Topping Pre90 Review (preamplifier)

[Bfeebabes]

pfff... any good alternative? My Nad M3 died and I've been using its awesome preamp. I need at least left-right balance, two outputs... Nad M3 also had built in crossover, I will miss it.

Wiim Ultra

 

[misterdog]

Na, I don't want to wait for that! I NEVER sound test with tracks that use electronically generated music. Instead, I mostly use all acoustic instruments.

I both agree and disagree, the recording process itself adds both noise and distortion, even with acoustically played instruments, the point of hi fi is to reproduce the recorded signal without adding further noise or distortion.

How do you know that you aren't adding noise and distortion?
'Because I hear no noise from my speakers during silence and the music sounds realistic to me'.
Those are the subjective asessments of the past. Though the 'undistorted distortion above' is a perfect example of subjective proof, for those of us without a laboratory full of test equipment IMO.

With my previous systems I would skip the distortion sections listed above, since chasing near zero distortion I find them enjoyable.

Noise and distortion can affect each note of a recording, only since the advent of forums such as this one have we been able to measureably quantify whether our replay chains are adding unwanted artifacts to the original signal.

Though I'm in full agreement that standing next to a piano or other acoustic instrument and hearing how it sounds(hence removing any added recording artifacts), then comparing it to the sound from your system, , is the only real asessment of wether the audio reproduction sounds realistic.

There may be some who wish their systems to sound like a rock band playing in a venue though, which means you wish to replicate the noise and distortion of their PA systems.

All opinions are valid, wether or not you consider them flawed.

 

[Purité Audio]

Live instrument in room is not the same as even a recording of the same live instrument in your room.
All we can hope to achieve is to reproduce the recording as accurately as possible.
Keith

 

[Dgob]

Live instrument in room is not the same as even a recording of the same live instrument in your room.
All we can hope to achieve is to reproduce the recording as accurately as possible.
Keith

Is this not dependent on the specific recording and room in question (not to mention the equipment through which this is rendered)?

 

[Purité Audio]

No simply because your hearing isn’t like any microphone and the propagation of sound from live instruments is different from a pair of loudspeakers.
Keith

 

[olds1959special]

I wouldn't buy this after trying my A70 Pro as a pre-amp. It isn't necessary for me when I can go straight from the DAC and get better sound quality.

 

[Sokel]

I wouldn't buy this after trying my A70 Pro as a pre-amp. It isn't necessary for me when I can go straight from the DAC and get better sound quality.

You don't get better sound quality.
But you could have benefits as it's a simple chain as long as dangers when the DAC/windows/whatever digital forgets settings go full blast.

Unless you design your gain-staging on paper and maybe measure it at real conditions anything is a guess.

 

[olds1959special]

You don't get better sound quality.
But you could have benefits as it's a simple chain as long as dangers when the DAC/windows/whatever digital forgets settings go full blast.

Unless you design your gain-staging on paper and maybe measure it at real conditions anything is a guess.

At least when I tried my DL200 balanced to A70 Pro and then to speakers it sounded worse than the RCA outs of the DL200 itself.

 

[Sokel]

At least when I tried my DL200 balanced to A70 Pro and then to speakers it sounded worse than the RCA outs of the DL200 itself.

By ear?
If that so, you never know. You can't randomly mix and match using anything along the way, this has to be designed.

 

[SAV1972]

I only sold the Pre90 because of the poor remote control. I had no complaints about the sound quality.

 

[40th Anniversary]

Except for analog inputs. The Topping D90 is closer to that for about half the price. RME better DAC overal for sure, though.

RME ADI-2 DAC FS Pro has an analog input

 

[Mikig]

I also sold my Pre90.
I was never convinced by it:
from the volume control, to the gain, I always had the feeling that it sounded quieter than other preamps, to the remote control...
then, if we also want to add the subjective experience...

in short, I have never loved this preamp.

 

[Pow1]

Silly question to people who have owned a pre90:

Can I use it as a passive preamp without power input? i.e as a fancy volume knob for a power amp.

Extra but probably should ask in the relevant thread: what about the schiit Kara?

 

[Roland68]

Silly question to people who have owned a pre90:

Can I use it as a passive preamp without power input? i.e as a fancy volume knob for a power amp.

No, that's not possible.

You could take a look at this: Douk Audio VOL-3 / V1-XLR HiFi Passive Preamp Volume Attenuator RCA/XLR Stereo Audio Volume Controller
Available for XLR or RCA.

 

[redjr]

Or, if you don't need balanced this might be another alternative - depending upon what exactly your use case is.

 

[NicS]

Silly question to people who have owned a pre90:

Can I use it as a passive preamp without power input? i.e as a fancy volume knob for a power amp.

Extra but probably should ask in the relevant thread: what about the schiit Kara?

I use my Pre/Ext 90 as a “bypass” for my AVP.

For stereo listening, the Pre 90 controls volume from my DAC and phono stage. I keep one input at a fixed 0dB output to facilitate a bypass from my AV processor which is used for all multichannel listening. My AVP never pushes beyond 0dB itself, with a comfortable listening volume at around -20dB.

This has worked well for me.