A $99 BARGAIN! The TOPPING D10s DAC (and USB-S/PDIF converter)

Camera: Olaf von Voss | Editor: John Darko | Motion GFX: John Darko | Ad segment: Jana Dagdagan

What are those metal cylinders on top of my gear?

Topping D10s:

Schiit Modi 3:

Raspberry Pi 4 w/ VitOS:

Xiaomi Mi Box S:

Also seen in this video…

€9 doorstops:

GIK Acoustic panels:

LH Labs 2G USB cables:

AudioQuest cables:

KEF LS50 Wireless II:

Why are comments turned OFF?

#topping #DAC #schiit

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[DarkoAudio]

*PLEASE READ CAREFULLY* THIS IS A TEST -- With this video, we are trialling a new way of doing things: the comments section below has been switched ON but will be *moderated by a third party*. The upshot? You get to leave a comment below the video and I don't get tied up by comment moderation to stay focussed on making the next video or podcast as well as keeping the Darko.Audio website and Patreon up to date. That means more content for EVERYONE. Our new third-party moderator is under strict instruction not to approve racist or sexist remarks, URLs, (the seeds of) conspiracy theories or the unsubstantiated ramblings of grumpy geezers.

[ranindudavid]

Of course yes. We love to see reviews on budget gear.

[boardertrashtv]

Thank you, by covering Schiit like this you are catering for those of us who don’t always have megabucks to spend on everything. Yes I’m into about £4k in my system but I also love a bargain and don’t have cash all the time (being a father) to spend. I have to choose very wisely and when you review budget bargains it helps massively to buy blind. I’m looking to pair the topping DAC with a mini dot tube amp to power my faithful HD600’s whilst working from home

[nut]

It's great that you talk about products in this range of prices, thank you!

[kylemacarthur]

So I bought both DACs. I use the Topping for streaming my Amazon HD music from my computer into my NAD 3020. I use the Schiit Modi 3 to stream from my Raspberry Pi 4 (with HiFiBerry hat connected to linear power suppy) also into my NAD 3020.
The Topping is truly smoother, while the Schiit seems to give some bite and crunch to my FLAC files...

[virgilioroque]

Thank you for reviewing this DAC. I bought one and built a raspberry pi4 streamer using Volumio. It sounds great on my system (Cayin tune integrated amp + Harbeth P3esr.)

[grizcuz]

I absolutely love my D10S. I'm using a Raspberry Pi 2 running Volumio with a 250gb thumb drive full of music. I was initially concerned that the Raspberry Pi would prove to be the weakest link and it would struggle to feed the DAC without audio issues. But it's been absolutely flawless, not a pop or a click anywhere, even when playing DSD files. It's the best £100 I've ever spent on HiFi.

[delarageaz]

got myself a Modi 3+ for apple music in lossless with an iPad and i'm so happy ! it's my first dac and the sound is so so much better than connecting the iPad directly from the jack.

[ykpriox]

I listen to this guy because of the honesty. So many talk about 'hearing' stuff that I am not sure it's possible to hear and I know I certainly can't. So I am not looking to spend a fortune in the short term until I can get to the point I can tell the difference. I have a Raspberry PI 3b I was using but will probably try a Pi 4, just for fun, but wanted a DAC that I could then play with.

[aeon]

It's a nice DAC to have, even if only for the display, which might come in handy when you are testing bit-perfect OS settings on your Pi output, the sound is great as well, its USB input triumphs that of my D6s I found which is collecting dust in a drawer.

[dandiehm]

Came here to see a review of the Topping as a USB to Coaxial Digital converter, and was not disappointed. Well done for not skipping that part of the review. Personally, I couldn't care less about if it even had a DAC built in. I need the conversion to go from my PC to my Meridian DSP5000 speakers (using digital passthrough for my Meridian 561).

[goldzacid]

Every time John says Schiit, I have to remind my self that he is not saying that the topping is better than the shit.

[DonutsReview]

Years later I come back to this video and have total understanding of this concept pairing a warm sounding discrete Asgard 3 with ultra clear sounding Sundara is amazing. ❤

[oldfatbastad]

got my D10S yesterday and im really pleased with it, its plug and play under Windows 10 and Debian Live though i did install the drivers on windows

[joegreer]

I got the D10 because I was curious about updating my desktop setup. Everything is clean and clear paired with a fosi audio v1. I even upgraded to the Sparkos op amp when I found out that the D10 is socketed. It made a difference. Everything was more in your face with a little more detail with the Sparkos. That being said, if I never got the Sparkos op amp, I would have still been happy. This with a pair of old Philips mcd702s ribbon bookshelf speakers is an amazing near field setup for the price. Just make sure to grab the proper D10 drivers and I recommend using the free APO Equalizer software to make slight tweaks to the EQ if needed. The only thing left for me is to find a great deal on a little desktop subwoofer.

[mthorby]

in this review the benefit of the Coax/ SPDIF output is understated. its purely mentioned as a possible USB interface to another DAC. I am using the Coax digital output as direct feed to my Genelec 8330 Speakers (digital input). There is no point using a Dac to feed the analogue input on digital speakers because it triggers an additional A-D-A conversion and saves the cost of a good dac. The quality is good and the additional bass from the speakers is phonemenal.

[HN-vdnd]

Fantastic videos, all of them! Really enjoy watching your content. I wish they gave old CD players a new lease of life by having digital ins so when the laser portion becomes bust, you could make use of the CD player's DAC or even get your TVs TOSLINK out and run it through your CD players DAC. i.e Imagine having your TV's sound coming out of your Marantz CD players DAC and soundstage and then to your amp? World of opportunities

[hawkins]

The fact that D10s can be used to convert the USB input to other digital outputs and the downstream device improves because the digital jitters are filtered out, it mean the D10s itself as a DAC is able to handle the jitter better, probably better engineered on the input side, at least.

[Thomas-ijki]

You can give the Topping a massive upgrade by just swapping the opamp of the output stage. For example a LME49720HA or an OPA1612. For less than 10€.

[canillocanillo]

When you said if we can tell how different these dacs sounded by the chip… I already had guessed the sound difference you described. Absolutely the DAC male a difference. These chips are constantly compared and the results are very consistent. With the ESS being more detailed and thinner while the AKM being a thicker with wider and meatier sound.