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Topping D70s MQA Review (DAC)

Mr.XO

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Hello folks!

I picked up a D70s recently - a used one, of course. It works via Coax with a BS Node 2i but I just can’t get the USB input to work from PC. Tried from 2 Win10 PCs, with 3 different versions (older to latest) of the recommended driver from Topping’s site. Tried different USB ports and cables as well, but no luck.
Let me know if anyone has any ideas on how to get it to work.

Thanks!
 

Jimster480

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Hello folks!

I picked up a D70s recently - a used one, of course. It works via Coax with a BS Node 2i but I just can’t get the USB input to work from PC. Tried from 2 Win10 PCs, with 3 different versions (older to latest) of the recommended driver from Topping’s site. Tried different USB ports and cables as well, but no luck.
Let me know if anyone has any ideas on how to get it to work.

Thanks!
Obviously you are putting into USB mode right?
The USB interface may have died...
 

mrlongar

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is there any tweak on setting to make d70s sound more vivid -- more bass and high ?-- the sound is pale i compared this with my FIOO BTA30-- the sound is vivid more bass and high.. please help
 

amarsicola

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D70s has a perfect frequency response, you don't want to change it, maybe your Fioo is wrong
 

Jimster480

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is there any tweak on setting to make d70s sound more vivid -- more bass and high ?-- the sound is pale i compared this with my FIOO BTA30-- the sound is vivid more bass and high.. please help
Either you got something defective or the rest of your chain is messed up. The BTA30 looks to have like 90 SINAD... It is a BT receiver device, it doesn't compare at all to the D70S.
 

sarumbear

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is there any tweak on setting to make d70s sound more vivid -- more bass and high ?-- the sound is pale i compared this with my FIOO BTA30-- the sound is vivid more bass and high.. please help
Welcome to quality Hi-Fi
 

MacCali

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is there any tweak on setting to make d70s sound more vivid -- more bass and high ?-- the sound is pale i compared this with my FIOO BTA30-- the sound is vivid more bass and high.. please help
What other dacs do you own besides the FiiO?

Also what is all your accompanying audio equipment?
 

Roland68

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topping D70s, fiio BTA30,, rotel RC-1572 mk2 has built in dac
If you really see a problem, 2 things are important:
- You have to be systematic
- You must state exactly which devices are in the chain (all of them) and how these devices are connected to each other.

What source are you using? With what connection?
 

Lupin

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is there any tweak on setting to make d70s sound more vivid -- more bass and high ?-- the sound is pale i compared this with my FIOO BTA30-- the sound is vivid more bass and high.. please help
That is not the job of a DAC.
DAC should just convert the signal 1:1, not flavour it. That would be the job of an EQ and/or selection of HP/Speakers.
 

Angsty

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is there any tweak on setting to make d70s sound more vivid -- more bass and high ?-- the sound is pale i compared this with my FIOO BTA30-- the sound is vivid more bass and high.. please help
A Schiit Loki will do this job.
 

Angsty

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The RME ADI-2 is an alternative DAC with parametric EQ built-in.
 

MacCali

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That is not the job of a DAC.
DAC should just convert the signal 1:1, not flavour it. That would be the job of an EQ and/or selection of HP/Speakers.
Yea we get that all the time. I think this is accurate however implementation also plays a role as well, possibly pcb design.

Something has to be happening, otherwise we would all just buy a 200 dollar dac that’s objectively perfect and not have to bother with anything else.

I’m fairly certain even greater than a majority of ASR members all have multiple dacs[stand alone]
 

MacCali

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topping D70s, fiio BTA30,, rotel RC-1572 mk2 has built in dac
Yea I mean no offense by this, but I think it maybe your experience. Not sure how long you’ve been into home audio. Correct me if I am wrong. Edit: your unit maybe defective as well which might be something to consider.

But I got my D70s and have not had any urge to change it and that’s what I use in my main system which is fundamentally superior objectively and subjectively. Using both coax and i2s as my digital feed, and as I am no expert in audio I am not sure if it is my streamer or the i2s input but my music experience got outstanding performance. Much better than coax, but I am not sure precisely why that might be

Prior to that I was using a DDC which was fed by my PC, ddc to coax input. Now I use the SMSL PO ddc to coax and seems like there’s a difference towards the positive side versus my old ddc which was a schiit eitr.

*my streamer only costs 250 and is pi based with a HAT attachment. So it’s not like a couple grand streamer just in case you are wondering.
 
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Lupin

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otherwise we would all just buy a 200 dollar dac that’s objectively perfect and not have to bother with anything else.
From a technical standpoint for what a DAC is supposed to do, yes a 200-dollar DAC does the job more than well enough and nobody needs more for a pure 1:1 signal conversion.

However, one usually also takes other things in consideration like; aesthetics, connectivity, formfactor, feature set or just the "peace of mind" that you have the best measuring DAC out there.
Those are valid reasons to want to spend more on a DAC but has nothing to do with how the DAC sounds.

Some handmade boutique DACs don't have a flat frequency response curve and some might perceive that as "pleasant" or "better sounding"
But is it the job of the DAC to make the sound more "pleasant"? I personally don't think so, even more so because you have no control over it. At least when you use EQ you can turn it off or tweak it even further.
 
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