Topping D90 Balanced USB DAC Review

[Gavin]

D90 or RME ADI-2 FS for pre-amp? I already have a THX-789 and other balanced/SE DACs for HP use. I intend to use the DAC as pre-amp to a pair of NC500MP monoblocks.

I returned D90 and bought RME. Both are superb DACs but D90 especially MQA edition is not as stable and reliable as the RME. And the RME comes with a powerful EQ adjustment and a headphone amp.
BTW I also have THX-789 and pair it with RME, they work great on my Audeze LCD-X and 6XX.

 

[ReaderZ]

D90 or RME ADI-2 FS for pre-amp? I already have a THX-789 and other balanced/SE DACs for HP use. I intend to use the DAC as pre-amp to a pair of NC500MP monoblocks.

If you will use feature like build in EQ, get RME, otherwise the price difference cannot be justified.

 

[jae]

Still torn between the D90 and RME myself. Since computer is my source 99% of the time the EQ really doesn't matter too much to me, as it's something anyone can do better and more effectively in software. Topping needs to hurry up and make their 90-series dac/amp combo

 

[EdW]

Still torn between the D90 and RME myself. Since computer is my source 99% of the time the EQ really doesn't matter too much to me, as it's something anyone can do better and more effectively in software. Topping needs to hurry up and make their 90-series dac/amp combo

At roughly the price of the RME dac there is the Okto dac 8 stereo. Rather long delivery at the moment but its performance arguably betters the D90 or the RME and can include a raspberry pi streamer capable of running bruteFIR for room EQ.

 

[jae]

At roughly the price of the RME dac there is the Okto dac 8 stereo. Rather long delivery at the moment but its performance arguably betters the D90 or the RME and can include a raspberry pi streamer capable of running bruteFIR for room EQ.

The Okto is great but at that price for me at least the specs alone are a point of diminishing returns. The only reason I did not buy the RME yet is because I don't like some of the design choices but it's a great piece of kit. I'd prefer something with multiple headphone out, built in PSU, and balanced/xlr head out would be a bonus. Ideally it would be a dac/amp combo. I'd rather buy the RME PRO (which could replace my M4 for ADC) or Matrix Element X at that point if I'm going to pay more than the RME DAC or D90+A90.

 

[mt196]

@JohnYang1997 do you know if d90 and a90 respect the AES48 standard? And also if xlr pin 1 is grounded to the chassis

 

[JohnYang1997]

@JohnYang1997 do you know if d90 and a90 respect the AES48 standard? And also if xlr pin 1 is grounded to the chassis

XLR pin is connected to the chassis yes.
But it's not isolated from the internal circuit. It's not connected willy-nilly to the input ground. It's connected in the place where best performance is achieved.

 

[jtwrace]

Got my D90 hooked up and playing.

 

[Paolosnz]

Hi, Today I tested the D90 on a mac mini 2011 and audirvana, it is recognized as an unsupported dsd, on the nuc it is recognized without problems has it happened to you?
Thanks..

 

[Gavin]

Hi, Today I tested the D90 on a mac mini 2011 and audirvana, it is recognized as an unsupported dsd, on the nuc it is recognized without problems has it happened to you?
Thanks..

Me too.

 

[burma]

Me too.

See my post - https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ced-usb-dac-review.10519/page-111#post-460156. You have to enable DSD over PCM

 

[Veri]

Hi, Today I tested the D90 on a mac mini 2011 and audirvana, it is recognized as an unsupported dsd, on the nuc it is recognized without problems has it happened to you?
Thanks..

Audirvana... https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...d90-balanced-usb-dac-review.10519/post-459457

 

[Gavin]

See my post - https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ced-usb-dac-review.10519/page-111#post-460156. You have to enable DSD over PCM

Confirm already did that.
D90 dose has compatibility issues with Apple macOS. My RME is right next to it. I switched it over without any problems. (Regardless of iMac or MBP, streaming Tidal or local PCM files or DSD256 files, and I tested three players: Audirvana 3.5.38\JRiver 26.0.94\HQPlayer Desktop 3.25)

 

[xevman]

Bit of a weird question any idea why no 32bit option appears for the Topping D90 in Windows? I know it doesn't really matter I just find it a bit odd.

 

[VeerK]

Bit of a weird question any idea why no 32bit option appears for the Topping D90 in Windows? I know it doesn't really matter I just find it a bit odd. View attachment 75461

That’s odd, I have 32Bit 384K available in my Windows 10 settings. Have you installed the Topping ASIO driver?

 

[xevman]

That’s odd, I have 32Bit 384K available in my Windows 10 settings. Have you installed the Topping ASIO driver?

Yeah have installed the latest driver and everything works fine. Mine is the MQA version so i'm unsure if this makes a difference.

 

[bahamot]

You need latest D90 MQA firmware for 32bit enabled.

 

[xevman]

You need latest D90 MQA firmware for 32bit enabled.

cheers the firmware update fixed it

 

[burma]

Confirm already did that.
D90 dose has compatibility issues with Apple macOS. My RME is right next to it. I switched it over without any problems. (Regardless of iMac or MBP, streaming Tidal or local PCM files or DSD256 files, and I tested three players: Audirvana 3.5.38\JRiver 26.0.94\HQPlayer Desktop 3.25)

What problems are you referring to? Seems they were solved on 5/9.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Only MQA version of D90 HAD issue with Mac. It's already long been solved. No issue for D90 normal version since day 1.