Topping D900 DAC Review

[VientoB]

Hi,

If you ask me, that is indeed a nice device made for those you do not want to be like everybody else.
That originality has a price.

As far as I am concernend I don't see the point of spending that amount just to be different..

Regards.

Agreed. And at that price I'd want the option of turning the display orange/red.

 

[boXem]

Dashboard says volume -2.0 dB so presumably he reduced the volume knob.

Indeed, I didn't pays attention to this. It means that it's a mix of attenuator and generator. I would be curious to see the 4V dashboard with attenuator at -10 dB

 

[Roland68]

For those not using a separate analog pre-amp, this can do the trick, no nasty surprises will come out of this.

The SMSL D200 already offers this feature for €300 including direct DSD.

 

[smkralik]

Question: Assuming you DO output all 10-12 volts from this DAC, is it possible to safely pass that voltage through a preamp, or mist you output directly into the amp?

 

[ralph]

Thanks @amirm for the review.
This DAC's performance is impressive. And there is nothing wrong with aiming for top level performance. But in the same price category there are devices like the RME DACs with headphone amp and RCA out and if you want built-in streaming e.g. Wiim (for far less money). Alhough the Toping is great, not my cup of tea.

 

[Waxx]

For it's type it's exceptional good, i agree. Most 1bit dacs that cost a ton more don't even get close. It's not perfect, but that is hard to do dicrete, then you need a good IC.

It's a niche product, and in it's niche it has a vey high price/quality rating. But not what i would buy, i don't mind IC's on the right place and in a dac is definitly the right place, and it's a lot cheaper for the same performance...

 

[ralph]

Question: Assuming you DO output all 10-12 volts from this DAC, is it possible to safely pass that voltage through a preamp, or mist you output directly into the amp?

I'm not an expert but if 4 volts are the standard I'd bet 10 volts is not safe with power amps in general. Please experts, chime in

 

[antcollinet]

Great performance - great product.

Unfortunately at that price I couldn't trust Toppings after sales support in case of problems - especially after a year or two.

 

[Rja4000]

Thanks for this review !
This is awesome performance !

Question @amirm :
Would you mind measuring SINAD for Pre output for a 0dBFS signal and, say, -40dB attenuation with DAC's own volume control and compare with SINAD for a -40dBFS signal and no DAC volume attenuation ?
This includes a preamp, so I suppose noise should be lower this way ?
(Fully understand if you don't want to do it, no worries. I'm just curious.)

 

[CJH]

What is the maximum DSD it will input (256 512, 1024, 2048)?
CJH

 

[Scytales]

What is the maximum DSD it will input (256 512, 1024, 2048)?
CJH

512.

 

[GWolfman]

I hate exotic solutions that claim top-tier performance and fall flat on their claims. Here at least Topping is still at world-class performance and true to their claims/specs, therefore the only problem is left up to the user if it’s worth the money for the architecture and/or features.

Nice work @TOPPING, and thanks @amirm!

 

[welwynnick]

I'm not an expert but if 4 volts are the standard I'd bet 10 volts is not safe with power amps in general. Please experts, chime in

I think the high output level (and the "R2R" analogue volume control) is one of the D900 great attributes , as it can drive Hypex, Purifi, Benchmark and Topping power amps in low gain mode, where they perform best.

I compiled a lot of information about gain staging various HPA's / preamps / power amps, and many/ of them accept or even need high input levels. If you look for manufacturers' input sensitivity specs under low gain mode you get all that information. Here's some preamp summaries - see "Input V":

And the same for various power amps:

 

[Hipster Doofus]

If it only dad a way to connect to my sub.
Or if someone could share how to program roon to recognize a sub with a Topping e50 dac in the Procedual Eq and then add a high pass filter to protect my 60 year old speakers, (EMI DLS 1)

 

[DSJR]

Maybe a silly question but -


Does it do the old de-emphasis flag which some early and still playable discs have?

 

[aagstn]

Always good to see the consistency of Topping with measurements. Now I await all the bugs people have that pick one up.

 

[respice finem]

Always good to see the consistency of Topping with measurements. Now I await all the bugs people have that pick one up.

May take time - the higher the price, the fewer units sold.

 

[RichB]

Always good to see the consistency of Topping with measurements. Now I await all the bugs people have that pick one up.

I have had this DAC for months with no issues.
The UI is much improved over the D90 III which is also an excellent DAC. I have not directly compared them because I much prefer the D900 menus, display, and remote so I will be selling at one D90 III shortly.
The I2S from the Eversolo T8 is the most natural sounding DAC I have heard.

I currently have the D900 driven by a PI5 P2AES and Eversolo T8s and have directly compared USB, AES, and I2S where is sounds quite different, that is quite evident with instantaneous switching. The setup is Roon linked Zones for the source. Raspberry Pi5 P2AES and Eversolo T8s.
The D900 active inputs are set to only the active inputs USB, AES, and I2S. The D900 can then switch instantly between sources.
The soundstage and imaging changes are dramatic and obvious.

I've not seen any measurements or fast-switching comparisons of different sources fed the same source.
It seems odd to believe that this is impossible without measurement or an understanding of the internal implementation.
The objectivist has no basis for belief nor disbelief. It is simply not tested here.

- Rich

 

[RichB]

It is nice to see the relay controlled R2R preamp outputs also measure well.
Separate outputs are great because I use both and it avoids accidentally sending full output when fiddling with the menus.

I have a D900 in fixed line-outputs connected to an LA4 preamp and another D900 using the preamp outputs directly to an AHB2.
Both sound excellent.

- Rich

 

[michaelahess]

What's the point of this device? What makes it "custom"?

Why would it be worth so much more over the other Topping dacs, and wth does upsampled to 1 bit mean?

Seems very expensive for, really, nothing but high voltage to reduce amp gain and thus a small amount of noise that's probably already imperceptible.