Topping D50III cutting out on optical SPDIF

[dcolak]

I'm afraid Topping D50 III is useless for SPDIF/optical. It keeps cutting out the sound and then starts playing again. Updated firmware to the latest, still has the same problem.

Firmware updates mention fix for that same problem, unfortunately it is not fixed.

Tried with many SPDIF/Optical sources, always the same problem, cutting out.

Be warned before buying it. :-(

 

[staticV3]

Which bandwidth setting is the D50III set to?

 

[dcolak]

Tried them all. Any suggestion? I'll be happy to try anything.

 

[AnalogSteph]

So to confirm, you do mean the "DPLL BW" setting?

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Can you list the optical sources? Are any TVs?

 

[boxerfan88]

If optical SPDIF, are you running >96ksps? or <=96ksps?

My experience with optical SPDIF is that it works up to 96ksps, anything above that will have dropouts. Copper SPDIF doesn’t have such issue for me.

YMMV. (For my case, I think it might have something to do with the quality of the optical transmitter & receiver.)

 

[MaxwellsEq]

If optical SPDIF, are you running >96ksps? or <=96ksps?

Excellent question!

Domestic optical S/PDIF is only standardized to 96kHz sample rate. I've not had issues with 192, but it's absolutely not guaranteed to work.

 

[suttondesign]

Try a different cable.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

So to confirm, you do mean the "DPLL BW" setting?

If optical SPDIF, are you running >96ksps? or <=96ksps?

Try a different cable.

All good points.

Has it always had this issue or did it develop over time? Has the problem gotten worse over time? If the problem has gotten worse over time, that might be a sign of a failing connection/bad solder point in the DAC. It would surprise me with optical on a Topping product to be honest, but it is a possibility. Given moving/changing cables you might have been stressing the connections slightly.

Moving the cable, lifting it so is goes from down pressure to up pressure, I'd try that as a diagnostic. But a new cable is the first thing to try.

I have had connections go bad on cheap stuff that has cables swapped a lot ( for what were obvious reasons once I cracked the case open ), but never optical. So this is a low probability option.

 

[dcolak]

I'm afraid Topping D50 III is useless for SPDIF/optical. It keeps cutting out the sound and then starts playing again. Updated firmware to the latest, still has the same problem.

Firmware updates mention fix for that same problem, unfortunately it is not fixed.

Tried with many SPDIF/Optical sources, always the same problem, cutting out.

Be warned before buying it. :-(

Tried many different cables, many different sources, this DAC DOES NOT WORK WITH OPTICAL INPUT.

It is cutting out music all the time.

It's a new DAC, just bought it, no way it got "gone bad" because of plugging in an optical cable a couple of times.

Beware, do not buy if you plan on using its SPDIF/Optical input. :-(

 

[LTig]

Then return it now.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Tried many different cables, many different sources, this DAC DOES NOT WORK WITH OPTICAL INPUT

Humour us. Many of us are engineers that have worked with thousands of sources and hundreds of devices. We want to know WHY it doesn't work!

It's simply silly to assume a vendor ships a product which can't work under ANY circumstances! So let us know what you have tried.

Further background:
1. Some optical transmitters make a mess of S/PDIF, including putting junk in fields (LG)
2. A rigorously designed optical receiver "should" reject this junk and cause audio dropouts!
3. Many optical receiver especially AKM before the fire, chose to cope with the junk and poor implementations, thereby allowing DACs to still work with junk from the transmitter.
4. After the AKM fire, receiver chip shortages meant many DACs could no longer process transmitted junk, leading to dropouts (LG).
5. Some exposed the PLL settings to cope with some of the nonsense.

 

[Sokel]

Humour us. Many of us are engineers that have worked with thousands of sources and hundreds of devices. We want to know WHY it doesn't work!

It's simply silly to assume a vendor ships a product which can't work under ANY circumstances! So let us know what you have tried.

Further background:
1. Some optical transmitters make a mess of S/PDIF, including putting junk in fields (LG)
2. A rigorously designed optical receiver "should" reject this junk and cause audio dropouts!
3. Many optical receiver especially AKM before the fire, chose to cope with the junk and poor implementations, thereby allowing DACs to still work with junk from the transmitter.
4. After the AKM fire, receiver chip shortages meant many DACs could no longer process transmitted junk, leading to dropouts (LG).
5. Some exposed the PLL settings to cope with some of the nonsense.

To add,a big majority of optical cables are a joke,either straight out of the box or after couple of plug/unplug and the same for the receiving side.
It only takes a magnifying look at those connectors after some use (both male and female) to then treat them with extreme caution.

Edit:for quality ones one should look at the Benchmark ones or the similar ones.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

It's a new DAC, just bought it, no way it got "gone bad" because of plugging in an optical cable a couple of times.

Even the best QC is not 100%. Return it for sure. Exchange if you want, the new one will likely be fine.

That said, I don't buy another when it happens to me.

 

[dcolak]

Even the best QC is not 100%. Return it for sure. Exchange if you want, the new one will likely be fine.

That said, I don't buy another when it happens to me.

They ALL have the same problem. It was even mentioned in one of their firmware updates, which failed to fix the problem.

 

[dcolak]

This has nothing to do with optical cables.

I did some debugging and found out WHEN it's cutting the sound.

If you feed it 24 bit depth it does not constantly cut/turn off sound.

If you feed it 16 bit depth it cuts sound on QUIET PASSAGES of a song. Sound on, sound off, sound on, sound off, until song gets to a LOUDER part, that's when it stops cutting the sound.

Unbelievable.

 

[AnalogSteph]

Interesting. That must be some sort of firmware bug. These days there is absolutely no reason not to use 24-bit output unless you're running the thing straight from a CD player, but 16 bit should still work properly. I would try contacting Topping.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

They ALL have the same problem. It was even mentioned in one of their firmware updates, which failed to fix the problem.

Having just spent some time watching Wiim screw up their eq, waiting for it to be fixed, this is something I expect from such products. Eventually they will have a firmware update that will fix it. Given your anger, just move on and get something else. But you should expect this kind of thing to happen, if not out of the box then in the future.

I did some debugging and found out WHEN it's cutting the sound.

If you feed it 24 bit depth it does not constantly cut/turn off sound.

If you feed it 16 bit depth it cuts sound on QUIET PASSAGES of a song. Sound on, sound off, sound on, sound off, until song gets to a LOUDER part, that's when it stops cutting the sound.

Very good investigation! Odd behavior, but very nice how you tracked it down, for sure.

 

[unpluggged]

But you should expect this kind of thing to happen

Why is that?

 

[Sokel]

Why is that?

My guess is poor testing due to haste to the next week's new DAC.
My next guess is that given the number of the devices they have to support fixes are not immediate and they depend on a beta-tester client pool of shorts.
And no,price does not justify that,ANY price.