Comparison of latest DAC chips

@daledeee1 It does not need a manual.. Any audiophile worth his/her salt will figure out its menus, the menu is very simple .....
It will turn on without interconnects, you need to to turn the AUTO setting OFF from the MENU option....

I suggest give it at least 250 hours of break in with music (not just keeping it plugged in) for "serious" evaluation.... But even right out of the box that thing is something extraordinary one can tell !!! AND FUN!!!! Enjoy !

Hey daledeee1,

am in similar shoes as you. Have the Bluesound node 2i and am considering adding a topping d90 to the chain. Would you let me know if there was a noticeable difference in the sound when listening to Bluesound node 2i direct as against when listening through topping d90, and was that difference for the better in terms of over all sound quality? Any negatives of adding the d90?

thanks!

Hi charan11. 

I have listened to the D90 about 4 hours so far. This is the first stand alone DAC I have ever owned. 

I don't want to down play the Node 2I.  I think it is a pretty good item considering it cost me $420, 

I bought a $30 coax and plugged in the Topping into the Schiit Aegir power amp. Right out of the box it sounded better. There is a way to bypass the preamp but for now I am running it at full volume. I haven't spent much time evaluating the 6 filter settings. It has a better, wider, taller sound stage with accuracy and clarity.  Differences in placement of percussion is easily recognized.  Good tight bass, wonderful piano and vocals which I think are difficult to get right.  Bass guitar string vibrations I have never heard before.

I am kind of rusty on all this audio stuff since I just replaced my whole system in the last few months.  Oh how times have changed.  I have a kind of old school speaker set up.  Big Bob Crites boxes with horn mid and tweeter with a couple powered sub woofers There is no evidence of speaker anywhere in the listening experience.

There are several other brands to look at, most cost more.  From what I have been reading and am experiencing, value and performance is pretty high with the D90. 

Apos Audio is excellent to deal with.  I got my piece from Hong Kong is 7 calendar days.  They price matched, kept me updated, helped me with operator error, added a year warranty and have 30 day return.  They don't sell a wide variety of stuff but are good to deal with.

Thanks Daledeee1! Thats very helpful! Especially happy to hear that the DAC does a good job with vocals👍 They are always difficult to get right. 

There are R2R DACs that beat Delta Sigma DACs, and some Delta Sigma DACs that beat R2R DACs.  So it’s not so much as the technology type used but the “execution” that is different.  

However, it does seem that as you move up the food chain $, R2R DACs appears to be more prevalent as the preferred choice.

Also, as with most things tech, I’d expect better and better DAC chips will be introduced/upgraded over time.