Topping D50 III Balanced DAC with EQ Review

[ziggurcat]

No, I just want to check if the company solves software-related problems, because I want to buy the dx5ii which currently has some. I want to understand the company's attitude and professionalism

The DX5 II has only been out a few weeks, and they've already released a FW update, and an update to Topping Tune.

 

[Musictech77]

The DX5 II has only been out a few weeks, and they've already released a FW update, and an update to Topping Tune.

Yes I also know that. They ve released a firmware update but there are still problems.
Some companies never solve some problems.
They just abandon them
That s why I asked if they have solved all problems in d50iii which is an older model. If they do not abandon their products, iam more confident to buy the dx5ii.

 

[unpluggged]

If they do not abandon their products, iam more confident to buy the dx5ii.

Nice joke.

 

[JOCoin]

Yes I also know that. They ve released a firmware update but there are still problems.
Some companies never solve some problems.
They just abandon them
That s why I asked if they have solved all problems in d50iii which is an older model. If they do not abandon their products, iam more confident to buy the dx5ii.

D50 iii still has eq noise bug. That has not been fixed.

 

[ziggurcat]

Yes I also know that. They ve released a firmware update but there are still problems.
Some companies never solve some problems.
They just abandon them
That s why I asked if they have solved all problems in d50iii which is an older model. If they do not abandon their products, iam more confident to buy the dx5ii.

You can't expect everything to be fixed all at once.

 

[Palladium]

Yes I k ow that! I just asked if this company finally solves all software related problems. I asked here cause the product in this thread is an older one, not a new one like the dx5ii.
If they care about solving such problems, I will buy the dx5ii without second thoughts

Some people just have unrealistic expectations over cheap products in ASR for some odd reason.

If you think Topping is bad wait till you see the likes of Sonos.

 

[Musictech77]

Some people just have unrealistic expectations over cheap products in ASR for some odd reason.

If you think Topping is bad wait till you see the likes of Sonos.

I do not think anything, that's why I asked about this company. I asked a simply question. Why is this an unrealistic expectation? Topping makes good products with very good specs and performance.
Do you think that only companies with overpriced products can offer good support? You are wrong. I set up pc for studios and I ve used many cheap cards with great drivers. (motu, audio etc).

 

[Musictech77]

You can't expect everything to be fixed all at once.

Yes, i know that. Iam just interested to know how topping faces software bugs and the company's stance on such issues.

 

[Musictech77]

Nice joke.

What exactly is the joke?
I d like a serious answer, not a joke...

 

[unpluggged]

Topping makes good products

Says who?

I d like a serious answer, not a joke...

If you want a serious answer, then research this forum seriously. There are all the answers you need.

Iam just interested to know how topping faces software bugs and the company's stance on such issues.

Who is Iam? Again, it's all discussed here. There is no "stance" to speak of. What else would you expect from a company that releases a new half-baked product each week?

 

[ziggurcat]

Yes, i know that. Iam just interested to know how topping faces software bugs and the company's stance on such issues.

They released updates less than two weeks after the product was made available to the public. That should tell you something.

 

[Roland68]

I do not think anything, that's why I asked about this company. I asked a simply question. Why is this an unrealistic expectation? Topping makes good products with very good specs and performance.
Do you think that only companies with overpriced products can offer good support? You are wrong. I set up pc for studios and I ve used many cheap cards with great drivers. (motu, audio etc).

Yes, i know that. Iam just interested to know how topping faces software bugs and the company's stance on such issues.

That's exactly where you're wrong. These drivers usually come from the chip manufacturers, with a few adjustments, and not from the card manufacturers.
If you work with truly professional products, e.g., Supermicro, HP Business, RME, etc., you'll notice the difference clearly, especially when problems arise.

Support, development, and long-term testing (for bug fixes and reliability) are three major cost centers for such devices/products.
It's precisely in these areas that they cut corners.
I consider Topping to be significantly more innovative than SMSL, Sabaj, and Loxjie in terms of development, but the rest unfortunately falls completely short.

When it comes to firmware, they try harder than their competitors, but not always successfully. Furthermore, not all errors/problems can be fixed with a firmware update.

The price of the D50 III is reasonable, and that of the DX5 II is extremely reasonable. You may have to live with a few limitations.

 

[Musictech77]

That's exactly where you're wrong. These drivers usually come from the chip manufacturers, with a few adjustments, and not from the card manufacturers.
If you work with truly professional products, e.g., Supermicro, HP Business, RME, etc., you'll notice the difference clearly, especially when problems arise.

Support, development, and long-term testing (for bug fixes and reliability) are three major cost centers for such devices/products.
It's precisely in these areas that they cut corners.
I consider Topping to be significantly more innovative than SMSL, Sabaj, and Loxjie in terms of development, but the rest unfortunately falls completely short.

When it comes to firmware, they try harder than their competitors, but not always successfully. Furthermore, not all errors/problems can be fixed with a firmware update.

The price of the D50 III is reasonable, and that of the DX5 II is extremely reasonable. You may have to live with a few limitations.

Thanks.
I do not know anything about all those companies that s why I asked here. I have big experience with companies that make products for professionals though(like Rme, Motu, Prism etc)

 

[Musictech77]

They released updates less than two weeks after the product was made available to the public. That should tell you something.

OK, thank you

 

[Musictech77]

Says who?


If you want a serious answer, then research this forum seriously. There are all the answers you need.


Who is Iam? Again, it's all discussed here. There is no "stance" to speak of. What else would you expect from a company that releases a new half-baked product each week?

I read some great review about topping products. I really do not understand you question "says who?".

Yes, i want serious answers, that's why I asked here. Why do not give me a serious answer and you answer with such a generic, not helpful way?
I cannot read all those threads that each of them is 50+ pages.
I wrote that iam interested to know how topping reacts and faces firmware related products and you asked "who is iam?"
What exactly do you mean? Which exactly is your question?

 

[somebodyelse]

I read some great review about topping products. I really do not understand you question "says who?".

Topping generally make products that measure well, leading to good reviews. Some of their products have had reliability issues which appear much later in those review threads, or in separate threads. Some people aren't happy with how these problems were handled, although that's at least partially because of overseas direct sales making returns expensive. Then there are the software aspects you seem to be asking about - the firmware update process used not to check that the firmware image was actually for the model being upgraded, leading some people to brick their DACs when they downloaded the wrong firmware. That process has changed with the DX5 II so I'm hoping they've gone to a more reliable process.

Because of the above issues some people don't think the products are good overall, despite their good measured performance. This is especially true of people who bought more than one of the products that later turned out to have reliability problems.

The release of new firmware shortly after release can also be viewed multiple ways. For some it's an indication that they are taking fixing the issues and missing functionality seriously. For others it's an indication that they've rushed to release while the firmware has known issues, and customers are effectively paying to be beta testers. Since this level of functionality in the firmware is new for Topping (bar the audio interfaces) it'll probably be a while before we find out whether it's going to be like the Wiim experience of ongoing improvements and new capabilities, or initial fixes while the initial fuss dies down, followed by no further progress.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

I read some great review about topping products. I really do not understand you question "says who?".

Yes, i want serious answers, that's why I asked here. Why do not give me a serious answer and you answer with such a generic, not helpful way?
I cannot read all those threads that each of them is 50+ pages.
I wrote that iam interested to know how topping reacts and faces firmware related products and you asked "who is iam?"
What exactly do you mean? Which exactly is your question?

You're wasting your time trying to have a conversation with him/her/whatever it seems. Just ignore that user (unpluggged). For some strange reason one sees that kind of responses quite often here.

But anyway, regarding to your questions I'd say Topping is generally a trustworthy with the performance of their dacs but what comes to FW updates etc, one cannot really be sure nor (IMO) draw any conclusions from the prompt updates made to the new dac/amp Dx5 II firmware (of course they will fix obvious issues as it is a brand new product). However the D50 III still has some software issues that have not been fixed and if I read right, the last FW update was made about a year ago (please correct me if I'm mistaken), so it seems they're not going to fix them and I'm afraid that tells more than the fact that they fixed some issues in the new Dx5 II.

 

[unpluggged]

Just ignore that user (unpluggged).

Why is it that my replies should be ignored? Are they factually incorrect or even misleading? No, they are not, and in fact, the opposite is true. Also, this is a forum. As long as I do not abuse it and maintain a civilized conversation, I am entitled and even encouraged to voice my position, even if it challenges someone's point of view. Moreover, we as a community of like-minded individuals must warn each other and pay each other's attention to substandard practices. Why should I (or anyone else) sing praise to such products, as many here regretfully do?

Or is it just something personal on your part against me? Then excuse me, but it's not my problem.

For some strange reason one sees that kind of responses quite often here.

Yeah, "some strange reason" is that some manufacturers are getting too lax a treatment here that allows them to get away with selling unreliable and even harmful products with no regulatory supervision and no liability on their part.

one cannot really be sure nor (IMO) draw any conclusions from the prompt updates made to the new dac/amp Dx5 II firmware

That's right. When a product receives many software/firmware updates shortly after its release, it's not great support. It's beta testing at the expense of the consumer. Good support is when a product receives updates ten years after its release, or even for some years after EoM, and not just hotfixes, but meaningful and useful new features and improvements.

 

[ziggurcat]

the firmware update process used not to check that the firmware image was actually for the model being upgraded, leading some people to brick their DACs when they downloaded the wrong firmware.

While I would agree with you that there probably should be some kind of check to make sure the FW version is correct for the device, downloading and installing the wrong firmware is user error -- especially when the FW is pretty clearly labeled in the Support > Downloads > Firmware page, and it also takes you directly to the FW from Download tab on the specific product page.

One can also restore the device to its factory settings, which should also revert the FW back to the OG, and then the person can install the correct version.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Why is it that my replies should be ignored? Are they factually incorrect or even misleading? No, they are not, and in fact, the opposite is true.

Nah, it was just because your tone and what comes across as mean nitpicking with an obvious typo "who is iam?" when obviously it was meant to be written "I am". Come on..

But anyway I do agree with everything else you wrote in your latest comment, especially the one considering long lasting support. Here certain manufacturers get treated with really gentle hands no matter what while others get bashed around because of minor issues. And what comes to the "for some reason" comment, I meant the sometimes quite aggressive comments when talking about known issues in products recommended by the One. But I guess it is the culture here, or something. Who knows.

But anyway, have a nice day/evening/morning/night!