Topping E70 Stereo DAC Review

[funnychap]

Yes, the wall provides power.

This 1989 prediction @1:12 in the video

The reality is that in 2021, we have wireless power beamed across the room, it's just very expensive now but technology prices will come down.

This Room Could Wirelessly Charge All Your Devices

New technology delivers power to electronic devices in a test space

www.scientificamerican.com

 

[Snoopy]

I will summarize:
- SMSL DO200 MKII didn't bring anything to my life, e70 ate it like sausage with mustard,
- E70 Vwlvet did nothing for the e70 hot dog because he had neither mustard nor ketchup
- e70 wins
- e70 velvet is indifferent to me and returns
- the final battle will be between e70 vs SMSL DO300. Both have a PRO chip, one older the other, newer, differ in equipment: e70 trigger, DO300 more useless ports
It's going to be David vs Goliath

I think if you really want something different, I would look for a DAC with toroidal transformers, better analogue output stage..

SMSL SU-10 with 21 OPA1612A and 2 seperate linear PSU.

Or the new SMSL D1se2.

But I doubt it will make a audible difference.

 

[aka_Z]

The reality is that in 2021, we have wireless power beamed across the room, it's just very expensive now but technology prices will come down.

You don't want to use high power radio beams in your home, to go through you. EMR is not radioactive but high intensive EMR can harm your body cells. EMR used for radio communication is extremely low and phones receive about -80dBm or lower. To power anything, EMR must be much, much stronger. It's such an inefficient way of transferring energy.

Btw, my E70V arrived in LA this morning. Let's see how long it will take to get from LA to me.

 

[funnychap]

You don't want to use high power radio beams in your home, to go through you. EMR is not radioactive but high intensive EMR can harm your body cells. EMR used for radio communication is extremely low and phones receive about -80dBm or lower. To power anything, EMR must be much, much stronger. It's such an inefficient way of transferring energy.

Btw, my E70V arrived in LA this morning. Let's see how long it will take to get from LA to me.

I have a similar health concern with EV cars and sitting on all that radioactive battery in the floor.

 

[aka_Z]

Don't worry about radioactivity, worry about flammability

 

[Martin]

Btw, my E70V arrived in LA this morning. Let's see how long it will take to get from LA to me.

Both my E70 and E70 Velvet are in Miami.

 

[aka_Z]

Well, at least is not another way around, That yours are in LA and mine in Miami

 

[Burns]

Or the new SMSL D1se2.

But I doubt it will make a audible difference.

for sure the spikes as feet change the sound and have an impact on the deeper bass

 

[misterdog]

Yeah, problem is that i live in the Netherlands, and I'm not so sure Apos audio ships here, and even if they would, shipping + local tax would totally vaporise any benefit.

Use Hi-Fi Go, free shipping with local taxes paid in the UK.
I've bought 3 pieces of equipment from them.

Earphones, Audio Players, Headphones AMP, DACs & TWS for Audiophiles

HiFiGo sells high-quality Hifi products at favorable prices to those who love music and style especially for beginner audiophiles! You can get high-end earphones ,in-ear monitors, high-resolution digital audio players, portable headphone amplifiers, DACs and true wireless earbuds here.

www.hifigo.com

 

[misterdog]

I am very smart because I have one optical source, two DAC's and one amplifier. I only switch the source of the amplifier aux1, aux2, so I can hear any change immediately.

That's assuming that your amp/speakers are not the weakest link in the chain.

The difference between E70 and E70V is likely very little, though you only kept the V for a few hours so not much of the comparison I was hoping for.

 

[Burns]

That's assuming that your amp/speakers are not the weakest link in the chain.

The difference between E70 and E70V is likely very little, though you only kept the V for a few hours so not much of the comparison I was hoping for.

Deliberately. People listen to equipment and money lately, so did I for a while, but now I just want to listen to music. I checked the DACs from different manufacturers to see if they sound different. The last test was comparing equipment from the same manufacturer in the same packaging. e70 vs e70V are similar. The manufacturer has determined the differences in the ratio of 1/5. For me there is no difference or hundredths of a fraction. It's a waste of time and money for such a small difference.

Now let other people repeat my test, i would love to read their results.

 

[DSJR]

So many versions, so little time and money.....

The subjectivist reviews online all almost seem to contradict each other (or they follow like sheep) so much I feel nauseous trying to google for info and trying to read the bulls*t in said 'reviews.'

I think we really do need to understand now that most decent dacs are basically commodities, bought on looks, price, facilities and after care possibility if needed.

FFS people, stuff any 'sound quality' differences 'cos most of it where dacs are concerned is in your imagination rather than reality - honestly it is. You know, an original Sony 101 CD player is actually still a very pleasant listen and much to my amazement, so are some of the mid 80's nasty plastic Philips machines - I was given a fully working CD371 and sonically it was fine (I sold it for a tenner...). A c2000 Technics 670 1-bit MASH player I recently cleaned the laser sled runners on also sounded just fine, clear and 'airy' with none of the 'bitstream bloat' I was expecting but the fit and 'feel' of it all was superb, giving great subjective confidence in its operation and me hoping it'd last another twenty years and feeling sad when it does eventually end up in the recycling centre. Sure the sinad measurements won't be too hot (red book isn't these days if I read it right and simple Bitstream and MASH were I remember a bit compromised?), but sonically, it's transparent to the recording and production in the source.

If Topping have done two versions of a dac which look and cost the same, but using two different dac chipsets. If the measurements are similar and the analogue outs have been properly sorted, they should be identical under level matched conditions when switched one to the other without knowing which is which. If there really IS a repeatable sonic difference under 'blind' conditions, research must be done to find out where this lies - and I believe a lot has been done already to show it's mostly in listeners heads and varies with mood, weather, health and so on...

 

[Burns]

The subjectivist reviews online all almost seem to contradict each other (or they follow like sheep) so much I feel nauseous trying to google for info and trying to read the bulls*t in said 'reviews.'

You're right, they behave like sheep. A perfect example is SMSL DO200mk2 vs SMSL DO300. reviewers hear something in the bass range. Strangely, almost no one pays attention to the fact that DO200 works on 4/2V and DO300 5/2.5V. The parameter cannot be changed as in topping. 0,5V can cause audible differences (change the volume). Such a comparison is biased!

 

[Snoopy]

You're right, they behave like sheep. A perfect example is SMSL DO200mk2 vs SMSL DO300. reviewers hear something in the bass range. Strangely, almost no one pays attention to the fact that DO200 works on 4/2V and DO300 5/2.5V. The parameter cannot be changed as in topping. 0,5V can cause audible differences (change the volume). Such a comparison is biased!

The reviewers make a living of this stuff after all. Who would watch their stuff if every video was 2 minutes long and they would just let you know that the current DAC they are reviewing sounds exactly like the last 20 DACs before that

How many people here replace their hardware every few months? Probably plenty , even though they should know better.

But that's all part of this hobby as well.

 

[funnychap]

The reviewers make a living of this stuff after all. Who would watch their stuff if every video was 2 minutes long and they would just let you know that the current DAC they are reviewing sounds exactly like the last 20 DACs before that

How many people here replace their hardware every few months? Probably plenty , even though they should know better.

But that's all part of this hobby as well.

Yep, Youtube reviewers make long videos so that they can earn $. My youtube videos are usually under 2 minutes because that's my honest opinion so I don't get paid for short videos.

However, I disagree that dacs sound the same. I have 14 dacs (either standalone or in receivers) and here is the order of worst to best for 2-channels music (especially Apple Music lossless):
Amazon Echo dot (3rd gen) with clock ties with 4th gen
Denon Heos 1
Denon Heos 3
Denon Heos 5
Denon Heos 7
Denon 1912
Denon S760H
Denon X3700H
Apple Airport Express ties with Bluesound Node
Topping E50
Topping E70
Arcam AVR5

 

[DSJR]

Denon's mid price CD players were I gather, extremely 'honest' to the source and consequently very similar in perceived 'tone.'

The thing is, our hearing even when we're young, isn't especially good and over the age of forty, us males don't have a chance really. Our brains are so good at interpretations and adjusting to losses in our senses I'm sure this plays a part in how we perceive dacs and so on. This isn't to say that there have never been sonic differences in digital playback components, but I swear that 'differences as heard' did narrow to the point of inaudibility many years ago now and what we're seeing today is refinements for the sake of it. Look at a typical sinad of a CD player. i doubt it'd be that good by ASR standards (actually, has Amir ever fully tested a typical Denon or Sony CD player from the nineties or noughties? Apologies if I have brain fog here).

 

[Burns]

Yep, Youtube reviewers make long videos so that they can earn $. My youtube videos are usually under 2 minutes because that's my honest opinion so I don't get paid for short videos.

However, I disagree that dacs sound the same. I have 14 dacs (either standalone or in receivers) and here is the order of worst to best for 2-channels music (especially Apple Music lossless):
Amazon Echo dot (3rd gen) with clock ties with 4th gen
Denon Heos 1
Denon Heos 3
Denon Heos 5
Denon Heos 7
Denon 1912
Denon S760H
Denon X3700H
Apple Airport Express ties with Bluesound Node
Topping E50
Topping E70
Arcam AVR5

all Denon devices you mentioned are not pure DACs, they are integrated amplifiers or other integrated devices where the sound change is influenced by factors other than digital to analog conversion

 

[funnychap]

all Denon devices you mentioned are not pure DACs, they are integrated amplifiers or other integrated devices where the sound change is influenced by factors other than digital to analog conversions

True these products I mentioned are not pure DACs and are influenced by the quality of the other components. But so are pure DACs as they too have different components and power supplies, but to a lesser degree.

 

[Burns]

True these products I mentioned are not pure DACs and are influenced by the quality of the other components. But so are pure DACs as they too have different components and power supplies, but to a lesser degree.

not really, in the receiver, to measure it or at least try to hear it, you would have to connect directly to the DAC outputs, probably the line out, to skip the amplifier section. I have a symptom that the line out is still DSP loaded and we still won't get a clean DAC output. I do not have a doctorate in the design of receivers, they need to be wiser.

 

[funnychap]

not really, in the receiver, to measure it or at least try to hear it, you would have to connect directly to the DAC outputs, probably the line out, to skip the amplifier section. I have a symptom that the line out is still DSP loaded and we still won't get a clean DAC output. I do not have a doctorate in the design of receivers, they need to be wiser.

I also discovered that the more separate components versus integrated, is that separate components increases the chance of getting a hum or buzz which is way worse than the sound quality differences among DACs.