Topping D90 Balanced USB DAC Review

[JohnYang1997]

Good news, I finally received a response from Topping today, and they confirmed the crackle noise issue with my MQA D90 when playing DSD256. Bad news, from their response, Topping is an extremely irresponsible company to their costumes. I copied the email:


This means they have n’t done some strict multi-environment testing at all, and even the most basic tests (There are a lot of Apple users in the world.). They don't have time to do these tests that should have been done before heading on the market. As for the product's problem, they do not worry about it, let's try to make a firmware update. For them, it is most important to sell the product first and make money first.

What more do you want from this? That's actually my response word for word. If you think this is extremely irresponsible instead of grounded and realistic, we can easily ask you to check different Macs different software maybe no firmware ever and ditch Mac altogether even. The fact that we are just back from holiday and first thing is to get information for this issue and get back to you is... Nevermind.

 

[atomicminded]

So if you plan to buy their products, you have to be ready to grow with them, and you even become their free product tester. But I just want to buy a product to use and enjoy.
BTW, maybe after 3 or 5 years, the brand Topping will disappear, and a new Head-Fi company called Tobbing will come out, but they are the same boss, the same developers, and the same sales team. Who knows!

Hi, I've been lurking on this site for years. I've followed the development of entire "Chi-fi" lines of products. I've also had experience with many other brands of audio products, german, japanese, etc.

It seems to me like the issues lies more in the fact that the MQA version of the D90 has very technical playback issues DoP vs full native DSD bitstream when used with APPLE DEVICES. This is one of the benefits of the windows platform, we can add drivers more easily than apple's osx.

Again, lurking on this site for YEARS, it's clear that many of us are in fact windows users. BTW, just curious, what product DONT you grow into? I like products that I can grow into, not ones stuck in time.

 

[Gavin]

What more do you want from this? That's actually my response word for word. If you think this is extremely irresponsible instead of grounded and realistic, we can easily ask you to check different Macs different software maybe no firmware ever and ditch Mac altogether even. The fact that we are just back from holiday and first thing is to get information for this issue and get back to you is... Nevermind.

Nothing but return it.
Nevermind.

 

[JohnYang1997]

So if you plan to buy their products, you have to be ready to grow with them, and you even become their free product tester. But I just want to buy a product to use and enjoy.
BTW, maybe after 3 or 5 years, the brand Topping will disappear, and a new Head-Fi company called Tobbing will come out, but they are the same boss, the same developers, and the same sales team. Who knows!

Both SMSL and Topping are around for more than 10 years. Gustard is also around for many years. Shanling even longer.
Also the fact you bring up "sales team" is funnier. It's a commany with 20 or so employees in total. The angle you are looking at things just isn't seem right. I get it you get disappointed after experiencing this issue. But what can be done any better after the fact?

 

[JohnYang1997]

Nothing but return it.
Nevermind.

Then just return it and have a nice day!

 

[Gavin]

I am just an end customer, not an expert, not a designer, not a tester, not even a marketer. I think most customers are the same, hoping to spend less money to meet their needs, whatever on function, appearance or stability. I'm glad that there are so many products to choose in the market, and there are products for all budgets. It's nice to see Topping (or like Topping) is trying to do something, new technology, decent performance, and relatively low price. This is something that big companies can't do. Everyone's needs are different, and I can't give up my whole Apple system that I have used for many years. I can only say goodbye to Topping for the time being. Hope that Tpping’s products are getting better and better and better and keep a relatively low price.
The above and my feedback on the issues I have encountered in the past few days are from the me, an customer.

 

[JohnYang1997]

I am just an end customer, not an expert, not a designer, not a tester, not even a marketer. I think most customers are the same, hoping to spend less money to meet their needs, whatever on function, appearance or stability. I'm glad that there are so many products to choose in the market, and there are products for all budgets. It's nice to see Topping (or like Topping) is trying to do something, new technology, decent performance, and relatively low price. This is something that big companies can't do. Everyone's needs are different, and I can't give up my whole Apple system that I have used for many years. I can only say goodbye to Topping for the time being. Hope that Tpping’s products are getting better and better and better and keep a relatively low price.
The above and my feedback on the issues I have encountered in the past few days are from the me, an customer.

Yes. And I'm glad that you gave us the feedback so we can improve the product for you and many other people. It's pretty simple to understand that when someone report the issue, we reproduce the issue then try fixing it. We don't make excuses just simply telling what's going on and trying to fix it as quickly as possible and give you the most realistic solution possible. Nothing less nothing more. If we fix the issue on time, you may keep it, if not, return it. Very straightforward.

 

[Gavin]

Yes. And I'm glad that you gave us the feedback so we can improve the product for you and many other people. It's pretty simple to understand that when someone report the issue, we reproduce the issue then try fixing it. We don't make excuses just simply telling what's going on and trying to fix it as quickly as possible and give you the most realistic solution possible. Nothing less nothing more. If we fix the issue on time, you may keep it, if not, return it. Very straightforward.

On time? But according to your email, it did not show when. And you are definitely not sure that this problem can be solved by upgrading the firmware, right? So, how long do I need to wait before your recommendation for a return? No matter how long, I cannot play DSD256 normally during this period.

 

[JohnYang1997]

On time? But according to your email, it did not show when. And you are definitely not sure that this problem can be solved by upgrading the firmware, right? So, how long do I need to wait before your recommendation for a return? No matter how long, I cannot play DSD256 normally during this period.

It says in time in the email. I think it doesn't mean anything different. If there's a fix, it will be in firmware update form(via a PC however). You can keep it as long as you want before 7 days or 30 days depending on your seller right? Hopefully it's 2-3 days fix. But there's no guarantee for that. You can still use your previous machine during that time. I don't see any issue with this. If you are not happy with the service at any time you can just return it regardless what we recommend.

 

[Gavin]

Hope so.
The point is that your attitude against customers is somewhat rampant, as if the problem is somewhat caused by customer, the customer is wrong. But it can also be understood that the reply comes from technical person not from the marketing or sales or customer service team. Make the product at lest can work normally, then you have confidence to say that.

 

[PPP]

I'm sure if I scrutinized your life, you'd be violating the law in plenty of ways too.

This is nonsense. Chinese companies like Topping is systematically violating the laws and smuggle goods into the US.
It's different from, say, unintentionally neglecting traffic lights.

 

[JohnYang1997]

This is nonsense. Chinese companies like Topping is systematically violating the laws and smuggle goods into the US.
It's different from, say, unintentionally neglecting traffic lights.

Or you pay the extra for shipping and insurance. (shrugs)

 

[TimF]

My god. What is this hostility toward Chinese companies? There seems to be undertones to this discussion that is....well, ungentlemanly if not disrespectful. When I see modern art I may not like it and I may not get much from it but I take the attitude that the artist is sincere unless there are clear signals in the work otherwise. I have seen no evidence anywhere that Topping, SMSL and Gustard are anything but reputable manufacturers and designers who do their utmost to produce reliable quality products.

 

[PPP]

Modern art is not the right metaphor. Chinese companies like Topping cheat the trade system by lying and not paying the tariffs. That’s a different story.

Also, you may think those company produce good products, fine. but think about the workers behind every Chinese product you receive. They work long hours , with no protection, and have no human rights. Your modern art masterpieces are not like that.

 

[PPP]

Or you pay the extra for shipping and insurance. (shrugs)

That is not the right argument. If the tariffs are in the pricing equation, people may choose products from other countries, such as local products. That’s one of the goals of tariffs. But Chinese companies such as Topping are just manipulating the trade system. they just don’t honestly report to the customs.

The end goal is to abide the law during trade. Who (manufacturers, dealers, customers) pays what portion (tax, shipping, insurance) doesn’t matter. After all It’s in the final price the customers pay. Topping’s problem is they cheat the system, and not play fair.

 

[VeerK]

Modern art is not the right metaphor. Chinese companies like Topping cheat the trade system by lying and not paying the tariffs. That’s a different story.

Also, you may think those company produce good products, fine. but think about the workers behind every Chinese product you receive. They work long hours , with no protection, and have no human rights. Your modern art masterpieces are not like that.

Don’t get too comfortable on this high horse of yours, Apos Audio declared the value of the D90 I purchased from them

 

[PPP]

Don’t get too comfortable on this high horse of yours, Apos Audio declared the value of the D90 I purchased from them

Not on my purchase from topping official store on aliexpress

 

[Soundstage]

I already placed an order at B & H for an RME yesterday before I received the reply from Topping. Now it seems a wise decision.
Companies from China and their products have a common feature, that is, they are good at and brave to try new things, such as new technologies, new chips, new algorithms, and so on. Chinese companies often lack long-term development history and long-term accumulation of technology, and their products often lack essential reliability and stability. Therefore, products from them like Topping I recommend be used as a backup set up. It is not recommended for your main goal. Although I paid an extra $400 on RME, I think the quality value of German manufacturing worth it.

Then why did you bother to buy Chinese? You were happy to pay the low price and now you complain but you got a full refund offer.
So you bring up your story here, and all it shows is that Topping is a trustworthy company. Good engineering has no country.

 

[Gavin]

Then why did you bother to buy Chinese? You were happy to pay the low price and now you complain but you got a full refund offer.
So you bring up your story here, and all it shows is that Topping is a trustworthy company. Good engineering has no country.

Please move back to page 49 before your questioning.
If I knew Topping did not test the MQA D90 under MacOS before selling it as they described in their email, I would not buy it, no matter whats the price. They admitted they didn't test on Mac hence didn't realize the issue and now the issue was confirmed by them, today they answered me they will launch a firmware update as soon as possible to try to solve this problem.
I do not want to waste my time, I just want to enjoy music as expected.
And I also don’t want to waste time here to respond to some people questioning me, as if you are from the “same team”. I was not telling a story, this was a fact that has already happened.

 

[Instrugramm]

I got the Topping D90 MQA, it works absolutely flawlessly (on Windows). I'm a musician and composer and study in Germany, everybody who thinks german stuff is more reliable or more thoroughly tested, hasn't owned enough german made equipment yet, seems more like an excuse for racism to me... just my two cents. Very sad and unobjective discussions here, pretty shameful.