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Topping DM7 8-Channel DAC Review

Rate this DAC:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 7 2.1%

  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 19 5.6%

  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 57 16.9%

  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 254 75.4%
  • Total voters
    337
GNK said:
I like the performance of DM7 but its price is way over my budget.
There was a cheaper option from Minidsp, U-DAC8, but it is discontinued.

Is there any alternative option that's more cost effective than DM7? I only want USB to 8Ch analog DAC.
I know their newer audio interfaces are on the way but I don't think e8x8 could be any cheaper than DM7.
Click to expand...

You can pick up a used Behringer UMC1820 on ebay for around $200. I would be very careful buying cheap(er) multi-channel DACs as they will underperform in one way or another. The UMC1820 is about the cheapest decent quality USB interface out there, and you get 10 DAC channels and multiple ADC channels as well. I use a couple under Linux for doing DSP and loudspeaker crossovers.
 
Why would you sully the clean outputs of the DAC with a noisy (multichannel) tube preamp?

Just now catching up on this thread is I am still very much in the world of analog multi-channel it's good to see products are still being released in that vein. He must be talking about the superb Conrad Johnson MET1...of which I actually acquired two, but both have some kind of tube issue (distortion) going on in a few channels I'm not sure how to rectify. So I also have the coveted fully-balanced multi-channel Audio Research MP1 pre that's been discussed here (direct from "royalty" you might say)...and that truly amazing & resolving piece is not going anywhere anytime soon as long as I stay in the analog world. I'm actually about to pair it with the new Eversolo DMP-A8 and hear what its state- of-the-art AKM DAC will do with it for the Qobuz/streaming world.

I'm also lucky enough to have the Oppo 205 which uses the same DAC as the Topping and still sounds fantastic six years removed...but of course is impossible to find anymore at any kind of decent price.

The Conrad Johnson MET1 is single-ended only so it won't work with this DAC (but it certainly will with something like an Oppo). I may "cheap-sell" my non-Teflon cap version to be fixed by the buyer (the expensive Teflon version will be going to CJ eventually to diagnose). Perhaps someone here is tube savvy and can figure out what's going on with it as its still a highly-coveted multi-thousand dollar piece. Hit me up in a PM if you're interested for more details.
 
Labjr said:
Maybe @amirm can start reviewing the different DSP software for transparency.
Click to expand...
When you add "@amirm" in the text, does it notify Amir?

I got a feeling this web site has had exponential (rocketing) increases in popularity, and it may be impossible for Amir to see all that is posted, even if does notify him.
 
Hello, friends. Now I`ve bought and using my DM7 as 5.1 dac!
It is greatest one for gaming, the greatest one for movies (i`m using pot player, HD-Ma is such a great sound I`ve never heard from my denon 3000 series receiver decoder). It`s a great foundation for multichannel audio too. Also I`m using it for now instead of my old topping E50 in foobar.

I`ve done everything via manual and also have foo-dsd drivers but there is looking to be a problem. I can change volume by my keyboard and windows. It seems have to be turned off with asio and shoud change by DM7 remote, as it was on my e50 topping one.
Everything looks okay - asio is chosen and used by foobar, device changes khz and bitrate is shown on display according to playing file but ... the windows volume control is still working...

Also I`ve noticed was big difference in volume between widnows tasks (for example youtube in chrome) and playing via foobar (choosing asio) and I`ve found a new one - volume regulator inside topping driver which helped me to make asio stadn at lower volume to balance between foobar music and windows-movies-gaming-etc. The driver is fresh, 5 october.

Can anyone explain what is happening>? The sound still great and seems to be better than it was on e50 stereo one...
 
@mcustoms the DM7 supports UAC2 Hardware Volume Control, hence the Windows volume slider keeps working even when using ASIO.

Changing volume via the slider sends volume commands to the 9038Pro DAC chip, which then applies digital volume control.

That way, you can have bit-perfect audio playback via ASIO and still retain volume control in Windows.
 
staticV3 said:
@mcustoms the DM7 supports UAC2 Hardware Volume Control, hence the Windows volume slider keeps working even when using ASIO.

Changing volume via the slider sends volume commands to the 9038Pro DAC chip, which then applies digital volume control.

That way, you can have bit-perfect audio playback via ASIO and still retain volume control in Windows.
Click to expand...
Thanx for answer!
But still have problems with DM7. As I wrote - I have two topping dacs and can switch between them in topping control panel. Unfortunately I`ve found my DM7 don`t play dsd128 but it should do. I`m switching between devices and trying to play dsd tracks in foobar- E50 plays well, DM7 plays loud white noize. Control panel shows mhz, DM7 and E50 shows DSD and mhz on display well too. I`ve tryed dsd96 and dsd128 sure to be playable by DM7 but the result is only loud white noize (((
 
Last edited:
Let me suggest another nice option.

If you would use VB-Audio Matrix (donation software, very much reliable, stable, robust) as system wide one stop ASIO/VAIO/VASIO I/O routing center, it can very flexibly manage gain/volume attenuation/adjustment (in 1 dB granularity) for all of the channels on its Matrix Routing Grid GUI screen (ref. here); this works perfectly resolving the big gain difference issues between bitstreaming and all the other music players.
 
Last edited:
dualazmak said:
Let me suggest another nice option.

If you would use VB-Audio Matrix (donation software, very much reliable, stable, robust) as system wide one stop ASIO/VAIO/VASIO I/O routing center, it can very flexibly manage gain/volume attenuation/adjustment (in 1 dB granularity) for all of the channels on its Matrix Routing Grid GUI screen (ref. here); this works perfectly resolving the big gain difference issues between bitstreaming and all the other music players.
Click to expand...
Original Topping control center can adjust asio gain so my DM7 have the same volume at direct sound and asio. There is no such an option for E50.
 
Anyone know which xmos chip is used in the DM7?

Is it the XU216?
 
Forgive me if this is very obvious a question to ask, but is there any potential to use the Topping as a simple DA 'interface' with Logic Pro for example?
Having the potential for 8 or even 16 outputs at this spec and price would be amazing!
 
If you want "lots of outputs" then look into pro audio recording interfaces that have ADAT expansion capability. Some of these offer 8 or 10 analog outputs plus another 8 via ADAT if you run at 48kHz. Some offer even more by having two ADAT banks. If you also use the SPDIF outputs you can get up to 20 analog output channels that way.
 
boriscrispin said:
Forgive me if this is very obvious a question to ask, but is there any potential to use the Topping as a simple DA 'interface' with Logic Pro for example?
Having the potential for 8 or even 16 outputs at this spec and price would be amazing!
Click to expand...
AFAIK the DM7 was discontinued due to slow sales, buzz on a forum doesn't necessarily translate in to sales. If you want a lot of analogue outputs then a MOTU 24Ao will give you 24 outputs at reasonable cost.
 
As for your use case, IDK but It's still available (in the US at least). https://www.amazon.com/Topping-Deco...0011&s=electronics&sprefix=dm7,aps,162&sr=1-3

Why this bit of kit gets negged is beyond me. It's great for surround music (of which I have loads) and video. Heck, some set of earthbound angels is using AI to remaster DS9 into 4k and 5.1 sound. The Living Stereo records are being released in the originally recorded 3.0. My DM7 gets daily use, for a few, hours every day.
 
chelgrian said:
AFAIK the DM7 was discontinued due to slow sales, buzz on a forum doesn't necessarily translate in to sales. If you want a lot of analogue outputs then a MOTU 24Ao will give you 24 outputs at reasonable cost.
Click to expand...
The poor sales was commented in the forum by a topping employee, but discontinued? still shows in topping page and is available in all the usual sellers i know of.
For what is worth what none of the interfaces offer is remote control and many not even master volume with the knob.
 
Possible discontinuation is scary for a product like this that is going to need software updates over time. I have a Motu Ultralite MK5 which has been and has a good community and support and software and firmware updates. It does have a master volume which I find essential, a remote would be nice but for me it is not essential.
 
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