Topping D90SE Review (Balanced DAC)

[Veri]

No need to make four posts in a row, this clutters up the thread for everyone it isn't just about you. Anyway you want comparisons using drivers from other manufacturers? That is not even possible, the USB driver is signed for a specific manufacturer/producer in the form of a vendor ID.

I believe John means to tell you that you are being unreasonable and/or don't really know entirely what you're talking about as in the USB example. Just be friendly and polite in what you're trying to determine, and people will look into it and even measure it I've seen nothing but good intentions in the other posts. Your current behaviour is rather aggressive and blameful. Even in top of the line products some devices fail, if the pop noise is way too loud to be normal I would suggest requesting a return and refund. That should be a pretty easy solution...

 

[AdamG]

Troll Alert. He apparently broke out of his cage last night. Paco will not be back to bother us again. At least not as Paco.

 

[Vini darko]

 

[Wps998]

Yeah, and he dug his heels in deeper, criticizing something vague about the treble. I don't hear anything wrong with the treble on this DAC, FWIW.

I actually have the d90se and bifrost 2. The d90se digs deeper and reveals more information in every track no doubt. The bifrost2 is also not lacking in detail, its just not as transparent and defined as the d90se. With bifrost2, some notes in a track is a bit softer or distant sounding so hence i can understand it increases perceived depth and works well with some genres. Bifrost2 upper mids can a smidge too forward not as even handed as the d90se. This is my subjective take. I won't sell the bifrost 2 though, its sounds marvelous with country, jazz, swing, acoustic and gospel rock music. The D90SE is immensely capable with pop, electronic, orchestral OSTs, rap is unreal playing through soloist 3XP. The bifrost is tied to my wells milo which is the warmer rig. Having one transperant dac and one slightly colored is ideal for me. I take a every review with a grain of salt as always. I don't do level match testing or any of that, i just enjoy my gear, after having more time spent with each rig, their character will eventually show itself to my taste.

 

[threni]

I take a every review with a grain of salt as always

Heh. So do I.

 

[mocenigo]

R2R dac only adds small signal nonlinearities and high order harmonics as well as IMD.

And better settling time, or at least mathematically provably bounded (just to nitpick, in essentially all cases this is not an issue). However there are ways to use sign magnitude R2R networks that effectively reduce any small signal nonlinearity by at least 24Db (and I am quite sure that nobody uses these tricks).

 

[nhs]

Is there any reason why is the power consumption of the D90SE so high in stand-by mode (power off switched by remote)?
I measured 3.5 Watt on my D90SE, that not state of the art this day. The SMSL SU-9, I had, take only 0.5 Watt. So Topping doesn't make home work on this discipline.

It's because of the auto turn on function.

@JohnYang1997 thx
Does that mean if I turn off the auto function, the stand-by power consumption will significantly go down then?

Should be.

Trust by VERIFY!!!
Today I turned off the auto function and measured the stand-by power consumption of D90SE again.
The result: 3.5 Watt
It's doesn't matter if auto function is turned on or off, the stand-by power is always very high.
I think @JohnYang1997 would correct his statement above.

 

[threni]

Trust by VERIFY!!!
Today I turned off the auto function and measured the stand-by power consumption of D90SE again.
The result: 3.5 Watt
It's doesn't matter if auto function is turned on or off, the stand-by power is always very high.
I think @JohnYang1997 would correct his statement above.

The manual says <8.5W in use, and <5W in standby. What's to correct?

 

[JohnYang1997]

Trust by VERIFY!!!
Today I turned off the auto function and measured the stand-by power consumption of D90SE again.
The result: 3.5 Watt
It's doesn't matter if auto function is turned on or off, the stand-by power is always very high.
I think @JohnYang1997 would correct his statement above.

OK then. The circuits don't turn off..

 

[JohnYang1997]

The manual says <8.5W in use, and <5W in standby. What's to correct?

I said turning off auto on function would reduce the standby power consumption. I was wrong.

 

[threni]

I said turning off auto on function would reduce the standby power consumption. I was wrong.

Ah. That does sound like a fault! Perhaps a firmware tweak could fix that?

 

[JohnYang1997]

Ah. That does sound like a fault! Perhaps a firmware tweak could fix that?

No. It's simply not implemented the way I thought it was.

 

[nhs]

No. It's simply not implemented the way I thought it was.

Ok, it is not nice especially for environmentally aware people, fortunately there is a real power switch available back side but not very convenient.

 

[b4nt]

I've seen the D90se comes with switching supplies which could reach approx 0,1W for standby mode.

To meet this, power chips for analog and digital sections must be switched off, disabled, and the controller must go to sleep mode, waiting for wakeup event (front panel button or remote control signal, maybe USB signals from a PC, from Toslink...).

I've a D50s. That wakes up for USB signals (triggered by any audio player). I didn't check what that needs in power down mode. A lot if a transformer based linear PSU is used to feed it and never switched off. Or a lot if powered maybe by a DC wall adapter, or by a PC USB port not disabled in PC power down mode (BIOS/motherboard features dependent).

One way to go for no power consupmtion whilst off is maybe a DIY 12V trigger circuit, to cut 220V if PC or preamp/amp is turned off.

 

[Marc v E]

When I don't know much about a product I first take a look at the ratio 5 star reviews vs the rest. Then I read the 1 and 2 star reviews to see what they say. If those people post about things like letter types/size that are not 100% right or a standby mode that draws power for auto turn on, while there is also a power off switch, I know for sure it's a great product.

 

[PatentLawyer]

When I don't know much about a product I first take a look at the ratio 5 star reviews vs the rest. Then I read the 1 and 2 star reviews to see what they say. If those people post about things like letter types/size that are not 100% right or a standby mode that draws power for auto turn on, while there is also a power off switch, I know for sure it's a great product.

You have an uncommonly good understanding of human nature!

 

[b4nt]

Problem with this: one may have to switch off several boxes (the DAC, the screen, the amp, the PC...). Some solve this with a basic power stripe equipped with a switch. Some others with a power stripe featuring master/slaves: power down the master, 220V will be cut for others. 0W.

 

[Trell]

When I don't know much about a product I first take a look at the ratio 5 star reviews vs the rest. Then I read the 1 and 2 star reviews to see what they say. If those people post about things like letter types/size that are not 100% right or a standby mode that draws power for auto turn on, while there is also a power off switch, I know for sure it's a great product.

You can also see a low power consumption in standby as a desired feature and part of a decision to buy a device. In this case I think that Topping can do better.

Edit: @b4nt provided an EU link showing that the DAC draws too much power in standby for EU market, unless it's a networked device. I'm not sure can call the DAC a networked device because of included the Bluetooth.

 

[b4nt]

You can also see a low power consumption in standby as a desired feature and part of a decision to buy a device. In this case I think that Topping can do better.

Sorry, this is french, and maybe not the latest: "Depuis 2013, ils ne doivent pas consommer plus de 0,5 watt en mode veille ou arrêt." https://ec.europa.eu/info/energy-cl...roducts/mode-standby-and-networked-standby_fr

European recommandations for standby modes: since 2013 and due to energy/climate concerns, products must not use more than 0,5W. So people may also be surprised then complain if they notice a recent small box needs 3.5W in standby.

 

[Trell]

Sorry, this is french, and maybe not the latest: "Depuis 2013, ils ne doivent pas consommer plus de 0,5 watt en mode veille ou arrêt." https://ec.europa.eu/info/energy-cl...roducts/mode-standby-and-networked-standby_fr

European recommandations for standby modes: since 2013 and due to energy/climate concerns, products must not use more than 0,5W. So people may also be surprised then complain if they notice a recent small box needs 3.5W in standby.

Thanks for the link! One can select another language on top of that page.

EU has for many years been driving the regulations towards lower power consumption, and I think that is something very good.