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Topping D70s MQA Review (DAC)

DHT 845

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D90S is one chip design.
 

DHT 845

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Double sabre you have lks audio / musetec, top accuphase dac, But what is more important is that sabre is analitical, with great depth and precision, akm is more musical. Both are great, sabre for electronic music rocks but with akm it is not bad as well. Actually it's just different.
What I like the most in d70s is its liquid and totally grain free presentation with great tonal balance and "body" in the sound. Its big step towards R2R tonality and that is achieved with extremely low objectively measured distortions. Personally I do not accept grainy digital sources no matter of overall performance. I heard grainy sound in DACs like Accuphase DC-950 (ridiculously expensive) and in Reimyo DAP-999EX Limited (not cheap either) but in d70s I cannot detect ANY granularity, it's incredibly smooth and natural with most complex music and Miles Davis Trumpet is simply reference! :)
 
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nhs

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One of the things is that we all know that rotary encoder isn't all that consistent and durable. Some units will have encoder jumping, skipping etc and some are fine out of the box and developing issues over time. It's just another trade off. Analog pot + ADC isn't all that remote control friendly. Motorized pot is expensive and adds another mechanical part that can break. And the experience operating on the machine is not so different with a remote. What about improving the remote as well. Yeah we all thought about it but there really isn't a good solution. So we kept it the same as D70, D90. It's not optimal, but if it didn't break why fix it especially for an S upgrade.
You mentioned improving the remote, so we have a suggestion. Could you implement some additional discrete IR codes for power on, power off, input usb, input coax, input optical and input i2s. These codes only need to be implemented in the DAC not on the remote control unit. We just need such IR codes to integrate it into our universal remote app.
 

Michiel

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Has anyone done a software update on the D70s? I did, when it turned back on the volume was at 0.00 dB if i remember well, it scared the hell out of me as the D70s was connected to my new dual mono 1200as1 which was turned on as well.
If not noticed before playing some music this could lead to some extremely loud noise with burned voice coils a few seconds later.
Anyone experienced the same? To me the unit should always start at a low volume. Going to 0.00 after an update sounds like a bug in the software.

I use the D70s as dac/pre-amp connected to my dual mono 1200as1, sounds very good, but when i use my Rotel RA-1570 as dac/pre-amp the sound is much richer, more and punchier bass pounding on the chest. Tone control is bypassed on the Rotel. Would the D70s benefit from running in dac mode via an dedicated pre-amp? Would this change before mentioned differences?
 

MBL'er

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Has anyone done a software update on the D70s? I did, when it turned back on the volume was at 0.00 dB if i remember well, it scared the hell out of me as the D70s was connected to my new dual mono 1200as1 which was turned on as well.
If not noticed before playing some music this could lead to some extremely loud noise with burned voice coils a few seconds later.
Anyone experienced the same? To me the unit should always start at a low volume. Going to 0.00 after an update sounds like a bug in the software.

I use the D70s as dac/pre-amp connected to my dual mono 1200as1, sounds very good, but when i use my Rotel RA-1570 as dac/pre-amp the sound is much richer, more and punchier bass pounding on the chest. Tone control is bypassed on the Rotel. Would the D70s benefit from running in dac mode via an dedicated pre-amp? Would this change before mentioned differences?

The “pre-amp” is actually a digital volume attenuator.

A real pre-amp will likely make the D70S sound better.

Good you realized that fw update reset the volume to zero db.

Best,

M
 

nhs

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Could some one tell me, how much power does the Topping D70S consume, especially in stand-by mode?
 

MBL'er

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User manual says nothing about power consumption. You may try to contact Topping through their web site.
 

nhs

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User manual says nothing about power consumption. You may try to contact Topping through their web site.
If they don't mention it then I can guess why?
I read somewhere, the other topping DAC draws 2.5W at stand-by. That's not good at all. I hope the D70S does it better, but I'm doubting now.
 

MBL'er

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I understand your position.

In that respect, consider that the D70S top plate does not go above "lukewarm" (and mainly in the psu area) under actual usage and that in stand-by (frontal button) it goes completely cold. If there is power to dissipate while in stand-by, maybe the top plate would stay somewhat warm.

I will check stand-by temperature later on when back home, using a nice "pandemic thermometer" (that thing that looks like a water gun).
 
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MBL'er

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Watched and read the Soundnews review.

The story about the “minute 1:58 double cymbal stroke” really is misterious, as I could not detect it with any of my dacs, through both Dynaudios and Grados.

Maybe I should buy myself the D90SE to be revealed …

Just kidding, though.
 
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MBL'er

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If they don't mention it then I can guess why?
I read somewhere, the other topping DAC draws 2.5W at stand-by. That's not good at all. I hope the D70S does it better, but I'm doubting now.

@nhs

I believe you are on something: the D70S measured 28°C in stand-by and 38°C during operations.
 
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