Topping D90SE Review (Balanced DAC)

[Barryfromholland]

Is there any particular version of the Bluesound node that I should look for?

The latest node has usb output for a dac

 

[rlwings]

Hey guys, I don't know if it's been mentioned yet but the Topping D90SE has received a USB driver update V5.45 and can be accessed here: https://www.tpdz.net/newsinfo/748003.html And the changelog can be accessed here: https://www.thesycon.de/usbaudio/TUSBAudio_history.txt

Unfortunately, there is a problem with this new driver as it won't seem to keep the ASIO "Buffer Settings" after driver restart. It resets back to the default of 1024 Samples every time.... I did notice that Thesycon has recently come out with yet another USB driver update V5.50 (Sep, 8th) which claims to have addressed and fixed this issue., but of course Topping hasn't posted this new driver on their site yet.

I wrote to Topping concerning this issue and asked them if they could post this new USB driver ASAP. - I don't know what's involved for Ttopping to post new drivers, but I hope they get on it!

Suggest that others write to Topping to put a little pressure on them.

Any thoughts about how this all works? - Because I noticed that there were other updates on the Thesycon changelog page that didn't make it to Topping's driver update page! Namely V5.40.... Does Topping need to work on these drivers to make them compatible with the D90SE? Does Topping need to pay for these driver updates from Thesycon. Even updates intended to fix Thesycon's own problems? - What's the holdup? It's been available for a week already! - Your thoughts?

 

[Toku]

Hey guys, I don't know if it's been mentioned yet but the Topping D90SE has received a USB driver update V5.45 and can be accessed here: https://www.tpdz.net/newsinfo/748003.html And the changelog can be accessed here: https://www.thesycon.de/usbaudio/TUSBAudio_history.txt

Unfortunately, there is a problem with this new driver as it won't seem to keep the ASIO "Buffer Settings" after driver restart. It resets back to the default of 1024 Samples every time.... I did notice that Thesycon has recently come out with yet another USB driver update V5.50 (Sep, 8th) which claims to have addressed and fixed this issue., but of course Topping hasn't posted this new driver on their site yet.

I wrote to Topping concerning this issue and asked them if they could post this new USB driver ASAP. - I don't know what's involved for Ttopping to post new drivers, but I hope they get on it!

Suggest that others write to Topping to put a little pressure on them.

Any thoughts about how this all works? - Because I noticed that there were other updates on the Thesycon changelog page that didn't make it to Topping's driver update page! Namely V5.40.... Does Topping need to work on these drivers to make them compatible with the D90SE? Does Topping need to pay for these driver updates from Thesycon. Even updates intended to fix Thesycon's own problems? - What's the holdup? It's been available for a week already! - Your thoughts?

Even if a new version is announced by Thesycon, it will not be immediately reflected in each manufacturer's driver, and not all of them will be adopted. Also, since the new version is modified for each manufacturer, it will take some time before it is actually uploaded to the HP.
Ver5.45 is the latest version for Toppping, but Ver.5.40 is the latest version for SMSL and Ver.5.00 is the latest version for Sabaj.

 

[rlwings]

Even if a new version is announced by Thesycon, it will not be immediately reflected in each manufacturer's driver, and not all of them will be adopted. Also, since the new version is modified for each manufacturer, it will take some time before it is actually uploaded to the HP.
Ver5.45 is the latest version for Toppping, but Ver.5.40 is the latest version for SMSL and Ver.5.00 is the latest version for Sabaj.

I see, thanks. I guess it's a little more involved then I thought... Anyway, I hope the ASIO 'fix', which now appears to exist. emerges from Topping soon.

 

[ahramlee]

I checked with Topping that it is actually only a 3.3 volt signal that toggles the DSD flag bit.
You should contact oppomod first if they can help you, the board is expensive enough for that. Pin 14 does not seem to be connected on the OPPOMOD i2s board, but there is a trace for pin 15. Apparently, Jae Hong Lee also makes special modifications, see the picture in the link.
It would be enough if you could manually activate the 3.3 volts via an external switch.
If you dare, ask Jae Hong Lee where you can find 3.3 volts on the board and connect it with a switch to the (probably) free pin 14 of the HDMI port.
OPPOMOD i2s modification

Alternatively, the two boards, you need a 5 volt power supply.
The boards are only connected to each other. On the D90SE side, you don't need a cable, just an HDMI male to male connector.
HDMI i2s extraction board
i2s to HDMI/LVDS converter board

Hi Roland68,

Apologies for the long delay in responding.

I have an update on the mystery of not getting stereo in my setup (Oppo 103 -> Oppomod I2S -> HDMI cable -> Topping D90SE I2S input, balanced output -> Emotiva XMC pre-pro balanced input) when setting the SACD output of my Oppo 103 to DSD. You may recall, I did get stereo output from the D90SE when setting SACD out as PCM on the Oppo. I had pretty much accepted that this was the only way to get stereo.

Fast forward to a few days ago, and I updated my Harmony One remote to have both Oppo modes (SACD and IIS, as described above) as two separate activities. One from Oppo to Emotiva XMC-2 for direct DSD processing using HDMI 2 output and the other from Oppo through the oppomod i2s card’s HDMI out and connected to the D90SE, then using balanced outputs to the XMC. For grins and giggles I toggled the SACD output setting on the Oppo back to DSD and I’m still getting stereo output from the D90SE. Its front LED reads “DSD 2.82MHz”.

I had not made any changes to any settings on the D90SE or otherwise tried anything else (logical or physical) in the component chain since our last conversation in March. I do recall JH asking me to unplug everything for a few days and reattempt to get stereo using DSD output on the Oppo the last time I asked him about my situation, which resulted in still getting only single channel output when using DSD output. I’m not sure whether having had my Oppo not in active use for a few months resolved this issue, but it’s working now and I can A/B test between Oppo going directly to the Emotiva pre-pro passing DSD over HDMI as well as Oppo through oppomod I2S’s hdmi port into the D90SE’s IIS port and correctly processing DSD in stereo! I thought it would be appropriate to pass this along to close the loop on this. Thank you again for all your help and have a great weekend! Happy Oktoberfest!

 

[Sanin Aleksey]

Hello.
I decided to buy a D90LE Topping, but one question arose.
On the website https://www.topping.audio/productinfo/835893.html It is indicated that the Topping D90LE uses a second-generation CMOS processor. Topping D90LE coincides in characteristics with Topping D90SE. The difference is only in MQA support. But for some reason the manufacturer has hidden information about which Xmos is installed. Tell me which processor is used, XMOS XU216 or XMOS XU208? There is no reliable information anywhere. And I didn't find any photos of the insides of the Topping D90LE.

 

[rlwings]

Hello.
I decided to buy a D90LE Topping, but one question arose.
On the website https://www.topping.audio/productinfo/835893.html It is indicated that the Topping D90LE uses a second-generation CMOS processor. Topping D90LE coincides in characteristics with Topping D90SE. The difference is only in MQA support. But for some reason the manufacturer has hidden information about which Xmos is installed. Tell me which processor is used, XMOS XU216 or XMOS XU208? There is no reliable information anywhere. And I didn't find any photos of the insides of the Topping D90LE.

Both the D90SE and the D90LE have the XMOS 16-core XU216 processor.

 

[HappyMetalGuy]

Sure , first of all I am not a Tidal subscriber I just happen to have songs in their Master quality from Tidal. For example I have this lovely track played on UAPP on my phone and it's working fine with Bit perfect mode set to On.

When I listen to it on Foobar2000 via the Topping D90SE the sample rate stays at 48 and I'm wondering what I have to do in order to take advantage of MQA. There's also no indication on the screen of the DAC that it's reproducing a MQA file.

I've had a similar issue and it was solved by putting the volume on foobar and PC to 100%, I have a SMSL M500 MKII and get all the logos and colours, but I drooped MQA a long time ago. I have compared many tracks from Tidal (only) on musicscope and you can see that mqa tracks (pic1) cause more distortion seen on the peak levels, the CD (pic2) quality is very good on Tidal and I prefer it over Qobuz (subjectively more aggressive). The last picture is the song from my own CD. Before the use of musicscope and with the help of a friend we compared CD Flac files to MQA streaming from Tidal and in 9 out of 10 we prefer CD Flac files. The one I particularly couldn't decide which I liked most was not MQA but CD resolution on Tidal (Surprise?!?!?.)

 

[Gagga]

Does this have UAT codec support for Bluetooth? Trying to decide between this and SMSL SU-9 ... Will I notice any difference in sound (in general, not only for BT) if I just go with the cheaper option?

 

[staticV3]

Does this have UAT codec support for Bluetooth?

All supported Bluetooth codecs are listed on the official product page of the D90SE: https://www.tpdz.net/productinfo/645180.html

 

[Gagga]

All supported Bluetooth codecs are listed on the official product page of the D90SE: https://www.tpdz.net/productinfo/645180.html

Okay, I guess the D90SE doesn't support it, then ... Thanks!

 

[Toku]

Does this have UAT codec support for Bluetooth? Trying to decide between this and SMSL SU-9 ... Will I notice any difference in sound (in general, not only for BT) if I just go with the cheaper option?

If you want to use UAT with BT connection, please use SMSL VMV D2.
I don't think there were any other models that can use UAT.

 

[Gagga]

If you want to use UAT with BT connection, please use SMSL VMV D2.
I don't think there were any other models that can use UAT.

The SU-9 should support it: https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/722.html.

 

[HappyMetalGuy]

Does this have UAT codec support for Bluetooth? Trying to decide between this and SMSL SU-9 ... Will I notice any difference in sound (in general, not only for BT) if I just go with the cheaper option?

from the SU9 page...

 

[Toku]

Before I knew it, SMSL had released 3 models with UAT support!

 

[Rover]

Okay, I guess the D90SE doesn't support it, then ... Thanks!

Do you seriously think that you will hear the difference between 24\96(LDAC) and 24\194(UAT)?This is just marketing, which this site constantly confirms.
By the way , UAT is supported with Bluetooth 4.2 .
And for support, you need a license that costs money.

 

[Gagga]

Do you seriously think that you will hear the difference between 24\96(LDAC) and 24\194(UAT)?This is just marketing, which this site constantly confirms.
By the way , UAT is supported with Bluetooth 4.2 .
And for support, you need a license that costs money.

No, I just don't have LDAC supported devices.

 

[Rover]

Yes, I see.And what model of UAT equipment do you have?

 

[Abekat]

For all those having dropouts on their tvs; update to version 1.87 and it'll work! At least on my Samsung tv. And thanks ASR for (indirectly) making me buy this fantastic unit!

 

[Dgob]

For all those having dropouts on their tvs; update to version 1.87 and it'll work! At least on my Samsung tv. And thanks ASR for (indirectly) making me buy this fantastic unit!

I finally got around to trying the upgrade, but it's now onto v.1.88. I assume this will carry the earlier aspects of the 1.87 upgrade. Is this the case?

If so, I'm still having very brief dropouts about every 30 seconds to 1 minute. That is far superior to the 13 second dropouts that I was experiencing before and far better than using the Buetooth option, which I have been using for TV viewing.

So, my question is: would there be any sense in my trying to downgrade to 1.87?