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Topping D90SE Review (Balanced DAC)
- Thread starter amirm
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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!
fabien.56
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I hesitate :
Topping D90SE or Topping D70 Pro Sabre ???
www.audiosciencereview.com
Topping D90SE or Topping D70 Pro Sabre ???
Topping D70 Pro Sabre DAC Review
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping D70 Pro Sabre edition balanced stereo DAC with Bluetooth. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $699. Topping hugely steps up the look of their DACs with inclusion of a high resolution, high contrast LCD that can show different...
www.audiosciencereview.com
Killingbeans
Major Contributor
Based on what criteria?
fabien.56
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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…
Killingbeans
Major Contributor
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.
fabien.56
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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
BrooklynNick
Member
With a MacBook, you might want something portable like a Topping G5.
Killingbeans
Major Contributor
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.
Last edited:
fabien.56
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Frankly!!!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.
With a response like that, ask Amir to stop testing DACs then...
Then you don’t understand why he’s doing these tests.
Killingbeans
Major Contributor
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
Serious Question: How can DAC's have a SOUND SIGNATURE if they measure as transparent? Are that many confused?
I know there are people out there that think cables affect sound, which is much worse, but there really is no response to something like that, but just to smile and nod. But what about people who talk about DACS as if they were headphone drivers or speakers, and talk about the SOUNDSTAGE...
www.audiosciencereview.com
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.I hesitate :
Topping D90SE or Topping D70 Pro Sabre ???
Topping D70 Pro Sabre DAC Review
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping D70 Pro Sabre edition balanced stereo DAC with Bluetooth. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $699. Topping hugely steps up the look of their DACs with inclusion of a high resolution, high contrast LCD that can show different...
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.
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.
fabien.56
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I just bought a D90SE...I hesitate :
Topping D90SE or Topping D70 Pro Sabre ???
Topping D70 Pro Sabre DAC Review
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping D70 Pro Sabre edition balanced stereo DAC with Bluetooth. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $699. Topping hugely steps up the look of their DACs with inclusion of a high resolution, high contrast LCD that can show different...
I still have to see these PCM and DSD filter settings
Agreed. I have a 20-year old Bryston DAC that sounds audibly identical to my Topping D70s when playing CDs and ripped files. After two decades, it is still rock solid reliable.
I’m confident that it does not measure as well as the D90SE, but I’d wager that no one could reliably tell the difference in a blind listening test and that the Bryston will *still* be performant on its 30th birthday.
Nonetheless, I own the Topping for USB and Bluetooth usage.
I know I read somewhere on this forum (amir confirmed this issue too) that some chinese manufactures are starting to sacrifice other performances in their DACs in the race for the lowest SINAD to get higher up on the list and hence get more sales, but I cannot find the posts about this issue. Can someone summerize what other perfomance was being sacrificed in the chase for lowest SINAD and which models are doing this or perhaps point to the original thread?
Maybe, I'm not sure. It was something that affected performance negatively but gave a better SINAD.
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