Topping D70s MQA Review (DAC)

[Jimbob54]

Damn, I love my Topping d70s paired with a Jot2 (balanced) and a TA-30 (RCA). However, the 2.5V RCA output seems to be screwing with a Woo WA6 amp I recently picked up. Amp works fine with normal 2V dac output, but when I connect to the d70s, getting audible hum/crackling. Not end of the world, because the WA6 is for a second bedroom setup, but not ideal either because I like having some flexibility with gear. Just wanted to put this experience out there since it does seem like the hotter ouput voltage of the d70s can have a negative impact with certain tube amps.

Why dont you just turn the volume on the DAC down when connected to the Woo?

 

[Urbs]

Why dont you just turn the volume on the DAC down when connected to the Woo?

Lowering the decibels digitally on the d70s did not appear to solve the problem. I tried swapping tubes, changing power outlets, and adjusting settings before I realized the issue might be with the output voltage. Then I tried with a different dac outputting the normal 2V and didn't experience any issues at all.

 

[guiver]

Damn, I love my Topping d70s paired with a Jot2 (balanced) and a TA-30 (RCA). However, the 2.5V RCA output seems to be screwing with a Woo WA6 amp I recently picked up. Amp works fine with normal 2V dac output, but when I connect to the d70s, getting audible hum/crackling. Not end of the world, because the WA6 is for a second bedroom setup, but not ideal either because I like having some flexibility with gear. Just wanted to put this experience out there since it does seem like the hotter ouput voltage of the d70s can have a negative impact with certain tube amps.

You could try to reduce the volume on the D70s to see if it solves your noise issue on the WA6?

 

[Urbs]

You could try to reduce the volume on the D70s to see if it solves your noise issue on the WA6?

Didn't solve the problem - Still getting hum/crackle and doesn't seem to change when I lower the db's on the d70s. Pretty sure it's the 2.5V hotness.

 

[Jimbob54]

Didn't solve the problem - Still getting hum/crackle and doesn't seem to change when I lower the db's on the d70s. Pretty sure it's the 2.5V hotness.

Lowering the dB lowers the volts. It's only at 2.5v with a full signal output at full volume. Either a weaker signal (so quiet passage in music) or a lowering of the output volume or both takes it below that max.

 

[Urbs]

Interesting, maybe I just didn't lower the dB enough to notice a difference (tried at -15db and seemed to be same at 0db). I'll try again tonight and see if that solves it. I should say, I can hear the hum crackle even when music isn't playing.... but only when it's connected to the d70s. Maybe it's my desk setup and the tubes are getting interference of some kind in there. Will have to do some more testing.

 

[DHT 845]

Damn, I love my Topping d70s paired with a Jot2 (balanced) and a TA-30 (RCA). However, the 2.5V RCA output seems to be screwing with a Woo WA6 amp I recently picked up. Amp works fine with normal 2V dac output, but when I connect to the d70s, getting audible hum/crackling. Not end of the world, because the WA6 is for a second bedroom setup, but not ideal either because I like having some flexibility with gear. Just wanted to put this experience out there since it does seem like the hotter ouput voltage of the d70s can have a negative impact with certain tube amps.

Sth is wrong with Woo's input section I bet.

 

[Urbs]

Sth is wrong with Woo's input section I bet.

Maybe, but the amp works perfectly with a D50s in a different room. I need to do some more testing to isolate the issue better.

 

[Michiel]

Still very happy with my D70S but one thing i find very annoying; bluetooth stays active, even though another input has been selected. The result is that many times i end up with trying to find out why my phone or tablet audio isn’t working anymore and then discover it has connected to the D70s again although the input is not on bluetooth.

If you ask me; very annoying, bluetooth should become inactive if the bluetooth input is not selected.

Any work around? Would be nice if this can be fixed in a firmware upgrade.

 

[DeepSpace57]

Is anyone here using I2S or AES inputs? I am planning to buy a DDC; any comments/experience?

 

[2Bad]

Still very happy with my D70S but one thing i find very annoying; bluetooth stays active, even though another input has been selected. The result is that many times i end up with trying to find out why my phone or tablet audio isn’t working anymore and then discover it has connected to the D70s again although the input is not on bluetooth.

If you ask me; very annoying, bluetooth should become inactive if the bluetooth input is not selected.

Any work around? Would be nice if this can be fixed in a firmware upgrade.

I believe that you can turn off bluetooth from the main configuration menu.

 

[4udio]

Is anyone here using I2S or AES inputs? I am planning to buy a DDC; any comments/experience?

I'm using I2S. It works ok. Sound is marginally more resolving compared to USB and Coax. Optical is good enough for movies and nothing else IMHO.

 

[4udio]

Still very happy with my D70S but one thing i find very annoying; bluetooth stays active, even though another input has been selected. The result is that many times i end up with trying to find out why my phone or tablet audio isn’t working anymore and then discover it has connected to the D70s again although the input is not on bluetooth.

If you ask me; very annoying, bluetooth should become inactive if the bluetooth input is not selected.

Any work around? Would be nice if this can be fixed in a firmware upgrade.

I have the same problem. I've asked Topping about possible solution 6 months ago. Still waiting for response.I need BT to be disabled (not turned off) unless I select it as an input source. SMSL SU9 has that feature and it is super useful.

 

[DeepSpace57]

I'm using I2S. It works ok. Sound is marginally more resolving compared to USB and Coax. Optical is good enough for movies and nothing else IMHO.

What ddc do you use?

 

[caccarot81]

Hi Guys,Any significant differences between D70 and D70's?
Apart from Bluetooth and MQA support.
Thanks

 

[Michiel]

I have the same problem. I've asked Topping about possible solution 6 months ago. Still waiting for response.I need BT to be disabled (not turned off) unless I select it as an input source. SMSL SU9 has that feature and it is super useful.

Thanks, i see am not alone in this one. I might drop Topping a line to, this is so annoying. No problem though if you have a dedicated tablet in use for music only. Maybe @JohnYang1997 can achieve something?

 

[4udio]

What ddc do you use?

Ustars Audio R19 Digital Audio Board 32Bit PCM384KHz DSD512 Coaxial DOP128 For Raspberry Pi 3B

 

[Michiel]

I believe that you can turn off bluetooth from the main configuration menu.

Can have a look, but the result is probably that you have to turn it on every time you want to use bluetooth. To me it just should disconnect bluetooth connected devices or disable bluetooth radio when switching to another DAC input as bluetooth

 

[migo77]

One question about MQA decoding: what freq. is displayed on the display when DAC is decoding MQA file. Unit I've here displays only freq. of first unfold e.g. 44.1/48/88.2/96k never more. Is it SW problem?

Thank you!

 

[Jimbob54]

One question about MQA decoding: what freq. is displayed on the display when DAC is decoding MQA file. Unit I've here displays only freq. of first unfold e.g. 44.1/48/88.2/96k never more. Is it SW problem?

Thank you!

Depends, I'm assuming you've found a file that fully expands to 176 or 192? The dac needs to be full mqa decoder, not just renderer and the software on the playing device needs to be properly set up (something like "pass undecoded file to dac" or similar in settings)