Topping A90

[hmscott]

https://www.schiit.com/products/pyst-cables

https://hartaudiocables.com/collections/transfer-cables/products/tc-1-3-pin-xlr-patch-cable

This is the one I purchased. I love Hart Audio cables and their modular system/interconnects. One of the few audio cable companies that doesn't try to price gouge you to the extreme.

Both excellent suggestions, thank you both

 

[koven]

The XLR cables offered by Hifigo only had a 1m as the shortest length, and I plan to run the A90 / D90 close together - I was hoping for 0.5m at the longest, and Hifigo called SKW and made it happen, the 0.5m is now on the option list for SKW XLR's on the Hifigo site:
https://hifigo.com/products/skw-hif...ixer-amplifiers-1-pair?variant=32043150934065

And, I asked for a higher quality USB-B to USB-A cable, and Hifigo added that as well:
https://hifigo.com/products/skw-usb-dac-cable-usb-a-b-2-0?variant=32030161338417

SKW was asked for USB-B to USB-C cables, and apparently only SKW only offer them in "high quantity" shipments... so hopefully that works out so I can get cables to plug into my Android phone / tablets.

I'm looking at another source for custom XLR cables, they'll make a 0.3m XLR:
https://www.ghentaudio.com/part/a18-360.html

I'm looking for a short "jumper" XLR for placement of the D90 on top of the A90, or vis-versa.

Hifigo says shipping might be as early as "tomorrow", which is about now... 05:50am in China right now

Then 3-7 days shipping... not long now.

Benchmark offers a 1ft (.3m) XLR interconnect, would recommend that.

 

[hmscott]

Benchmark offers a 1ft (.3m) XLR interconnect, would recommend that.

Thank you, that looks heavy duty - which is how I prefer the shielding / wrapping. It is still a bit long, but shorter than I have (0.5m) shipping with the A90 / D90 MQA shipment. I'll have to see how what I ordered works and go from there.

Is this the model?:
https://benchmarkmedia.com/products/benchmark-starquad-analog-xlr-cable

Interestingly Benchmark has a "digital" version of that cable, with only 2 sizes:
https://benchmarkmedia.com/products/benchmark-digital-xlr-cable

I'm also looking for a desktop stand that will fit the D90 MQA / A90. Topping has a very nice "shelf" for their previous smaller form factor units:
https://hifigo.com/products/kgu12-exquisite-acrylic-shelf-hifi-amplifier-decoder-frame-transparent

Hifigo called Topping and they said they currently have no plans to produce a larger size shelf unit for the A90 / D90... perhaps if Topping hear from more end users that want one Topping will change their mind and produce an updated version of this shelf that will fit the A90 / D90 (/P90?)

Here are the dimensions of the A90, via Hifigo:

https://hifigo.com/products/topping-a90-full-balanced-headphone-amplifier-amp-xlr-pre-amplifier

I ordered both units in Silver, my eyes prefer reading the dark print on light background - especially in dim light. The Topping Shelf in Clear and Silver is the motif I'd like to find elsewhere if Topping doesn't offer an updated shelf themselves.

 

[JanisR]

Hello there Head-fiers,

I am currently in possession of a Fostex TH-X00 Purplehead and Chord Mojo (with a dead battery but not sure how much an impact that is on sound quality). The Mojo is a mobile dacamp but I have only ever used it as a desktop device.

I am wondering if putting the A90 inbetween the Mojo and my headphones will be a noticeable upgrade?
Also, if I were to add the D90 to my A90, would the resulting stack be a significant upgrade over the Mojo?
I do not consider the Hugo 2 because of the price and because of it being a (supposedly) mobile device.

I am also planning to buy the HD800(s) soon after the headphone amp, therefore synergy with this particular headphone is important to me.
Other headphones I like and, price permitting, would consider are: Fostex 900 Mk2, Denon AH-D7200, the HEDD headphone.

I am salivating over the Violectric headphone amps but they are a bit too expensive for me. I do also fancy the Bottlehead kits
but only as an addition to a good solid state amp in my stack. Also, the Flux Lab Acoustics' FA-10 and FA-12 look interesting to me.
The reason I have not shortlisted the Massdrop's THX AAA-789 is because it supposedly is not the the best amp with the HD800(s).

 

[XERO1]

Hello there Head-fiers,

I am currently in possession of a Fostex TH-X00 Purplehead and Chord Mojo (with a dead battery but not sure how much an impact that is on sound quality). The Mojo is a mobile dacamp but I have only ever used it as a desktop device.

I am wondering if putting the A90 inbetween the Mojo and my headphones will be a noticeable upgrade?
Also, if I were to add the D90 to my A90, would the resulting stack be a significant upgrade over the Mojo?
I do not consider the Hugo 2 because of the price and because of it being a (supposedly) mobile device.

I am also planning to buy the HD800(s) soon after the headphone amp, therefore synergy with this particular headphone is important to me.
Other headphones I like and, price permitting, would consider are: Fostex 900 Mk2, Denon AH-D7200, the HEDD headphone.

I am salivating over the Violectric headphone amps but they are a bit too expensive for me. I do also fancy the Bottlehead kits
but only as an addition to a good solid state amp in my stack. Also, the Flux Lab Acoustics' FA-10 and FA-12 look interesting to me.
The reason I have not shortlisted the Massdrop's THX AAA-789 is because it supposedly is not the the best amp with the HD800(s).

I remains to be seen where the A90 falls on the sonic spectrum when compared to the Jot and 789. But since Jot and 789 are concidered to be relatively close to eachother in their sonic presentations, I wouldn't be surprised if the A90 sounds quite similar to them in most respects.

And as for whether the A90 will be an upgrade over the Mojo's amp circuit, I can almost guarantee that it will be, especially with your bass-heavy TH-X00 Purplehearts.
The firmer the grip the amp has on its somewhat underdamped drivers, the better it will sound.

The Mojo's amp circuit is quite good, but it really works best with IEMs.

 

[psychogene]

Ordered this amp last tuesday and it arrived yesterday, much faster than expected. I have ordered some cables from aliexpress 3 weeks ago and still hasn't arrived.

So far really enjoying this amp - it is to me an upgrade from my arcam rhead - powers the Arya effortlessly. I have it set to high gain and about 12 o'clock where as on the rhead I felt the arya was lacking slightly at moderately high volume and I would need close to max volume.

 

[hmscott]

Ordered this amp last tuesday and it arrived yesterday, much faster than expected. I have ordered some cables from aliexpress 3 weeks ago and still hasn't arrived.

So far really enjoying this amp - it is to me an upgrade from my arcam rhead - powers the Arya effortlessly. I have it set to high gain and about 12 o'clock where as on the rhead I felt the arya was lacking slightly at moderately high volume and I would need close to max volume.

What shipper did you use to get such fast delivery on the A90? I had one DHL shipment only take 3 days, but usually it's about a week, like this time.

I also ordered mine Tuesday, it was shipped Thursday via DHL, delivery estimate is Thursday June 4th.

Default delivery with AliExpress is via Boat... yup, really, by Boat. Check back at your ordering page and see what the other options are for delivery and order another set using a faster shipping method. You should be able to cancel the slow order, it might not even have "shipped" yet.

 

[psychogene]

Ah sorry what I meant was I ordered tuesday the week before, so all up it took bout 10 days to arrive, not 3. Shipment was via DHL.

Still its quite fast compared to other stuff I have ordered from China. Mmm yea I have 4 orders of various things from aliexpress all ordered at the same time (4.4mm balanced cable for arya, 2 short XLR connectors, arya headphone case, XLR to 4.4mm cable) and I know aliexpress is notoriously slow for deliveries - and I'd imagine its even worst now due to the pandemic. I never expect ali express deliveries to be anywhere before 3 weeks.

On the topic of the A90 though - its a beast of an amp. It is versatile enough to be used with my iems/headphones, has tons of power and all the input/output that I'll probably ever need. I'm extremely happy with this purchase.

 

[Fatdoi]

Hello there Head-fiers,

I am currently in possession of a Fostex TH-X00 Purplehead and Chord Mojo (with a dead battery but not sure how much an impact that is on sound quality). The Mojo is a mobile dacamp but I have only ever used it as a desktop device.

I am wondering if putting the A90 inbetween the Mojo and my headphones will be a noticeable upgrade?
Also, if I were to add the D90 to my A90, would the resulting stack be a significant upgrade over the Mojo?
I do not consider the Hugo 2 because of the price and because of it being a (supposedly) mobile device.

I am also planning to buy the HD800(s) soon after the headphone amp, therefore synergy with this particular headphone is important to me.
Other headphones I like and, price permitting, would consider are: Fostex 900 Mk2, Denon AH-D7200, the HEDD headphone.

I am salivating over the Violectric headphone amps but they are a bit too expensive for me. I do also fancy the Bottlehead kits
but only as an addition to a good solid state amp in my stack. Also, the Flux Lab Acoustics' FA-10 and FA-12 look interesting to me.
The reason I have not shortlisted the Massdrop's THX AAA-789 is because it supposedly is not the the best amp with the HD800(s).

Unless you run 4.4mm then i'll save $200 and get the 789...... also best amp for HD800 ain't this price bracket imo

 

[Ra97oR]

Anyone preordered from audiophonics and have it shipped? I placed my preorder on the 7 May and yet to see anything from them.

They said it's shipping 30 May back then. =/

 

[hmscott]

Anyone preordered from audiophonics and have it shipped? I placed my preorder on the 7 May and yet to see anything from them.

They said it's shipping 30 May back then. =/

You might check with your seller at their support page. It wouldn't hurt to ask nicely. They should be constantly in touch with you giving you updates - setting expectations - and giving you progress along the way to keep you connected with their situation.

As for the way I handle my own orders, I wouldn't leave that much time go by without checking on the process - especially well before the May 30th shipping date. You want to keep your order fresh in their minds and get stock updates - are they going to get enough to cover your order and all of the other orders in the first batch of shipments.

IDK about France or the EU with, but as I understand it, the Chinese shipping method is a bit different than here in the US. DHL doesn't pick up directly from each company. Couriers pickup the packages from the companies and either drop them off at the various shipping companies - or the couriers aggregate shipping for each of the shipping companies so they pick them up at a single regional location.

For example, Hifigo handed off my shipment of A90 / D90 / cables / etc in 2 packages on the morning of May 27th (their time), and on Saturday May 30th I received an automated confirmation email that the packages had been picked up from Hifigo. DHL tracking details shows that they had the packages on Sunday May 31st.

There were quite a few more "stops along the way", and both packages were delivered today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon - June 2nd SFO time.

Spoiler: Click Here for the shipping details:

Sunday, May 31, 2020	Location	Time	Piece
Monday, June 01, 2020	Location	Time	Piece
Tuesday, June 02, 2020	Location	Time	Piece
16	Delivered		18:46	1 Piece
15	With delivery courier	SAN FRANCISCO, CA - USA	18:45	1 Piece
14	Arrived at Delivery Facility in SAN FRANCISCO - USA	SAN FRANCISCO, CA - USA	07:03	1 Piece
13	Departed Facility in SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY - USA	SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY, CA - USA	06:51	1 Piece
12	Transferred through SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY - USA	SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY, CA - USA	06:38	1 Piece
11	Arrived at Sort Facility SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY - USA	SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY, CA - USA	05:55	1 Piece
10	Departed Facility in LOS ANGELES GATEWAY - USA	LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA	04:44	1 Piece
9	Processed at LOS ANGELES GATEWAY - USA	LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA	23:54	1 Piece
8	Clearance processing complete at LOS ANGELES GATEWAY - USA	LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA	23:35	1 Piece
7	Arrived at Sort Facility LOS ANGELES GATEWAY - USA	LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA	22:01	1 Piece
6	Customs status updated	LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA	11:12
5	Departed Facility in HONG KONG - HONG KONG	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	15:22	1 Piece
4	Arrived at Sort Facility HONG KONG - HONG KONG	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	14:12	1 Piece
3	Departed Facility in HONG KONG - HONG KONG	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	13:34	1 Piece
2	Processed at HONG KONG - HONG KONG	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	12:20	1 Piece
1	Shipment picked up	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	11:45	1 Piece

Hifigo is really good about answering emails and sending out confirmation notices. Here are the A90 / D90 MQA sitting in their shipping box:

 

[Ra97oR]

You might check with your seller at their support page. It wouldn't hurt to ask nicely. They should be constantly in touch with you giving you updates - setting expectations - and giving you progress along the way to keep you connected with their situation.

As for the way I handle my own orders, I wouldn't leave that much time go by without checking on the process - especially well before the May 30th shipping date. You want to keep your order fresh in their minds and get stock updates - are they going to get enough to cover your order and all of the other orders in the first batch of shipments.

IDK about France or the EU with, but as I understand it, the Chinese shipping method is a bit different than here in the US. DHL doesn't pick up directly from each company. Couriers pickup the packages from the companies and either drop them off at the various shipping companies - or the couriers aggregate shipping for each of the shipping companies so they pick them up at a single regional location.

For example, Hifigo handed off my shipment of A90 / D90 / cables / etc in 2 packages on the morning of May 27th (their time), and on Saturday May 30th I received an automated confirmation email that the packages had been picked up from Hifigo. DHL tracking details shows that they had the packages on Sunday May 31st.

There were quite a few more "stops along the way", and both packages were delivered today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon - June 2nd SFO time.

Spoiler: Click Here for the shipping details:

Tuesday, June 02, 2020	Location	Time	Piece
Monday, June 01, 2020	Location	Time	Piece
Sunday, May 31, 2020	Location	Time	Piece
16	Delivered		18:46	1 Piece
15	With delivery courier	SAN FRANCISCO, CA - USA	18:45	1 Piece
14	Arrived at Delivery Facility in SAN FRANCISCO - USA	SAN FRANCISCO, CA - USA	07:03	1 Piece
13	Departed Facility in SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY - USA	SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY, CA - USA	06:51	1 Piece
12	Transferred through SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY - USA	SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY, CA - USA	06:38	1 Piece
11	Arrived at Sort Facility SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY - USA	SAN FRANCISCO GATEWAY, CA - USA	05:55	1 Piece
10	Departed Facility in LOS ANGELES GATEWAY - USA	LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA	04:44	1 Piece
9	Processed at LOS ANGELES GATEWAY - USA	LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA	23:54	1 Piece
8	Clearance processing complete at LOS ANGELES GATEWAY - USA	LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA	23:35	1 Piece
7	Arrived at Sort Facility LOS ANGELES GATEWAY - USA	LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA	22:01	1 Piece
6	Customs status updated	LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA	11:12
5	Departed Facility in HONG KONG - HONG KONG	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	15:22	1 Piece
4	Arrived at Sort Facility HONG KONG - HONG KONG	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	14:12	1 Piece
3	Departed Facility in HONG KONG - HONG KONG	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	13:34	1 Piece
2	Processed at HONG KONG - HONG KONG	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	12:20	1 Piece
1	Shipment picked up	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	11:45	1 Piece

Hifigo is really good about answering emails and sending out confirmation notices. Here are the A90 / D90 MQA sitting in their shipping box:

I have been trying to get a response from their support page since Saturday and no luck so far. Not having the best first impression from them.

 

[Mattuz]

I have been trying to get a response from their support page since Saturday and no luck so far. Not having the best first impression from them.

I ordered on the 18th of May, I wrote to them to add some items to my order that I forgot to buy the first time and they answered within 1 day, usually after 4/5 hours. I wrote about A90 and why they claimed 30/05 availability when I ordered it but instead it is still not available, and no one answered in 3 days...

I don't think it is entirely their fault, maybe Topping has something to do with it, but either way they should be more clear with their customers. I pre-ordered the product, if I knew I had to wait 15-25 days as it is NOW written on their website, I would have bought if elsewhere.

 

[Ra97oR]

I ordered on the 18th of May, I wrote to them to add some items to my order that I forgot to buy the first time and they answered within 1 day, usually after 4/5 hours. I wrote about A90 and why they claimed 30/05 availability when I ordered it but instead it is still not available, and no one answered in 3 days...

I don't think it is entirely their fault, maybe Topping has something to do with it, but either way they should be more clear with their customers. I pre-ordered the product, if I knew I had to wait 15-25 days as it is NOW written on their website, I would have bought if elsewhere.

I actually have a similar experience, when I asked about if they are going to stock the A90 before it got listed, they responded within an hour.

I don't want to call them out without evidence but it's hard to believe that audiophonics.fr haven't seen any messages about the A90 preorder mess they made.

 

[c4sadler]

I'm really excited to buy this. I hope it's the last headphone amp that I buy for quite sometime.