[swiego]

Before my comments - I'm a newbie I had a HD650 and an Oppo UDP-205 with a suspicion that the Oppo didn't quite make the most of the dynamics of my Senn. Starting afresh, I landed on the Topping A70 Pro with its (a) slick UI and (b) solid measurements.

Anyhow, versus the Oppo's standard headphone amp I perceive far better rounded bass with my Senns. Not even close. All other aspects.. I am not qualified to judge.

Having a digital VU + analog-esque VU is nice.

I have this gear here and am happy to try to answer questions.

 

[SirIppo]

Do you have an experience with other amps such as schiit amps or any other topping amps? How would they compare with the a70 pro?

 

[swiego]

Do you have an experience with other amps such as schiit amps or any other topping amps? How would they compare with the a70 pro?

I sadly do not - I am in some ways early into my journey.

My primary points of references are a Benchmark DAC-1 and the headphone amp in my Oppo UDP-205. I understand the former to be a competent and well-regarded DAC and AMP, and the latter to be a world-class DAC with a ho-hum amp.

Versus these two references, what I notice about the Topping, using the Oppo as a source with balanced XLR from player to amp:

1. The background is just utterly silent. Absolutely zero presence of noise even with source + AMP volume maxed.

2. The A70 absolutely makes my Senn HD650 and HD800S sound very...dynamic... versus the Oppo's headphone amp which just comes off as lifeless and sluggish. (Maybe underpowered?). The combo also sounds very musical to me whereas the DAC-1 feels more sterile and flat. It's less convenient than the Benchmark unit but on the flip slide much newer and more flexible.

I love the display. It's gorgeous and the VU rendering is simply terrific.

I bought it mainly on the strength of the measurements on the ASR forum which seemed to put this near the very top of the heap. I went back and forth on whether to order this or the Topping A90 which I was about to pull the trigger on when I saw the A70 Pro become available for sale. No regrets; it appears to measure better, and the UI is far more convenient as well.

 

[Cadre]

I’m kind of amazed that this amp hasn’t had more buzz around it. I’ve only had mine for a few days, so I don’t want to say too much about its sound yet, but in terms of design, build, user experience and features, I’m kind of blown away by what it gives you at this price.

 

[marekm]

I love the display. It's gorgeous and the VU rendering is simply terrific.

A quick question: is the screen (VU meters, etc.) on all the time (when music is playing) or does it go off after 30 seconds ?

 

[drc73rp]

I have the A90D now, I'm curious to know how this compares to it. Obviously it has more power than the A90D, but in terms of quality and tonality.

 

[Cadre]

A quick question: is the screen (VU meters, etc.) on all the time (when music is playing) or does it go off after 30 seconds ?

Either. You can set the display for low, medium or high brightness, or put it into ‘auto’ mode, where it goes off after ~30 seconds (pressing any button wakes it again). I keep mine on low with the standard screen on, although the spectrum analyser is nice.

 

[swiego]

I’m kind of amazed that this amp hasn’t had more buzz around it. I’ve only had mine for a few days, so I don’t want to say too much about its sound yet, but in terms of design, build, user experience and features, I’m kind of blown away by what it gives you at this price.

I agree. As mentioned above I don't have a great deal of reference points but the performance and functionality of this amp is superlative in my opinion. Other than wanting a tube amp in order to kick the tires on tube amps, I feel zero need to even contemplate an alternative "solid state" upgrade.

 

[swiego]

I have the A90D now, I'm curious to know how this compares to it. Obviously it has more power than the A90D, but in terms of quality and tonality.

I can't speak for quality or tonality. From a measurements perspective this measured better than the A90D which along with the UI was the reason I purchased it instead. (The price of each were rather similar.)

 

[equalspeace]

The amount of power this amp outs out intrigued me ngl

 

[marekm]

Perhaps.

I have never found real-life power of Topping amps to be even close to the paper specs that they publish.

 

[LakeOfTheWyles]

I’m kind of amazed that this amp hasn’t had more buzz around it. I’ve only had mine for a few days, so I don’t want to say too much about its sound yet, but in terms of design, build, user experience and features, I’m kind of blown away by what it gives you at this price.

For all the attention the a90d got, this seems like a step up in all most every way for a $100 less. Power, power delivery, display, noise floor. Even has higher input impedance. I guess it’s way more power than most will ever need. I’ve been looking to put together a reasonably clean sounding stack, and this seems to fit the bill. The only topping I’ve ever owned is the nx7, which has been great. Hopefully this holds up. I’ll pass on the d70 pro though. I enjoyed this review
https://soundnews.net/reviews/sources/dacs/topping-d70-pro-a70-pro-review-the-dynamite-duo/

 

[kamikazeing]

I’m kind of amazed that this amp hasn’t had more buzz around it. I’ve only had mine for a few days, so I don’t want to say too much about its sound yet, but in terms of design, build, user experience and features, I’m kind of blown away by what it gives you at this price.

I think this is in part to do with the frequency in which Topping releases stuff.. Its hard to keep up/care when every 3 to 4 months there's a new amp/dac in a shiny new chasis.

The A70 pro does look like a winner so far though.

 

[Cadre]

For all the attention the a90d got, this seems like a step up in all most every way for a $100 less. Power, power delivery, display, noise floor. Even has higher input impedance. I guess it’s way more power than most will ever need. I’ve been looking to put together a reasonably clean sounding stack, and this seems to fit the bill. The only topping I’ve ever owned is the nx7, which has been great. Hopefully this holds up. I’ll pass on the d70 pro though. I enjoyed this review
https://soundnews.net/reviews/sources/dacs/topping-d70-pro-a70-pro-review-the-dynamite-duo/

Thanks for posting that review, it's really interesting – not least because I also have an Eversolo A6 on order.

The more time I spend with the A70 Pro the more I like it. It sounds wonderful, feels like it'll drive anything and is such a joy to use. I've looked at a number of Topping products over the years but have always ending up buying something else, but I'm really hugely impressed by this amp. It looks like I picked a good time to hop aboard the Topping train.

 

[andjar]

This a very nice review of the A70pro+L70pro stack: