Topping D90 Balanced USB DAC Review

[nelamvr6]

Ive already got the D90 and I love love it-The only thing I don't love is having to stand up constantly in order to go to my laptop to change tracks. Hoping I can just control it all from the comfort of my chair with an android phone. Hopefully, that's where the RPI will come in. Forgive me for being a complete noob but are roon and ropieee the same thing? Do you have to pay for a subscription?

Thanks

No, Roon is the service, RoPiee is a Linux distro that you can use as a OS for the Pi that creates a Roon end point very easily. In fact literally within minutes in my case. But Roon is not free. I absolutely love it, I in fact love it so much I bought a lifetime subscription. I know that there are ways to use a Pi as a streamer without using Roon, but I'm afraid I can't really advise you on those, all I've ever used with my Pi is Roon.

I do know that Roon has free trials, you may want to check it out. It functions as a library manager and much more. It really is fantastic.

 

[Charles_b]

No, Roon is the service, RoPiee is a Linux distro that you can use as a OS for the Pi that creates a Roon end point very easily. In fact literally within minutes in my case. But Roon is not free. I absolutely love it, I in fact love it so much I bought a lifetime subscription. I know that there are ways to use a Pi as a streamer without using Roon, but I'm afraid I can't really advise you on those, all I've ever used with my Pi is Roon.

I do know that Roon has free trials, you may want to check it out. It functions as a library manager and much more. It really is fantastic.

Many thanks,
I think I'm going to give it a go.
Regards,
Charles

 

[nelamvr6]

Many thanks,
I think I'm going to give it a go.
Regards,
Charles

Good luck! Roon has a very good support community, including forums specifically on Raspberry Pi and RoPieee: https://community.roonlabs.com/

 

[VNV73]

I need your help.
I cannot correctly install the driver on a PC running Windows 10.
Tried installing the latest driver 4.86.
According to the driver installation guide, during the installation process, at the third step, a window should pop up prompting you to install Thesycon Software. But this proposal does not appear for me. Accordingly, after installation in the Device Manager I have two unknown devices.
Earlier I had a similar problem when installing the driver on the E30. The original driver could not solve this problem. I then downloaded and installed various USB drivers from third party DAC manufacturers and with one of them the Thesycon driver was installed. But now I don't remember which one.
Who knows how to solve this problem?
Thanks.

 

[trondav]

30 days of free testing of Roon - it is worth it! I have been a lifetime subscriber for over 2 years now. It is quite an fantastic product and I explore lot's of great music I was not aware of. Roon Radio is superb. Here - give it a try: https://roonlabs.com/r/77opnHDwskihe08eHeVeGg

 

[meep-sama]

Question about upsampling:

I have read that in some DAC's there is automatic upsampling, and some you have to manually set the rate you want it upsampled to. Do we know what is the case with the d90?

 

[Veri]

Question about upsampling:

I have read that in some DAC's there is automatic upsampling, and some you have to manually set the rate you want it upsampled to. Do we know what is the case with the d90?

AKM4499 does 128x Oversampling in a 32-bit filter. By default.

 

[bogi]

Question about upsampling:

I have read that in some DAC's there is automatic upsampling, and some you have to manually set the rate you want it upsampled to. Do we know what is the case with the d90?

The more you upsample in software player, the less will remain on DAC. In the case of direct DSD mode you skip complete oversampling and hardware delta sigma modulation. Would you hear such a difference? Only you could answer that. Try it and you will know. It's like a sound difference between two DACs. For someone important, for someone unimportant.

 

[AlfieFroud]

Topping is currently on holiday. Will be back to work in a few days.
So far, my guess would be the change in signal chain for MQA implementation. (no matter what, I hate MQA) Whether it's fixable or not, I'm not sure yet.

Have all the issues for the D90 MQA been fixed? I’m waiting for mine to be delivered but I’m wondering if I should return it and purchase the standard D90.

 

[UCrazyKid]

No issues with my D90 MQA with the latest f/w. I've used it everyday for 4 months.

 

[Dclone]

Have all the issues for the D90 MQA been fixed? I’m waiting for mine to be delivered but I’m wondering if I should return it and purchase the standard D90.

No problems at all with latest fw and driver. Works flawless and sounds amazingly good!

 

[nelamvr6]

Have all the issues for the D90 MQA been fixed? I’m waiting for mine to be delivered but I’m wondering if I should return it and purchase the standard D90.

What issues? I've had no issues...

 

[hmscott]

Have all the issues for the D90 MQA been fixed? I’m waiting for mine to be delivered but I’m wondering if I should return it and purchase the standard D90.

You replied to an email from May 1 2020, that's way too old - you could have read further and caught up to the present before posting that question, you would have found these posts, also by @JohnYang1997 :

Hello, lovely people.
If you are current Mac user with MQA version of D90, would you please try out this package for me? I would love to hear any feedback on how the upgrade works.
It would be better to know your current Mac version. If you know better, is there any changes made from 10.12 to 10.15? Thanks in advance.

Only MQA version of D90 HAD issue with Mac. It's already long been solved. No issue for D90 normal version since day 1.

I applied that D90 MQA only for Macintosh OS only firmware update when it came out - and I didn't even have a Macintosh then - but now I do - a Macbook Pro M1 recently arrived. I'm still setting up - I'll post any issues I find, but I don't expect to find any problems as there have been no MacOS related issues posted since way back in May 2020...

Here is the firmware update for the D90 MQA *only* on Toppings support page:

Spoiler: D90 MQA Only Macintosh Only Firmware Update - Details

D90 MQA version V1.24 firmware update
This firmware is only for D90 MQA version. This firmware add 32bit support to D90 MQA version at USB input. If firmware of your D90 MQA version already V1.24, then you needn't do this update. Standard version of D90 already support 32bit at USB input so you needn't do this update either.

Please noted that standard version D90 is not able to add MQA support by this firmware, flasing this firmware to standard version of D90 may caused irreversible damage. So if your D90 is a standard version, please DO NOT try this firmware.

Firmware and tools for Windows: Download here (This update requires a Windows 10 OS with V4.82 drivers installed. V4.82 drivers could be download here).
Firmware and tools for MAC: Download here

If you have questions about the upgrade of your D90 MQA version, please contact us before updating this firmware. 2020-07-01 11:19

Spoiler: Windows only Driver download

V4.86 driver for E30, D10, D10s, D50, D50s, D70, D90, DX3 Pro, DX7 Pro.
Drivers for Windows 7 or above (MAC, IOS, Android needn't a driver)

Version: V4.86.0
Download here

Please noted that this driver is not for D30 and DX7(DX7s is OK). 2020-08-15 16:13

My D90 MQA + A90 after 7+ months of use still sounds great.

 

[Deleted member 23424]

Hello

First post, long time reader, idiot question incoming.

I'm feeding some Revel M16 (you lot's fault) with a Topping D90 (also you lot's fault). I've recently sold my integrated amplifier and am expecting a NAD C270 power amplifier to arrive this week.

Idiot Question #1:*
Can I safely run the D90 straight into the power amp using Pre Mode?

I understand that this would not be optimal in sonic terms, but I can't afford the Pre90 until after Christmas and we need some Christmas tunes in the interim.

* I have little doubt there will be more Idiot Questions to follow.

 

[BDWoody]

I understand that this would not be optimal in sonic terms, but I can't afford the Pre90 until after Christmas and we need some Christmas tunes in the interim.

It is actually likely the optimum solution. Adding another component won't make it better... The D90 is great in that role, and many simply go straight to powered speakers or amps.

No need to wait to fire up that Christmas spirit!

Volume controls on DAC"s makes them a lot more versatile. Doesn't cost anything in terms of sound quality.

There are no dumb questions here. There's a lot of misinformation out there, so glad you asked.

Cheers.

 

[AndyLu]

Hello

First post, long time reader, idiot question incoming.

I'm feeding some Revel M16 (you lot's fault) with a Topping D90 (also you lot's fault). I've recently sold my integrated amplifier and am expecting a NAD C270 power amplifier to arrive this week.

Idiot Question #1:*
Can I safely run the D90 straight into the power amp using Pre Mode?

I understand that this would not be optimal in sonic terms, but I can't afford the Pre90 until after Christmas and we need some Christmas tunes in the interim.

* I have little doubt there will be more Idiot Questions to follow.

There should be no problem at all connecting the D90 directly to your power amp. Be careful you put the D90 in PRE mode FIRST and on a low volume! If you connect it to the Power Amp in DAC Mode you will get full blast and you don't want that!

 

[Deleted member 23424]

There are no dumb questions here. There's a lot of misinformation out there, so glad you asked.

Cheers.

You ain't seen nothing yet.

Thanks for the reply. My concern was that the dac output may not be sufficient for the amp, Bing Crosby here we go!

So, what is the point of the Pre90 if it doesn't offer an improvement on the straight dac connection? Don't get me wrong, I'll gladly spend the £500 elsewhere on my rig, but I'd considered the Pre would be essential in my setup.

 

[Deleted member 23424]

There should be no problem at all connecting the D90 directly to your power amp. Be careful you put the D90 in PRE mode FIRST and on a low volume! If you connect it to the Power Amp in DAC Mode you will get full blast and you don't want that!

Tbh, I put it in pre mode within 10 seconds of buying the power amp. Not that I don't trust myself to remember.

 

[BDWoody]

So, what is the point of the Pre90 if it doesn't offer an improvement on the straight dac connection? Don't get me wrong, I'll gladly spend the £500 elsewhere on my rig, but I'd considered the Pre would be essential in my setup.

So you can connect other analog components. Think of it more as a switch to transfer between sources, and control volume. If you already have volume control, and no other sources, you don't need one.

 

[Deleted member 23424]

So you can connect other analog components. Think of it more as a switch to transfer between sources, and control volume. If you already have volume control, and no other sources, you don't need one.

Fair enough. I thought I'd read that the D90 didn't perform as well in PRE mode. Either way, thanks, I was panic hovering over the buy button on a pre.

I'm at work at the moment so can't check, is there a safe volume setting in the D90's menu? My other half doesn't pay much attention when turning things on.