[DjBobby]

So, on the comparison test the Mojo was fed to the same power amp?.

Yes, feeding line out to the Marantz amp and DALI floor standers. Always testing dacs with the amp and the speakers, because it is like a magnifying glass, you can hear much more differences. Mojo was set to line-out 3v, and then with the 4 volume clicks down brought to 1.9V, the closest I could get it to the D50's 2V output.

Will I have problem with d50's highs if I am treble sensitive?

I would say the highs are prominent and fatiguing. Using a tube amp and darker headphones might help, but with a neutral amp/headphones combo, it could be too much treble-happy sound.

In this description, it sounds like mojo is more of an "analog" sounding dac and d50 is more of "digital" sounding dac. I wish the filter of d50 can do the trick because I like it to be more analog sounding.

I am not done yet with the filters, will do a second run with AKG K702 headphones, which can zoom in better at the highs. Although I don't believe in burn-in, you never know. I left the D50 now playing since yesterday evening, will recheck when 24 hours are over. Right at the moment it still sounds "digital".

 

[BattousaiX26]

Thanks, I will wait for your impressions of the filter

 

[DjBobby]

Thanks, I will wait for your impressions of the filter

OK, there are definitely differences with the filters. But....I am not sure they correspond exactly with the names in the manual! It seems to me that the filter names are messed up. I will check and report again.

 

[Ab10]

Will Fiio K5 Match with D50 ?

 

[Vosya]

I would say the highs are prominent and fatiguing.

How long did your device work to play the sound before you make such an categorical conclusion?

 

[DjBobby]

Thanks, I will wait for your impressions of the filter

Good news: after playing a bit with the filters, I found that the default filter no. 1 actually sounds most unnatural to me. On the list of my preferred filters, no.1 landed on the last place.
I much preferred filters 3 and 4, depending on music, which sounded more organic and natural to me and had definitely much less glare. Just to make it clear: they will not transform the D50 into euphonic warm sounding dac, D50 always stays on the cooler analytical side, but you can definitely control the glare and upper-mids / lower-treble peakiness.

How long did your device work to play the sound before you make such an categorical conclusion?

Not more than 10 hours when first tested. Now has over 50 hours on it, I will do a full review when the unit has 100 hours of burn in.

 

[Lohb]

Did anyone get some independent buyer side-by-side comparisons on the Hifime DIY ES9038Pro and Topping D50...?
Had the HFM DIY bookmarked for a while till I saw that online review slating it with objective measurements, and wonder if the reviewer simply received a faulty unit or it was to 'review bomb' the nearest competitor by proxy ?

 

[Vosya]

full review when the unit has 100 hours of burn in

What power source does the DAC work on? From my own experience I can say that the D50 schematic is not such as to ignore it. As well as the quality of the usb signal cable.

 

[DjBobby]

What power source does the DAC work on? From my own experience I can say that the D50 schematic is not such as to ignore it. As well as the quality of the usb signal cable.

D50 comes without power supply included. You can use any power source with 5V/1A like power switch, battery pack, or linear power supply.
Could you please elaborate more about what have you meant with D50's schematic and the quality of the USB cable? Do you think it would be good to invest in better USB cable?

 

[Vosya]

I mean that the power circuits inside the D50 are not good enough to evaluate the device in isolation from the type and quality of external power source.
About USB cable: I tried 5-6 cheap, and definitely heard the difference. I think that it is also worthwhile to conduct an experiment, and for this it is not necessary to go straight to the expensive and fashionable. It is enough to go through several available from printers, scanners, etc. If the difference is noticeable in your setup - this is an occasion to think. By the way, in the end I like most of all the sound of the cable from the DAC kit.

 

[carlmart]

Yes, the power circuits inside the D50 should be investigated, particularly because there's DC-DC regulation inside, instead of linear.

You can't isolate or ignore the type of external power source. Discard phone or light weight supplies, as they will certainly be switching supplies. Heavy ones usually have a tranformer inside and will most probably be linear.

Next week I will be back at home, where my Topping D50 would have arrived, and start looking into it to see what can be improved or changed.

Before that I will leave it playing for several hours, as I was told the OPA1612 output chips seem to lose a metallic edge in time.

But, as it was mentioned some weeks ago, some things might be tried with the D50, but some should be done on the outside, as internal space is minimal.

The trickiest might be replacing the internal DC-DC supply with linear ones, which might bring audible improvements. The Topping DX7S has all linear supply regulation inside.

 

[BattousaiX26]

Good news: after playing a bit with the filters, I found that the default filter no. 1 actually sounds most unnatural to me. On the list of my preferred filters, no.1 landed on the last place.
I much preferred filters 3 and 4, depending on music, which sounded more organic and natural to me and had definitely much less glare. Just to make it clear: they will not transform the D50 into euphonic warm sounding dac, D50 always stays on the cooler analytical side, but you can definitely control the glare and upper-mids / lower-treble peakiness.


Not more than 10 hours when first tested. Now has over 50 hours on it, I will do a full review when the unit has 100 hours of burn in.

How about the other filters? I already ordered D50 and should arrive tomorrow according to the seller.

 

[DjBobby]

Yes, the power circuits inside the D50 should be investigated, particularly because there's DC-DC regulation inside, instead of linear.

Before that I will leave it playing for several hours, as I was told the OPA1612 output chips seem to lose a metallic edge in time.

I am glad you mentioned this about the OPA1612, because this is exactly how the D50 sounds to me - metallic. Normally DSD files sound softer and mellower than the PCM. DSD on D50 have some metallic edge and hardness which led me to think that it could be caused by the op-amp or analogue audio output section. I have some spare Burson V6 op-amps, but they wouldn't fit into the case.

How about the other filters? I already ordered D50 and should arrive tomorrow according to the seller.

I will review all the filters later in a separate post. Choosing a right filter depends on personal taste, the music used for listening and a paired gear. I will get through the filters using many types of music and with different setups. This might need some time.

Did anyone get some independent buyer side-by-side comparisons on the Hifime DIY ES9038Pro and Topping D50...?
Had the HFM DIY bookmarked for a while till I saw that online review slating it with objective measurements, and wonder if the reviewer simply received a faulty unit or it was to 'review bomb' the nearest competitor by proxy ?

I don't think that the reviewer needed to tweak the measurements or to "review bomb". Personally, I believe these are accurate measurements. It is much more the question, do common measurements reveal the whole truth how should one device sound? It is not a matter of liking the distortion, the discussing point often used by the members of the "scientific" clan to discredit you when you prefer certain device which measured worse but sounds better to you. IMHO it is more how the whole unit is built and how all components complement to each other as a whole. As an example I will take Burson Play dac/headamp, which one particular reviewer (I think we are talking about the same one) literary destroyed. The measured performance was miles behind the D50. I don't have any reason to doubt these figures, actually I could confirm myself some noise in the circuit with the oversensitive IEMs. Yet, this Burson Play with its massive 12V 5A power supply, heavyweight audio output section using 3 dual and 2 single op-amps, when used as a dac, produces some deeply "serious" audiophile sound. To me, the measurements are important, this was the reason I bought the D50, but they are definitely just one piece of the puzzle.

 

[Beatwolf]

Can anyone say if this would be an upgrade from an Asus Sonar Essence ST? Would be running it with an Asgard 2 amp, and HD 650's.

 

[alexzogh]

What power source does the DAC work on? From my own experience I can say that the D50 schematic is not such as to ignore it. As well as the quality of the usb signal cable.

Having used the D50 for a while now, I can say a quality external power supply did make a difference in audio quality. A USB - barrel cable comes in the box to allow you to plug the unit into any USB power supply. I used one built into my expensive power outlet. After a week or so, I tried an ifi low-noise power supply I had sitting around which I generally used for my Hugo 2 (this one on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/iPower-Supply-International-Travel-Adapters/dp/B01GNNXP0Y) . I definitely heard a difference, had to A/B test it like 10 times to make sure I wasn't "inventing" quality.

I also had a USB cable issue, but it turned out not to be the cable, but a grounding problem on the USB port of my computer. on a USB cable it doesn't manifest itself as a hum, like in audio cables, but in static. When I moved my mouse around (also plugged into a USB port) I could hear static output from the dac) First step was to use a ground-loop isolator (something like this - https://www.amazon.com/Audio-iDefender3-0-Ground-Loop-Eliminator/dp/B01N3XKOLG, although I use a different brand), which masked it. Over the weekend I plugged in two new USB ports into my motherboard, and hand-soldered a ground wire onto the expansion bracket which fixed the issue. I can take a photo if you don't know what I am talking about :>