this folder.
5, Click Start and wait for "Firmware upgrade finished successfully".
6, Check current firmware is already changed and click Exit and finish.

Putting the D50 into DFU mode before updating the firmware could be dangerous.

I wonder who would pay for the damage if one would fck up the device by updating firmware according to the instructions given on Topping's official website..

 

[Deckard01]

Can we use EQ the way we use it with APO+PEACE?

I am a bit amateur to EQ and I know only to EQ the way APO/Peace UI has so as to check the Oratory and add after for my HD600,K701.

Also does it need power socket to power on or we can use it with Laptop/pc USB port?

Thanks

 

[johny_2000]

Can we use EQ the way we use it with APO+PEACE?

Yes. See my post a few pages back about loading AutoEQ Target and Raw FR files for specific headphones. The Tune interface then allows you to manually adjust any frequency range PEQs, with a visual representation of the changes on a graphical chart.

Also does it need power socket to power on or we can use it with Laptop/pc USB port?

If your PC or laptop's USB port provides at least 500 mAh (0.5 A) of current, it works with a single-cable connection. Additional power may be required for some mobile devices, such as smartphones, that limit the supply current.

 

[johny_2000]

Today I discovered a checkbox in the Topping Tune software called "Filtered FR alignment" in the System Settings menu. According the user guide: "This function aligns the response of the filtered curves to 0 dB at 500 Hz."

It seems that the Target FR curve is in this alignment (0dB@500Hz) by default, so when I enable this checkbox, the Filtered FR curve is more aligned with the Target curve. But it also raises the Filtered FR curve if it has any attenuation at 500Hz.

 

[johny_2000]

I entered the Oratory1990 EQ data for the Sennheiser HD650 into Topping Tune to see its representation:

These PEQ coefficients match Harman's over-ear 2018 target quite well. The Topping Tune implementation in earlier versions looks good too.