Topping RD3 TP Balanced DAC Review

[F1308]

You guys have beloved ones?
So 20th century...

Yes, thanks God.
Regardless, “It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness".

 

[F1308]

Finally, something bigger than a pack of cigarettes that measures well. I dislike components that can be dragged off of a shelf by cable weight alone.
Yes, all of my gear is 19" rackmount and yes, I'm old.

Time for wireless.
Everything wireless.
Probably the next step as we are stuck in front of 125 dB.
No RCA.
No TRS.
No XLR.
No USB.
Wireless.

 

[Redman43]

Good performance. But that amount of wasted space and material removes it as a contender for my system. I like small HIFI because I listen to music and do not care how machines that make my music look. They are hidden behind tinted glass anyway.

 

[Music1969]

Would be better if the rackmount ears where screwed to side, like Focusrite.

Then can unscrew for home use and this looks like a nice DAC on home rack.

 

[renaudrenaud]

As I wrote in the amp thread, it's time to buy a 10$ Ikea Lack table to install the electronic gear inside.

But I am totally unable to buy these components right now. Some links?

 

[IamJF]

This would be a nice unit to add some USB inputs to my old analog DJ mixer!
Or just buy D10s or PO100AK and hide them in the rack ... what do you think?

 

[IamJF]

I wonder what market segment this TP line is meant for. They are rack mount, but the RA3 is only 50ish wpc at 8 ohms before the knee, which is no where near enough power for public space applications.

Home cinema rear/hight channels. Background music speakers in bars/kitchens/ ....

 

[Bleib]

I wonder what market segment this TP line is meant for. They are rack mount, but the RA3 is only 50ish wpc at 8 ohms before the knee, which is no where near enough power for public space applications.

Well. The RA3 measures similar to PA5 and Amir didn't exactly say in the subjective part that it lacked power..

As I wrote in the amp thread, it's time to buy a 10$ Ikea Lack table to install the electronic gear inside.

But I am totally unable to buy these components right now. Some links?

https://topping.aliexpress.com/store/3215067?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.61c7hIothIots7

But it seems to add additional costs to buy through aliexpress (at least in Sweden?), not really interesting.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Thanks…nice form factor and I hope I am correct in saying that the rca output can be use for a subwoofer, which if true is a wonderful feature all for 229…

 

[Rednaxela]

Very nice.

Would go quite well with a (my) DEQ2496 looks-wise, while adding proper DA conversion and volume control.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Also you gonna need some pretty short rack handles for this unit

 

[RichB]

Nice DAC with trigger in and out. Excellent.

- Rich

 

[boxerfan88]

Can the RD3 output XLR & RCA simultaneously?

 

[JeremyFife]

It's an interesting direction for Topping, quite intrigued to see what comes next.
Measures OK (pretty good really) and has a style to it. Good value. It's not for me personally - form factor more than anything - but it's interesting.

 

[amirm]

Can the RD3 output XLR & RCA simultaneously?

Yes.

 

[nick-v]

These look like a great cost effective option for adding 4 extra channels (2 of them) to a Trinnov Altitude 16.

 

[Doodski]

USD $229 seems a good deal for sure! I still prefer my compact DAC that is mere inches wide and long so it fits nice behind the monitor but for this level of performance I would go with the rack mount option from Topping.

 

[DearSX]

So it looks like this DAC's performance is about the same as the SMSL-SU1? Also there should not be an audible difference between this DAC and the best Topping DACs?

 

[jomo]

Thanks for the review, but isn't this being a bit generous with the golfing panther? The Toslink and Coax jitter is average at best.

It's funny how the language changes in a Topping review. "There is a good deal of jitter over Toslink/Coax"...."Unlikely to be audible" when talking of a Topping. So "a good deal of jitter" is about as much jitter as an average AVR DAC?

For a Pioneer LX-505 AVR, "Jitter performance was poor for either digital input...".."Highly correlated jitter". Yet the jitter over Toslink was essentially identical to the Topping. And where is the "unlikely to be audible" comment in the Pioneer review?

Let's call a spade a spade and be objective and consistent on the review language. The data speaks for itself.

 

[Spocko]

i'm heavily in the SMSL camp but this is hard to justify

i'd prefer XLR over TRS, the display on the Topping miles better than whatever segment display SMSL stole off a $10 clock radio

I do agree the topping twins are fashion over form... they dont need to be 19" wide... i'd rather they did two 9.5" wide units and gave you the option to stack or side by side

and yeah i think sub $500 usd for both of the toppings is amazing for what you get

let's see if they are durable long term

Since Topping has the DAC design nailed, it's just a matter of delivering a variety of cases/features to fit different use cases - all of them sub $500!
As far as durability, I imagine DACs are pretty durable as a class of electronics when kept simple with only the most basic functions like this one (power amplifiers on the other hand...)