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Post by julesd68 on Jun 6, 2020 11:06:17 GMT
Yes, me too ... Sure it will be great.
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alp
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Post by alp on Jun 6, 2020 11:10:46 GMT
I certainly will. Its in the hands of the French Postal Service, so I am not sure when it will actually arrive. Hopefully within the next week.
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alp
Rank: Trio
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Post by alp on Jun 15, 2020 17:41:12 GMT
I have had the Topping D90 for about a week now, so I thought I'd give an update.
Its surprisingly small - identical to my Caiman SEG but much heavier (its got a big power supply inside) - and seems well constructed. The remote is mainly useful as a volume control if you want too. There are various filter modes but the differences are subtle at best and I have ended back at the default Mode 3.
Out of the box the sound was more detailed, instruments precisely located and the ambiance of a concert hall could be heard. BUT, the sound was very harsh, rather like I had found from Volumio with one of the Caiman SEG settings. I really didn't like it. I did the obligatory USB cable/reclocker swapping to see if it made any difference but end-up where I started. This was with Volumio directly and via Squeezelite. I also noticed that playing music via the Volumio Squeezelite plug-in had drop-outs, clicks and sometimes sounded like the music was clipped on load transients. I eventually found-out the culprit was the default D90 USB driver that Squeezelite selected and selected another one [Hardware Device all software conversions] - wow, what a difference, all nasties gone and a smooth sound. I have not systematically tried them all. AFAIK with Volumio it just says USB:D90, without any choice, so I have no idea which driver it is using. However, even with Volumio the sound has mellowed, so there maybe there is also some burn-in going on (or burn-out of my ears).
Now it sounding very good and certainly an improvement on my modded Caiman SEG with Dorado PSU, which will shortly be looking for a new owner.
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Post by julesd68 on Jun 15, 2020 17:51:01 GMT
Excellent! Great to hear it has worked out for you.
I haven't tried the different filters on the D70 yet.
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Post by John on Jun 15, 2020 20:06:48 GMT
I agree the filters differences are small
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Post by MartinT on Jun 15, 2020 20:09:00 GMT
Same here, Reconstruction filters are subtle and cannot be used to correct faults.
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alp
Rank: Trio
Posts: 161
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Post by alp on Jun 28, 2020 12:19:56 GMT
Well this hi-fi lark is a funny old game. Triggered by Martin's comment about his LKS DACs XMOS USB interface being inferior to SPD/IF and the D90 also having an XMOS chip, I thought I'd try my RPI3/Digione and compare with the USB.
The USB chain is: ATB (Volumio/Squeezelite)->"Nordost" USB->iFi Silencer->Oehlbach reclocker->iFi Silencer->AQ Carbon USB->D90, cost excluding DAC, about £350.
The SPD/IF chain is: RPI3 (Picoreplayer)->Allo Digione->Belden Coax->D90, cost excluding DAC, about £150
I synched both players and did A-B listening between them using the D90 remote. The sound from the two is almost indistinguishable. The ATB chain has slightly better defined bass and slightly more ambiance to the sound, but without the AQ Carbon, would be inferior.
Not sure where to go next. Some options are:
SPD/IF: Digione Signature (£230), ifi Purifier (£150), AQ Carbon coaxial cable (£150) USB: Going to AES or I2S input to D90 using Matrix-X SPDIF (£300), Singxer SU-6 (£600) or even Mutec (£900) I2S: Ian Canada (£150) & short HDMI cable [Needs further investigation to see if this would work]
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Post by MartinT on Jun 28, 2020 12:47:30 GMT
You know I'm going to say Mutec MC-3 as you'll be taking the Asus USB (best) and outputting S/PDIF (best) via either AES or co-ax into the Topping.
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alp
Rank: Trio
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Post by alp on Jun 28, 2020 13:03:48 GMT
I would not have expected anything else! The Mutec price is the main hurdle.
One review of the D90 said the I2S input sounded the best. They used the Matrix-X.
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Post by John on Jun 28, 2020 14:14:20 GMT
From own take on the D70 the biggest upgrade was grounding the DAC The difference for me was not subtle
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alp
Rank: Trio
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Post by alp on Jun 28, 2020 14:32:57 GMT
Interesting. How did you do that, John? The D90 has a 3-pin IEC but I don't know if the ground is actually connected internally. Its actually the only unit that is not battery powered.
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Post by John on Jun 28, 2020 14:43:52 GMT
I am currently using the RTZ with AES grounding cable from Coherent You could also ground your pi or Tinkerboard with a USB grounding cable or go active and use a USB silencer I tried quite a few grounding boxes and this is my preferred choice it takes the DAC up a few levels Other grounding solutions are available my own experience is with grounding you get what you pay for
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Post by julesd68 on Jun 28, 2020 14:51:42 GMT
Is the Matrix one to consider?
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Post by MartinT on Jun 28, 2020 15:37:13 GMT
Interesting. How did you do that, John? The D90 has a 3-pin IEC but I don't know if the ground is actually connected internally. Its actually the only unit that is not battery powered. With grounding boxes, it's the ground plane you want to connect to, not chassis ground. You therefore use a spare digital connector like phono, BNC or AES and specify the correct grounding box connector or cable. I use a spade connector box for the EtherREGEN, USB connector for the Asus streamer, phonos for the Mutec and LKS. Each separate boxes, never connected together.
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Post by John on Jun 28, 2020 16:54:36 GMT
As Martin says anything electrical is making electrical noise it has to go somewhere, if it is ending in your audio signal, it is compromising your sound and you are not hearing it's true potential. Even a unit powered by a battery will cause ground plane noise that will usually end up in the signal.
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Morph
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Post by Morph on Jun 28, 2020 18:01:02 GMT
Hello First post. Thank you for letting me join the forum.
I recently purchased the Topping D90 MQA DAC and have been mulling over how to ground it. My grounding equipment is all Entreq and unless I've missed it they don't appear to offer a solution that would fit the D90. Can someone please recommend an alternative?
Thanks Dave
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2020 18:07:17 GMT
From experience with these topping dac's AES is the most desirable method of digital data transmission imho
Grounding leads can be made to fit Entreg and other grounding systems to, plus the build quality and performance of said leads takes a good step forward as well imho
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Post by John on Jun 28, 2020 18:10:16 GMT
If you are using the box that has banana connectors look at this page. www.entreq.com/products/eartha-cables-17667932You want the Atlantis Female, if not try Tony at Coherent System (this works best in my setup) or Andrew at Signal Ground Solutions.
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Post by John on Jun 28, 2020 18:11:39 GMT
I agree with Tony connecting with the AES is where the most benefits happen
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Morph
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Post by Morph on Jun 28, 2020 18:18:03 GMT
Ok chaps thanks for the pointers. I'll have a look at Coherent and Signal Ground Solutions as I'm not familiar with either of these companies. I suppose I could contact one of the Entreq distributors and discuss a custom AES. Thanks again.
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