Topping D50 III Balanced DAC with EQ Review

[VientoB]

The display isn't really that much of a dealbreaker for me because the size of the screen doesn't affect how it performs - which is phenomenally well. I'm looking forward to the DX5 II (which should be released by the end of the month?), and hope that it is as good (or better) than the D50 III. Its screen is also much nicer-looking.

It performs the same as most DACs these days, let's be honest. But the display is rubbish.

 

[ziggurcat]

It performs the same as most DACs these days, let's be honest. But the display is rubbish.

Oh, I'm not saying that your criticisms of the screen aren't valid, it's just not something that I (personally) consider to be an issue. I also have the brightness setting on Auto, so most of the time it just displays "USB" if it's not the tiny little dot in the lower right corner.

 

[VientoB]

Oh, I'm not saying that your criticisms of the screen aren't valid, it's just not something that I (personally) consider to be an issue. I also have the brightness setting on Auto, so most of the time it just displays "USB" if it's not the tiny little dot in the lower right corner.

It's fine that you don't consider it to be an issue. But I do.

 

[ziggurcat]

It's fine that you don't consider it to be an issue. But I do.

And that's perfectly fine, and reasonable.

 

[Jimster480]

Is this the only Topping or SMSL DAC with Parametric EQ? I am trying to decide on a DAC for my church and since I remembered this one has EQ... I wonder if it is worth buying.

 

[Rednaxela]

@Jimster480

The upcoming DX5 II might be of interest too.

 

[migo77]

Is this the only Topping or SMSL DAC with Parametric EQ? I am trying to decide on a DAC for my church and since I remembered this one has EQ... I wonder if it is worth buying.

Topping D90III Discrete has PEQ too.

 

[staticV3]

Is this the only Topping or SMSL DAC with Parametric EQ?

There's also the D90 Discrete, DX5 II, Centaurus, and D900.

 

[Jimster480]

There's also the D90 Discrete, DX5 II, Centaurus, and D900.

Thanks for the list; the D90 Discrete, Centarus and D900 are all way too expensive for this application.

DX5 II could be interesting but it isn't available yet and will be more expensive and have a headphone jack that isn't needed.

@Jimster480

The upcoming DX5 II might be of interest too.

Looks good as well but it is bigger and has a headphone amp which isn't needed as it will be fed into a sound mixer.



Thanks for the insight guys; I think for my church that the D50 III would be the best option as it is small, supports BT, and has both balanced and unbalanced outputs.

 

[Rednaxela]

Since you mention PEQ and BT, note that the PEQ of this unit is only available on the USB input.

 

[ziggurcat]

Since you mention PEQ and BT, note that the PEQ of this unit is only available on the USB input.

BT would be the output, no? If it's connected via USB, it shouldn't matter what output you use.

 

[Bleib]

BT would be the output, no? If it's connected via USB, it shouldn't matter what output you use.

BT is input. Example, send music from the phone to the DAC. No PEQ function here. No PEQ for optical or coaxial either.

DX5 II should give PEQ on ALL inputs

 

[Rednaxela]

Yes BT is input.

https://dl.topping.audio/um/d50_iii.pdf

 

[Jimster480]

Since you mention PEQ and BT, note that the PEQ of this unit is only available on the USB input.

Thanks for that clarification.

BT is input. Example, send music from the phone to the DAC. No PEQ function here. No PEQ for optical or coaxial either.

DX5 II should give PEQ on ALL inputs

That could potentially be much more useful.
Normally the church plays music from the computer; so USB input PEQ is what would be needed. I just thought that BT would be a nice touch as the church is used as a community center 5 days a week and people would be able to link their phones and use the speakers. Right now people plug in via an AUX (RCA to 3.5mm) cable if they need to use the speakers and aren't playing something from the computer (which normally plays DVDs or from Flash drives).

 

[Bleib]

Yes BT is input.

View attachment 437282

https://dl.topping.audio/um/d50_iii.pdf

BT is just a receiver, it's not also transmitter like on Denon AVRs.
So it's more like this: Select input, USB, Optical, coaxial or BT. It's what you're going to use, but it still won't mean that the DAC will send BT audio to for instance BT headphones.

 

[Roland68]

BT would be the output, no? If it's connected via USB, it shouldn't matter what output you use.

Bluetooth as an output doesn't really make sense on a DAC, as it's a digital signal that needs to be converted back to analog in the headphones or speakers.
It makes more sense if the source has a Bluetooth output before the DAC.

However, there are plenty of Bluetooth devices/modules that you can use to add a Bluetooth output to your source or DAC.

 

[Rednaxela]

BT is just a receiver, it's not also transmitter like on Denon AVRs.
So it's more like this: Select input, USB, Optical, coaxial or BT. It's what you're going to use, but it still won't mean that the DAC will send BT audio to for instance BT headphones.

That’s also how I understand it.

 

[t1337dude]

Question: I'm using the ASIO setup as described in the Topping driver's setup. I've been under the impression everything works properly, and both the E30 II and D50 III properly report the playback formats. Yet I'm not getting exclusive audio. I've upgraded to Windows 11 a few months back. Is this expected behavior? I'm used to bit-perfect audio requiring exclusive access. If that's not the case anymore, then that's fine, but I thought I'd double check. I recall reading someone saying this occurred depending on the playback rate in the Windows Sound settings, but I've experimented between 16-bit 44.1 kHz to 32-bit 384kHz and it's still not exclusive.

 

[staticV3]

Question: I'm using the ASIO setup as described in the Topping driver's setup. I've been under the impression everything works properly, and both the E30 II and D50 III properly report the playback formats. Yet I'm not getting exclusive audio. I've upgraded to Windows 11 a few months back. Is this expected behavior? I'm used to bit-perfect audio requiring exclusive access. If that's not the case anymore, then that's fine, but I thought I'd double check. I recall reading someone saying this occurred depending on the playback rate in the Windows Sound settings, but I've experimented between 16-bit 44.1 kHz to 32-bit 384kHz and it's still not exclusive.

Exclusive playback only works in programs where you can select ASIO as playback API. Not systemwide.

 

[t1337dude]

Exclusive playback only works in programs where you can select ASIO as playback API. Not systemwide.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. That's the exact situation I'm describing. I'm listening using the ASIO plugin in Foobar, and it's not exclusive.