Topping D90SE Review (Balanced DAC)

[J Ratcliffe]

this DAC is overkill for headphones, right?

Why would it be? People use much more expensive DACs than this exclusively with headphones.

 

[Toku]

Where do you guys buy the D90SE from? A Google search throws up a few possibilities; Shenzhen Audio etc.

Currently, the world situation is very unstable. Therefore, logistics problems can occur at any time. It is safer to purchase products that are shipped from within your country, such as Amazon.
There is no guarantee for accidents during transportation for products shipped from China such as Shenzhen Audio. I actually experienced it in the logistics turmoil caused by COVID-19.

 

[J Ratcliffe]

Currently, the world situation is very unstable. Therefore, logistics problems can occur at any time. It is safer to purchase products that are shipped from within your country, such as Amazon.
There is no guarantee for accidents during transportation for products shipped from China such as Shenzhen Audio. I actually experienced it in the logistics turmoil caused by COVID-19.

Amazon UK have none until May and they want almost £900, versus £680 from Shenzhen.

 

[Roland68]

Amazon UK have none until May and they want almost £900, versus £680 from Shenzhen.

You must remember that Amazon UK includes taxes, duties and fees.
If you order from shenzhenaudio, ask beforehand whether taxes, duties and fees are included or whether they will cover them.
You could also ask hifistudio79 in the netherlands or audiophronics in France if they ship to the UK. Should definitely be cheaper than the Amazon UK price.

 

[Rottmannash]

this DAC is overkill for headphones, right?

I believe it was designed with HP's in mind but it can be used for speaker systems as well. I use mine for main HT system/2 ch system and a D70 for my HP listening.

 

[Eddy H.]

Thanks.

I'd still like to hear from anyone that has compared the D90SE to the Ares II.

Where do you guys buy the D90SE from? A Google search throws up a few possibilities; Shenzhen Audio etc.

I have both hooked up through my pre90 so I can directly compare them.

 

[Orion76]

I ordered my D90SE from Apos back in December. Bought it on the 3rd, it made it here in Illinois on the 10th.

Of course your mileage may vary, given the current state of things.

edit- I made sure they had it in stock before placing the order, cuz I hate dealing with backorders. It was in stock and all went well.

 

[VintageFlanker]

My own measurements of "another" D90SE :

Topping D90SE Measurements (DAC)

Topping D90SE Measurements (DAC) Hi folks, I just got my hands on the mighty Topping D90SE and wanted to share my objective analysis. Some might wonder what would be the point to post this, when we already have a complete test at ASR, with our host's skills and his APx555... Well, at least...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Spoilers : I hardly doubt the one @amirm measured has been cherry-picked.

 

[AlephAlpha001]

Thanks.

I'd still like to hear from anyone that has compared the D90SE to the Ares II.

Where do you guys buy the D90SE from? A Google search throws up a few possibilities; Shenzhen Audio etc.

The playing to the peanut gallery ASR Appropriate comparison would be to say that at the limits of non-trained human hearing, the Denafrips Ares 2 weighs more than the Topping D90SE due to its linear power supply incorporating a highly photogenic doughnut of a transformer.

I happen to know this for a fact because next to my sofa I have both of these fed into my A90 / Hifiman Aryas via a One Little Bear XLR switch box. I have not attempted to level match and do a rigorous listening test and in fact would not know how to go about doing such a test as I don't have a clue where to begin. I *do* listen to a lot of classical chamber music and jazz and cannot say that I can pinpoint any repeatable clearly audible differences... after all the Denafrips measures respectably well.

I bought the Denafrips because I'm new to this hobby (after a 20 year hiatus) and because the YouTube Algo has me pegged as an inveterate buyer and hoarder of new stuff when I'm absorbing new information about hobbies and trying to fill in gaps in my experience -- so naturally I got fed a bunch of all the usual suspects reviewing the Ares 2 in glowing terms. Was already an ASR reader so was sceptical re these claims but just had to buy a unit and try. Not happy, not sad about the outcome. I can always use the extra DAC somewhere or sell it on. Right now it's making my sofa-side stack look more photogenic, so it can stay. I'm thinking of buying a Darko Door Stopper to go on top of the full stack to further enhance the visual effect.

I purchased D90SE/A90 on one occasion and Denafrips Ares 2 a month or so later also from Shenzhen Audio. In both cases, the items arrived roughly one week after purchase. FWIW, I live in HK and they ship from HK so the items arrived 'quickly'. One quirk I noticed on both occasions was that my items were delivered to me by courier *before* I received any email or website update from Shenzhen Audio that they were even shipping -- probably just an artifact of living ~25km from where they ship from.

I do not know how much stock they keep in their HK warehouse or just how much government Covid control policies are affecting cross-border freight between Shenzhen and HK at present. Things are possibly slower now than they were in December/January when I made my purchases.

TL;DR: I bought both and the Denafrips in particular because marketing made me just have to scratch the itch. Both sound great.

 

[Newkeny]

Hello, I want to ask you for advice. I bought a new DAC Topping D90SE and a brand new Atoll MS120 streamer is connected to it using a coaxial cable. However, the MQA symbol still does not appear on the DAC display although I use the Tidal master service . Please don't know where the problem might be? Excuse my English, I'm a beginner. Thank you.

 

[AlephAlpha001]

Hello, I want to ask you for advice. I bought a new DAC Topping D90SE and a brand new Atoll MS120 streamer is connected to it using a coaxial cable. However, the MQA symbol still does not appear on the DAC display although I use the Tidal master service . Please don't know where the problem might be? Excuse my English, I'm a beginner. Thank you.

If your Atoll Streamer is doing the first MQA Unfold (You're going to have to do a deep dive into the MS120 manual to learn about its Tidal Connect behaviour) then the D90SE will display OFS instead of MQA when an MQA track is playing.

But before I did anything else, if I were you, I'd see if I could get the D90SE display to show MQA or OFS when connected to your MS120 by USB and playing a Tidal MQA track.

 

[Newkeny]

Pokud váš Atoll Streamer provádí první MQA Unfold (budete se muset hlouběji ponořit do příručky MS120, abyste se dozvěděli o jeho chování Tidal Connect), pak D90SE zobrazí OFS místo MQA, když se přehrává stopa MQA.

Ale než jsem udělal něco jiného, kdybych byl vámi, zjistil bych, jestli bych mohl dostat displej D90SE, aby zobrazoval MQA nebo OFS při připojení k vašemu MS120 přes USB a přehrávání stopy Tidal MQA.

Velice vám děkuji za odpověď. Již je vše naprosto v pořádku, NA displeji se zobrazuje OFS. Myslel jsem, že pouze MQA je správný popis.

 

[Mochamoon]

would this unit be an good match with the
Audiophonics HPA S400ET?
Thanks

 

[Matias]

would this unit be an good match with the
Audiophonics HPA S400ET?
Thanks

Yes!

 

[Mochamoon]

Yes!

Thanks for you input. I don't know what the f I'm doing.

 

[_thelaughingman]

Thanks for you input. I don't know what the f I'm doing.

Don't fret fam, you'll learn tons from ASR. Welcome to ASR

 

[Mochamoon]

Don't fret fam, you'll learn tons from ASR. Welcome to ASR

My head hurts so bad from trying to figure what's up. Plus, I don't speak Latin so there's that. But thanks. Anyone here need advise on Optics, Actions, twist rates, b.c.,I'm your Huckleberry.
Again thank you

 

[SlothRock]

So I know we haven't gotten actual measurements from the Bifrost 2 over here but I'm assuming it is likely the D90SE is in a completely different league than it? I have a Bifrost 2 right now, considering purchasing this

 

[staticV3]

So I know we haven't gotten actual measurements from the Bifrost 2 over here but I'm assuming it is likely the D90SE is in a completely different league than it? I have a Bifrost 2 right now, considering purchasing this

There's a full APx555 report on Schiit's website and I have little reason to doubt its contents. It's at the bottom of the Specs page: https://www.schiit.com/products/bifrost-1

 

[SlothRock]

OK - I no buy the D90SE then