astr0b0y Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Toppings newest DAC is already on Massdrop For quite a good price. I’m going to grab one. The previous model gets a great measurement write up on ASR so hopefully this will be similarly well built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray H Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Looks like a lot of amp/dac for the money, massdrop is adding more and more headfi lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astr0b0y Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 I’m excited by being able to use DSD256 via a Mac without having to resort to very highly priced DACs with specialised drivers, since this unit can handle 768kHz PCM it can accept DSD256 via DOP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suopermanni Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Wait, this Topping has DUAL ESS Sabre 9038 Pros?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 11 minutes ago, Suopermanni said: Wait, this Topping has DUAL ESS Sabre 9038 Pros?! No it's not the pro. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suopermanni Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Just now, Addicted to music said: No it's not the pro. Oh, okay. I thought that the 9038 only came in 'Pro'. I haven't checked the chip manufacturer page in a while so might have escaped my notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 http://www.tpdz.net/en/products/dx7s/index.htm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suopermanni Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 3 minutes ago, Addicted to music said: http://www.tpdz.net/en/products/dx7s/index.htm Ahh, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 7 hours ago, Suopermanni said: Oh, okay. I thought that the 9038 only came in 'Pro'. I haven't checked the chip manufacturer page in a while so might have escaped my notice. Im speculating that ESS has something to hide. They have pulled all there links of the WWW. They use to have a site for there product range but all that's now no longer and Google come up with nothing. They have a habit of not releasing info to the public domain. I stand corrected if I'm wrong, ESS require a manufacturer to sign a condition to disclosed information on there products. Looking at the OPPO105 and 205, even though the 2 players are very differently implemented in the 2 channel pcb. The measurements are almost identical: http://archimago.blogspot.com.au/2017/06/measurements-oppo-sonica-dac-ess-sabre.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenelectro Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 Anyone have specs for ES9038Q2M? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattLum Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 http://www.esstech.com/index.php?cID=423 has an overview and some numbers but to sum it up, and I quote: "The ES9038Q2M is a mobile version of the ES9038PRO", which I presume means it is optimised for low power/low heat applications in such devices as mobile phones and music players. Does this mean the numbers are not as good as the '38pro? Or - more importantly , that it doesn't sound as good? Not sure. I am sure that ultimately the implementation of a DAC chip ( the design of the circuits around it) and the output stage that determine the sound, rather than the THD or SNR of the chip it's self. So, even if it is not quite as good as a pro, and hence part of the reason the Topping seems such a bargain it may not sound the worse for it. I'll let you know when I try mine out in a couple of weeks! PS Cheaper on Amazon.com.au than on Amazon.com! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ittaku Posted May 21, 2018 Share Posted May 21, 2018 (edited) So any comment from anyone who bought one of these? I'm tempted to buy one just for experimentation. EDIT: I did buy one just for experimentation. Hope it doesn't take too long to arrive from amazon. It was only $624. Edited May 21, 2018 by Ittaku 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobes Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I bought one of the Topping D50 dacs - same dual ES9038Q2M dac chips as the DX7S but w/o the headphone amp for half the cost - and I'm amazed at how good it sounds. Really excellent sound and astonishing value at $320 shipped. The D50 does not have a built in power supply but relies on the 5V dc from usb (or seperate 5V source). I'm powering the D50 from an iFi USB3 hub - which generates a clean, super regulated, 5V from dedicated usb ports. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 28 minutes ago, Tobes said: I bought one of the Topping D50 dacs - same dual ES9038Q2M dac chips as the DX7S but w/o the headphone amp for half the cost - and I'm amazed at how good it sounds. Really excellent sound and astonishing value at $320 shipped. The D50 does not have a built in power supply but relies on the 5V dc from usb (or seperate 5V source). I'm powering the D50 from an iFi USB3 hub - which generates a clean, super regulated, 5V from dedicated usb ports. Have you compared it to any other dac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 On 21/05/2018 at 2:16 PM, Ittaku said: So any comment from anyone who bought one of these? I'm tempted to buy one just for experimentation. EDIT: I did buy one just for experimentation. Hope it doesn't take too long to arrive from amazon. It was only $624. Keep us posted please and please provide a link. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobes Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 12 minutes ago, Addicted to music said: Have you compared it to any other dac? I was downsizing my setup which included the PS Audio Directstream Jnr - a pretty nice dac which retails around $5.5K. Anyway, I bought the D50 to use after the DSJ was sold. I had both the D50 and DSJ in my system for a few weeks and setup both in Roon - which allows playing of the same track from both DACs at the same time. I could then switch the source switch on my preamp, match levels by ear, and compare. I sent native rates to both dacs - ie no upsampling or other DSP was used. I compared the two dacs via both my speaker setup and my Focal Utopia headphones. This looked like a bit of a David vs Goliath as the DSJ is literally 30 times the size of the D50 and closing in on 20x the cost at full retail. The result was very interesting. While the DSJ sounded great, dimensional and organic, on some material I preferred the D50 - which could sound more precise and transparent. The D50 was particularly impressive with live recordings. Of course the DSJ has features the D50 doesn't, like Bridge LAN input and balanced outputs - but as I said above, I think the D50 is an amazing bargain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 10 minutes ago, Tobes said: I was downsizing my setup which included the PS Audio Directstream Jnr - a pretty nice dac which retails around $5.5K. Anyway, I bought the D50 to use after the DSJ was sold. I had both the D50 and DSJ in my system for a few weeks and setup both in Roon - which allows playing of the same track from both DACs at the same time. I could then switch the source switch on my preamp, match levels by ear, and compare. I sent native rates to both dacs - ie no upsampling or other DSP was used. I compared the two dacs via both my speaker setup and my Focal Utopia headphones. This looked like a bit of a David vs Goliath as the DSJ is literally 30 times the size of the D50 and closing in on 20x the cost at full retail. The result was very interesting. While the DSJ sounded great, dimensional and organic, on some material I preferred the D50 - which could sound more precise and transparent. The D50 was particularly impressive with live recordings. Of course the DSJ has features the D50 doesn't, like Bridge LAN input and balanced outputs - but as I said above, I think the D50 is an amazing bargain. Thanks for the honest post. Youve probably seen me post this on other threads, but the D50 is an amazing value especially when you look at these measurements. https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-topping-d50-dac.2403/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 (edited) Does the D50 have "remote" or via the front volume control, or is it fixed? Can't find much on it. Apparently $199 on Massdrop This may start a stampede, https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-topping-d50-dac.2403/ Cheers George Edited May 22, 2018 by georgehifi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ittaku Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 14 minutes ago, georgehifi said: Does the D50 have "remote" or via the front volume control, or is it fixed? Can't find much on it. Volume control via the front and no remote, apparently very awkward. The DX7s is promising a remote in the future but it's still not available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobes Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, georgehifi said: Does the D50 have "remote" or via the front volume control, or is it fixed? 5 hours ago, Ittaku said: Volume control via the front and no remote, apparently very awkward. The D50 volume adjust is via a very small joystick type control - up/down for volume, left/right for source selection and mute at 5 o'clock. It's small because the dac itself is tiny. It works fine - has an acceleration function for fast change, or single press for 0.5dB steps. A rotary knob might be more ergonomic though lack the multifunction. I think its a cost/size concession - not an issue for me since I use a seperate preamp. Other than the slightly cheesy joystick control the D50 is very solid and nicely built. The main chassis is milled from solid and makes the unit surprisingly heavy for it's diminutive size - so cables don't drag it around. The OLED screen is very sharp but some of the fonts - status readout of sample rate and bit depth during playback - are small. Even the packaging is excellent - shaped foam cutout in a sturdy presentation box. Edited May 23, 2018 by Tobes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_M Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 I think I am going to pull the trigger on one of these! The Mass Drop listing mentions the D7s uses dual 9038 chips but are these confirmed to be the same mobile chips in the D50? Given the price difference I am hoping they are the desktop version... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobes Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 40 minutes ago, trippinonprozac said: I think I am going to pull the trigger on one of these! The Mass Drop listing mentions the D7s uses dual 9038 chips but are these confirmed to be the same mobile chips in the D50? Given the price difference I am hoping they are the desktop version... Both the D50 and D7s use 2 x ES9038Q2M - ie one chip for each channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_M Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 I bought the D50 as I will be using it as a desktop DAC and have no need for the extra circuitry. Sounds like an absolute steal for the money. I too have owned a DSJ and if you think it comes even close to it I am going to be a very happy man! How long did it take them to deliver yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volunteer sir sanders zingmore Posted May 23, 2018 Volunteer Share Posted May 23, 2018 I have a D10 and it is astoundingly good for the price. I think Topping are completely redefining what is possible at the cheaper end of the spectrum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddyev Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 1 minute ago, Sir Sanders Zingmore said: I have a D10 and it is astoundingly good for the price. I think Topping are completely redefining what is possible at the cheaper end of the spectrum Can you expand on what you mean by good for the price? Any comparisons? I will be in the market for a new dac as soon as I get my ultrarendu sorted. The plan is to get my streaming equal to or better than my cdp in what is now a pretty revealing system. I know dac tech is a movable feast these days but I was assuming I’d be spending $2k ish. Is a Topping going to approach that league? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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