[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Thomas' take on D90..

 

[Dionysus]

Living with the Topping D90 MQA now for the better part of 2 months, my opinion is unchanged. I love this DAC, It has everything i need or want. In the moment, for the first time in a while, I'am not looking at another DAC solution. It is detailed super resolving and plays every streaming format, as well as any input I could ever want. Im thrilled and enjoying this product everyday.

 

[staffz93]

I have had my Topping D90 MQA for a week now so I have adjusted to its sound. This is an amazing pairing with my Empyreans. It is like a whole new set of headphones. I get to hear details which I have never heard with the Empyreans before. Coming from the Chord Qutest the D90 is a great upgrade (even if it is cheaper!).

 

[Baten]

I have had my Topping D90 MQA for a week now so I have adjusted to its sound. This is an amazing pairing with my Empyreans. It is like a whole new set of headphones. I get to hear details which I have never heard with the Empyreans before. Coming from the Chord Qutest the D90 is a great upgrade (even if it is cheaper!).

That's really high praise

 

[Dionysus]

I have had my Topping D90 MQA for a week now so I have adjusted to its sound. This is an amazing pairing with my Empyreans. It is like a whole new set of headphones. I get to hear details which I have never heard with the Empyreans before. Coming from the Chord Qutest the D90 is a great upgrade (even if it is cheaper!).

Wow, never thought I'd hear that. Just goes to show, D90 is a beast of a DAC. Indeed it is.

 

[viggen]

So, during the past 8 months or so, I switched from Metrum Amethyst to Topping D50s then D90 then D90 MQA with an E30 to tie me over between the two D90s.

Quick answer to some questions. D90 and D90 MQA do sound different (to me). If Amethyst is a 1 and D90 MQA is a 10, D90 is about an 8. This is in terms of sound quality and characteristics. D90 is smoother sounding whereas D90 MQA is faster and more detailed. At first, I found excellent synergy between D90 and Grundig muVac. I returned the D90 to get the D90 MQA and found it to expose the Grundig a bit too much. I then switched to my other amp, LTA MZ2, and found synergy again. Before, I thought D90 and MZ2 were too smooth together.

I don't hear diff when changing between the filters.

I wanted to upgrade to MQA because I use Tidal. However, I cannot hear the difference between MQA and "hifi" tracks. So, I returned to the basic subscription.

Last observation. Everything sounds better with D90 MQA/LTA MZ2 especially hires via foobar except for... Tidal. Tidal, the reason for the dac upgrade, now sounds superficial.

 

[Interceptor69]

So, during the past 8 months or so, I switched from Metrum Amethyst to Topping D50s then D90 then D90 MQA with an E30 to tie me over between the two D90s.

Quick answer to some questions. D90 and D90 MQA do sound different (to me). If Amethyst is a 1 and D90 MQA is a 10, D90 is about an 8. This is in terms of sound quality and characteristics. D90 is smoother sounding whereas D90 MQA is faster and more detailed. At first, I found excellent synergy between D90 and Grundig muVac. I returned the D90 to get the D90 MQA and found it to expose the Grundig a bit too much. I then switched to my other amp, LTA MZ2, and found synergy again. Before, I thought D90 and MZ2 were too smooth together.

I don't hear diff when changing between the filters.

I wanted to upgrade to MQA because I use Tidal. However, I cannot hear the difference between MQA and "hifi" tracks. So, I returned to the basic subscription.

Last observation. Everything sounds better with D90 MQA/LTA MZ2 especially hires via foobar except for... Tidal. Tidal, the reason for the dac upgrade, now sounds superficial.

I'm curious- why would the MQA version sound superior to the non-MQA version? Especially when not listening to non-MQA files?

 

[viggen]

I'm curious- why would the MQA version sound superior to the non-MQA version? Especially when not listening to non-MQA files?

iono. but hardware and software are not identical between the two.

 

[Marlowe]

iono. but hardware and software are not identical between the two.

I believe that they are identical in every respect except for the XMOS chip used for the USB input; the MQA version has an upgraded XMOS chip with twice the processing power. Whether this makes the two versions of the DAC sound different when listening to non-MQA material through the USB input (other inputs should sound identical) I can't say; I've only heard the MQA version.

 

[loregnum]

I'm curious- why would the MQA version sound superior to the non-MQA version? Especially when not listening to non-MQA files?

Because the other person thinks there is a difference but refuses to accept it is all in their head. Typical really for this hobby.

So, during the past 8 months or so, I switched from Metrum Amethyst to Topping D50s then D90 then D90 MQA with an E30 to tie me over between the two D90s.

Quick answer to some questions. D90 and D90 MQA do sound different (to me). If Amethyst is a 1 and D90 MQA is a 10, D90 is about an 8. This is in terms of sound quality and characteristics. D90 is smoother sounding whereas D90 MQA is faster and more detailed. At first, I found excellent synergy between D90 and Grundig muVac. I returned the D90 to get the D90 MQA and found it to expose the Grundig a bit too much. I then switched to my other amp, LTA MZ2, and found synergy again. Before, I thought D90 and MZ2 were too smooth together.

I don't hear diff when changing between the filters.

I wanted to upgrade to MQA because I use Tidal. However, I cannot hear the difference between MQA and "hifi" tracks. So, I returned to the basic subscription.

Last observation. Everything sounds better with D90 MQA/LTA MZ2 especially hires via foobar except for... Tidal. Tidal, the reason for the dac upgrade, now sounds superficial.

This is all in your head and I would love to secretly swap out the guts between the cases and have you then claim the MQA version still sounds better when it has the guts from the D90. I'm confident you'd do this that I'd almost be willing to put up $250k to prove my confidence.

Why do people in this hobby have such a hard time grasping placebo and that their brain plays tricks on them? It's maddening.

 

[Interceptor69]

Because the other person thinks there is a difference but refuses to accept it is all in their head. Typical really for this hobby.



This is all in your head and I would love to secretly swap out the guts between the cases and have you then claim the MQA version still sounds better when it has the guts from the D90. I'm confident you'd do this that I'd almost be willing to put up $250k to prove my confidence.

Why do people in this hobby have such a hard time grasping placebo and that their brain plays tricks on them? It's maddening.

Agreed

 

[KPzypher]

Why do people in this hobby have such a hard time grasping placebo and that their brain plays tricks on them? It's maddening.

Because it involves money and people need to justify their purchase. Same reason why science always takes a back seat in this forum.

With that being said, I have the MQA version, but I doubt I can tell the difference between the two.

 

[Kashen2020]

Hello guys

my setup is arya with A90/D90 with xlr cable and xlr interconnections. I have a problem which is I can with my headphone reach max volume in high gain and the sound is not bother my ear so much and I don't feel it will make my ears bleeding. and some people have a headphones which are harder to drive and they not reach the middle volume of the high gain. My question is the dac participated in this problem?? because now my dac is in pure dac mode, mode3, xlr only connection. this is the only things that I changed in it. and I use it in my pc with USB. the loudness is nice but the problem I have many electircal farts in some music with high notes and even in movies some people say because iam giving arya so much power it doesn't need it. I enjoy the arya wdynamics and loudness at the 8 according to this picture and here the electrical farts happen in some music

 

[zeromacro]

Only took 4 days for delivery to Canada. WOW.
I'm coming from a portable dac (original Dragonfly) and the detail retrieval is night and day. I'd say the dragonfly sounds a bit more muffled but more musical? The D90 sounds a lot more airier and detailed, but more neutral. Definitely higher in fidelity. Good stuff.

 

[mds2004]

My only DAC/Amp which I am already happy with is an iFi micro BL, but have the D90/A90 on the way that will hopefully be here next week. Although different as the Dragonfly, your post gives me hope that I will see a noticeable difference too.