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Moving on from Topping D10 DAC

V

vinyl_paul

pfm Member
I wanted to play with digital music so I
- Ripped all my CDs to FLAC
- Bought a Topping D10 DAC for home office, where my "stereo" lives
- Bought an AK70 mkII DAP for travel

Got to say that I am enjoying it, alongside my record collection!

The Topping D10 DAC is very good but as it cost £65 new from Amazon, I am thinking I would like to try a step up in quality from the D10.

So, suggestions for the next run up the ladder?
(My amp is Creek Evolution mkI and my speakers PMC Twenty.23)
Thanks

Edit: Forgot to say that source for D10 is currently a RPi running Volumio
 
vinyl_paul said:
I wanted to play with digital music so I
- Ripped all my CDs to FLAC
- Bought a Topping D10 DAC for home office, where my "stereo" lives
- Bought an AK70 mkII DAP for travel

Got to say that I am enjoying it, alongside my record collection!

The Topping D10 DAC is very good but as it cost £65 new from Amazon, I am thinking I would like to try a step up in quality from the D10.

So, suggestions for the next run up the ladder?
(My amp is Creek Evolution mkI and my speakers PMC Twenty.23)
Thanks

Edit: Forgot to say that source for D10 is currently a RPi running Volumio
Click to expand...
It depends what sort of brand story you want and what budget you have. Is it pro studio, cottage industry, "analogue sounding", cult-of Rob Watts? A Benchmark dac 1 could be obtained second hand for not too much. Or you could go for a slightly higher end Topping model. Or perhaps a March dac1. Or perhaps an RME ad-2. There is so much choice. Technically slightly better performance can be obtained.

Alternatively if you are feeling a bit more technically brave something like a dsp antimode could give you digital room correction for not very much. This will make a far greater sonic difference, but involves a little more fiddling.
 
@adamdea Thanks for that reply - given me plenty to research!
To try to answer some of those questions:
Budget : about £500
Brand story(!): More 'cottage industry'/UK, definitely not pro studio

The Chord Qutest would be of interest, if only to try, but outside of my budget :-(
 
A used Chord Hugo can be had for around £400. Still a superb sounding dac (I prefer it to Hugo 2).
 
Topping D50 add linear power supply total about £250, may just blow your socks off!

Gary
 
Do you use the USB output from computer?

If so I’d recommend getting a listen to the Ciunas ISO-DAC. You can return it up to 30 days if you don’t like it.

It’s battery powered and fully isolated. Sounds very open and natural.
 
I never thought someone with PMC speakers could use a chinese dac.
That Topping has a sabre dac, so everything you buy it should sound better than that..
 
There is the Topping D70 - that does not use the sabre dac. More of a full size unit but still not expensive as these things go.
I have not heard it - so I can only go on reputation. I am considering it as a change from my CA DAC100. Will I hear a difference I wonder?
 
Sonci said:
I never thought someone with PMC speakers could use a chinese dac.
Click to expand...

The chinese DAC came first :) Playing around with RPi, and playing with digital.
Decided I like digital and so want to play more - hence this thread.
Chord Hugo is on my wish list if i can find it in budget!
 
JensenHealey said:
There is the Topping D70 - that does not use the sabre dac. More of a full size unit but still not expensive as these things go.
I have not heard it - so I can only go on reputation. I am considering it as a change from my CA DAC100. Will I hear a difference I wonder?
Click to expand...
Differences are often very small and not necessarily for the better. You need to check levels are matched before making a judgement. The CA 100 is a good Dac.
 
H20GNA said:
Topping D50 add linear power supply total about £250, may just blow your socks off!

Gary
Click to expand...
The D50 has been superceded by the D50s which fixes the (minor) measured issues with the original D50. Pretty hard to make an argument for spending any more unless you need more inputs (unlikely).
 
John Channing said:
The D50 has been superceded by the D50s which fixes the (minor) measured issues with the original D50. Pretty hard to make an argument for spending any more unless you need more inputs (unlikely).
Click to expand...
I guess you might want a balanced out or headphone. But otherwise this is pretty splendid
 
You could also consider the Topping DX3 Pro. It comes with an XMOS XU208 USB chip and dual AK4493 DACs. It's slightly less than the D50.
 
What about the old, but classic?, Audiolab M-DAC (now replaced by the M-DAC+)
Quite old now but got great reviews in its day - and plenty around secondhand?
 
There's the new Topping D70 which does just about every trick in the book for a DAC and has good reviews so far. List price is $500, but is found online for $400.
 
vinyl_paul said:
What about the old, but classic?, Audiolab M-DAC (now replaced by the M-DAC+)
Quite old now but got great reviews in its day - and plenty around secondhand?
Click to expand...
Yes it's a good dac. Lots of features if you like that kind of thing. It has a slightly annoying bug which locks the left channel if you leave it on. It is the subject of the longest thread in human history. It has the world most extensive (although as yet theoretical) upgrade path complete with both a devotional cult and a lynch mob.
 
adamdea said:
Yes it's a good dac. Lots of features if you like that kind of thing. It has a slightly annoying bug which locks the left channel if you leave it on. It is the subject of the longest thread in human history. It has the world most extensive (although as yet theoretical) upgrade path complete with both a devotional cult and a lynch mob.
Click to expand...

adamdea. Spot on reply. I can't stop laughing. :p
 
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