[Green Golden Retriver]

Not directly on the A90, but I use the D90 MQA remote control with the D90 MQA set in PRE mode - works nicely when I'm not directly next to the A90 / D90 MQA stack.

@JohnYang1997 (on ASR) said the P90 - Preamp version - will have a stepped attenuated power driven (remote controllable) volume control. But, AFAIK no retrofit for the current A90 is planned.

Maybe the next generation A90 Mark II will have a nice powered volume control too.

Ahhhh so I can get the d90 and use the remote given with d90 to control the volume right ?
Thanks

 

[Skullar]

The A90's I've seen selling used are trying to get as close to $499 back... you won't save much and IDK if the sellers warranty is transferable - Hifigo said they would transfer warranty from me to the new owner (when I was thinking of selling my FiiO M15 early on), so probably buying new would be not much more than used overall.

This one went for $430:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/topping-a90-sold.942627/
$455
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sold-wts-topping-a90.939828/
$450
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sold-fs-topping-a90-amp-black.937580/
$425:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sold-topping-a90.940213/

There is also this one that was pressed to sell, for $400, so if you find a desperate person you might save enough to make it worthwhile, if the warranty transfers:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/like-new-topping-a90-sold.942881/

Thanks! Made me look lazy here lol. Probably because i was haha.

Forgot to tell that i am in UK. So i suppose europe prices will be similar just in euros. But harder to find..
Though if waranty transfers its worth buying used even if its just 100 euros less than new.

Any alternatives for fully balanced amp with xlr hp out. I could live without 4.4mm jack as i wouldnt be using iems on desktop rig often anyways.

Thx789 seems to have leaner low end so its something i would be trying to avoid.
And low output impedance is very important for me at the moment.

 

[Green Golden Retriver]

Thanks! Made me look lazy here lol. Probably because i was haha.

Forgot to tell that i am in UK. So i suppose europe prices will be similar just in euros. But harder to find..
Though if waranty transfers its worth buying used even if its just 100 euros less than new.

Any alternatives for fully balanced amp with xlr hp out. I could live without 4.4mm jack as i wouldnt be using iems on desktop rig often anyways.

Thx789 seems to have leaner low end so its something i would be trying to avoid.
And low output impedance is very important for me at the moment.

Thailand is funny retail is 130 usd higher at around 630 usd but preown is much lower I saw two so far one at 430 usd another at 330 usd

 

[tomwoo]

The RCA "noise" is indeed ground loop noise - and ground noise brought in from USB cable through your DAC, in my case I was able to solve the noise issues with cables designed to reject noise - the shield is used as a "faraday cage" wired to ground at the source end but left to float on the A90 end - and the cable wires are twisted pair - 2 pair - with shielding on top of that to prevent EMI noise. Then the USB cable has 2 ferrite cores - one on each end - and after replacing my "high end" cables with those better shielded (and cheaper!) cables I only have noise on RCA at the extreme end of A90 amplification - H Gain @ 75% volume, which I'll never see in normal use.

You want to keep the cables short, and it can be tough to find the 1ft cables, but keep looking on Amazon and they will restock.

I used "Worlds Best Cables" built with Mogami 2534 4-wire XLR and RCA 1ft cables, but WBC builds other wire brands that may do the same or better - or worse - so check specs for other wire before buying.

I was told Mogami 2549 2-wire sounds better - while the Mogami 2534 has better noise rejection, and I bought them too, but I haven't tried the 2549 cables yet. I'm giving the 2534 wire more than the recommended 175 hour burn in before switching to 2549 for A-B testing.

Here's my original posts with links:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/topping-a90.927412/post-15789465

Here's the current 1ft listings + USB, they are currently in stock - note I set my A90 / D90 MQA side by side and these cables reach fine.

1 Foot – Directional Quad High-Definition Audio Interconnect Cable Pair Custom Made by WORLDS BEST CABLES – Using Mogami 2534 Wire and Amphenol ACPR Die-Cast, Gold Plated RCA Connectors
https://www.amazon.com/Foot-Directional-High-Definition-Interconnect-Connectors/dp/B01ALHTVMO

I also run the XLR cables with 2534 between the D90 MQA and A90 for A/B comparison between the XLR and RCA - and I found the RCA route is almost 1dB less volume than the XLR position on the A90 with both RCA and XLR runs using WBC 2534 wires. XLR sounds better to me, but that 1dB difference comes in handy sometimes with sensitive IEM's - I run he D90 in PRE mode @ -15.0 with those same IEM's. Remember you need to order 2 XLR cables, but the RCA's come packed as a pair.

1 Foot – Quad Balanced Microphone Cable Custom Made by WORLDS BEST CABLES – Using Mogami 2534 Wire and Neutrik NC3MXX-B Male & NC3FXX-B Female XLR Plugs. (order 2!)
https://www.amazon.com/Foot-Balanced-Microphone-NC3MXX-B-NC3FXX-B/dp/B00WU1BP10

To reduce noise induced onto the power wires of the USB which transfers through the DAC ground either get a cable built / tested with the appropriate ferrite cores - or look for "real" ferrite cores to clip on to your favorite USB cable, this Tripp Lite cable was designed with the spurious nose rejection in mind, and is cheap to boot - and sounds good too as compared to my original "audiophile" USB cable:

Tripp Lite USB 2.0 Hi-Speed A/B Cable with Ferrite Chokes (M/M) 3-ft. (U023-003)
https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Hi-Speed-Ferrite-U023-006/dp/B008VOPCGY

If you find cables that work for you please share them here on Head-fi

Do you think the WBC XLR cables are as good as Fanmusic and Benchmark ones? (~$70 for two) Thanks.

 

[MatW]

Thanks! Made me look lazy here lol. Probably because i was haha.

Forgot to tell that i am in UK. So i suppose europe prices will be similar just in euros. But harder to find..

If you are looking for a seller in Europe, I bought mine here:
https://www.hifistudio79.nl/topping-a90-balanced-headphone-amplifier-preamplifier-black.html

They usually have it in stock. I assume they will want to ship it to the UK for you, at cost.

 

[Skullar]

If you are looking for a seller in Europe, I bought mine here:
https://www.hifistudio79.nl/topping-a90-balanced-headphone-amplifier-preamplifier-black.html

They usually have it in stock. I assume they will want to ship it to the UK for you, at cost.

Oh the brand new ones are available on amazon no problem. I was talking about used one. Just lookjng around how much cheaper they are used as its a fairly new product. But thanks anyways

 

[makatech]

Ok, some interesting experiences... this will probably be a double post to audiosciencereview site since I am having a discussion about A90 and RCA there too.

I bought a used A90 today and trying it now.

Connecting the iFi Zen Dac using RCA -> A90.
(Story: Not sure yet I will invest in a 4.4mm > dual 3 pin XLR cable because I don't know for how long I will keep the Zen Dac even though I really like it, first of all I wanted a more powerful amp.)

Computer: Motherboard Asus Prime X370-Pro - CPU Ryzen 3700X

The Zen Dac connected through a iFi iPower X 5V power supply. Running the Zen Dac in fixed mode when connecting to the A90.

A quality 4.4 mm balanced cable to my HD 6XX. I am not using the RCA cable supplied with Zen Dac right now but maybe I will try it later (I believe the one I had is of higher quality).

1. When connecting the Zen Dac to front USB 3 I experience some hiss/noise/interference (which I never noticed before when only running the Zen Dac standalone).

2. When connecting to Zen Dac to front USB 2 it's dead quiet (I think, will listen more later....), no hiss/interference.

3. Also a bit interesting but perhaps not surprising? When having it connected to USB 2 port: If disconnecting the iFi iPower X 5V power supply I also experience some hiss/noise/interference when running the Zen Dac USB powered.

 

[hmscott]

Ahhhh so I can get the d90 and use the remote given with d90 to control the volume right ?
Thanks

Right. As long as that D90 MQA is driving the A90

Thanks! Made me look lazy here lol. Probably because i was haha.

Forgot to tell that i am in UK. So i suppose europe prices will be similar just in euros. But harder to find..
Though if waranty transfers its worth buying used even if its just 100 euros less than new.

Any alternatives for fully balanced amp with xlr hp out. I could live without 4.4mm jack as i wouldnt be using iems on desktop rig often anyways.

Thx789 seems to have leaner low end so its something i would be trying to avoid.
And low output impedance is very important for me at the moment.

Happy to help

There are lots of headphone AMP's out there, but the A90's sound for me is a good match. And, the price is reasonable - with the matching D90 MQA DAC work together nicely.

Once I solved the RCA noise issues with the setup I am quite pleased.

Now after several months of use running headphones and IEM's through them, I've found it a nice way to pass through the quarantine safely - tied to a sweet sounding desktop AMP / DAC.

Ahhhh so I can get the d90 and use the remote given with d90 to control the volume right ?
Thanks

Do you think the WBC XLR cables are as good as Fanmusic and Benchmark ones? (~$70 for two) Thanks.

Well, initially I bought "audiophile" cables - RCA, XLR, USB that cost a heck of a lot more than the WBC RCA / XLR and Tripp Lite USB cables - and I couldn't enjoy the "audiophile" sound through the RCA noise.

The Tripp Lite USB cable sounds better than the stock cable packed in the D90 MQA box - no surprise there - but to my ears the Tripp Lite USB cable sounds better than the "Audiophile" USB cable too, as tested using the XLR interconnect cables to reject noise passthrough to the A90.

The XLR connection provides a "firewall" to block the AC line noise and USB power noise / GPU hash from the PC. So if you can live on XLR only - no RCA at all - then get the WBC Mogami 2534 wire made XLR's and you are set - you could probably even get by with a nice "audiophile" USB cable.

If you need RCA connections between the D90 MQA and A90 and out the A90 then you need a good noise rejecting design of cable and the WBC design works, at least with the 4-wire Mogami 2534 cable build.

There are Canare L-4E6S and other WBC wired RCA / XLR cables, but they are even harder to find in the 1 foot length (D90 MQA / A90 side by side) and I would have had to pursue contacting WBC for my order, so I went with the Mogami's on Amazon.

Mogami also makes their own XLR / RCA(?) cables using their components, but are much more expensive (made in Japan), here's an article about them:
https://mynewmicrophone.com/recommended-microphones/mic-cables/

There is another company that builds supposedly even higher performance noise rejection design cables I've found since, and they aren't any more expensive, but are also sold out often, I'll have to loop back and add their URL here later, sorry...

Ok, some interesting experiences... this will probably be a double post to audiosciencereview site since I am having a discussion about A90 and RCA there too.

I bought a used A90 today and trying it now.

Connecting the iFi Zen Dac using RCA -> A90.
(Story: Not sure yet I will invest in a 4.4mm > dual 3 pin XLR cable because I don't know for how long I will keep the Zen Dac even though I really like it, first of all I wanted a more powerful amp.)

Computer: Motherboard Asus Prime X370-Pro - CPU Ryzen 3700X

The Zen Dac connected through a iFi iPower X 5V power supply. Running the Zen Dac in fixed mode when connecting to the A90.

A quality 4.4 mm balanced cable to my HD 6XX. I am not using the RCA cable supplied with Zen Dac right now but maybe I will try it later (I believe the one I had is of higher quality).

1. When connecting the Zen Dac to front USB 3 I experience some hiss/noise/interference (which I never noticed before when only running the Zen Dac standalone).

2. When connecting to Zen Dac to front USB 2 it's dead quiet (I think, will listen more later....), no hiss/interference.

3. Also a bit interesting but perhaps not surprising? When having it connected to USB 2 port: If disconnecting the iFi iPower X 5V power supply I also experience some hiss/noise/interference when running the Zen Dac USB powered.

Answered on ASR:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-headphone-amplifier-review.13592/post-532604

 

[MatW]

Oh the brand new ones are available on amazon no problem. I was talking about used one. Just lookjng around how much cheaper they are used as its a fairly new product. But thanks anyways

Ok gotcha. Fyi, the ones on Amazon are shipped from China, so entails a wait of a couple of weeks, while these guys already have them in Europe. Should you reconsider and buy new.

 

[Skullar]

Ok gotcha. Fyi, the ones on Amazon are shipped from China, so entails a wait of a couple of weeks, while these guys already have them in Europe. Should you reconsider and buy new.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/A90-Pre-am...=1&keywords=A90+topping&qid=1601843826&sr=8-4

Delivery for wednesday. So local. Might not be UK supplier but quick enough.

 

[makatech]

Happy to help

Your post about cables used is really valuable, good stuff. Running RCA right now but not sure for how long. Huge difference for me though between USB 3 and USB 2 port which was interesting. The Zen Dac is supporting both.

 

[MatW]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/A90-Pre-am...=1&keywords=A90+topping&qid=1601843826&sr=8-4

Delivery for wednesday. So local. Might not be UK supplier but quick enough.

Right. I was looking for a black one.. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Skullar]

How does a90 compare to Jotunheim? Is there any difference in tonality? Soundstage dimentions?

 

[N1tro]

I don't know if my A90 has a channel balance issue or i'm going crazy right now. I feel as if the right side is louder in my headphones, this song is an example

It feels louder on my right side. Does it happen for anyone else? or does my A90 need to be returned.

 

[hmscott]

How does a90 compare to Jotunheim? Is there any difference in tonality? Soundstage dimentions?

Well... the A90 isn't a piece of Schiit.

I'd say the main difference - besides everything - is that the Schiit hardware tends to not "measure well" - it doesn't look good in measurements of performance, where the Topping gear including the A90 tops the ASR measurement graphs.

Here are the measurements done by ASR for the Topping A90 and Schiit Headphone AMP's (no Jotunheim review on ASR found):

Topping A90 Headphone Amplifier Review
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-headphone-amplifier-review.13592/post-410374

Schiit Magnius Balanced Headphone Amp Review
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...lanced-headphone-amp-review.15252/post-481766

Schiit Asgard 3 Headphone Amp & DAC
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-asgard-3-headphone-amp-dac.14393/post-442354

Perhaps reading the ASR A90 and Schitt Headphone Amp test results, and reading comments from ASR members will help you decide which to get

I did a bunch of searches but didn't turn up any direct comparisons for the A90 / Jotunheim, just speculation based on using the A90 vs other AMPs but not the Jotunheim,

If you are a Schiit fan perhaps you'd be happier with that sound?