WolfX700 Measurement of Topping A90 Headphone Amp

[MalinYamato]

You get better sound from those headphones by buying different headphones. If you're going to spend hundreds of $$$ looking for better sound, keep the DX3 and buy some better 'phones.

LOL, funny fine tuned sarcasm -- waiting for your phone suggestion.

 

[ReaderZ]

You get better sound from those headphones by buying different headphones. If you're going to spend hundreds of $$$ looking for better sound, keep the DX3 and buy some better 'phones.

Hmm next debate will be can you hear the difference between Dx3 pro and top of the line headphone amp... Save for the ones DX3 pro lacks power to drive.

They sound juvenile over at head Fi, most times they wait for more knowledgeable source's to measure stuff and feed off of that.

Not for marketing purpose, you have smaller ones like DCA, Abyss, Fiio and up all the way to Sennheiser all doing their promotion on head-fi. It must be working.

 

[Sephula]

I'm not too worried about the price drop on the 789, because I figure Topping will most likely reduce the cost of the DAC since most people buying the one will want the other, and they'll be selling people 2 devices, instead of just one. We might even see a second price drop after the P90 releases, since then, people will be able to buy 3 devices. They'll probably drop the cost of the D70, too. And, that's what a lot of people are presently pairing with the 789. Matching the D70 to the cost of the 789 will keep it viable for a while, and give people another option than just their 90 series. That's what I'm thinking we'll probably see over the next several months, until things settle down over the holidays. By Black Friday, the 90 series will be a complete matching stack, and who knows, maybe they'll even allow you to purchase them together as a set, and save a little more. Would be nice.... We'll probably see a combo device release by then, too. For those who like all-in-ones. I anticipate a year of stiff competition, and I have no doubt that Topping will be topping a lot of people's list for the forseeable future to come.

Yup! Just as I predicted....
https://apos.audio/collections/apos-ensemble/products/apos-topping-90-ensemble

 

[seedragon]

Just got a pair of Focal Clears that I’m running off a Topping DX3 Pro. Been eyeing the A90 as an upgrade path. But I’m skeptical if I would appreciate a difference on such an easy to drive set of cans. The plan would be to use the DX3 Pro as my DAC/pre-amp. Might I hear an improvement?

 

[JohnYang1997]

Just got a pair of Focal Clears that I’m running off a Topping DX3 Pro. Been eyeing the A90 as an upgrade path. But I’m skeptical if I would appreciate a difference on such an easy to drive set of cans. Might I?

A50s maybe.

 

[Sephula]

Just got a pair of Focal Clears that I’m running off a Topping DX3 Pro. Been eyeing the A90 as an upgrade path. But I’m skeptical if I would appreciate a difference on such an easy to drive set of cans. The plan would be to use the DX3 Pro as my DAC/pre-amp. Might I hear an improvement?

I have the Focal Elex, and the A90. Any of the newly released Topping amps should more than satisfy. I got the A90 to pair with the D90, for that AK4499 chip. So, a better question is which DAC do you plan to use with it?

 

[seedragon]

I have the Focal Elex, and the A90. Any of the newly released Topping amps should more than satisfy. I got the A90 to pair with the D90, for that AK4499 chip. So, a better question is which DAC do you plan to use with it?

My plan was to use my DX3 Pro as the DAC.

 

[Sephula]

My plan was to use my DX3 Pro as the DAC.

My point was that the Topping A90 is very transparent. So, other than making your system louder, it will sound essentially the same. If louder is an improvement, then yes. If it's already loud enough, then you should consider upgrading the DAC in addition. Especially, a balanced DAC. Otherwise, I think you should consider something else, like a different headphone, instead.

 

[seedragon]

My point was that the Topping A90 is very transparent. So, other than making your system louder, it will sound essentially the same. If louder is an improvement, then yes. If it's already loud enough, then you should consider upgrading the DAC in addition. Especially, a balanced DAC. Otherwise, I think you should consider something else, like a different headphone, instead.

The loudness of my DX3 Pro is plenty right now. I borrowed a Bifrost 2 from someone so I’ll see if that makes any noticeable difference.

 

[Kiwiyu]

@WolfX-700 @JohnYang1997

Does SE in/BAL out have better SNR than BAL in/BAL out on A90? Does that mean it will sound better with SE in/BAL out ?

 

[Veri]

Does SE in/BAL out have better SNR than BAL in/BAL out on A90? Does that mean it will sound better with SE in/BAL out ?

No, these are still incredibly small improvements in SNR, no way it will actually be audible.

 

[Kiwiyu]

No, these are still incredibly small improvements in SNR, no way it will actually be audible.

Agreed. SE in/BAL out vs. BAL in/BAL out is 145db vs 138 db, about 5% improvement, but I don’t think it would be audible. I am using BAL in, might give SE in a try.

 

[dixter]

but the electrical chain is broken.... Bal in -> Bal out not SE in -> Bal out
its possible for SE in, if you are using a non Bal DAC and don't have the choice of sending out a Bal signal of the DAC to the amp but if your DAC output is Bal then that should be used for the Bal in to the Amp... the difference is the SE out of a non bal DAC utilizes the same ground point
where a Bal out of a Bal DAC has isolated grounding (return lines).. a true balanced circuit is just a math solution... all audio signals are sine waves of various frequencies and different level amounts.... so if you take a sine wave and invert the signal then add the two the noise will cancel out if the noise sine waves and co-sign waves are opposite in polarity and in phase... sine + co-sine = 0 one more fact... a Bal circuit has one amp stage for each Left and Right... so the actual signal output is twice of a SE amp stage... so the SNR ( Signal to Noise Ratio ) would be different simply because of the greater amount of the signal and the same amount of noise... so the SNR is greater with Bal circuits

 

[Kiwiyu]

but the electrical chain is broken.... Bal in -> Bal out not SE in -> Bal out
its possible for SE in, if you are using a non Bal DAC and don't have the choice of sending out a Bal signal of the DAC to the amp but if your DAC output is Bal then that should be used for the Bal in to the Amp... the difference is the SE out of a non bal DAC utilizes the same ground point
where a Bal out of a Bal DAC has isolated grounding (return lines).. a true balanced circuit is just a math solution... all audio signals are sine waves of various frequencies and different level amounts.... so if you take a sine wave and invert the signal then add the two the noise will cancel out if the noise sine waves and co-sign waves are opposite in polarity and in phase... sine + co-sine = 0 one more fact... a Bal circuit has one amp stage for each Left and Right... so the actual signal output is twice of a SE amp stage... so the SNR ( Signal to Noise Ratio ) would be different simply because of the greater amount of the signal and the same amount of noise... so the SNR is greater with Bal circuits

With many thanks -