Topping D50 III Balanced DAC with EQ Review

[staticV3]

Am I correct that this Topping DAC might be a perfect solution for my situation:

• Mac Mini M4 with 600 albums all ripped lossless from CD and another 100 SACDs ripped lossless and DSD encoded
• DAC hooked to Mac Mini via USB
• DAC hooked to Outlaw Audio stereo receiver via RCA cables

It seems the Topping has problems with inputs other than USB, I only use USB. Am I missing anything?
I currently use an 11 year old Meridian Explorer DAC and am thinking the Topping might be a nice upgrade

For your purposes, a Topping E30II Lite or SMSL SU-1 would likely work just as well, unless your receiver has balanced Line input?

 

[HendersonD]

My receiver does not have balanced inputs, hence the use of RCA cables. I have read through the thread on the SMSL SU-1 and quite a few people are posting about pops and clicks at times, I do not want to chance that
I will take a look at the Topping E30II Lite, it seems similar to to the D50 III

 

[HendersonD]

For your purposes, a Topping E30II Lite or SMSL SU-1 would likely work just as well, unless your receiver has balanced Line input?

Do you think one of these Topping DACs will improve sound in my system compared to my 11 year old Meridian Explorer?

 

[staticV3]

Do you think one of these Topping DACs will improve sound in my system compared to my 11 year old Meridian Explorer?

Unlikely.

To improve sound quality, a UMIK-1 would be a better investment

 

[HendersonD]

So UMIK-1 with something like REW to measure actual speaker output is what you suggest? I think I would then need a receiver that has some type of room correction built in like Audyssey or a DAC with some type of equalizer to fix any problems found
Is this what you are talking about?

 

[staticV3]

So UMIK-1 with something like REW to measure actual speaker output is what you suggest?

Correct.

I think I would then need a receiver that has some type of room correction built in like Audyssey or a DAC with some type of equalizer to fix any problems found

You can use eqMac or SoundSource or Mathaudio Room EQ to apply room correction on your Mac, no further hardware required.

 

[HendersonD]

Correct.


You can use eqMac or SoundSource or Mathaudio Room EQ to apply room correction on your Mac, no further hardware required.

Do any of the products you mentioned work with Roon which is what I use?

 

[VientoB]

You can send them email:

[email protected]

No, they said I should send it back to Amazon.

I´ve accepted the loss. It never sounded right in the first place, really dark, boring, disconnected sound it created anyway.

Benchmark DAC1 HDR, the good old one is far above it with nice, musical, lively, interesting sound, nice soundstage.

I´m starting to doubt the saying that "all DAC's sound the same, it's all in SINAD."

Same thing with amplifiers.

I bought two Topping LA90 and use them as mono-blocks. Those things HAVE NO BASS, at all!

I compared the sound to my NAD M3 and it BLEW THEM OUT OF THE WATER, with sound stage, imaging, bass, everything.

Again, I am starting to doubt the "all amplifiers sound the same, it's all in SINAD."

Can I ask what streaming device or input device you were using with the Topping DAC with the optical connection?

 

[staticV3]

Do any of the products you mentioned work with Roon which is what I use?

I'm not sure.

Even if they don't, you can just use Roon's built-in Parametric EQ instead.
Again, no further hardware required.

 

[MWC]

It's starting get cold and dry where I'm at, so there's a lot more static build up, especially when my chair moves around on my carpet. Pretty sure my PC is grounded well enough as I never shock myself with any of the components. My issue is with the SMSL RAW-MDA1. I have two other DAC/amps that I never had this issue so that's why I'm guessing the SMSL just isn't as good with dealing with static electricity.

I'm clueless about electrical engineering, but since my other two DAC/amps have an external power brick and the SMSL has a direct power cable, I'm suspecting that design is making it more susceptible to static since the parts converting AC to DC is sharing the same PCB as everything else. I'm sure it can be built well to avoid this, but an average consumer like me would have no way of knowing staring at the PCB design. Since the Topping D50 III doesn't do that, I'm just wildly guessing that I won't have the same issue with this.


I was asking about TRS cables to connect the DAC to the amp in a stack. I saw Topping had a pair of short TRS cables just for this, but it doesn't seem to bend well when the DAC and amp are stacked right on top of each other.

Have you considered changing your carpet? Man-made fibres in the carpet may be the cause of the static that troubles you. See if you can get a replacement carpet made of natural fibres like cotton.

 

[frgmnt]

Have you considered changing your carpet? Man-made fibres in the carpet may be the cause of the static that troubles you. See if you can get a replacement carpet made of natural fibres like cotton.

Maybe one day, but I would just pick up static from somewhere else, like my cats, so it wouldn't completely solve my problem. It just happens so often in my area when it is cold and dry. Don't seem to recall having these problems during the humid Summer.

Seems silly to try to cater my house environment, like changing house furniture or hiring a electrician, to use one specific device when other devices seem to handle the amount of static discharge in my environment fine. I'm currently using X50 III stack hooked up with a 12V trigger and I have not experienced a single problem.

 

[VientoB]

I think if carpets could cause this problem half of us would be finding issues.

 

[MWC]

I think if carpets could cause this problem half of us would be finding issues.

Not just carpets but frgmnt reported regular wheels over carpets which is relevent to a lot less than half of us.

 

[MWC]

Maybe one day, but I would just pick up static from somewhere else, like my cats, so it wouldn't completely solve my problem. It just happens so often in my area when it is cold and dry. Don't seem to recall having these problems during the humid Summer.

Seems silly to try to cater my house environment, like changing house furniture or hiring a electrician, to use one specific device when other devices seem to handle the amount of static discharge in my environment fine. I'm currently using X50 III stack hooked up with a 12V trigger and I have not experienced a single problem.

If it ain't broke, then don't fix it.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

A quick question - I'm not sure if this has been answered already but is the PEQ "on" on default in D50III and if it is, can it be switched off if it is not needed?

edit: a typo

 

[VientoB]

A quik question - I'm not sure if this has been answered already but is the PEQ "on" on default in D50III and if it is, can it be switched of if it is not needed?

No its not.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

No its not.

Thanks!

 

[MezzoMix]

Hey guys, I have received my D50 III a couple of days ago and swapped my old Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 2nd Gen for it. Mainly got the Topping for connectivity reasons, sound-wise I was happy with the Focusrite already. I have noticed however that whenever I haven't used the remote for a longer period of time, it requires several attempts / button clicks until the commands finally reach the DAC.
My feeling is that this is caused by the remote being a Bluetooth one and that the remote enters some deep sleep mode after some time, but still I would like to hear from you whether this is the case with yours as well?

 

[VientoB]

Hey guys, I have received my D50 III a couple of days ago and swapped my old Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 2nd Gen for it. Mainly got the Topping for connectivity reasons, sound-wise I was happy with the Focusrite already. I have noticed however that whenever I haven't used the remote for a longer period of time, it requires several attempts / button clicks until the commands finally reach the DAC.
My feeling is that this is caused by the remote being a Bluetooth one and that the remote enters some deep sleep mode after some time, but still I would like to hear from you whether this is the case with yours as well?

Yeah I think that's it. Not sure a Bluetooth remote was really required.

 

[MezzoMix]

Not sure a Bluetooth remote was really required.

I was liking the idea of not getting the usual distance and obstacle problems which come with IR remotes, but if the initial delay is the price we have to pay for this, I'm not sure anymore either...