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Topping Quality Issues?

doctorjuggles

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No problems at all with my DX7s but both the power and USB cables included with the unit were absolute garbage. Literally garbage, they were thrown in the bin when neither worked, I actually initially thought the unit itself was broken until I changed the USB cable, while the UK power cable broke at the plug end, one of the plug points bent off and broke without me ever having actually used it. I’d rather they didn’t include the cables, they’re so out of sync with the well-made feel of the DAC itself
 

tktran303

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I have a DX3 Pro and have no issues with it.

I think the way the Internet works, that the signal to noise ratio is way too low. People who don’t have problems just get on with life, people who have problems rant and rave.

Now there’s also seems to be a nationalistic sentiment. I’m Australian through and through, and yes I would like to buy Australian, and keep a job for my kids. But the way the economy has evolved, virtually all of it is Made in ____ (insert country with lowest wages/least protection for workers)

The last hifi unit I bought was a big iron class A/B amplifier that was 16kg but “only” 100watts x2
“Designed in Sweden” in 2010.

It had a 2 year warranty but it died after 5.

The local authorised repairer said that the only way to repair it was to replace the entire PCB, because it used surface mount transistors. In panic I called the national distributor, who said the same thing. Was I going to ship it back to Sweden?

Rather than have it go to the tip or scrapyard
I bit the bullet. 2 months waiting and $-1000 later, i was told to run the repaired unit only in a air conditioned room.
Hey this is Australia, I can’t run AC 24/7!

I hear the Swedes have problems getting enough sunshine, here we have problems protecting from skin cancer!

I think we lose perspective when want all our consumer goods to be cheap, fault free and last forever.
 
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Krunok

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The trouble comes when 1000 units are sold and 300 of them are dodgy - that's not a good rate of failure.

I would say that trouble comes when >30 units are dodgy out of 1000.

3% failure rate is standard in PC industry and PC is more complex product than DAC so the same max failure rate figure should apply and certainly not bigger.
 

Aprude51

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Another horror thread about Topping. And I thought we hate Schiit quality here? Since I never bought any Topping - cannot comment, but Amazon reviews average is "3stars" which is "no-go". Anecdotally, both Schiit Modi3 and Magni2 I have work rock solid ="merkan maid"! :) FX Audio X6 (another Chi-Fi) died after about a year. Chinese tablet from AliExpress faced dead headphone jack, and then non-working power button within a year. So there are some corners cut in quality control overall in cheap Chinese electronics.

Where are you seeing a 3–star review average for topping? Of their products on amazon with more than a few reviews I see the following:
D10 - 4.4
D30 - 4.1
D50 - 4.2
DX3 Pro - 4.1 / 4.5 (two listings)
DX7 - 3.8 / 4.7 (two listings)
PA3 - 4.3
 

L5730

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How many D10s have got issues so far?
Well, I have serial number 1808xxxxxx so the firmware is all up to date, but one has missing decimal points on the display. Other than that, both work flawlessly. Can't really comment on the standby thing which some folks were having problems with (earlier firmware) as it's not something I ever use - I unplug the DAC when not in use or when the PC is off.

It'd be nice if it had galvanic isolation somewhere, so that there is no potential for a ground loop. But this doesn't happen when connected via USB to 2-pin PSU powered mobile computer devices, of which I include the RPi, as they have no mains Earth connection. It also doesn't happen when connected to a double insulated setup (stereo amplifier) via RCA, as the ground loop can't exist if there is no actual loop.
This is not a fault with the product of course, this is just an inconvenience for those using Desktop PCs and powered monitors with mains earths. Quasi-balanced cables can break the ground loop and it has sounded just fine like this for me. ifi Defender would also serve to break the loop or some USB2.0 speed isolator.

I don't think there are many D10s with issues at all.

*edit: typo
 
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spronkey

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My D10 has sleep/wake issues even with the latest firmware. If you don't unplug it and replug it quickly after powering on, it will refuse to do anything but --- then . on display until you leave it unplugged for a few hours.

It's a nice DAC otherwise, but I don't think I would recommend it based on these stupid niggles.
 

suttondesign

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I use, buy, and sell digital equipment based on a sliding scale where I anticipate that low-cost gear has a shorter life and expensive gear a much longer life. I don't expect the little Topping pieces to last 10 years, but the value per year is high if they get past 5, so I'm cool with that. I expect any DAC costing $1,000 or more to last until it is obsolete. I expect my expensive iMac 27" to go 5 years without a fail, and so far, both my late-2014 and mid-2011's are still going strong. Both my 2012 Mac Mini servers are likewise running without ever a down day. These are expensive machines. My kids' chromebooks and less expensive wintel machines -- crummy, things break.

Contrast this with things I bought in the 1970's and 1980's. Receivers, amps, don't even get me started on cassette decks and tuners, speakers, etc. -- those things were expected to need repairs, and they did.

Things run down, entropy runs riot. All I expect is solid value-for-the-money, and Topping, for example, has delivered on that score. I won't cry if my D50 dies in 4 years, or even 3. Now, if my Benchmark or RME things break, I will be royally pissed.
 

artnoi

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I use, buy, and sell digital equipment based on a sliding scale where I anticipate that low-cost gear has a shorter life and expensive gear a much longer life. I don't expect the little Topping pieces to last 10 years, but the value per year is high if they get past 5, so I'm cool with that. I expect any DAC costing $1,000 or more to last until it is obsolete. I expect my expensive iMac 27" to go 5 years without a fail, and so far, both my late-2014 and mid-2011's are still going strong. Both my 2012 Mac Mini servers are likewise running without ever a down day. These are expensive machines. My kids' chromebooks and less expensive wintel machines -- crummy, things break.

Contrast this with things I bought in the 1970's and 1980's. Receivers, amps, don't even get me started on cassette decks and tuners, speakers, etc. -- those things were expected to need repairs, and they did.

Things run down, entropy runs riot. All I expect is solid value-for-the-money, and Topping, for example, has delivered on that score. I won't cry if my D50 dies in 4 years, or even 3. Now, if my Benchmark or RME things break, I will be royally pissed.
I used to think the same about Macs, until I met ThinkPad.
 

Snafu

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^^
i just bought new batteries to my canon F-73P calculator... old batteries had 1999 stamped on them

got it 1982 and this is second time i had to replace batteries :mad:
 

sajunky

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I couldn't figure how to get the Topping PA3 case apart, and removing the three screws on the back did not release the back panel - I could see that the speaker connectors were holding it on. I managed to unscrew them, but doing that broke the solder connections to the vertical PC board just inside the back panel. The second picture is the back panel flipped over on top of the case.

There may be screws at the end the long round center channel in the sides that also takes the two back panel self-tapping screws (see pictures below.
It seems to be the same type of opening as in my D30. I opened it just to see whether it has the same quality components as on Amir's reviewed board.

So looks like this will be correct procedure: After removing 3 screws from the back, pull out a volume knob on the front, then slide the PCB with the back plate to the back. It needs some use of initial moderate force (not so extensive as required for rupturing RCA connectors :facepalm:) to break initial friction, as Toppings is using some amount of soft white silicon glue on the rails to prevent vibrations.

As for a repeated failure case, you can also blame your inverter. It is not to defend Topping, I have my own gripe on it... I have seen more PC's blown by poor quality UPS during a power surge or blackouts (while UPS itself have survived) than PC's that didn't have such kind of 'protection'. Use a good brand like APC and you may also need a pure sine inverter output (not a cheapo one that is called step-up or 'modified' sinewave). Some devices require a pure sinewave power source.
 
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bravomail

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Both my 2012 Mac Mini servers are likewise running without ever a down day.

Prepare to be royally pissed if u buy latest MacbookPro :) Keyboard dies "because of dust". Keyboard itself is glued to the unibody, so u need to replace "the unibody" (screen half stays). Many airlines banned it because it catches fire with its batteries (non-removable batteries BTW).
 

Xulonn

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As for a repeated failure case, you can also blame your inverter. It is not to defend Topping, I have my own gripe on it... I have seen more PC's blown by poor quality UPS during a power surge or blackouts (while UPS itself have survived) than PC's that didn't have such kind of 'protection'. Use a good brand like APC and you may also need a pure sine inverter output (not a cheapo one that is called step-up or 'modified' sinewave). Some devices require a pure sinewave power source.
Blame my inverter? Why did you assume that I use cheap UPS units? I've used only APC & Triplett since my 1990s corporate computing days in San Francisco doing Windows desktop / Novell LAN support as a contract senior network administrator.

I have many other electronics units including a couple of budget mini amps and DACs, Including a 10 year old 12wpc Trends Audio T-amp that is my desktop audio unit. My $600 Teac A-H01 DAC/Amp died some time after a lightning strike hit a utility pole next to my house that took out one side (120v) of my 240v mains to the house. Didn't own the Toppings at the time.

And my Topping DX7s DAC/HAmp - built like a tank compared to the PA3 - hasn't missed a beat in spite of daily power surges, sags and outages. (In terms of electric grid stability and reliability, Panama is not like the U.S. and other First World countries.) To me, amps and DACs in the US$100 range and lower are throwaways - especially if, like me, you live in a developing nation where shipping to the U.S. for returns and warranty service is inconvenient and expensive.
 

BillH

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I bought a A30 and D30 through massdrop a year ago. No problems. They get heavy daily use as the family loves listening to my Hififman HE-4xx which is always connected to them at the family computer.
 

sajunky

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Blame my inverter? Why did you assume that I use cheap UPS units? I've used only APC & Triplett since my 1990s corporate computing days in San Francisco doing Windows desktop / Novell LAN support as a contract senior network administrator.

I have many other electronics units including a couple of budget mini amps and DACs, Including a 10 year old 12wpc Trends Audio T-amp that is my desktop audio unit. My $600 Teac A-H01 DAC/Amp died some time after a lightning strike hit a utility pole next to my house that took out one side (120v) of my 240v mains to the house. Didn't own the Toppings at the time.

And my Topping DX7s DAC/HAmp - built like a tank compared to the PA3 - hasn't missed a beat in spite of daily power surges, sags and outages. (In terms of electric grid stability and reliability, Panama is not like the U.S. and other First World countries.) To me, amps and DACs in the US$100 range and lower are throwaways - especially if, like me, you live in a developing nation where shipping to the U.S. for returns and warranty service is inconvenient and expensive.
I tried to blame an inverter, as we have power cuts every week. Electrical specialists of a darkness are well regarded, they are busy around the country installing illegal connections. Typically they throw hooks over the power lines to trip safety switches. These devices attempt to restore power few times before giving up. It brings all equipment under stress. Other times it is just for mining copper. In addition, South Africa is one of the country with the highest density of lightning strikes. Sometimes it s spectacular. I was witnessing in Johannesburg very rare storm where lightning strikes were triggered between different layers of clouds and nothing really touched earth. One strike was triggering a series of strikes on the sky and the longest series last for about 30 second.

So I do understand how is living in third-world country. RSA became the one since 1994, now the official landgrab without compensation is debated by politicians, but theft had been institutionalised from the beginning, so I can't use postal services anymore. I can't try with an option for return, I take purchasing decision based on user reviews like here on ASR.
 

ilovegold

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image1.jpeg


Just arrived 10 minutes ago. :confused: Is this fixable or DOA?

Edit: Companies reply was to send it back as it's DOA.
 
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Majestyk

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Seems to be a lot of DX3Pro failures in the forum here. (Even V2) I'd rather spend another $100 on a topping DAC that is more reliable and has better soldering.
 

beefkabob

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So I do understand how is living in third-world country. RSA became the one since 1994, now the official landgrab without compensation is debated by politicians, but theft had been institutionalised from the beginning, so I can't use postal services anymore. I can't try with an option for return, I take purchasing decision based on user reviews like here on ASR.

Theft was the institution in SA before 1994. SA has an ugly present but a much uglier past.
 
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