Topping D90 Balanced USB DAC Review

[burma]

@JohnYang1997
I cannot open it with Catalina 10.15.5 on a MacBook Air early 2015. Error attached.

I had the same problem, same machine, when I d/l the installer a week ago. So I used a different Mac to install. It had older operating system Mojave.

Follow the directions in the link below. You have to make it an executable. It will then work.

https://superuser.com/questions/1345755/how-to-fix-the-application-cant-be-opened-on-mac

 

[burma]

So I ended up returning the D90 MQA and keeping the regular D90. For me personally, the difference wasn't worth it. Here's my setup with my monitors, which are connected to the A90 via XLR out on low gain. The sound is fantastic! I also use them with my HiFiMAN Sundaras, also connected via XLR, low gain, and they sound equally great. A great combo the D90/A90!

 

[UCrazyKid]

Follow the directions in the link below. You have to make it an executable. It will then work.

https://superuser.com/questions/1345755/how-to-fix-the-application-cant-be-opened-on-mac

@bruma thanks for the link but the information there is all Greek to me. If a developers public f/w update app requires opening the terminal and running command lines, it is not nearly user friendly enough for release. It was easier for me to just use a different computer. I do appreciate your pointing me to a solution though. I just don't know enough to make use of it. I'm a medical guy, not a CS guy.

 

[burma]

@bruma thanks for the link but the information there is all Greek to me. If a developers public f/w update app requires opening the terminal and running command lines, it is not nearly user friendly enough for release. It was easier for me to just use a different computer. I do appreciate your pointing me to a solution though. I just don't know enough to make use of it. I'm a medical guy, not a CS guy.

Yeah, they should work it out, this was in case you need to make it work now.

 

[dixter]

Hooked up the little Fiio M5 today to my D90MQA/A90/SMYTH A16 stack via Bluetooth (LDAC) and it sounds pretty darn good.... that little player holds 2T of music....

 

[Grawl]

How does everyone stack this with their A90, top or bottom? With my Schiit I knew the amp had to go on top because it became quite hot.

Got the D90 today and I'm loving it. Will get the A90 later this week to make it complete.

 

[burma]

How does everyone stack this with their A90, top or bottom? With my Schiit I knew the amp had to go on top because it became quite hot.

Got the D90 today and I'm loving it. Will get the A90 later this week to make it complete.

Bottom, see my photo above. Yeah it does get warmer, but it just doesn't look right with the D90 on the bottom.

 

[rkalmeijer]

Thanks for the update! I just updated the firmware of my D90 MQA and I now see 32 bit support! It worked fine on Catalina 10.15.5, no issues there, I just had to browse back to the downloaded folder to find the .bin for the installer.

View attachment 71622

And do you hear any difference? I find that hard to imagine since everything above 21 bits seems to be to smaal a difference to hear it

 

[EchoChamber]

And do you hear any difference? I find that hard to imagine since everything above 21 bits seems to be to smaal a difference to hear it

I didn’t perceive any difference, my understanding is that going from 24 to 32 is simply a matter of increasing the size of the container, it won’t make 16 bit 32 bit.

MQA tracks (through Tidal) will always be at 24 bit BTW, the DAC will force 24 bit and whatever sampling rate the track calls for.

For non MQA tracks, I’ll speculate there could be a difference when upsampling with Roon, but I didn’t try to look for them (I doubt I’d be able to perceive them). I’ll always stay up to date with my firmware anyway. I trust Topping wouldn’t be recommending a software update that would degrade the sound in any way.

 

[EchoChamber]

How does everyone stack this with their A90, top or bottom? With my Schiit I knew the amp had to go on top because it became quite hot.

Got the D90 today and I'm loving it. Will get the A90 later this week to make it complete.

I like the A90 on top so I can better interact with the volume knob. I can simply rest the side or tip of my thumb or fingers over the top side of the knob and control it that way. On top I have better options for the “angle of attack”...

 

[majingotan]

MQA tracks will always be at 24 bit BTW, the DAC will force 24 bit and whatever sampling rate the track calls for.

Incorrect. There are are MQA tracks that are ripped from MQA CD's (I have one) and are 16 bits by nature (but the actual bits are just 10 bits since 6 bits are reserved for MQA information). When pass through the MQA software decoder, the bits will still be 16 bits and only the 1st unfold to 88.2 KHz happens

 

[Veri]

Incorrect. There are are MQA tracks that are ripped from MQA CD's (I have one) and are 16 bits by nature (but the actual bits are just 10 bits since 6 bits are reserved for MQA information). When pass through the MQA software decoder, the bits will still be 16 bits and only the 1st unfold to 88.2 KHz happens

I suppose he meant it's never higher than 24-bit but rather tops out at 24

 

[dixter]

the real question.... should you update to the latest firmware or not.... what is the advantage...

 

[dixter]

Incorrect. There are are MQA tracks that are ripped from MQA CD's (I have one) and are 16 bits by nature (but the actual bits are just 10 bits since 6 bits are reserved for MQA information). When pass through the MQA software decoder, the bits will still be 16 bits and only the 1st unfold to 88.2 KHz happens

View attachment 73579

I didn't even know that Qobuz did MQA....

 

[majingotan]

I didn't even know that Qobuz did MQA....

Audirvana has Qobuz and Tidal (Im currently unsubscribed) integration BTW as well as local file playback. I ripped my local MQA CD to FLAC format and decoded the MQA file using Audirvana

 

[dixter]

Audirvana has Qobuz and Tidal (Im currently unsubscribed) integration BTW as well as local file playback. I ripped my local MQA CD to FLAC format and decoded the MQA file using Audirvana

what does Audirvana report if you just play back the MQA CD... I'm wondering if the rip is actually just the FLAC and Audirvana is being triggered via the MQA flag...

 

[EchoChamber]

Incorrect. There are are MQA tracks that are ripped from MQA CD's (I have one) and are 16 bits by nature (but the actual bits are just 10 bits since 6 bits are reserved for MQA information). When pass through the MQA software decoder, the bits will still be 16 bits and only the 1st unfold to 88.2 KHz happens

View attachment 73579

Sorry, I meant higher than 24 bit. I only experience MQA with Tidal which as far as I can tell always forces 24 bit playing master files through my D90 MQA.

 

[EchoChamber]

the real question.... should you update to the latest firmware or not.... what is the advantage...

I don’t see why not. It’s always good practice to stay up to date (assuming we trust the team maintaining the product in question).

 

[AndyLu]

the real question.... should you update to the latest firmware or not.... what is the advantage...

Yes you should. The newest firmware likely has some improvements and/or bug fixes. Even if you don't notice it, at least you are at peace of mind that your firmware is at the latest state of developments.

 

[majingotan]

what does Audirvana report if you just play back the MQA CD... I'm wondering if the rip is actually just the FLAC and Audirvana is being triggered via the MQA flag...

Ironically, Audirvana does not support Disc playback. Foobar2000 does not see the MQA flag so it plays the disc like a normal Redbook CD