Review and Measurements of Topping D50 DAC

[jaytrinitron]

Are you a bat or a dolphin? If so, kudos on your typing skills !
If you're referring to the "hump" in the IMD graphs, then no, I would not expect that to be audible.
What do plan on pairing the D50/Dx7s with for amplification?



That roll off is supposed to be there - it's the anti-imaging filter. That is the DAC filtering out frequencies above 1/2 the sampling rate (I think a 24 bit, 44.1 kHz test signal is used here).

Thank you. Ok, so the roll off should be there, makes sense to filter out those frequencies. Yes, I thought the "hump" was detectable distortion. New to this audio thing and not sure what all of it means but I read elsewhere that the ol dac was superior to the d50 (based on Amir's measurements) because the d50 had higher distortion, and that was the only metric that a listener could actually hear. For amplification, I haven't decided yet. Definitely something transparent, sort of thinking about the massdrop thx aaa amp, depending on how it measures.

Oh also, will Amir ever do linearity measurements for the umc204hd? And does anyone know how variable the performance between units is?

 

[dc655321]

Yes, I thought the "hump" was detectable distortion.

It is odd, but I don't think it would contribute to an audible level. I think amirm has a theory about its origins, but no way to test without Topping's participation (disabling a "feature").

but I read elsewhere that the ol dac was superior to the d50

Where did you see this? Just curious...
Looking at their published specs, they should both perform similarly (i.e. very well).
What gear are you looking to drive with your future d50/ol dac + thx amp?

will Amir ever do linearity measurements for the umc204hd?

No idea Perhaps if someone sends him a unit to measure. Tag him and ask.

 

[amirm]

Oh also, will Amir ever do linearity measurements for the umc204hd?

I can but with so much backlog of new products to test, I rather get those done.

 

[jaytrinitron]

It is odd, but I don't think it would contribute to an audible level. I think amirm has a theory about its origins, but no way to test without Topping's participation (disabling a "feature").


Where did you see this? Just curious...
Looking at their published specs, they should both perform similarly (i.e. very well).
What gear are you looking to drive with your future d50/ol dac + thx amp?



No idea Perhaps if someone sends him a unit to measure. Tag him and ask.

Yeah I know Amir thinks it's a feature of something on the DAC chip but I was just wondering whether it would result in audible distortion.

As to the OL dac being better, it was from a comment on Reddit based off of Amir's review here of the ol dac and it stated that while the ol dac loses to the topping in every other metric it beats the topping in distortion, which is the only thing that would actually be detectable while listening.

 

[jaytrinitron]

I can but with so much backlog of new products to test, I rather get those done.

Thanks for responding! I love how active you are on these forums. Anyway, yeah, it makes sense to cover the backlog first. It would be nice to know though, because while it isn't pretty to look at imo it is very cheap and seemingly surpasses almost every DAC you've tested in the metrics you've tested it for. It's possible it could beat every DAC for only $79, provided of course that there isn't a lot of unit variability.

 

[Veri]

I was wondering, is the distortion shown here that also affects the dx7 and dx7s high enough to be audible? I was looking at the ol dac because the distortion is lower for it. Also considering the umc204hd for that low distortion but worried that at such low cost there would be a lot of unit-to-unit variability and mine would not measure as Amir's did (plus there are no linearity numbers for it). And should I worry about the sharp roll off in the d50 frequency response at 20 khz? I probably can't hear that high, but still...

Honestly both the OL Dac (or a used Grace Design SDAC if you find one) are superb value DACs (imo).

 

[Valorum]

Without having read through all of the previous pages, has anyone had any issues with their D50?

For some reason I decided to join the Massdrop for the D50, and it arrived just last week. I'm left to infer the damages were due to their poor packaging techniques, as the D50's box rattled around inside the package enough that it broke both anti tamper stickers.

The screen has two dead rows of pixels on the left side, and Massdrop offered only the following options:

1. Return the unit for a full refund
2. Accept a $50 refund and keep the defective/damaged unit

Other than that, it appears to be fully functional, and I especially like the auto on/off feature when you turn the PC on/off.

It seems to sound fantastic amped through an old Sony mini stereo. I was listening through the Focal Elear, haven't tried anything else yet.

I'm looking forward to a dedicated amp that pairs well with this DAC.

 

[bhigh]

Without having read through all of the previous pages, has anyone had any issues with their D50?

For some reason I decided to join the Massdrop for the D50, and it arrived just last week. I'm left to infer the damages were due to their poor packaging techniques, as the D50's box rattled around inside the package enough that it broke both anti tamper stickers.

My D50 from Massdrop arrived on Friday but I haven't opened it up yet. The outer box has some dings so I'm a little nervous about its condition.

I think you can get the D50 for a similar price to the drop on AliExpress. If not and you're willing to deal with MD again, it will probably come back soon. They seem to have Topping gear on a rotation.

 

[or965]

Hello amirm, first I want to thank you for testing dacs and post measurement .I have the topping d30 and it sound great,better then my meizu pro 5 with ES9018K2M chip but unfortunately after a year and two months,it start to have a noise in the right channel .Is the difference shown in the measurement between the d30 to d50 is audible ,Is the d50 sound better ?

 

[Veri]

Hello amirm, first I want to thank you for testing dacs and post measurement .I have the topping d30 and it sound great,better then my meizu pro 5 with ES9018K2M chip but unfortunately after a year and two months,it start to have a noise in the right channel .Is the difference shown in the measurement between the d30 to d50 is audible ,Is the d50 sound better ?

When volume matched? They likely sound just about the same..

 

[the gray lensman]

Its all about marketing, if you look at Amir's receiver from 20 years ago.... some of his prelim measurements show it being very good.
The reality is that computer technology has gotten incredibly advanced and we have reached our sonic capabilities years ago.
What has happened now is that the same performance that used to be available in expensive receivers only, is now available in much smaller and cheaper devices. Some of them even battery powered for a fraction of the cost!

But since many electronics markets are suffering and the audiophile market is a "luxury" market, many brands are still competing to sell "luxury" products based on the ideas of subjectivity.
The designs in the last years I figure have gotten worse because the performance of most off the shelf products is already so good that even looking at something like Yggdrasil's "poor" performance is unlikely to be audible vs a DX7 or D50. And in the case that there is a difference, you would only know it testing side by side with a high end pair of headphones.

 

[the gray lensman]

Holy cow! The $249 newcomer climbs into the ring and scores a quick knockout - and is ready to take on the big boys! The only thing missing is an extra 0 in the price! Look out Shiit!

 

[Veri]

Holy cow! The $249 newcomer climbs into the ring and scores a quick knockout - and is ready to take on the big boys! The only thing missing is an extra 0 in the price! Look out Shiit!

Don't give them any ideas

 

[amirm]

Hello amirm, first I want to thank you for testing dacs and post measurement .I have the topping d30 and it sound great,better then my meizu pro 5 with ES9018K2M chip but unfortunately after a year and two months,it start to have a noise in the right channel .Is the difference shown in the measurement between the d30 to d50 is audible ,Is the d50 sound better ?

Hello there and thank you for the kind words. I don't think from audibility point of view it makes sense to upgrade from d30 to d50.

 

[dheepak10]

Hello there and thank you for the kind words. I don't think from audibility point of view it makes sense to upgrade from d30 to d50.

Not even in the higher frequencies? Wow! What about Dynamic Range? D50 was in my wishlist and your comment makes me rethink now

 

[mrfluffy]

Just got mine.. is there a manual for this?

 

[Veri]

Just got mine.. is there a manual for this?

I believe manual documents come with the driver package.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gb3j98i552cliv2/D50 Manual and Driver.zip?dl=0

 

[myaleks]

This is may be not right thread for this question but I'm not sure where to ask it.
I don't have D50 but have NX4DSD (same 9038 dac chip) and I found this problem:

android phone (flac audio via foobar2000 player) -> NX4 -> Sennheiser HD650
Sound is average, like no-name headphones directly connected on phone via 3.5mm jack (lisening mp3 128kbps)

but when try:
Win10 PC (same flac audio via winamp player) -> NX4 -> Sennheiser HD650
Excellent sound with lots of details

Is problem in andorid software, or player or hadware of phone?

 

[RayDunzl]

Is problem in andorid software, or player or hadware of phone?

Is the NX4 receiving digital or analog output from the phone and PC?

 

[myaleks]

Digital (via usb) from both.