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Topping D90 Balanced USB DAC Review

Audiotone

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Dec 4, 2018
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Location
Antwerp, Belgium
My first post here!
very usefull information to get here!
at least I know what not to buy! :)

I recently bought the topping dx7 pro, played very nice for two months and then gave up playing (main fuse on the back keeps blowing)
Sent it back to shenzenaudio (seller) and I am waiting for the refund.
So I need another DAC now and was planning to go for the topping d90 (I do not use headphones in my main system)
but I need to know if volume control is working in dsd mode.
I had the RME dac on loan, wich plays wonderfull, but when fed with dsd material there is no way to control the volume in Roon or on the DAC.
My setup is as simple as possible: roon server, usb dac balanced to poweramp to speakers.
The topping dx7pro had volume control when playing in dsd mode.
I would appreciate if someone could help me out on this.

kind regards,

Tony
 
Last edited:

JohnYang1997

Master Contributor
Technical Expert
Audio Company
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Dec 28, 2018
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China
I am a beginner.
I bought D90. I tried it, but it doesn't sound good. The sound in the high frequency area is hard. I can't relax hearing this sound.
I happened to know RMAA software. I measured my D90 using my USB audio interface (antelope amari). I upload the figure which came out by pushing the button of THD. (24bit, 96kHz) I don't really understand the meaning of THD, but I think the peaks at 3kHz and 5kHz are not so small. The measurement used RCA. I live in a place where the power frequency is 60Hz.
Please give me advice.
View attachment 46733
The only possibility is antelope amari is not good enough (not remotely even) to measure d90. The specified sinad is only 112db for the AD. Far worse than that of d90. Also given that snr is 124db the majority contribution of the sinad is distortion harmonics.
 

bennetng

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Joined
Nov 15, 2017
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I am a beginner.
I bought D90. I tried it, but it doesn't sound good. The sound in the high frequency area is hard. I can't relax hearing this sound.
I happened to know RMAA software. I measured my D90 using my USB audio interface (antelope amari). I upload the figure which came out by pushing the button of THD. (24bit, 96kHz) I don't really understand the meaning of THD, but I think the peaks at 3kHz and 5kHz are not so small. The measurement used RCA. I live in a place where the power frequency is 60Hz.
Please give me advice.
View attachment 46733
Not enough info. Save and attach the reports for Antelope Amari loopback and D90 recording.
Capture.PNG


Post a picture to show your test setup like cabling and so on. Post some screenshots to show Antelope Amari's software/driver settings.
 

w1000i

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Aug 31, 2019
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Jubail SA
I am a beginner.
I bought D90. I tried it, but it doesn't sound good. The sound in the high frequency area is hard. I can't relax hearing this sound.
I happened to know RMAA software. I measured my D90 using my USB audio interface (antelope amari). I upload the figure which came out by pushing the button of THD. (24bit, 96kHz) I don't really understand the meaning of THD, but I think the peaks at 3kHz and 5kHz are not so small. The measurement used RCA. I live in a place where the power frequency is 60Hz.
Please give me advice.
View attachment 46733

What is your setup and player ? Try Optical input
 

GeorgeWalk

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Sep 6, 2019
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791
So I ask my brain, brain, is it a good idea to spend $630 to save $140 and my brain says, well you know transparent is transparent and it can be done cheaper, but hey 90 is a bigger number than 70 and even more than 50, so yeah I call Apos and vs. Amazon save 20%. That's 10% dac discount and no 10% WA. state tax, and now I'm done:)

That was my thought process also!
 

Svperstar

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2018
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per the soundnet review:
If you press the center button it will change the output to RCA only, XLR only or RCA+XLR at the same time. If you plan on using just a single output on the back, I strongly recommend changing its output on that particular one without engaging both of them. By doing that, D90 will operate cooler and will be less prone to noise that might come from the other interconnect cable.

I wonder if Amir did this, would it affect the SINAD score?
 

Veri

Master Contributor
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Feb 6, 2018
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I wonder if Amir did this, would it affect the SINAD score?

Both Amir and WolfX got about the same result. There is no "noise" that comes from the other interconnect cable in their tests.
So no. Nothing to improve on. It's not a bad idea though, to select the output you're using unless you need both.
 

please_cookie

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Joined
Jan 21, 2020
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0
Hello... I purchased this unit and was wondering if anyone could help with the voltage settings on the bottom of the unit. I wasn't clear on how to tell which is set, 115 or 230V. My natural thinking is that whatever label is visible is the voltage that is set, but the manual says to push left for 115, leaving the 230V label visible. I feel really dumb. Help me.
 

AndyLu

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Hello... I purchased this unit and was wondering if anyone could help with the voltage settings on the bottom of the unit. I wasn't clear on how to tell which is set, 115 or 230V. My natural thinking is that whatever label is visible is the voltage that is set, but the manual says to push left for 115, leaving the 230V label visible. I feel really dumb. Help me.

Here is the screenshot from the manual:

1579644544265.png


If you see 115 it means it is set to 115. If you see 230 it means it is set to 230. The manual does not literally say what you assume in your post. It only shows some arrows (see red circle above) meaning:
  • If you are on 230 you can push right to go to 115
  • If you are on 115 you can push left to go to 230
I can imagine this is confusing, but your natural thinking is correct. Don't let the arrows confuse you :)
 
Last edited:

Audiotone

Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2018
Messages
44
Likes
87
Location
Antwerp, Belgium
My first post here!
very usefull information to get here!
at least I know what not to buy! :)

I recently bought the topping dx7 pro, played very nice for two months and then gave up playing (main fuse on the back keeps blowing)
Sent it back to shenzenaudio (seller) and I am waiting for the refund.
So I need another DAC now and was planning to go for the topping d90 (I do not use headphones in my main system)
but I need to know if volume control is working in dsd mode.
I had the RME dac on loan, wich plays wonderfull, but when fed with dsd material there is no way to control the volume in Roon or on the DAC.
My setup is as simple as possible: roon server, usb dac balanced to poweramp to speakers.
The topping dx7pro had volume control when playing in dsd mode.
I would appreciate if someone could help me out on this.

kind regards,

Tony
Hoped to get an answer here...
 

q1919

New Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2020
Messages
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2
Not enough info. Save and attach the reports for Antelope Amari loopback and D90 recording.


Post a picture to show your test setup like cabling and so on. Post some screenshots to show Antelope Amari's software/driver settings.



Thanks for your advice. I have found my mistake. I just confused the diagram of dynamic range and THD. I need to study more.
 

Nybto

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Thanks for your advice. I have found my mistake. I just confused the diagram of dynamic range and THD. I need to study more.
Did the high frequency ”hard sound” get better after that?;)
 
Last edited:

VeerK

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Jan 29, 2019
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NYC
Just checking back to say the Bluetooth connection on my unit is flawless, no dropouts or perceptible lag. I will say though, I’m a bit annoyed with the flakiness of the IR remote, sometimes it won’t register inputs even though I’m holding it up close.
 

GeorgeWalk

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Sep 6, 2019
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Just checking back to say the Bluetooth connection on my unit is flawless, no dropouts or perceptible lag. I will say though, I’m a bit annoyed with the flakiness of the IR remote, sometimes it won’t register inputs even though I’m holding it up close.

My remote works without issue. I even use the one that came with the D50s. Are the batteries new and fresh?
 

BenF

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I bought D90. I tried it, but it doesn't sound good. The sound in the high frequency area is hard. I can't relax hearing this sound.
Try another PCM filter. I didn't like the default Mode3 filter and switched to Mode1. Works for me.
 

Ntrax

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Audio Company
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Dec 19, 2019
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Try another PCM filter. I didn't like the default Mode3 filter and switched to Mode1. Works for me.
Mind sharing the Filters mode list in English? Thanks
 
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