amazon DAC Topping D10 reviews
DESIGN AND FINISHING
Unlike most other low-cost audio devices on the market, Topping D10 is fully FCC / CE certified (quality certification for consumer electronics issued by the United States and EU). that these devices will work safely and are of good quality to be delivered to users. In addition Topping D10 also meets the Hi-res standard of the Japan Audio Association. It is undeniable that standard products always have more trust and safety.
Although aiming to become a desktop DAC, the Topping D10 is quite modest in size, even it fits in the palm of your hand. This is very beneficial when used in small spaces, you can place the Topping D10 anywhere on your desk, on a bookshelf or anywhere without worrying about bulky space.
Although the price is just over $100, the mechanical processing on Topping D10 is still very good. The entire Topping D10 case is made of sturdy aluminum that is painted black. The surface of the case is still revealed that the aluminum milling lines, not completely smoothed, add to the rigidity of the appearance of Topping D10.
On the front of the Topping D10 we have a screen displaying information about the Sample Rate (sampling rate of the currently playing song) which is quite large. The orange backlight gives a good contrast to the black background, making it easy to see.
On the back, we only have one input signal is miniUSB. Besides, we have 1 Optical port, 1 Coaxial port and 2 RCA ports left and right to output speakers or amplifiers.
You may mistakenly think that both Optical and Coaxial ports besides are also inputs but that is not the case. These are essentially two digital output ports of Topping D10 for other peripherals. Topping D10 will only work when you use the mini USB port only.
CONFIGURATION
Inside the Topping D10 is a very powerful decoding hardware, which can be said to be the strongest in the price range of $100 so far.
Equipped with XMOS signal receiving chip XU208 combined with ESS ES9018K2M DAC chip of Topping D10 decoding ability to reach the peak of almost all digital music limits. Capable of decoding up to PCM 32bit / 384kHz and DSD256 Native comfortably handle your digital music store.
A special feature on the Topping D10 that few people pay attention to is that this DAC absolutely does not need a separate source. It also has no battery on the inside. All power supplied to Topping D10 will be taken via the USB port on the back. This is quite convenient because you will not have to worry about the power supply attached to the machine anymore.
The good news for DIYers who love to dab their devices is that the Topping D10 is capable of changing the Opamp in DAC. This is a very elegant hobby of DIYers because it has the ability to significantly change the sound quality of the DAC.
However, if you are not technically proficient, I recommend that you do not touch because wrong operation leads to equipment failure and self-opening will lead to loss of warranty benefits.
PERFORMANCE
The performance measurement part of the Topping D10, I would like to be quoted from the Audio Science Review Forum, where every device is dissected in the most objective viewpoint instead of simple advertising.
“Because the Topping D10 has only USB input, I will only run a fraction of the usual tests. In this article, I will compare Topping D10 with the Behringer UMC204HD and sometimes both Schiit Fulla 2. The Behringer has a very good DAC but has a very low sound level so it cannot pair with some amps, at the same time it looks very professional and does not get too expensive. overcome all these shortcomings but consider specifically with Jitter and noise index:
As we can see, the Topping D10 has a few jitter peaks around the 12kHz region, so in this respect it may be inferior to the Behringer. However, if we look at the amplitude part, we can see that the capacity of Behringer is weaker. Therefore, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of Topping D10 will be better than that of Behringer and the faulty jitter at -130dB is too low to affect the audible sound.
Topping D10 reproduces sine wave at -90dB clearer and more rounded.
This shows that the Topping D10 has better power so the sound is not distorted even at low volume.
Let’s take a look at the harmonic distortion, where the Behringer wins absolute.
We can see that the Behringer does not have too much harmonic distortion because its background noise is higher. However, all the harmonics created by Topping D10 are less intense than the Behringer produces. Therefore, Topping D10 has better performance.
Measuring the output power on a channel, there is no power drop at 20kHz like Schiit Fulla.
Summarizing after a series of measurement tests, the Topping D10 is clearly a very good DAC. I don’t understand how they can create such a quality product at such an unbelievably cheap price. ”
where can you get a DAC Topping D10 online
TOPPING D10 Mini USB DAC CSS XMOS xu208 es9018k2m opa2134 Decoder Audio Amplifier: Buy it now
Topping D10 Mini USB DAC CSS XMOS xu208 es9018k2m opa2134 Decoder Audio Amplifier: Buy it now
Basicest Topping MINI USB-DAC D10 CSS XMOS XU208 ES9018K2M Audio Decoder Amplifier (Black): Buy it now
Calvas NEW TOPPING D10 MINI USB DAC CSS XMOS XU208 ES9018K2M OPA2134 audio amplifier Decoder: Buy it now
EXPERIENCE AND SOUND
Because Topping D10 is a pure DAC, when listening to you will have to pair with amplifiers or external speakers, the experience of sound quality may not be the same on all devices. In this section, I will talk about the characteristics of the sound as well as the ability to peel off the instrument of the Topping D10 instead of pointing out the sound details in each band.
The first experience is unplugged. I will combine Topping D10 with the Aune S7 headamp. Simply plug the USB cable into the computer, the Topping D10 will automatically start without any control operation.
If you use Windows 10 or MacOS, the computer will automatically recognize Topping D10 without installing drivers. For older versions of Windows, you must visit the Topping home page to manually download and install the driver.
The sound of Topping D10 for those who have heard the hi-end DAC is not surprising. But I believe that for newbies, the D10 will help you recognize many things that have never been heard before. The overall sound created by Topping D10 is very balanced and natural, without adding color to the track. The level of detail and clarity increases significantly when compared to popular media players like phones or soundcard-onboard computers. The tonal strips become tidy, better controlled. The ability to layer is not as excellent as the hi-end DAC but it is enough to keep the old music from being too mixed together. The sound and soundstage are quite good when compared to the hi-end DAC but it is too good compared to the same DAC.
CONCLUDE
With a price of only about $100, Topping D10 is confident that it is the best DAC in the world that you can find now. It is very well calibrated at a technical perspective, extremely durable and intuitive design as well as excellent sound quality in the price range. If you are a beginner to play sound or simply want to upgrade the quality of your family’s speakers without spending too much, Topping D10 is what you need.