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Topping D90SE Review (Balanced DAC)

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I run into mechanical problem of the rear digital rca input and the connector went loose. Can not be conneted any more. Warranty expired. The rca female part used and soldered to main board is integrated with toslink connector. The female rca part is very inferor low quality and can only be replaced with same integrated part.

Replacing is not easy due to the mechanical front plate has been connected in a crazy way to the box. Front plate mount hex scews are INSIDE the box. When you open the back plate the connector cable from front plate to main board is too short and will Get detached when takng the main board out from case . Problem is reconnecting the short display cable back to front display connector. Removing front plate requires very long non standard ultra slim hex screwdriver that the front plate can be opened.

The unit mechanics have been very badly designed for internal hw service operations. Otherise nice product that measures well, but above is bad.

Or who can recommend with tool hyperlink to the hex (1.5) screwdiver or similar very long (~ 200 mm) shallow tool that i can remove the dac front plate srew inside for the reassembly of the display cable?
 
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FYI: Wiha 33436 T-Griff Sechskant 2,0 x 200 mm
That is for the wickied hex screws inside the aluminium box. Not yet received the tool so no experience yet weather it works or not.
 
WORKS: opening of front plate happen by opening 2 BACK plate hex screws (with above proposed tool) on sides first and using then loooooooong hex tool through the back plate bolt holes! Re-assembly same way. Case closed, but still the rca type connectors mechanical quality is bad, crap, schei... no other complaints!
 
I hesitate :
Topping D90SE or Topping D70 Pro Sabre ???
 
No criteria
It's an open question: which one would you take?
You can’t make a choice if you don’t know what to base the decision on. That’s why @Killingbeans asked for your criteria for selection a DAC. Maybe you only want a yellow colored one? We don’t know…
 
It's an open question: which one would you take?

None of them. I don't have the need for an external DAC.

But if I was forced at gunpoint, I'd go with the D70 Pro Sabre. Better looking, nice display, rotary encoder with a knob, 12v trigger, cheaper.

Only "advantage" of the D90SE is the I2S input, and that's just completely pointless, IMO.
 
You can’t make a choice if you don’t know what to base the decision on. That’s why @Killingbeans asked for your criteria for selection a DAC. Maybe you only want a yellow colored one? We don’t know…
OK I understand
I don't express myself well, I need a DAC with a MacBook Air and Roon as a source...
I don't know how to read the measurements...
so I awkwardly ask which of the two to choose beyond the visual aspects
 
OK I understand
I don't express myself well, I need a DAC with a MacBook Air and Roon as a source...
I don't know how to read the measurements...
so I awkwardly ask which of the two to choose beyond the visual aspects

With a MacBook, you might want something portable like a Topping G5.
 
so I awkwardly ask which of the two to choose beyond the visual aspects

It depends on why you need a DAC.

Cheeky question: Is the headphone jack on the MacBook Air broken? If not, you'll probably struggle to tell a difference between that and an external DAC in a proper blind test.

On the other hand, if by "need" you mean you want something new and shiny, I can totally respect that. I'd just go with the DAC that has the looks/feel and features you like.

If the headphone jack on the MacBook Air really is broken, and you need an external DAC to get some sound out of the thing, I'd personally aim for something way cheaper/smaller/more handy. Not because I want to torture my ears, but because DACs as purely functional "transparent" constructs became commodities decades ago ;)

I don't know how to read the measurements...

In a nutshell: Both of these two DACs perform way, way better than human hearing can reasonably be expected to appreciate.
 
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It depends on why you need a DAC.

Cheeky question: Is the headphone jack on the MacBook Air broken? If not, you'll probably struggle to tell a difference between that and an external DAC in a proper blind test.

On the other hand, if by "need" you mean you want something new and shiny, I can totally respect that. I'd just go with the DAC that has the looks/feel and features you like.

If the headphone jack on the MacBook Air really is broken, and you need an external DAC to get some sound out of the thing, I'd personally aim for something way cheaper/smaller/more handy. Not because I want to torture my ears, but because DACs as purely functional "transparent" constructs became commodities decades ago ;)



In a nutshell: Both of these two DACs perform way, way better than human hearing can reasonably be expected to appreciate.
Frankly!!!
With a response like that, ask Amir to stop testing DACs then...
 
Frankly!!!
With a response like that, ask Amir to stop testing DACs then...

Nahh, just because a good engineer can design a "transparent" DAC solution with relative ease, doesn't mean that all of the bad engineers suddenly disappear.

Amir have tested super pricey high-end DACs that perform miserably, even compared to dirt cheap built-in solutions.

I've said it before: One of the things I really like about this place is how it presents "pleb" brands producing the actual "wire-with-gain" products that the borderline snake-oil outfits have been claiming to make for decades with little or nothing to show.

EDIT: We should probably continue this dicussion in another thread. The moderators will make sure it happens anyway :D
 
I hesitate :
Topping D90SE or Topping D70 Pro Sabre ???
Direct answer ... Topping D70. It uses a newer DAC chip that a few have said sounds better than the 9038 in the 90SE, a better colorful and useful interface, coupled with a similarly good looking excellent HP amp in the Topping A70, you are good to go for years to come.
 
It's been said a thousand times. Today there are *tons* of audibly transparent D/A to choose from, it is a matter of price, features, styling and build quality.

There are also audibly translucent D/A's to choose from, some at many times the price of the transparent ones.

Will these Toppings and SMSLs be working years from now? Will they be easily serviced if and when they fail in years? Nobody knows.

I don't mind paying more than rock bottom prices for gear manufactured in the west by people who earn a decent wage, but there is a lot of expensive junk out there. I do mind paying for that. ASR rules.
 
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