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Topping D90 Balanced USB DAC Review

Marutks

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I assume I am seeing this clipping as a result of the oversampling process.

I have heard clipping with D90 (in DAC mode) and Burson C3X amp. No oversampling. I had to lower volume a bit in Audirvana.
 

Marutks

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DAC mode disables volume control. You keep ON button pressed when switching D90 on (power switch on back).
 

BDWoody

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What is the benefit of dac mode?

I've struggled with that one too... 100% volume vs DAC out should be the same, no?

Just takes away the ability to control volume as far as I know...
 

Veri

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Now Topping makes this DAC/amp combo unbalanced and I'm sold.
There will be. L30 amp with E30 DAC. It will take some time though, considering the corona virus wreaking havoc.
 

nugget

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Just takes away the ability to control volume as far as I know...

Yeah, I don't believe there's any functional difference between DAC mode and just leaving the unit at 100% volume. Cosmetically, changing the D90 to DAC mode makes the front display show "DAC" instead of "-00.0 dB" as well.
 

barrows

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With the D-90, DAC mode defeats the volume control (for people who might be using a preamp or integrated amp). But, it also enables direct DSD conversion. Direct DSD conversion is an option for the AKM 4499 chip which allows DSD to bypass the processing of the AKM chip, and basically go straight to the converter section. This means that single bit streams stay single bit for truly native DSD conversion.
For folks interested in playback oversampled in software to high rate DSD (like me) this is a very desirable feature. See the block diagram on the data sheet I posted earlier in the thread and you can see the path of the Direct DSD mode (page 4 in the DS).
 
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Tks

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There will be. L30 amp with E30 DAC. It will take some time though, considering the corona virus wreaking havoc.

Veri, you seem to know all the latest scoop on things, tell me more about these devices down the pipe. What else does Topping have for us?
 

Veri

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Veri, you seem to know all the latest scoop on things, tell me more about these devices down the pipe. What else does Topping have for us?
D90 should also get a balanced amp. That's all I got. Plans can always change though, so we'll see. Don't quote me on it

But I'm pretty hyped about upcoming amp/dac à la modi magni from topping.
 

Tks

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D90 should also get a balanced amp. That's all I got. Plans can always change though, so we'll see. Don't quote me on it

But I'm pretty hyped about upcoming amp/dac à la modi magni from topping.

That's news as well to me. How do you know all this stuff?
 

Puska

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With the D-90, DAC mode defeats the volume control (for people who might be using a preamp or integrated amp). But, it also enables direct DSD conversion. Direct DSD conversion is an option for the AKM 4499 chip which allows DSD to bypass the processing of the AKM chip, and basically go straight to the converter section. This means that single bit streams stay single bit for truly native DSD conversion.
For folks interested in playback oversampled in software to high rate DSD (like me) this is a very desirable feature. See the block diagram on the data sheet I posted earlier in the thread and you can see the path of the Direct DSD mode (page 4 in the DS).
Do you have any suggestions for using a Pre with remote?
 

barrows

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I am the wrong one to ask about pre amps, as i never use them anymore. Last one I had was an Ayre K5xe-MP, it was great. I guess now if one is looking for a preamp with maximum transparency the Benchmark is probably pretty good at that. It is hard to make a good analog preamp, and good ones are going to cost some money.
 

Nicolaas

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Thank you! Is it possible to send out music via bt?
I used it for several hours while streaming lossless 16b 44.1k FLAC files via Bluetooth from my Huawei P10 lite to the D90. Sound quality is very good via BT. I used BT codec Aptx HD which can be enabled in the settings/developer options of my Huawei Android phone.
 

deafenears

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D90 should also get a balanced amp. That's all I got. Plans can always change though, so we'll see. Don't quote me on it

But I'm pretty hyped about upcoming amp/dac à la modi magni from topping.

That's news as well to me. How do you know all this stuff?

@JohnYang1997 also mentioned elsewhere of an A90 headphone amp coming soon (April?)
 

AllanDavidson

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NOTE: Given some recent comments that manufactures may be sending us "golden samples," Topping has offered that I also purchase a retail DAC to compare to this one at their expense. Actually they have offered that I re-buy everything they have ever sent me at retail at their expense! Personally, I have no concern about Topping's ethics in this manner so I don't want to wast time and expense doing so. If you feel otherwise, comment in the thread and I will decide what to do based on that.

Re-buy everything and send me the old stuff :)
 
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