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Topping D70 Pro Sabre DAC Review

Rate this DAC:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 6 1.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 11 3.5%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 40 12.7%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 258 81.9%

  • Total voters
    315

amirm

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping D70 Pro Sabre edition balanced stereo DAC with Bluetooth. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $699.
Topping D70 Pro Sabre Stereo USB DAC Balanced Review.jpg

Topping hugely steps up the look of their DACs with inclusion of a high resolution, high contrast LCD that can show different UI (I have selected VU meter). You can select spectrum analyzer and normal informative DAC settings/volume level. Here is a quick mobile phone image of the FFT:
Topping D70 Pro Sabre Stereo USB DAC Balanced back panel Spectrum Analyzer Review.jpg


Back panel is unchanged from their other DACs:
Topping D70 Pro Sabre Stereo USB DAC Balanced back panel Bluetooth Review.jpg


The DAC can be configured for nominal 4 or 5 volts. I have selected 4 volts for my testing. Dynamic range should improve some with 5 volts.

If you are not familiar with these DAC measurements, click to watch this video.

Topping D70 Pro Sabre Measurements
Let's start with our usual balanced dashboard:
Topping D70 Pro Stereo USB DAC Balanced Measurement.png

We expect superb performance and transparency from Topping and that is what we get. This is state of the art and at the top of our chart of 400+ DACs tested:
Best stereo balanced dac review audio 2023.png


RCA performance is almost as good:
Topping D70 Pro Stereo USB DAC RCA Measurement.png


The volume control reflects actual dB values. Adjusting it gives you these SINAD values:
Topping D70 Pro Stereo USB DAC Balanced SINAD vs Volume Measurement.png


Dynamic range is state of the art:
Topping D70 Pro Stereo USB DAC Balanced Dynamic Range Measurement.png


We have the usual set of filters and corresponding frequency responses (F1 is default):
Topping D70 Pro Stereo USB DAC Balanced Filter Measurement.png

Topping D70 Pro Stereo USB DAC Balanced Frequency Response Measurement.png


Linearity is perfect as is multitone:
Topping D70 Pro Sabre Stereo USB DAC Balanced Linearity Measurement.png

Topping D70 Pro Sabre Stereo USB DAC Balanced Multitone Measurement.png


I measured tiny bit of jitter using Coax which could be my cabling (I use random RCA cables):
Topping D70 Pro Sabre Stereo USB DAC Balanced Jitter Measurement.png


Good to see lack of "ESS IMD hump:"
Topping D70 Pro Sabre Stereo USB DAC Balanced IMD Measurement.png


Finally, good filtering and superbly low wideband noise and distortion gives us state of the art THD+N vs frequency:
Topping D70 Pro Sabre Stereo USB DAC Balanced THD vs Frequency Measurement.png


Conclusions
We expect state of the art DAC performance from Topping but I must say, I did not see the user interface revamp coming. The new display oozes class and is highly functional. I want to see the spectrum of what I am playing which the FFT display shows with very high refresh rate. Often a speaker or headphone distorts in low frequencies and you can use this diagnostic tool to see what is in your music. I also appreciate the informative display otherwise.

It is my pleasure to recommend the Topping D70 Pro Sabre stereo DAC. It not only performs, but also has key features I want in a DAC (i.e. a spectrum analyzer).

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

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Tangband

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Great dac.:)

Some mild criticism :
Why implementing bluetooth ? This protocol has nothing to do with high fidelity, - it would have been really great If there was DLNA , Wi-Fi and Airplay compability.

But I guess one cant have it all for this price.
 
Last edited:
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amirm

amirm

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Why implementing bluetooth ?
Sometimes convenience is worth it. I went out pulling weeds in the garden and just turned on my phone with some music next to me. Nothing "high fidelity" but being able to have some music while working was hugely valuable. Ditto for quickly pumping a youtube or some music into your desktop DAC without needing wires.
 

respice finem

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When I try to compare it to the EX5 I bought after the ASR test
from a purely utilitarian point of view, the buyer is getting:
  • marginally (probably inaudibly) better performance
  • a fancier display
  • no headphone amp (means another expense, if needed)
  • for double the price
So, as good as this one is, I rate it as "great", but I would still buy the EX5 for half the price, if I hadn't already.
 

Sokel

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Nice look at the expense of sharp (?) edges.
Performance is an already solved issue.OLED screen I suppose.

Thanks Amir!
 

Moderate Dionysianism

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Why implementing bluetooth ? This protocol has nothing to do with high fidelity
Amir & others already measured LDAC here. It performs well and is audibly transparent to me. It's a welcome addition to a DAC, while those other features are more of a streamer feature pack. There's that neat Eversolo unit for your use case.
 

777

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ES9039pro has a smaller output current and that is better for the op amps of the I/V converter. If they use the same opa1612, maybe the sound will be a little livelier than ES9038pro. There are currently no op amps that can perfectly manage loads of one hundred and two ohms. Most likely, in the present case, the current-voltage conversion load is around 600 ohms which is better for the "live" sensation of the sound.
 

Veri

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There are currently no op amps that can perfectly manage loads of one hundred and two ohms. Most likely, in the present case, the current-voltage conversion load is around 600 ohms which is better for the "live" sensation of the sound.
What do you mean, though? 102Ω ? 100Ω and 2Ω ?
 
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