Archimago reviews Topping D10s

Audio Gear Talk
21

Currently? Will they ever be, if the current implementations are already essentially perfect?

We have to get away from the line of thinking where price is what we measure, instead of functionality.

22

Then we agree?

I am not buying or selling here. I am just happy that the current budget DACs sound really good and Iā€™m sure there are still marginal gains to be had but people can have a great sounding DAC / Amp set up for reasonably cheap (especially cheap in audiophile terms)

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23

Perfect? Perfect is in the ear of the beholder, no matter how it measures or what it costs. I can guarantee your perfect definitely isnā€™t mine.

24

Why would anyone in their right mind do that? (and for me it would be a short drive across the bridge). I guess thatā€™s a reason he only tests and reviews cheap equipmentā€¦

25

Well, yes, nothing in our sad world of trial and tribulation can be perfect, an attribute reserved to the divine.

I was using the term in a more operational sense, meaning ā€œas good as weā€™re ever going to getā€.

26

Youā€™re just trolling now, hoping no one will look. There are reviews for PS Audio ($6k), NAD ($2k), Chord ($2.5k) etc. This is how misinformation spreads.

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27

The most expensive DAC he reviewed is the $14,000 totaldac d1-six (which was, bluntly, lousy). One of the best DACs he reviewed was the $11,550 Mola Mola Tambaqui.

28

Well then I apologize for that. I guess at a glance (which is all Iā€™ll afford that site) it appears otherwise.

29

The full list of >$2000 DACs he has reviewed includes the previously-mentioned totaldac and Mola Mola as well as

So the answer to your question:

is that lots of people want an unbiased appraisal of how their equipment performs. Some people, however, would rather not know ā€¦

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30

And some people would rather just get on with listening to music which I wouldnā€™t be able to do if I sent him my Naim DAC V1 that sounds great sans knowing the measurements (though it is fed by a ā€˜snake oilā€™ Sonore renderer). Last time I enter a thread of this natureā€¦ best to you all.

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31

Peforms? You mean ā€œmeasuresā€. Amir is effectively deaf so I would not put any credence into his ā€œreviewsā€. Measurements mean very little if the component sounds badā€¦

32

And your basis for that statement is ā€¦?

33

Guys, come on. This is not about ASR.

34

Look at the volume levels in dBs he uses to test headphonesā€¦my ears would bleed!

35

You do understand that the headphone measurements are done with this

GRAS 45CA-10 Headphone Measurement Fixture
GRAS 45CA-10 Headphone Measurement Fixture800Ɨ744 38.9 KB

right?

We have, indeed, drifted off-topic.

Not sure what ā€œperfectā€ means. I have no objection to manufacturers (be they chip-makers, like ESS or AKM, or manufacturers like Chord or ā€¦ Topping) trying to improve their products.

One (I think reasonable) complaint is that (even the sharpest) anti-aliasing filter available in a lot of DAC implementations is not actually that sharp. Iā€™m not saying that one necessarily has to go to the extremes that Chord goes to. But I think thereā€™s validity in trying to go down that road, at least as an experiment.

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36

I hope you realize how nonsensical what you just said is. Heā€™s obviously not using his ears to measure headphones response.

37

Itā€™s depressing to see how each discussion goes back to debating the shape of the earth with people who think objective data is ā€œdangerousā€. Itā€™s just dark ages stuff. I can only hope itā€™s not all in vain.

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38

You do understand I was talking about his ears and his listening tests and not his test rigā€™s testsā€¦after all, I said he was deafā€¦not his listening rig.

39

Not entirely sure what any of this has to do with the Topping D10s. Itā€™s not like this irresolvable discussion hasnā€™t already been had on a number of previous threads.

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40

For obvious reasons, he doesnā€™t report a dB level for his listening tests. So, again, you are blowing smoke.