DAC to the Future

[Fretless]

Thanks chaps. This is pretty much my thinking. The Hifiberry has the benefit of 2 separate oscillators for 44.1 and 48kHz which overcomes one of the main Raspi weaknesses over USB. £35.99 delivered from the Pi Hut. I'm veering towards the Khadas Tone Board over the D30. I've read some reports that there have been some component changes on the D30, but I need to dig further.

Anyway, I've just ordered the Hifiberry Digi+ Pro and will try this in the first instance with a cheap Chinese DAC I also have for emergency TV duties (not dissimilar to the Doc's '£5 DAC').

Simon, as a classical enthusiast you might want to pay more attention to the D30 as it offers DSD playback which is becoming increasingly popular in Classical circles.

I'm intending to swap the Topping into my office setup so that I can experiment with DSD downloads (needs a USB connection) from Channel Classics whose entire catalogue is available in that format.

Also I can't emphasise enough the importance of a good coax digital cable. My personal favourite is the Profigold Oxypure OXYA4801 which is an OCC link that avoids crystal boundaries within the copper structure - decreasing jitter effects.
Here on Amazon - can be found quite cheap on internet.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Profigold-Perf ... B004VS9S7I

Another good budget coax is the red one from Beresford.

http://www.homehifi.co.uk/S/trc-222.htm

As I said earlier. There is an LPSU from Topping which will drive both the D30 and a Pi player. Digital sources work noticeably better with sufficient, clean power and this is another reasonably-priced device I hope to add to my installation soon.

[Quarknosis]

I have a couple of the Oxypure OXYA 4801 cables available if anyone is interested. I prefer to use TIS as a digital cable over the Profigold but the price difference is significant.

I do wonder though how the Beresford cables would perform as a digital cable and also as a stereo pair.

[Fretless]

The Beresford is a nicely musical cable. My backup coax link.
I wish I could afford a TIS.
Maybe soon ....

[Fretless]

Just swapped the Topping D30 into the office in place of a Cambridge DacMagic 100 (same price class) & SBooster LPSU.

Even without linear power the D30 is significantly clearer and more dynamic than the Cambridge. Sharper stereo image and better insight into the music.

How much is a Topping D50 then ....?

[Simon Hickie]

Hi Fretless. Much good information, thanks. DSD is not something I'm familiar with, but it looks well worth investigating - claims of it being more analogue like are intriguing. More Topping D30 digging round needed I think. Thanks again.

[Fretless]

Jared at Channel Classics records and masters in DSD. So those download files are genuine Master-quality.

I have sat with him several times in his mastering studio and to hear a huge orchestra playing Mahler through his system there was breathtaking.

[karatestu]

How much is a Topping D50 then ....?

Why stop there. D70 anybody ?

[slinger]

If you like the D30, and you step up to the D50, you'll eventually want the D70. Might as well cut out the "middle-man" so to speak.

[Fretless]

Aargh!!!

Trouble is that the D30 has shown up the DacMagic 100 so severely, and the DacMagic Plus for that matter, that I don't really want to use them anymore.

Putting it up against the Musette could be interesting. Might save that for the weekend.

Question for the techies. The SBooster LPSU model that I have puts out 12V or 13V. Can I safely use it on the Topping D30 that needs 15V?

[29mile]

I have a couple of the Oxypure OXYA 4801 cables available if anyone is interested. I prefer to use TIS as a digital cable over the Profigold but the price difference is significant.

I do wonder though how the Beresford cables would perform as a digital cable and also as a stereo pair.

For me any NVA interconnect from SC up are superb digital interconnects. The original Soundpipe was quite stunning in my system from cdp to DAC. in some instances I found they performed better digitally than as analogue connections (eg SSP mk1 ).