Probably the unit will work for some time. When outside temperature is 80 deg. C then the heating components have higher temperature. So long term I think some may go defective, but not necessarily, depends on the components and construction. Personally I would not use this device for power transfer and I think it is not really made for this purpose.
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TOPPING HS02 coming
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misureaudio
Member
I use it in both data/power contexts and I get about 50°C. It's very warm but nothing to worry about, for what i see.
Buddser
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Hello, I have Apogee symphony desktop as a DAC, MacBook as a source (Apple Music), UPS and current plant. DAC connected to MacBook via shielded type c cable. How do you think if I get this isolator do I notice any difference? Or in my DAC already implemented some sort of isolator? When there is no music playing I hear some quiet noise. Will this device reduce some of this noise?
carsknivesbeer
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I can turn the volume up to 90% without music and hear literally nothing with the first Topping model. That is not the case without it. It worked for my USB from a Mac mini. You either have a problem with background noise or not. Just order from a place with a good return policy if it doesn’t help.
Can you hear noise from your speakers at your highest normal listening volume? if not, then you don't have a problem to solve, and the isolation will do nothing for. you.
If you can hear noise, then it might help if the noise is coming as ground noise from the USB. But even then if the noise is not bothering you at its current level (IE you can't hear it when quiet music is playing), then it will not make much of a difference for you.
Buddser
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Thank you, I can’t hear noise from my speakers at 1 meter (where I’am usually listening the music) and at highest normal listening volume, but I can hear some noise from my headphones (sometimes I need to use them, when my family sleeping). I can’t tell that this bothering me much, but I ordered McIntosh MHA200, and it is possible that to improve quality even better, it might be good to have such device.
wyup
Active Member
I bought this USB isolator from Aliexpress and I can attest it sounds better than without it, there is no doubt.
It is based on the same Analog Devices ADUM4166 as the Topping HS02. I liked its board design, it has two clock oscillators for 44.1 and 48 KHz samplerate multiples, linear regulators such as AD LT3042, an external DC 9V power with a SMPS included, an optional ground connector and a sensible price. I happen to have a 9V 1.5A Aune XP2 linear power supply dual outlet for my Aune X8 XVIII dac so a match made in heaven.
I have it connected to my TV's through its USB port out and now it sounds better than its Toslink out. Before it sounded worse and thinner than Toslink. I have live switched from them countless times so it is not expectation bias or whatever you wanna call it. Before USB had less bass than Toslink. Now it is equalled but it sounds even better. Toslink had more body in the midrange but now it's evened out. I could return if it didn't do anything, I'm still on tryout, but I won't because it is a good product.
I encourage anyone who is considering these isolators to give them a chance. They do not only isolate the power, AD ADUM14166 chip reclocks the data signal with its dual oscillators and improves jitter.
It is based on the same Analog Devices ADUM4166 as the Topping HS02. I liked its board design, it has two clock oscillators for 44.1 and 48 KHz samplerate multiples, linear regulators such as AD LT3042, an external DC 9V power with a SMPS included, an optional ground connector and a sensible price. I happen to have a 9V 1.5A Aune XP2 linear power supply dual outlet for my Aune X8 XVIII dac so a match made in heaven.
I have it connected to my TV's through its USB port out and now it sounds better than its Toslink out. Before it sounded worse and thinner than Toslink. I have live switched from them countless times so it is not expectation bias or whatever you wanna call it. Before USB had less bass than Toslink. Now it is equalled but it sounds even better. Toslink had more body in the midrange but now it's evened out. I could return if it didn't do anything, I'm still on tryout, but I won't because it is a good product.
I encourage anyone who is considering these isolators to give them a chance. They do not only isolate the power, AD ADUM14166 chip reclocks the data signal with its dual oscillators and improves jitter.
Isolation is great for noise removal. But jitter reduction on USB is an irrelevance with modern Dacs.
Pretty much all dacs use Async mode, meaning only the DAC local clock is used to time the data from the source, and to clock the data in to the dac chip. So jitter on the USB has no impact AT ALL on the audio.
wyup
Active Member
Neither Async, Adaptive or Isochronous guarantee anything. It depends on implementation. Source: Wikipedia
Since data signal comes from a host, it is timed from a clock, there is no error check so jitter is possible.
Reconstruction in the dac can be as good as you want, but it is not perfect.
That is why this isolator helps not only from less noise on the chip, but less jitter.
Go see Archimago jitter tests with Topping isolator, async as you say but less jitter.
I know you will say a good dac makes jitter irrelevant, but I prefer to improve it via isolator chip before it enters the dac cleaner. I don't know how good my dac is at reducing jitter. The less it enters the better. And it sounds better so the question is resolved.
Since data signal comes from a host, it is timed from a clock, there is no error check so jitter is possible.
Reconstruction in the dac can be as good as you want, but it is not perfect.
That is why this isolator helps not only from less noise on the chip, but less jitter.
Go see Archimago jitter tests with Topping isolator, async as you say but less jitter.
I know you will say a good dac makes jitter irrelevant, but I prefer to improve it via isolator chip before it enters the dac cleaner. I don't know how good my dac is at reducing jitter. The less it enters the better. And it sounds better so the question is resolved.
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Your dac doesn't need to reduce jitter. USB jitter is simply irrelevant. Data goes from source into buffer. As buffer gets emptied, the dac requests more data to refill it. It doesn't matter what speed or jitter the data is clocked into the buffer with (It can be (and is) in bursts), becuase it is clocked out by the DAC clock. Which doesn't have to be synced in any way to the USB upstream clocks.
wyup
Active Member
This is not true, because then why ASR jitter tests in Async Mode show different jitter performance? If they were a perfect buffer jitter would be zero.
Topping ESS Sabre dacs have a PLL strength setting. That is jitter reduction. There is always jitter reduction in the dac, low or high, based on resampling.
Measured Jitter is usually jitter from the DAC internal clock.
This can be influenced by the USB signal (EG interfernece from the 1KHz packet requency) but this has nothing to do with jitter on the USB
PLL is not used for USB - so that setting is not relevant. The PLL will be used when syncing to Toslink or SPDIF inputs. Resampling for USB is (again) not needed.
wyup
Active Member
I have my reservations on this. Old Schiit dacs like Modi were very bad on jitter by USB. I don't believe their internal clocks could be so bad because on SPDIF their performance was better. What is bad is their method to reconstruct the data.
Data doesn't get from source into a buffer by magic. It is not discrete packetized data. Data comes timed from the host clock, so you need to sample that by means of another clock, and that is also affected by jitter.
Async orders when to get data, but that data comes timed at the host frequency. Then you reconstruct and the device clock is the master.
Wikipedia says there is no perfect USB audio protocol. All depend on implementation. Amir may say Async is perfect because it becomes the master, but I think it's not. Adaptive may be better than Async.
There are good USB implementations like RME or Topping/SMSL, but there is no better jitter correction as no jitter from source. That is why there is a zero PLL setting on spdif jitter strength-to get as untouched source as possible.
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Not on Async USB - data is requested by the DAC based on it's own internal clock.
See :
Asynchronous mode USB
Here:
dac-v1_asynchronous-usb_mwp_jan13_0.pdf
(and many other sources)
KSTR
Major Contributor
The point is this only guarantees lowest (and random) jitter if the oscillator is right at the DAC chip's MCLK pin.
If MCLK is generated by (or routed through) some complex chip like USB receiver (XMOS etc) it can have jitter that is actually triggered by the activity of the receiver which receives the data in bursts (triggered via crosstalk, or supply fluctuations).
Somewhat related incident reported here: https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/phase-noise-in-ds-dacs.387862/page-6#post-7065431
As I pointed out above in post 172
The point is this is not influenced by jitter on the USB bus - and reclocking of the USB data by a USB isolator makes absolutely no differences to these mechanisms. There is no transfer of jitter on usb to jitter on DAC.
wyup
Active Member
It makes absolutely no sense that the isolator chip reclocks to recover the signal if according to you jitter is not possible thus not necessary.
There is no other way to recover the signal than reclocking it. Otherwise the isolator wouldn't even attempt it, because its function is to isolate electrically.
According to isolator chip doc, a clock is mandatory, not optional.
Whenever there is an incoming USB host frequency clock sending data there is the possibility of jitter at the reconstruction. It is unavoidable.
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OK - I've given you all the info - but I can only lead the horse to water...
surroundman
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My HS02 arrived today and partially solved a noise issue of my own. My subwoofers no longer emit PC (CPU)-induced noise. Only my speakers do now, but time will tell if something can be done about that too.
wyup
Active Member
If a DAC already filters USB noise and recovers the signal and is insensitive to jitter according to you then why on earth it sounds better with the isolator?
According to the isolator datasheet the chip objectively cleans the jitter by relocking and removes noise from the power bus. In my case it also takes external power (a 9V linear supply for the 5V output).
You may say what you will but the isolator is effective with my USB DAC, be it jitter, noise, or both.
Explain it to me why with the isolator it sounds better, and don't come to me with cognitive bias.
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