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Topping D70s MQA Review (DAC)

amirm

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the just announced Topping D70s MQA USB DAC with Bluetooth support. It was kindly sent to me by the company and costs US $649.99.

Style wise, the D70S naturally follows the rest of the Topping product line:

Topping D70s Review MQA Balanced USB DAC Bluetooth.jpg


I must say I miss the rotary knob of the past Topping products for volume control. That said, when using a remote (included) then you only have up and down anyway so for non-desktop application, it is fine.

The back of the unit has what you expect:
Topping D70s Review MQA Balanced XLR Toslink Coax USB DAC Bluetooth.jpg


Note that there is a mains voltage slider on the side. Be sure that is set to for the voltage in your country. Mine came set to 230 which caused a bit of head scratching to figure out why it was not coming on. Linear power supplies as used here are not universal so you have to live with a hard switch.

The D70s MQA is based on dual AKM AK4497. I asked another DAC company what the supply situation was given the fire at AKM factory in Japan. I was told parts were available but at much higher cost.

Topping D70s MQA Measurements
As usual we start with our dashboard using balanced out and USB input:

Topping D70s Measurements MQA Balanced.png


As you see, the max output nicely exceeds the nominal 4 volts that we measure at and used to be standard. This extra headroom comes in handy when you have room equalization or an amplifier that runs better at a lower gain. The sum of relative noise and distortion is superb:
Best USB MQA DAC Review.png


Zooming in, we see that a hair separates the top 10:

Best USB MQA DAC Review zoomed.png


We are talking about such low levels of noise here that just sitting there performance rankings can change. And some of noise is actually contributed by my audio analyzer.

Back to our dashboard, here is the RCA performance:

Topping D70s Measurements MQA RCA.png


And a sweep to see how the performance varies with output level:

Topping D70s Measurements MQA Balanced THD+N vs Level.png


That little glitch down is the analyzer changing input scales and having its own performance suffer a bit, not something in the DAC. You can see that the unit can be comfortably used at top tier performance from 2.5 volts to 4 volts and beyond.

Dynamic range is of course exceptional:

Topping D70s Measurements MQA Balanced Dynamic Range.png


You could play at 120 dBSPL and still have the noise floor be below threshold of hearing! One minute you are hearing nothing but silence and another, your life comes to an end on those 120 dBSPL peaks! :)

Jitter is excellent over USB:
Topping D70s Measurements MQA Balanced USB Jitter.png


Since AKM DAC chips don't have a resampler like ESS DACs do, performance suffers a bit with synchronous digital inputs like Coax and Toslink:

Topping D70s Measurements MQA Balanced Coax Toslink Jitter.png


Levels are essentially at or below threshold of audibility so more of a bother for the eye and then the ear. And at any rate, hopefully you are using these legacy ports for secondary use (TV ARC and such) or in desperation (ground loop).

Intermodulation distortion vs level is stellar:

Topping D70s Measurements MQA Balanced IMD Distortion USB DAC.png


Like the high level of attenuation out of some of the DAC filters:

Topping D70s Measurements MQA Balanced DAC Filter.png


And that the MQA filter is not forced on PCM audio samples.

THD+N vs frequency as usual is a bit worse than ESS based DACs:
Topping D70s Measurements MQA Balanced THD+N vs Frequency.png


Linearity was textbook perfect:
Topping D70s Measurements MQA Balanced Linearity.png


Finally multitone test resembling "music" is drool-worthy:

Topping D70s Measurements MQA Balanced Multitone.png


Conclusions
Another stellar DAC is released by Topping in the form of D70s giving us another option to purchase. Instrument grade performance is provided. Yes, our tests are so good that even in best of the best we can expose a few tiny rough corners. But in the larger picture it is hard to hold back anything but top praise for this level of engineering.

It is my pleasure to highly recommend the Topping D70s.

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

Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
 
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amirm

amirm

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A couple bluetooth tests would be nice to compare with other products
It has been a long day today.... May run them tomorrow....
 
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amirm

amirm

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I seriously doubt that anyone could tell the difference between even something as inexpensive as the Topping E30 and this DAC in a blind A/B test. We are lucky that such neutral, accurate equipment is now within financial reach of the common working person. And, I just don't get MQA. It's a complex, lossy format in a day when storage is dirt cheap. Get your music is FLAC format, and be done with it.
These comments belong outside of review thread of this specific product. Future posts will be deleted. Discuss it elsewhere.
 

nighteagle

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Any reason to get the D90 over D70s? Or is the x16 better? Going to connect it to the A90 using XLR. Currently using a D50s connected to the A90. Sennheiser HD 800s headphones. Going to use USB from computer. Just get the D70s and set the volume to -2?
 
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kkeretic

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If I understood correctly the specs from the Topping website, the screen can't be turned off completely :facepalm: ? Some dot stays lit if the screen is set to be turned off after 30sec, I guess as the indicator that the device is actually turned on? Am I right or?
 

PeteL

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Since AKM DAC chips don't have a resampler like ESS DACs do, performance suffers a bit with synchronous digital inputs like Coax and Toslink:
Is it a reclocker Or a resampler? I am not familiar with ESS Dacs, if it is in fact the right terminology, or the terminology they use, does someone knows what it means in this application?
 

ninetylol

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Mh Im more of a Topping Fanboy, but pricewise the SMSL SU-9 would be a no brainer vs this one, or am. I missing something.
 

YSC

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good dac performance, but I wonders the reason to spread into so many lines of similarly performance dacs, won't it be more cost effective and maybe can lower the price if focus on one dac chip choice of each generation?
 

Veri

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won't it be more cost effective and maybe can lower the price if focus on one dac chip choice of each generation?
Well that's kinda what they're doing no? D70s squuezes absolute utmost out of AK4497. D90 series uses AK4499.
The future is uncertain though, what with AKM factory plant that caught fire. So a lot of devices could see redesigns.
 

threni

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Okay, that hurt. So, never mind. I'll delete the post, and go elsewhere for reviews from now on. Feel free to delete my account.

Bit of an overreaction; I'd have just posted it in a different forum.
 

Matias

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That multitone is exceptional. Great stuff
I wonder if the A70s will shift some buyers from D90 into it because of that. Really impressive multitone, probably the best measured here in ASR.
 
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