RME ADI-2 fs against Topping D90SE

The following is the system I have the Topping D90LE setup on. Damn fine listening experience. I got this so I can listen in bed, the RAAL SR1a headphone is not bed friendly.

I think my streaming setup really pushes this to a very high level, even though the amp is not the best.

- Schitt Jotunheim R headphone amp (used $400)
- Topping D90LE DAC ($719)
- EtherRegen ($640) (I use this in reverse order)
- Sonore OpticalRendu ROON ONLY + LPS ($1400)
- Sony XDR FM tuner (modded $500)
- RAAL CA-1a headphone ($2000) + RAAL Jotunheim cable

I have a ’better’ DAC in the Musetec 005 which I need to listen more with 2 RAAL specific amps, the Schitt Jotunheim R and the incredible RAAL VM-1a. At this point I am leaning towards the Benchmark DAC3B and Topping D90LE for the headphones.

Matching gear is the most important consideration and comments in isolation about gear are "comments in isolation" 😀

@walkup

Mine has the AKM chip (2 yrs old) and is much more 3Dish than the Topping. I believe AKM are back in business and have developed a new chip even better than the previous but again the technology is moving fast and I find differences in units very hard to distinguish until you get up the ’ladder’ (with ladder technology).

there are numerous threads/posts here from experienced hands about what makes a dac sound good (or not so good)... it is a heck of a lot more than the specific d/a conversion topology choice

if you are curious to learn, search bar above is your friend, they are easy to find

I’ve never heard the d90 so can’t comment. I have the RME in a second system with Teddy Pardo power supply. I almost sold it after it was  broken within a month or so of ownership. It was 2D and analytical and not enjoyable, lean mids and not much harmonic richness like someone described above.

The strange thing is it’s very dependent on the power cord going into the amp it’s plugged into which for me is a CJ el34 amp. Once you find the right cord I goes from very digital to very smooth with rich tones, I hate this term but it was night and day. I run mine on NOS with everything flat.

I was going to sell the RME and just by accident I put the Harmonic Technology Magic power cord in the amp and the light presentation RME became big and full and analog sounding. Which is not how most describe the RME including myself. I also had an old Haronic Technology Fantasy 10 power cord which did the same thing just maybe a smaller degree but still a pleasant change. I have a JPS labs going into dac (Teddy Pardo) and Acoustic Zen Silver Ref 2’s going out of RME. I really think the RME is very cable dependent.

If it wasn’t for the HT cable going into the amp the RME would be long gone by now.

Interesting. I found by putting it on a thin bamboo platform with some MoonGel damper pads underneath the platform that it opened up. I also moved my speakers about until back to front staging got better. Not the best 3D but good enough for the price