Topping D70 Pro Sabre DAC Review

[Jimster480]

TIDAL does not have the money: https://gizmodo.com/jack-dorsey-block-tidal-jay-z-music-streaming-1850423469

never count out a man who dresses and grooms himself like this

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,g_center,q_60,w_1315/60d61f05fdb29e4981ec7cbf7967e224.jpg

this goes beyond the scope of this review but i feel like at this point MQA hardware support cant hurt and its probably too late in the game for them... like if its 'free' in an $80 dac then who cares if its free in a $700 dac?

at this point who really cares if MQA fails or succeeds under Dorsey? especially here where people hate it... its not a selling point

I guess this is a case in point. I have both an MQA DAC and Tidal's most flagship plan and I have to say that there is not that much music in MQA format overall. Honestly outside of some mainstream artists newer albums most of the music I listen to doesn't have MQA support at all. It only has Hifi which honestly should be the same thing depending on what quality the songs were originally recorded at.
Since I listen to quite a bit of electronic music from Artists like Above & Beyond or Armin Van Buuren they don't have MQA / Master anyway. The other music I mostly listen to is Classical & Jazz and many of those artists don't really have Master albums (other than Martin Frost and a couple Lang Lang ones).
Time will tell if I keep the Tidal subscription since the desktop app is definitely worse than Spotify which is what I primarily use during the rest of my days...

 

[Saponetto]

Hm.
Specs are as foreseen, great eye-candy on the front, but I honestly disagree about the 90's boxy-style.
I was so pleased with the non-edgy curves Topping fed us in a recent past.

 

[Jimster480]

The fancy display has nothing to do with fidelity. Nor does the volume knob, it even detracts under some circumstances. And the 12V trigger also doesn't improve fidelity. Should those go as well? Bluetooth happened because it is useful.

Music over Bluetooth sounds great. And it sure is a simple and popular way to integrate a wide range of sources. And the user experience extends to multiple users (like your family) and platforms (like your car). If you want gear with good SINAD, then fine. At this level of performance, performance becomes pointless since your ears are the limiter.
Seriously, you should get over this Bluetooth aversion!

And:

I hope you realize that you jumped the rails and are now describing a different piece of equipment, a WiFi/Network DAC.

I think you are asking apples vs. oranges. For geeks, there are cheap outboard devices that allow this device to be used that are compatible with all sorts of protocols and formats.
I personally want class-leading DSP since at this price point. Fortunately those devices exist too.

I agree on the DSP front; I'm waiting for a Topping DAC with DSP.

Bluetooth is something I personally haven't used on my desktop DAC's but I can understand why it is there. Do we know what BT codecs this supports? Hopefully it supports LDAC.
I use an LDAC BT Only DAC every night when I sleep and put on music. Sounds so much better than anything else with SBC or AAC through my soundbar... Which is amazing since it isn't even that expensive or nice of a soundbar. LDAC is just that much better.

 

[TonyJZX]

i think even the chinese realise that you can get away with a lot of shite at $80 but at $700 you gotta pull out all the stops

BT = Bluetooth LDAC / aptX-Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX, AAC and SBC support

at $700 you get an sota offering that has all the trimmings

at $80 you get close to sota... in fact so close you will most likely fail a DBX

 

[unpluggged]

So they did finally manage to rip one of the RME's status screens, but have not yet managed to rip the other status screens, the DSP and the SOTA headphone amp, not to mention RME's support and quality. And all this for massive $200 cut in price.

 

[Snoopy]

i think even the chinese realise that you can get away with a lot of shite at $80 but at $700 you gotta pull out all the stops

BT = Bluetooth LDAC / aptX-Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX, AAC and SBC support

at $700 you get an sota offering that has all the trimmings

at $80 you get close to sota... in fact so close you will most likely fail a DBX

But if you are going to spend $700 on a DAC I would just spend a bit more and get something that is SOTA in design as well.

SMSL D400ES / EX or the SU-10, D1SE2...

That display looks like they glued a 10$ LCD screen to the front of the dac

 

[Doodski]

Talk to me when Topping has a remote that doesn't require laser focus from 10' just to get it to work AND warranty service that doesn't take months and leaves the customer totally at the mercy of the reseller. Topping has never been focused on customer service. They have the same remote and customer service structure as when their products were $100.

I would like to talk to you before that if something comes up! LoL...

 

[drake5000]

Thank you for the review! Does it make any kind of loud click/pop sound when switching sample rate, with USB or TOSLINK input?

 

[TonyJZX]

So they did finally manage to rip one of the RME's status screens, but have not yet managed to rip the other status screens, the DSP and the SOTA headphone amp, not to mention RME's support and quality. And all this for massive $200 cut in price.

RME ADI-2 FS Version 2 DAC and Headphone Amp Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the updated version 2 of the RME ADI-2 FS DAC and headphone amplifier. It was kindly sent to me by the company. The cost us US $1,149. The ADI-2 looks very nice in black with a bright, super responsive display (doesn't come out as well in the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

this one???

i would agree with you

may as well bite the bullet and go all out... the DSP is worth it alone

 

[CedarWind108]

The most important feature Topping could add to products in this price range is premium support and warranty, 5 years minimum. And provide free shipping for any service/repairs.

 

[Saponetto]

The most important feature Topping could add to products in this price range is premium support and warranty, 5 years minimum. And provide free shipping for any service/repairs.

You know, risk is part of the pleasure...

 

[respice finem]

The most important feature Topping could add to products in this price range is premium support and warranty, 5 years minimum. And provide free shipping for any service/repairs.

Probably too risky these days. You can't be sure if the parts you use this month are still available next month...

 

[TonyJZX]

realistically you know that the various approved vendors will ask you to take a photo of the D70 spinning on your head while you rub your tummy while balancing on one leg to get any warranty work done... maybe

i seriously dont believe you will get any better support than a $80 SU-1 budget dac and therein lies the tragedy

 

[Verig]

Topping's pricing and product family are a horrible mess. Their niche has been well measuring separates for reasonable money.
However, here we have 70 dac+pre combo at $1200 with bare minimum features. If I wanted headphones only set, ok, just add Node for $600 and you have well working streaming. All set and extremely good quality. $1800. A bit less with some other options but still very far from cheap, or even affordable, to many.
If I want... well, to add speakers and every other nice thing and some product support... suddenly NAD M10v2 at $3000 is starting to look like a bargain. Not to mention used market.

What I'm getting at is that I have no idea what Topping is doing. Sure, they measure well and I quite like the new look, but at these prices there are many options that perform not perfect but well and offer much much more.

That said, when I get back into headphones again one day I will consider a Topping amp because of that well implemented resistor volume. Seriously, a perfect volume pot is pretty much the only thing I look for in a headphone amp and in that realm these are not expensive.

 

[Atanasi]

Probably too risky these days. You can't be sure if the parts you use this month are still available next month...

They don't have to use the exact same parts all the time. It is common to have multiple hardware revisions during the lifetime of a model. Some of these changes are visible to customers, others not.

 

[Jimster480]

Thank you for the review! Does it make any kind of loud click/pop sound when switching sample rate, with USB or TOSLINK input?

I can tell you my D70S already doesn't have this issue. So I fount this unit does as mine is a few years old already.

 

[Bernd]

I am really glad that so many people here and this forum mention of the lack of a DSP section in the lineup of Topping's DACs. I can only hope that some people in the marketing section of Topping have a look at these forums to see what audiophiles are really looking for in new products. Because, frankly, the current tendency to 'overkill' in measurements and amp output power is getting a little boring. The the design changes are just a facelift as no new functionality is introduced (on top of that they make the new Topping look like a copy of the latest Eversolo products).

 

[respice finem]

They don't have to use the exact same parts all the time. It is common to have multiple hardware revision during the lifetime of a model. Some of these changes are visible to customers, others not.

Yes, but especially with chips it can be tricky. Like after the famous AKM factory fire - the manufacturers "survived" it, but it wasn't easy.

 

[Jimster480]

Topping's pricing and product family are a horrible mess. Their niche has been well measuring separates for reasonable money.
However, here we have 70 dac+pre combo at $1200 with bare minimum features. If I wanted headphones only set, ok, just add Node for $600 and you have well working streaming. All set and extremely good quality. $1800. A bit less with some other options but still very far from cheap, or even affordable, to many.
If I want... well, to add speakers and every other nice thing and some product support... suddenly NAD M10v2 at $3000 is starting to look like a bargain. Not to mention used market.

What I'm getting at is that I have no idea what Topping is doing. Sure, they measure well and I quite like the new look, but at these prices there are many options that perform not perfect but well and offer much much more.

That said, when I get back into headphones again one day I will consider a Topping amp because of that well implemented resistor volume. Seriously, a perfect volume pot is pretty much the only thing I look for in a headphone amp and in that realm these are not expensive.

Honestly their own DX7 does this. You have a ladder volume control + SOTA DAC + Preamp... However so does the DX5 and the Ex5.... I have the latter one as well as my D70S Mqa and it literally powers all the headphones just fine, it's super clear and I can't tell the difference in 99% of scenarios VS my THX789 + D70 setup.
So the question becomes what is the point of buying this? The THX789 has multiple headphone outputs and as such it's why I use it since I often switch headphones.
The A70 doesn't have multiple SE outputs running at the same time but just gobs of power that 98% of people can't use.
Sure it looks nice if you like that look (I don't really) but for those of us who are here based on actual audio science; the Ex5 or DX5 literally does everything for a fraction of the price and have no audible performance difference.

 

[gegegege]

I must say, it looks really attractive, but function wise, probably no audible difference from a $300 DAC? Does the lcd display worth the extra $$?