Sandu, let me remind you your Topping D70s mqa review, because now you're lumping all previous Topping DACs into one "delta sigma" bag. At that time you said that the D70s (on 2x AKM 4497) had liquidity and holography, that in this respect it reminded you of R2R DACs and that in these respects it was better than the flagship Topping "D90 didn’t feel as liquid and as easy going as D70S sounded" and had "bigger soundstage in your room and it was more holographic and 3D". I still have the D70s and I think it's great, holographic and liquid, with strong bass and its good features are even stronger with the Pre90.
Hi Marcin, if you love your D70S, nothing stops you from loving it over and over again, not even some random TH-cam reviews. It's still a great converter and no, I didn't forget about it. It's a great unit.
@@Soundnews Good to hear it from you. As fas as D90 III discrete concerned - it might be killer DAC after you make proper room correction in it. I heard on/off room correction effect done with some old behringer processor and it was just stunning. You know, that old behringer, despite that it had crappy SMPS power supply and sounded "grey" all the time, it made such a huge difference with EQ on, it was like without EQ it sounded FLAT. The topping has state of the art power supply and I bet that with well made room correction it may sound 3x better in 99% of the listening rooms. Also it's tonality may be improved.
Thanks for the review, that's what I've been expecting since the D90 III Discrete was released. You mentioned Gustard R26, is it an overall better DAC compared to this new D90? And how about Denafrips Ares 15th? Because I was planning to upgrade my D90LE to R26 and Ares 15th came, and then this even less expensive D90 III Discrete came, I'm really not sure if R26 is still worth the extra money.
I don't know much about the D90 III Discrete, but the DX9 is definitely one of the best ALL-IN-ONE units around 1200. If this one has a similar sound...I understand your positive experience. The beautiful transparent esthetic of the DX9 was apparently boroughed with the D90 , a great addition if you ask me.
FAntastic review. Super insightful...It's crazy that I'm now considering this one after having replaced my D70 MQA with my Okto Research Dac 8. Curious to see if this one get close or surpasses it. Just nuts how fast things are moving with these devices. Side questions: what are those cool isolation feet you're using under the Topping? Thanks 🙏
Hey mate, those are Viablue UFO absorbers. Ever since using Class-A amplifiers of all sorts, heat dissipation became an issue and that's why I have a dozen IsoAcoustics and Viablue vibration absorbers around the house. A cooler case equals a longer service life and for me, that's a no-brainer.
Personal taste has a lot to do with these DAC choices, I still like the R26 a bit more since it awakes so much life in the midrange and makes everything so natural and easygoing. D90 III Discrete on the other hand is considerably more technical sounding, so it can still build a strong fan base.
Sure, it's always the Rockna Wavedream NET Roon Server/Music Server (4TB of storage)/Wired streamer/CD player and CD ripper. The output I'm using is usually the I2S or the USB.
@@SoundnewsThank you so much - trying to step down from sitting on the DAC/streamer fence for too long - your reviews are super helpful and I appreciate what you do.
@@CheekyFest I don't want to play with the income of the people watching my content, but the short answer would be: Yes. HiFiMan Serenade does wonders with the Arya Organic. If you can borrow one, I suggest you give it a try.
I really don't want people to arrive at my system (which I've been building for more than 10 years). However, after trying tons of preamps in my system, I can say that the only way forward for any DAC would be an active preamplifier, ideally one biased into Class-A or Class-AB operation using discrete components, with an overkill analog volume potentiometer biased again into Class-A or AB. Passive preamplifiers never worked well in my case. Cancel Reply
Ladder Bach, Musician Monoceros are unity gain (0dB gain) preamps, topping Pre90 has real 16dB gain ability (!) It is absolutely transparent with dead quiet, black background and zero character of it's own. 100% true to the source. With a tube DAC it sounds like the same tube DAC but stronger and bigger, the same with R2R DACs. These other preamps have slighly of their character (like very slight softening of high transients, not as black background). Pre90 is the best sounding neutral preamp I heard in my life and for D90 III discrete Is a must. Maybe only Benchmark LA4 is the alternative, but much more expensive.
I have done a bit of A/B comparison between the ADI-2 FS and the D90 Discrete (USB input) and I was in disbelief over the big difference in resolution and clarity, D90 D is fantastic in that regard. The D90 Discrete is held back by some mediocre coupling capacitors though, probably to create distance to their upcoming flagship D900.
I couldn't find how to change RCA output voltage from 2.0V to 2.5V mentioned in this video. I only see "0dB Level" setting (Setup Menu Item 9) that can be adjusted from 4V to 5V. My unit is on 0.39 firmware version. UPDATE: answering my own question, RCA voltage changes when changing Setup Menu Item 9 as well as XLR voltage, there's no separate RCA adjustment.
Hi, check the user manual, everything is explained in there. In simple terms, switch it off completely from the back, keep pressing the only button on the front panel and while you keep it pressed, turn it on with the switch on the back and you'll enter the most important menu, where you can enable the 4V or 5V output, enable or disable BT and PEQ and many other things. I wish Topping wouldn't keep this menu so secret, but it is how it is. PS: when you change the XLR output to 5V, it automatically changes the RCA output as well from 2V to 2.5V.
So good to see your videos again. Excellent review. This was on my top radar to get. Thanks for confirming what I thought already❤❤
Hi mate, thanks for making my day a better one.
Seems like a complete bargain.... ANOTHER awesome review...
Nice one DAC Man. 👍🏻
Hey Marcus, I missed your comments. I never forgot the nickname you gave to me, Thank You for that!
Sandu, let me remind you your Topping D70s mqa review, because now you're lumping all previous Topping DACs into one "delta sigma" bag. At that time you said that the D70s (on 2x AKM 4497) had liquidity and holography, that in this respect it reminded you of R2R DACs and that in these respects it was better than the flagship Topping "D90 didn’t feel as liquid and as easy going as D70S sounded" and had "bigger soundstage in your room and it was more holographic and 3D". I still have the D70s and I think it's great, holographic and liquid, with strong bass and its good features are even stronger with the Pre90.
Hi Marcin, if you love your D70S, nothing stops you from loving it over and over again, not even some random TH-cam reviews. It's still a great converter and no, I didn't forget about it. It's a great unit.
@@Soundnews Good to hear it from you. As fas as D90 III discrete concerned - it might be killer DAC after you make proper room correction in it. I heard on/off room correction effect done with some old behringer processor and it was just stunning. You know, that old behringer, despite that it had crappy SMPS power supply and sounded "grey" all the time, it made such a huge difference with EQ on, it was like without EQ it sounded FLAT. The topping has state of the art power supply and I bet that with well made room correction it may sound 3x better in 99% of the listening rooms. Also it's tonality may be improved.
Thanks for the review, that's what I've been expecting since the D90 III Discrete was released. You mentioned Gustard R26, is it an overall better DAC compared to this new D90? And how about Denafrips Ares 15th? Because I was planning to upgrade my D90LE to R26 and Ares 15th came, and then this even less expensive D90 III Discrete came, I'm really not sure if R26 is still worth the extra money.
I hope you will review the new Gustard X26 III and compare with Topping D90 III Discrete.
Your wish is my command ;)
Gustard x26 3 is more warm, dynamic, clear and above all sondstage is is better
I use the A90 Discrete as preamp
I don't know much about the D90 III Discrete, but the DX9 is definitely one of the best ALL-IN-ONE units around 1200. If this one has a similar sound...I understand your positive experience. The beautiful transparent esthetic of the DX9 was apparently boroughed with the D90 , a great addition if you ask me.
The D90 Discrete is even better in some areas, (especially on the technical level), but it trades the amazing headphone output of DX9 for this.
FAntastic review. Super insightful...It's crazy that I'm now considering this one after having replaced my D70 MQA with my Okto Research Dac 8. Curious to see if this one get close or surpasses it. Just nuts how fast things are moving with these devices. Side questions: what are those cool isolation feet you're using under the Topping? Thanks 🙏
Hey mate, those are Viablue UFO absorbers. Ever since using Class-A amplifiers of all sorts, heat dissipation became an issue and that's why I have a dozen IsoAcoustics and Viablue vibration absorbers around the house. A cooler case equals a longer service life and for me, that's a no-brainer.
Thx Sandu for awsome review..👍 is this d90 discrete on similar level like r26?
Personal taste has a lot to do with these DAC choices, I still like the R26 a bit more since it awakes so much life in the midrange and makes everything so natural and easygoing. D90 III Discrete on the other hand is considerably more technical sounding, so it can still build a strong fan base.
@Soundnews thx sandu👍
Thank you for the very thorough and informative review! Can you share what your music source was/is for this review?
Sure, it's always the Rockna Wavedream NET Roon Server/Music Server (4TB of storage)/Wired streamer/CD player and CD ripper. The output I'm using is usually the I2S or the USB.
@@SoundnewsThank you so much - trying to step down from sitting on the DAC/streamer fence for too long - your reviews are super helpful and I appreciate what you do.
Ive been using the A / D 30 pro combo with my Arya Organics since last summer. Pondering upgrading the topping combo next year ...
Amazing choice, but if I were in your stead, I would have one single word on repeat: SERENADE.
@@Soundnews that's around 900 UKP. I paid 600 for the 30' combo. Is that a worthwhile upgrade?
@@CheekyFest I don't want to play with the income of the people watching my content, but the short answer would be: Yes. HiFiMan Serenade does wonders with the Arya Organic. If you can borrow one, I suggest you give it a try.
have you tested the new gustard x26 iii?
We don't want to spoil my next DAC review, don't we? 😉
How does this stack up to the likes of SMSL VMV D1SE (original)? I've been thinking about getting a new DAC at some point.
Which you could compare to some of the Schitt Audio DACs like the BiFrost 2/64.
What preamp would you recommend or tried with when leaving this unit in DAC only mode? I'm looking at Ladder Bach and Topping Pre90.
I really don't want people to arrive at my system (which I've been building for more than 10 years). However, after trying tons of preamps in my system, I can say that the only way forward for any DAC would be an active preamplifier, ideally one biased into Class-A or Class-AB operation using discrete components, with an overkill analog volume potentiometer biased again into Class-A or AB. Passive preamplifiers never worked well in my case.
Cancel
Reply
Ladder Bach, Musician Monoceros are unity gain (0dB gain) preamps, topping Pre90 has real 16dB gain ability (!) It is absolutely transparent with dead quiet, black background and zero character of it's own. 100% true to the source. With a tube DAC it sounds like the same tube DAC but stronger and bigger, the same with R2R DACs. These other preamps have slighly of their character (like very slight softening of high transients, not as black background). Pre90 is the best sounding neutral preamp I heard in my life and for D90 III discrete Is a must. Maybe only Benchmark LA4 is the alternative, but much more expensive.
Is the D90 III Discrete the current top of the line DAC from Topping?
Together with the limited edition DX9, these two are their TOTL units.
How would it compare to Denafrips or Holo Cyan2 dac?
Never tried that one...can't say much about that comparison.
I have done a bit of A/B comparison between the ADI-2 FS and the D90 Discrete (USB input) and I was in disbelief over the big difference in resolution and clarity, D90 D is fantastic in that regard. The D90 Discrete is held back by some mediocre coupling capacitors though, probably to create distance to their upcoming flagship D900.
Does it have coupling caps in the signal path?
I couldn't find how to change RCA output voltage from 2.0V to 2.5V mentioned in this video. I only see "0dB Level" setting (Setup Menu Item 9) that can be adjusted from 4V to 5V. My unit is on 0.39 firmware version.
UPDATE: answering my own question, RCA voltage changes when changing Setup Menu Item 9 as well as XLR voltage, there's no separate RCA adjustment.
Hi, check the user manual, everything is explained in there. In simple terms, switch it off completely from the back, keep pressing the only button on the front panel and while you keep it pressed, turn it on with the switch on the back and you'll enter the most important menu, where you can enable the 4V or 5V output, enable or disable BT and PEQ and many other things. I wish Topping wouldn't keep this menu so secret, but it is how it is. PS: when you change the XLR output to 5V, it automatically changes the RCA output as well from 2V to 2.5V.