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Topping D50 III Balanced DAC with EQ Review

Rate this DAC:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 7 1.7%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 13 3.1%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 60 14.2%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 343 81.1%

  • Total voters
    423
Mine failed in one instance… the cable I was using and assumed adequate appears to have been the culprit. Simple fix, but a head scratcher
i thought about that possibility and tried it with two different cables... the device was recognized by the upgrader with both... :\
 
has anyone tried to upgrade the firmware on their unit and had it fail?
i tried on both windows 10 pro and mac (OS 10.12.6) and was unable to
upgrade with the dac in either regular or DFU mode. Topping tech support said that was "reallma bit strange" and asked for a video. they also said it was "best to change a USB interface" before upgrading... can anyone tell me what that means?
It may be worth resetting your device to factory settings, then rebooting it and trying to update.
 
I find it hard to switch the remote back to bluetooth - had to take the batteries out and put them back in again. So that I could check the firmware version which is 1.39
 
has anyone tried to upgrade the firmware on their unit and had it fail?
i tried on both windows 10 pro and mac (OS 10.12.6) and was unable to
upgrade with the dac in either regular or DFU mode. Topping tech support said that was "reallma bit strange" and asked for a video. they also said it was "best to change a USB interface" before upgrading... can anyone tell me what that means?
update:
i tried again on my iMac, but this time i had both the USB *and* a separate power cord plugged in, unplugged/replugged the USB cord when the app paused after entering update mode, but it didn’t work. put the unit into DFU mode and repeated the process and the V1.31 update worked! the unit did not restart when it was done and the app seemed frozen after providing a message the update was successful.

i restarted the unit, the display indicated “firmware failed” but then it did a reset by itself and display appeared as normal. tried the update to V1.39 without going into DFU mode or the USB reconnect and the update was successful and the unit reset itself automatically. it seems to function properly and it is now responsive to the remote in IR mode
 
I noticed a few weird issues today - One issue is for sure, but both may have been D50 III-related, but not sure.

The first "problem" is when I had it set to the preset with PEQ enabled, and listening with headphones, any time I stopped a track I would hear a tiny little tick/pop sound followed by two more tick/pop sounds back-to-back (so it goes tick .... tick .. tick). Setting it to the preset without PEQ enabled yields no ticks or pops at all when stopping a track. This may have been there the whole time, and I only just noticed now because of the issue below.

The other - more concerning - issue that may not be D50 III-related is: I turned on my L50 and its LED light started flashing after the initial power up sequence. I then turned it off, disconnected the L50 from everything, plugged the power back in, and the LED stayed on as normal. What makes me think it could be D50 III related is that when I reconnected the TRS cables (turning off the HPA first) to the L50 from the D50 III, then powered the L50 back on, the LED started flashing again. After some time, I got it to work again, and as it stands right now, everything seems to be functioning normally, but I'm puzzled by what happened. If anyone has any clue, I would like to know. I did swap out the power adapter I was using just in case that was the culprit, but I'm not sure. Also, it seems that the D50 III doesn't even need the USB power, appears to function just fine with just the USB-C output connection to my Mac M1 Mini. Does one even need to use the Power input if it's connected to a desktop computer?

I also had it happen a few times this past month where I was online with some friends over Zoom, and the sound just completely cut out, and I had to power cycle the D50 III in order to get it working again. The unit felt a little warmer when normally the unit has no noticeable difference in temperature from the room when placing my hand on top (even after several hours of use). It runs shockingly cool compared to the L50 and PA5 II.
 
I noticed a few weird issues today - One issue is for sure, but both may have been D50 III-related, but not sure.

The first "problem" is when I had it set to the preset with PEQ enabled, and listening with headphones, any time I stopped a track I would hear a tiny little tick/pop sound followed by two more tick/pop sounds back-to-back (so it goes tick .... tick .. tick). Setting it to the preset without PEQ enabled yields no ticks or pops at all when stopping a track. This may have been there the whole time, and I only just noticed now because of the issue below.

The other - more concerning - issue that may not be D50 III-related is: I turned on my L50 and its LED light started flashing after the initial power up sequence. I then turned it off, disconnected the L50 from everything, plugged the power back in, and the LED stayed on as normal. What makes me think it could be D50 III related is that when I reconnected the TRS cables (turning off the HPA first) to the L50 from the D50 III, then powered the L50 back on, the LED started flashing again. After some time, I got it to work again, and as it stands right now, everything seems to be functioning normally, but I'm puzzled by what happened. If anyone has any clue, I would like to know. I did swap out the power adapter I was using just in case that was the culprit, but I'm not sure. Also, it seems that the D50 III doesn't even need the USB power, appears to function just fine with just the USB-C output connection to my Mac M1 Mini. Does one even need to use the Power input if it's connected to a desktop computer?

I also had it happen a few times this past month where I was online with some friends over Zoom, and the sound just completely cut out, and I had to power cycle the D50 III in order to get it working again. The unit felt a little warmer when normally the unit has no noticeable difference in temperature from the room when placing my hand on top (even after several hours of use). It runs shockingly cool compared to the L50 and PA5 II.
I've been using the D50iii extensively for a while now. As for your first issue I only have noticed this issue once, I just rebooted my pc, and it fixed the problem. I assume its driver related.
 
I've been using the D50iii extensively for a while now. As for your first issue I only have noticed this issue once, I just rebooted my pc, and it fixed the problem. I assume its driver related.

I'm really not sure what it would be. Being on Mac, there are no specific drivers to install. While typing this, I was also looking on Topping's downloads page under drivers, and the link I selected indicated that the drivers are not required for Mac users:

4CATZXO.jpeg


I have definitely tried rebooting my Mac, but that has not yielded any change in behaviour. If it's driver-related - and with no drivers for Mac users - it might have to be resolved via Mac-specific firmware if, say, they bake the driver into the Mac-specific firmware.

I think I am interested to know whether there is any difference in the DAC's performance running it with just a USB to my Mac Mini M1 vs. having a connection to an outlet from the Power USB input. I would gladly shed a cable if the answer is there would be no discernible difference.
 
I think I am interested to know whether there is any difference in the DAC's performance running it with just a USB to my Mac Mini M1 vs. having a connection to an outlet from the Power USB input. I would gladly shed a cable if the answer is there would be no discernible difference.

As Amir did his measurements with only the USB-C Cable from the DAC plugged into his monitor and you can see that the numbers are still class leading. I think it's safe to say that you can run it without the additional power adapter and lose like 1dB of SINAD at best which is definitely not a concern for D50 III. The Mac Mini M1 should have highly powered USB C ports (D50 III itself doesn't need more than 5V-1A or 5W).

Someone in this or the other (unofficial) thread did some measurements of power adapter vs no power adapter and USB isolator vs no isolator and of course you gain a bit more performance (1-2dB of SINAD at best) with the power adapter and the USB isolator but if you didn't have any issues it shouldn't make a real world difference - your sound should stay as transparent as it was.
 
Someone in this or the other (unofficial) thread did some measurements of power adapter vs no power adapter and USB isolator vs no isolator and of course you gain a bit more performance (1-2dB of SINAD at best) with the power adapter and the USB isolator but if you didn't have any issues it shouldn't make a real world difference - your sound should stay as transparent as it was.
I have measured this DAC with and without USB isolator. You can get +3 dB SINAD with any decent USB isolator, according to the measurements. But as you said, the difference is in the 120+ dB SINAD range and is of scientific and enthusiastic interest only. I also never used external power on it.
 
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Hello everyone. I am new to this forum. Has anyone tried to import PEQ filters from APO / Peace to Topping Tune? I have V1.04. I tried but it didn't work for me.

More - I can export PEQ settings to *.csv files. But after that I can't import them. I don't know what I'm doing wrong..

Do you have any experience with that?
 
Hello everyone. I am new to this forum. Has anyone tried to import PEQ filters from APO / Peace to Topping Tune? I have V1.04. I tried but it didn't work for me.

More - I can export PEQ settings to *.csv files. But after that I can't import them. I don't know what I'm doing wrong..

Do you have any experience with that?
Hello everyone. I am new to this forum. Has anyone tried to import PEQ filters from APO / Peace to Topping Tune? I have V1.04. I tried but it didn't work for me. - Solved, silly me :)

More - I can export PEQ settings to *.csv files. But after that I can't import them. - Not solved.

Do you have any experience with that?
 
Hi there,
FoA, congrats to Amir and the rest of you for this knowledge place. I have been reading you for a while, although have some background on computer science, I am an amateur in the analog/sound domain, so learning a lot from your posts and videos...

I just got this little engineering gem, and did not have the chance to get my hands on a windows box to check, but regarding the shared PEQ for both channels, I came across this (attached) in the manual from topping, which might suggest it is now applicable to either channel or both. Can anyone confirm? I this feature just for bigger brothers (D90)?

Cheers,
 

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Hi there,
FoA, congrats to Amir and the rest of you for this knowledge place. I have been reading you for a while, although have some background on computer science, I am an amateur in the analog/sound domain, so learning a lot from your posts and videos...

I just got this little engineering gem, and did not have the chance to get my hands on a windows box to check, but regarding the shared PEQ for both channels, I came across this (attached) in the manual from topping, which might suggest it is now applicable to either channel or both. Can anyone confirm? I this feature just for bigger brothers (D90)?

Cheers,

I don't recall seeing that in Topping Tune last time I booted. It might be something that is only on their higher-priced models for right now. The DX5 II that is about to release sometime this month (apparently) might have that functionality?
 
... regarding the shared PEQ for both channels, I came across this (attached) in the manual from topping, which might suggest it is now applicable to either channel or both. Can anyone confirm? I this feature just for bigger brothers (D90)?

Apologies for the second reply, it wouldn't let me edit my current post.

Yesterday, I loaded up Topping Tune (v1.04), and I did not see that option anywhere. In what manual did you see that?
 
I don't recall seeing that in Topping Tune last time I booted. It might be something that is only on their higher-priced models for right now. The DX5 II that is about to release sometime this month (apparently) might have that functionality?
Hi,

I got to downloads:

Then dowloaded topping tune reference guide:


On page 6 of the English versión, when discussing "Chart Section" it can be found.

Cheers,
 
Hi,

I got to downloads:

Then dowloaded topping tune reference guide:


On page 6 of the English versión, when discussing "Chart Section" it can be found.

Cheers,

Huh...

I will have to double check on my home computer when I get home because when I checked and posted the follow up, I didn't see it (but my eyes notoriously skip over things). Checking just a moment ago on the computer I use at work shows a dropdown menu above the main graph window (top left corner).

I will check to see if that dropdown menu disappears if it sees my D50 III DAC connected. There is no external DAC on the computer at work.
 
I just got this little engineering gem, and did not have the chance to get my hands on a windows box to check, but regarding the shared PEQ for both channels, I came across this (attached) in the manual from topping, which might suggest it is now applicable to either channel or both. Can anyone confirm? I this feature just for bigger brothers (D90)?

Screenshot 2025-05-15 233025.png


Unfortunately it seems D50 III doesn't support this function.
 
View attachment 451241

Unfortunately it seems D50 III doesn't support this function.

That might explain why I didn't see the option the other day when I checked at home, but it's there on my work computer with no Topping DAC connected.

EDIT:

Just got home, and booted up Topping Tune in VMWare Fusion - The "PEQ Mode" option was there when the app initially booted, but disappeared almost immediately.
 
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