Topping D70 Pro Sabre DAC Review

[marekm]

In the meantime...

A70 Pro is staying

To keep costs down, I have decided against D70 Pro (at least for now) and use SMSL DO100 DAC instead.

Headphone configuration:

A70 Pro

• XLR - HiFiman Ananda Stealth
• 4,4mm - Meze 109 Pro
• 6,35mm - Grado SR80x

SMSL HO100

• 4,4mm - HD 660S2

____________
Some OCTO info here

 

[Nordling]

Waiting to see a full blown comparison by Amirm

I expect very little difference between D70 PRO SABRE and D70 PRO OCTO. Considering the slightly higher THD+N of the Octo, it will also have a slightly lower SINAD. Maybe somewhere between D70 PRO and E70. But we won't hear the difference anyway.

 

[marekm]

Probably. On the other if two "almost same" devices exist side by side, there is probably a story behind this.

Who knows, may be interesting

 

[MLaranjeiras]

In time, the noise was caused by the RCA cable, not by the Hiby FC4

 

[djwalter2000]

Has been available in ESS Sabre-based DACs for a while now, though..

I'm very interested in which other DAC offer this specific functionality. Maybe this is the first time I'm seeing it marketed this way but it strikes me as something new vs other filters that didn't explicitly call out the 2nd, 3rd, etc harmonics elevation. I've looked around a bit since seeing this on the D70 Pro and reading this thread but haven't found anything I can confirm to be the same.

If anyone can point me to other DACs that offer this, I'd be grateful.

Thanks.

 

[Veri]

I'm very interested in which other DAC offer this specific functionality. Maybe this is the first time I'm seeing it marketed this way but it strikes me as something new vs other filters that didn't explicitly call out the 2nd, 3rd, etc harmonics elevation. I've looked around a bit since seeing this on the D70 Pro and reading this thread but haven't found anything I can confirm to be the same.

If anyone can point me to other DACs that offer this, I'd be grateful.

Thanks.

I believe all Topping DACs which use Sabre PRO chips (so more premium segment) have these characteristics to be enabled but best to check the manuals to be sure.

Also SMSL DACs do something similar with 'sound color' settings when they have that available, but it's less well documented what they do..

 

[mags65]

Does anyone know if Topping has solved its remote control issues with the D70 Pro? I have bought and abandoned the Pre90 (for an Eversolo DMP-A6 and the superb bluetooth remote) due to its lack of usability on this front.

 

[Yuri_B]

How to connect a subwoofer to this DAC ?

 

[staticV3]

How to connect a subwoofer to this DAC ?

If your subwoofer has RCA input, then you can connect it to the D70 Pro's RCA output.

 

[Yuri_B]

Should I use 2 rca cables or one ? The subwoofer has 2 RCA inputs. Can I use one cable?

 

[staticV3]

Should I use 2 rca cables or one ? The subwoofer has 2 RCA inputs. Can I use one cable?
View attachment 316888

Better to use both.
Non-mono bass is rare, but does exist in some tracks and using just one cable would lead to missing bass then.

 

[Bob101]

Does anyone know if Topping has solved its remote control issues with the D70 Pro? I have bought and abandoned the Pre90 (for an Eversolo DMP-A6 and the superb bluetooth remote) due to its lack of usability on this front.

I own the D70 pro and use a Topping RC-22 remote. I don't know wether it is better than the stock remote, but as far as IR remotes go it's very responsive. As with all IR remotes line-of-sight is rule number one.

​

 

[mags65]

I own the D70 pro and use a Topping RC-22 remote. I don't know wether it is better than the stock remote, but as far as IR remotes go it's very responsive. As with all IR remotes line-of-sight is rule number one.

​

Thanks Bob101. Do you have a rough idea of how many degrees you can go off being right-angled on the dac for the remote to work? On the Pre90 I would guesstimate I have roughly 10-15 degrees off-angle on either side before the remote becomes unresoponsive.

 

[Bob101]

In my setup the remote reliably does the job over +/- 30 degrees off-axis both horizontally and vertically. That's a nice window IMO.

 

[Jared2500]

My D70 Pro Sabre surprisingly bricked within the first 3 weeks. Luckily it failed during my return window.

 

[liemjerry]

Hello,
I am new here, good too see you all.
Need info, what is the main differences between Topping D70 Pro Sabre VS Octo ? is that only chip?
which one have better sound quality and feature?

thank you

 

[johnwmclean]

 

[Bob101]

Hello,
I am new here, good too see you all.
Need info, what is the main differences between Topping D70 Pro Sabre VS Octo ? is that only chip?
which one have better sound quality and feature?

thank you

For all intents and purposes the only difference is the DAC-chip(s). Nobody can tell these apart in a blind test. All the rest is identical. According to Topping the octo even measures a few dB better here and there. Both DAC's are way beyond transparent. Unless you really want a Sabre, the octo is a little cheaper...
I you can live without the fancy interface: there's the E70 for you, for just about half the price.

 

[HoleyMole]

Hello everyone, I'm new.

Since a couple of weeks I bought a D70 PRO + A70 PRO.
When I'm not using my headphones, I use Eris Studio 5 + Eris Studio Sub 10.
The A70 PRO is connected to the DAC by XLR cables, then a couple of XLR cables connect the Eris Studio Sub 10 to the A70 PRO; eventually the Eris Studio 5 are connected to the subwoofer via TRS balanced cables.
I was wondering: are there any differences between connecting the subwoofer to the A70 PRO (pre-amp mode) and connecting the subwoofer directly to the D70 PRO in pre-amp mode?

 

[Bob101]

Hello everyone, I'm new.

Since a couple of weeks I bought a D70 PRO + A70 PRO.
When I'm not using my headphones, I use Eris Studio 5 + Eris Studio Sub 10.
The A70 PRO is connected to the DAC by XLR cables, then a couple of XLR cables connect the Eris Studio Sub 10 to the A70 PRO; eventually the Eris Studio 5 are connected to the subwoofer via TRS balanced cables.
I was wondering: are there any differences between connecting the subwoofer to the A70 PRO (pre-amp mode) and connecting the subwoofer directly to the D70 PRO in pre-amp mode?

I think the routing solution you use now is the most optimal. If you'd use the D70 as preamp you'd lose the balanced connection to the A70.
The difference in using the D70 vs the A70 as a preamp is that the D70 has a digital volume control, and the A70 has (a very good) analog volume control.
The measured performance of the digital volume control in the D70 wil be rivalling or outperforming any SOTA analog volume control, including that of the A70. That is for (channel) level-matching, crosstalk and SNR. Will you be able to hear that? Unlikely.