Topping D50 III Balanced DAC with EQ Review

[ziggurcat]

You can use either, there's a switch on a50iii to select which input to use, balanced or single ended. And you can do balanced input to a50iii and singled ended output to your headphone or you can do single ended RCA input to a50 iii and differential (balanced) output to your headphone. I found it was easier to find very short RCA cables whereas I had a heck of a time trying to find short TRS cables. TRS cables are so difficult to bend that it was lifting the a50iii off the stack had to use zip ties to hold the bends in place to stop it. Only reason to use the balanced input and differential headphone output is if single ended isn't loud enough or if you have ground loop issues.

Have you considered Blue Jeans cables? I know you can ask them to custom order cable lengths as small as 6 inches (caveat is they'll charge you the same price as 1 foot). They could do 6 inch TRS to TRS cables with one of their more flexible cables. They are a bit on the pricey side for us Canucks, but the connectors they use for the RCA interconnects have never failed me I have come across a lot of unreliable RCA connectors that were so loose that the slightest tug made them dislodge from the device.

 

[johny_2000]

Have you considered Blue Jeans cables? I know you can ask them to custom order cable lengths as small as 6 inches (caveat is they'll charge you the same price as 1 foot). They could do 6 inch TRS to TRS cables with one of their more flexible cables.

Visit their website:

and even if you manage to get 6'' (1/2 foot):

They are a bit on the pricey side for us Canucks, but the connectors they use for the RCA interconnects have never failed me I have come across a lot of unreliable RCA connectors that were so loose that the slightest tug made them dislodge from the device.

$24 per cable x 2 = $48 for two 6" interconnect cables - that's way too expensive in my opinion.
Buy something like this for $19.95 a pair and it will work great with Canare Star Quad cable and Neutrik-Rean Gold TRS ¼" plugs.

 

[dtd]

Thanks for all the help!

 

[ziggurcat]

Visit their website:
View attachment 425217
and even if you manage to get 6'' (1/2 foot):
View attachment 425218


$24 per cable x 2 = $48 for two 6" interconnect cables - that's way too expensive in my opinion.
Buy something like this for $19.95 a pair and it will work great with Canare Star Quad cable and Neutrik-Rean Gold TRS ¼" plugs.

You need to e-mail them and ask for a length shorter than 1 foot, otherwise the site will tell you that 1 foot is the minimum. You will be charged the minimum 1 foot rate, though. And yes, it is on the pricey side, as I mentioned - it's merely an option that may have been missed. I'm not one of those people who thinks that spending more on a cable is going to = better sound. I often advocate that people spend as little money on cables as they can. I build my own speaker cables, too, and haven't had any issue with using a cheap spool of Amazon Basics or Monoprice CR2 cable over the years. It's often difficult for us Canadians to access specific things like this.

And Blue Jeans makes nice cables that (IMO) have very reliable connectors (RCA, in particular - TRS probably is less of an issue with other brands), and they have cable options (Belden 1505F) that are very flexible, which would eliminate the need to zip-tie anything together.

It does appear that the US Amazon link you cited does ship to Canada, which is nice, and much more affordable. If there's a Canadian source for that, it might be easier on the wallet (the exchange rate is absolute garbage right now, and ordering from the US is going to be brutal over then next 4 years - the 4-pack of 1-foot WBC TRS cables runs about $71 CAD, for example). I've just had too many unreliable RCA connections with other brands, so I am willing to spend a bit more on a cable to get something I know I won't have to worry about. I did order a pair of WBC RCA to XLR from US Amazon one time for my Buckeye amp, and they're nice, but had the same loose RCA connection issue, so I went back to Blue Jeans. Spent a bit more money, but they're snug with no wiggle, and my cat won't accidentally pull them out.

@JOCoin another option could be Prime Cables in Canada - they do carry some Monoprice TRS cables, but the shortest length is 1.5ft.

https://www.primecables.ca/p-312884-cab-4791-all-premier-series-14inch-trs-or-stereo-male-to-male-16awg-cable-gold-plated-monoprice#sku312884

That'll run you about $20 CAD per pair (you have to order two cables as they are sold individually). I use those in my desktop system to connect my DAC, HPA, and power amp. I think they are flexible enough, and I haven't had an issue with it pulling/lifting the DAC/HPA/power amp.

 

[davmol]

I use trs purely because it leaves the RCA open for other devices. I bought these from Amazon, cheap but they work and might be available in Canada:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B09FHJ51L5?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Only thing it's that they're right angle so stick to the side a bit. If you can find a straight jack it would be better. I ended up finding the best search for returns was "guitar patch cable stereo jack trs" to try and cover bases. If you can find a straight version will be great but these would do temporarily.

 

[CuriousAli]

It's just something I'm going to have to live with (and make sure to check that my cat hasn't made a mess of the volume settings ).

I just found a workaround to disable volume change with the keyboard on Mac, regardless of the DAC.

• Please open your Audio Midi Setup (it is in Applications/Utilities).
• Then Click on the + button bottom left of the window.
• Choose "Create Multi-Output Device".
• Only select your D50 III to be used.
• Then on your Mac menubar, for the sound output device, select Multi-Output Device.

After that your sound will play using your DAC, but the volume keys on your keyboard won't work.

It should work with any DAC regardless of UAC version, as we are using a macOS feature that has this side effect.

 

[ziggurcat]

I just found a workaround to disable volume change with the keyboard on Mac, regardless of the DAC.

• Please open your Audio Midi Setup (it is in Applications/Utilities).
• Then Click on the + button bottom left of the window.
• Choose "Create Multi-Output Device".
• Only select your D50 III to be used.
• Then on your Mac menubar, for the sound output device, select Multi-Output Device.

After that your sound will play using your DAC, but the volume keys on your keyboard won't work.

It should work with any DAC regardless of UAC version, as we are using a macOS feature that has this side effect.

That's really great! The only thing that gives me a bit of pause with that, though, is it doesn't not give you any option to select a bit rate. Only the sample rate is available in the dropdown menu. If that's a non-issue, then you have provided the solution I've been looking for

 

[CuriousAli]

That's really great! The only thing that gives me a bit of pause with that, though, is it doesn't not give you any option to select a bit rate. Only the sample rate is available in the dropdown menu. If that's a non-issue, then you have provided the solution I've been looking for

Hmm, I don't know how to double check this if D50 III doesn't show the bit depth on its screen, I tried with another DAC and Audirvana, while the DAC itself is selected it shows 32 bit, but when Apple Multi-Device Output is selected it shows 24 bit.

 

[ziggurcat]

Hmm, I don't know how to double check this if D50 III doesn't show the bit depth on its screen, I tried with another DAC and Audirvana, while the DAC itself is selected it shows 32 bit, but when Apple Multi-Device Output is selected it shows 24 bit.

I did a quick and dirty A/B comparison with the MIDI setup open, switching between the default D50 III and the Multi-Device profiles. I could not hear a lick of difference in the volume or sound quality.

In the brief period of time that I was using a Raspberry Pi with Volumio and D10s DAC in my HT system, the D10s would switch bit rates depending on the content that was playing (most of the tracks were 16-bit, but it would switch to 24-bit if the files were 24-bit). I don't know if the Mac Mini locks the bit rate to 24, which would be perfectly fine since most, if not all, of my music doesn't go beyond a 24-bit rate.

 

[CuriousAli]

I did a quick and dirty A/B comparison with the MIDI setup open, switching between the default D50 III and the Multi-Device profiles. I could not hear a lick of difference in the volume or sound quality.

In the brief period of time that I was using a Raspberry Pi with Volumio and D10s DAC in my HT system, the D10s would switch bit rates depending on the content that was playing (most of the tracks were 16-bit, but it would switch to 24-bit if the files were 24-bit). I don't know if the Mac Mini locks the bit rate to 24, which would be perfectly fine since most, if not all, of my music doesn't go beyond a 24-bit rate.

All good then?
macOS doesn't use "Exclusive Audio Mode" by default, so it will always use the bit depth and sample rate you choose in Audio MIDI, if you want sample rate and bit depth switching to happen per track, you have to use music player software on Mac that support it. Like Audirvana, Tidal or the free Squeezlite (and its LMS server).
There is this free third party app that forces such switches on Apple Music too:

GitHub - vincentneo/LosslessSwitcher: Automated Apple Music Lossless Sample Rate Switching for Audio Devices on Macs.

Automated Apple Music Lossless Sample Rate Switching for Audio Devices on Macs. - vincentneo/LosslessSwitcher

github.com

This is in contrast to iOS devices, they switch sample rate and bit depth on the fly to match what is playing on Apple Music by default, of course if a DAC supporting those bit depth and sample rates is connected.

 

[ziggurcat]

All good then?
macOS doesn't use "Exclusive Audio Mode" by default, so it will always use the bit depth and sample rate you choose in Audio MIDI, if you want sample rate and bit depth switching to happen per track, you have to use music player software on Mac that support it. Like Audirvana, Tidal or the free Squeezlite (and its LMS server).
There is this free third party app that forces such switches on Apple Music too:

GitHub - vincentneo/LosslessSwitcher: Automated Apple Music Lossless Sample Rate Switching for Audio Devices on Macs.

Automated Apple Music Lossless Sample Rate Switching for Audio Devices on Macs. - vincentneo/LosslessSwitcher

github.com

This is in contrast to iOS devices, they switch sample rate and bit depth on the fly to match what is playing on Apple Music by default, of course if a DAC supporting those bit depth and sample rates is connected.

All good from a sound perspective, yes. That may or may not change as I am getting better headphones in about 4 days.

Oh, I'm not exactly looking to replicate that functionality, it was just something I noticed with the D10s when I was listening to music on the RPi with Volumio. I'm going to allow myself to be blissfully ignorant, and assume that since the default D50 III profile is set to 32-bit 384kHz, then that's what it's outputting with the Multi-Output Device profile.

 

[dtd]

So I ended up ordering the A/D50iii stack Another question I have is, how will the volume control work? The A50, do not have a display/db indicator, and I will often try and find a specific "max" volume that I try and measure with a mic, so that I am sure I do not go to loud and damage my hearing. Will I use the D50 for volume or do I just relay on the small white dot on the knob of the A50? Sorry for asking dumb questions, but I am just used to an all in one solution

 

[ziggurcat]

So I ended up ordering the A/D50iii stack Another question I have is, how will the volume control work? The A50, do not have a display/db indicator, and I will often try and find a specific "max" volume that I try and measure with a mic, so that I am sure I do not go to loud and damage my hearing. Will I use the D50 for volume or do I just relay on the small white dot on the knob of the A50? Sorry for asking dumb questions, but I am just used to an all in one solution

You can change the D50 III to run in DAC mode, which maxes out the volume output on the DAC, and you can control the volume from the HPA. It's what I do. I control the volume with my L50 when it's in use, and the PA5 II when that is in use.

 

[dtd]

You can change the D50 III to run in DAC mode, which maxes out the volume output on the DAC, and you can control the volume from the HPA. It's what I do. I control the volume with my L50 when it's in use, and the PA5 II when that is in use.

Thanks! Just got the stack today, and I figured out that I will probably leave it in pre mode, so that I can have my HPA (A50III) set to a specific volume, and never change it, since it does not have a display to show a value. And then use the dac (D50III) to control the volume, because then I will be able to have a specific value as a reference point

 

[ziggurcat]

Thanks! Just got the stack today, and I figured out that I will probably leave it in pre mode, so that I can have my HPA (A50III) set to a specific volume, and never change it, since it does not have a display to show a value. And then use the dac (D50III) to control the volume, because then I will be able to have a specific value as a reference point

Yeah, that's definitely the other way to do it, but I personally prefer to control the volume at the amp stage . Logically - and I could be wrong on this - it makes more sense to do it that way in order to keep the amps from being pushed too much because their gain knobs are turned up higher (and to keep the generated heat down).

I hope you are enjoying the D50 III/A50 III stack! I thought about the A50 III after I got the D50 III, but the L50 I have now has a passthrough function that makes it so much easier for my setup. I think if I didn't have external speakers to deal with, I would have the A50 III.

 

[honn]

So according to the review, filter 3 is the best? Since filter 1 is set on default, best practice is to change it to filter 3?

 

[ziggurcat]

So according to the review, filter 3 is the best? Since filter 1 is set on default, best practice is to change it to filter 3?

Yes, change it to Mode 3.

 

[Nuke]

is it works with Nintendo Switch in docked mode?
Here i found mention that since 2th generation NS supports UAC2.0.
I need EQ feature. Pity it available only for type-c.
Besides of NS i also have Android box for movies that also supports type-c DAC.
I wonder if I can connect same time NS and Android to Topping with some sort of type-c switch for route signal.

the Nintendo Switch has EQ

How your NS connected?

 

[TurtlePaul]

How your NS connected?

I had been using USB-A from the dock with the DAC set to UAC 1 mode, but bow I moved my dock to another screen so I am using another DAC.

 

[Nuke]

This year Topping will release a new DAC with EQ working with all inputs, price is unknown.