Me too but it will take a few months for me to buy the organics. I have a sundara and I will be upgrading my l50 and e50 for the d70 and a70 pro in January
@@ssdemon96 for roughly the money of the a70/d70 stack you can now get the dx90 if you dig all-in-ones, and the dac is ak4499eq (pre-factory fire chips!). Keep in mind that on the a70pro, the organics at -20db on low gain sound wayyy too loud for safe listening.
I've had two A90Ds, first one got static in right channel. RMA'd it, the one I got back had a scratchy volume pot. I didn't feel like going through RMA so I kept it. A few months later, same problem with static in the right channel. I tried to open it up since warranty was now expired, and when I tried to power it back on I got -5 error and its now a $600 paperweight :/
Chi fi warranties are basically meaningless in my experience. Fiio wanted me to pay $130 shipping to get my UTWS5 repaired. Moondrop is just outright refusing to cover my dark saber that had the 2 pin socket pull out of the shell the second time I removed the cable, and they're forcing the seller to cover the cost of the replacement.
Their whole business model is clickbait product launches with back-of-the-box features and "good measurements". It all sounds the same, none of it's well made or has any R&D or QA behind it. Their R&D is "oh, reddit and youtube didn't like this one... More power/add Bluetooth/lower the SINAD/fix this downright dangerous issue/add a Pro to the model name and sell it again" until eventually they release something resembling a finished product. Buying a Topping amp is the audio equivalent of buying a new FIFA game on launch; it's all the same boring stuff, doesn't work properly and it'll be obsolete and worthless in a year's time. And yet people eat it up.
I own this. I use it to drive my HD 800 (OG w Dupont mod) and my OG LCD X's and its perfect. Use it in conjunction with my A16 Realiser which has 24 channel captures of Dutch & Dutch 8C's and my LS 50 Metas. It provided the power I need to overcome the dynamic range the Smyth eats up in processing overhead. Also have used it in low gain mode to drive my Crinacle Truthear Reds and Blues. It really works well for this. Really lets me hear just what a stupid good value they are, though obviously not in the same league as my over ears coupled to a Smyth Realiser.
No the Realiser has its own internal DAC and Amp but both can be bypassed and the processed LPCM can be sent by spdif output to an external DAC and Amp, so no double amping.@@Curry.N
This amp is amazing. I bought one two months ago, and I have an A90 and one of the older D90 with the AKM chip. The power that this has just makes everything effortless. I prefer it over the A90 for sure. It has really opened up my Arya (Stealth) and makes them sing. Love it. Also, the fact that you can purchase the Ext90 (normally sold with the Pre90) to add to it allows for added system inputs from the menu in the amplifier. It's just Awesome!
I like the look of these over the A90/A90D and D90/D90SE, but this is too powerful for what almost everyone needs. The reason I say that is my A90 went out after only a couple years. So I bought the A90D, and after only 1 year it developed a very noisy background hiss. After a few days it started popping at full volume, even if the volume was set low. It hurt my ears so bad that I had to slap the headphones off my head and I heard ringing for an hour. It did this 3 times in a couple of days so I threw in the towel. I want a replacement and the A70 is a maybe but if it becomes the 3rd topping headphone amp in a row to go out in 1-2 years and pops in my ear with 17 watts it would be really bad for my headphones and more importantly my ears.
This goes for any amp but definitely this one need a bit of distance between (arms length maybe) being able to adjust the volume, accidentally ramming the knob over and 🔇 🔇also having it turned down before listening prevent startup accidents when using different gear especially sensitive iems
I cannot wait for the screens on these to eventually come to an improved future version of the A90D and D90. That would be awesome. And usb-c for the D90 as well. I think I’ll hold off on the A70/D70 pro for now and wait for these features to come to the big boys.
What do you presume would be the advantage of those coming A90d for example if as he joshua stated this thin can already deliver sufficient amount of power for any headphone?
@@maikij082 - Well, in this video he said the A90D has: more precision, more impact in the sub-bass, more clean treble details, and a wider soundstage than the A70 Pro. Perhaps the A90 Pro could combine the qualities of the A90D with the A70 Pro. The ability to drive inefficient headphones is rarely an amplifier's most important quality.
@@charlesurias literally just pure placebo when both the A90D and the A70 Pro are measured to be totally dead flat throughout the whole frequency. So Joshua is just speaking out of his ass. Check ASR forum for measurements.
@@Glenn056 - While I believe most of these types of UA-camr’s incomes are partially dependent on how much they sensationalize the differences between these amps and DACs, I am in the camp of folks who believe that measurements don’t tell the whole story.
reviews on these units were pretty scant until recently, i bought mine over amazon days as i knew i needed something powerful for my he6sev2 and i took advantage of the sales. i wish more reviews like this were out months ago to be honest although i understand why not. i love mine and luckily i got a unit that works well and sounds amazing but knowing the qaulity control issues may have steered me towards something else. for those wondering why does anyone need so much power? well i cant get my headphones up to defening levels but definately loud enough to be comfortable and fun but at about -15 to -10 db on high gain the overhead isnt really there to not have to worry about a little clipping here and there
@ChrisStoneinator works pretty spectacularly for me, big shame your bias has you missing out. honestly I'm having a blast and your negative nonsense can't stop me
I've been in the market for a new DAC to go along with my Topping A90D. I wanted to get the Topping D90 but I've been obsessed and refuse to get rid of my RME ADI2 FS. I love the features but I also love the spectrum display. Now that Topping offers a DAC with a spectrum analyzer.. Should I finally retire the ADI-2? Is the D70 a good fit for the A90 discreet? And finally isn't there a few different variations of the D70? Which one would pair best with A90? Thanks in advance Josh.
Just got this and it’s crazy how my shiit magni 3 amp stack is louder and has more punch on my hd800s not sure if I’m saying this rite but man I this feel like all I upgraded was the look and with a screen sheesh
I'm looking to buy a headphone amp and dac, and was watching some of your videos. I'm a little puzzled about your source. Are you simply streaming straight from a laptop via USB into these devices or...? Thanks!
Upgraded to this from the D50S/A50S. I'm only driving meze 109 atm so this is hugely overkill, I was disappointed that the dac isn't galvanically isolated at this price point though as I had to carry on using my HS02 to prevent speaker hum. The user experience otherwise has been pretty solid, it's so much more customisable with separated and combined outputs etc
This might be a dumb question from someone who is relatively new to the audiophile scene, but do you feel that the A70 Pro or D70 Pro would/could each pair well with a different DAC or Amp other than each other? Could be any other Topping or other brand, and if so, which DACs or Amps would you or others in the comments think could also pair well with either of these?
As long as the DAC and AMP are properly connected to each other, 95% of the time it'll work. Mixing and matching is one of the best ways to achieve a sound you like.
@@niko1even The Voltage-out from the DAC might be an issue, like a unbalanced DAC into a balanced amp that requires more juice to sound right. But as far as DACs and amps 'sounding good' together, I'd say 'mixing and matching' is one way to eventually achieve the preferred sound. Though finding the right match can be quite a journey!
HI, THANKS FOR THE VIDEO, I WOULD HAVE TO SAY, WHY IS IT THAT KNOW ONE ACTUALLY SPEAKERS ABOUT THE REAR SPEAKER OUTPUT, ARE THEY AS GOOD AS THE HEADPHONE OUTPUTS CAN THE REAR OUTPUTS BE USED AS A AMP, WITH OUT HAVING TO BUY A AMP . I HAVE A SET OF ADAM 10''SUBWOOFER WITH 2 8'' MONITORS , PLEASE EXPLAIN THANKS
I really hope someone will cover the topic of lossless files, the difference between wav flac aac, and so on, and compare to 320 256 192khz. Add to that what are 24bit 18bit when should we listen or what type of music should we listen to music based on these so many formats and so many different bitrates. Most importantly how do we spot genuine lossless files, using different software to identify the authenticity of music files could cause confusion for example Spek and Fakin' The Funk, not all the time both softwares agree with one another when accessing a lossless music files thus this caused greater confusion of am I holding a genuine flac file or not. I think someone should cover a topic like this to educate the proper basic guide maybe even before getting a headphone perhaps.
Having new models launching with problems and bugs is kind of a trend right now (not only in the audio industry). With consumption figures decreasing, every company is fighting to keep good sales numbers, and that means pushing new products into the market as soon as possible. Naturaly, testing, qc and the sort tend to be left behind... Some friends of mine who work in the tech/ electronics business have told me that they are feeling most companys are launching products in beta stage. Either way, Topping has had lots of issues like this in previous units. Conclusion: don't buy products that have been recently released. Let them be tried and figured out before that.
I got L30+ E30 combo right now and i'm running Hifiman arya stealth +Thieaudio mmk3 What would be the best upgrade path , a90d+d90 / a70 pro + d70 pro /dx7 pro or lastly dx9 pro ? Just can't make up my mind or decide if I'll actually even benefit from upgrading right now
Very down to earth review! Some points that have not been discussed in other channels. A glitch in the firmware hits and it goes from low volume to full blast 💥, it could be dangerous! However, I only have seen that happened and it was to me on the original LH LABS GeekOut 450mwW model. Even with some buds, it was PAINFUL 😖. But that was a badly designed aspect of the product. They changed it later to some other function
Hi, I'm a bit late but I am looking at this amp currently, do you have any idea if it still has this issue or if it was fixed with more recent firmware?
I want to share my bad experience with this Amp(Topping A70 Pro). Firstly I am a hardcore headphone, IEM enthusiast. Don’t like the audiophile term 😂. I have beenthru lots of headphones,iem and amps in the last 5 years and a few of them have been topping amps/dacs. Latest amps/ dacs I have been using is holo audio bliss, holo audio spring 3 kte, also got the ferrum orr, wandla stack plus a few smaller amps/dacs. I had a spare dac the Gustard x26pro that I thought I would pare with the Topping A70pro. Really liked the more analytical sound that this amp/dac combo gave me. After testing it with some high end headphones and iems this includes Susvara lcd 5 etc etc decided to use it for my current favourite headphones the Utopia and after half hour the left hand driver gave up. Not sure if this was the amplifier or just unlucky but wasn’t listening at high volume and was sat relaxed as normal. Really gutted as my Utopia not under warranty and getting focal headphones repaired seems to be a big challenge. I am currently scared of plugging any more headphones in to the topping a70pro. Could a amp damage my headphones 🎧? Not sure how I could test this. Not other issues before this happened. But been quoted around £1500 to repair but Focal can’t confirm price until the get the headphones and test them. They won’t send me replacement drivers either so not happy. 😢
Doubt it, i think its likely your focals have just failed :( i had my 1990 pro's die the other day so i've just bought Audeze LCD-X's. Im looking at getting this amp too so im not sure about it atm im on the fence.
I was intrigued but then stopped watching after like 30 secs because of all the comments about QC issues on Toppings. Too bad but QC has always been and still remains the Achilles heel of many Chifi brands.
It's true, I've had topping and smsl fail immediately out of the box. Amazon return policy helps tho, once you get a working unit they seem pretty solid.
Zh1es is a great amp, I have it myself but it struggles with some powerful HPs I imagine the Abyss will just run out of headroom maxed out. Get a a90 and use the zh1es as preamp to give it some warmth as the a90 can get a little cold or boring with the wrong source.
I tried the Organics with original D90/A90 and I too thought the organics were way too bright for my ears, almost painfully so... I tried the to EQ it and it helped slightly but the sound signature was still there I felt.. Also tried with Ifi Zen can with same results. Everything was “burnt in” as I just borrowed them from a store where the owner had them burnt in. Got the Clear MG instead with some slight EQ bass boost and it suits my ears perfectly. I’m a noob in this hobby but that’s my experience with bright headphones..
@@Besserwisser1900 I have the Clear MG’s also and it’s slightly bright but no where near as bright as the Organic’s with A90/D90 setup. However, I was listening to another UA-camr and he was reviewing cables, which to be honest with you I never really believed in the expensive cable equals better sound but, what he was saying is that usually 100% copper cables will make the sound signature warmer. He was reviewing cables anywhere from $75-2000 and I wasn’t going to pay hundreds of dollars on a cable. So I bought the Audio Ninja 4.4 balanced cable for HifiMan headphones and Focal for about $75, even though I was skeptical. But I have to say it does make the Organics sound warmer or I should say that the organics are less piercing. Its still bright, but better than the OG cable after a few days.
@@Nebo600 Yeah that’s interesting! If I understand you correctly, you tried this also on The Clear MG with different cables? How was that doing to the sound of those headphones? I’m satisfied with original cables of my MG’s for the moment though .
@@Nebo600 I've got 2 setups. I've got the newest Geshelli DAC and Amp with the AK DAC and Sparkos op amps along with a LYR 3 tube amp and Lokius tone control. Just sold the Gustard A26 DAC. My gaming and movie set-up is a Schitt SYN DAC to a Burson Soloist 3XP with a Lokius. I prefer the SMSL stuff over Topping when it comes to the Chinese DAC's and amps
Also got the "HP DC Abnormal" error on a brand new (used for less than 3 days) A70 Pro Black. Don't know which production batch this unit is from. Nothing can be done to fix it by the user. Not great having to send it to be replaced from Finland to Hungary (the closest place to me I could buy it from)
Would it be able to drive AKG K1000? Have been looking for a headphone amp that can power AKG K1000 but so far hasn't had any luck. Would like to look for some suggestions
120 Ohm impedance? This amp should be able to do that, as A90, A90D and mayyybeee EF400 should do in the same price range below 1K. But if you want to use _that_ HP, then you will be able to do the math much better than me? EDIT: That is what I thought. But speaker amp is being recommended :-D
Thank you! Yeah despite the impedance the problem with KK is its extremely low sensitivity, at some places ppl says you need 10W at 120ohm to make it work properly which I'm not sure right or wrong @@Thund3rstone
you don’t need 17 w for he6😢😢my benchmark hpa4 can easily push he6 and my sus to above 130db😅😅 17w is even way more than enough for akg k1000 with 72 sensitivity 😅😅
I can power my HE6se v2 -- which is lower sensitivity than OG HE6 -- with a SMSL HO200 on medium gain with volume to spare. You don't need a speaker amp for them and anyone that says that is straight up placebo'd themselves into thinking it makes a difference. I bought a speaker amp just to do an A/B test between it and my headphone amp at the time... There was zero audible difference.
@@En_Joshi-Godrez It's irrelevent. Planars are not a difficult load for amplifiers. They basically act like a pure resistive load due to their flat impedance curve. Dynamic drivers and IEMs, at least from an electrical perspective are actually a more challenging load than any planars would be.
Why make an amp with this much power? Just bragging rights? You're more likely to damage something than to ever need half of what it can output. I have to assume it's just bragging rights/marketing.
Probs marketing, they can’t keep selling the same stuff (kinda) in different cases, they already have stupid good specs in all their stuff so I guess now they have the “cleanest amp at 17W”. So yeah, marketing and bragging rights.
People need to stop getting so excited all the time by spec sheets in this community. Bigger numbers does not always mean more powerful amplification, the quality of the components, in particular the power supply play a huge role when it comes to control over a headphones drivers.
The "nobody ...." that's now popular on the internet amuses me to no end, because if there's even a forum where people are discussing issues they've experienced with this Amp? That's a number of "somebodies", who are discussing issues meaning they definitely care. Don't speak for everyone.
9:04 I feel like topping should've had an iem mode, where they have a negative gain, and the volume goes up at smaller increments
I've had this amp for a few months now and it works flawlessly. I guess I got lucky! I love it with the D70 pro sabre and the arya organics.
the arya organics are exactly why i'm getting this stack, a70 / d70
Me too but it will take a few months for me to buy the organics. I have a sundara and I will be upgrading my l50 and e50 for the d70 and a70 pro in January
@@ssdemon96 for roughly the money of the a70/d70 stack you can now get the dx90 if you dig all-in-ones, and the dac is ak4499eq (pre-factory fire chips!). Keep in mind that on the a70pro, the organics at -20db on low gain sound wayyy too loud for safe listening.
Will A50III be enough for the Organics?
Easy @FabioGrenkh
D90LE/A90D stack here. No quality problems at all. Love it.
D90SE/A90 stack. Running for about two years, no issues whatsoever.
I've had two A90Ds, first one got static in right channel. RMA'd it, the one I got back had a scratchy volume pot. I didn't feel like going through RMA so I kept it. A few months later, same problem with static in the right channel. I tried to open it up since warranty was now expired, and when I tried to power it back on I got -5 error and its now a $600 paperweight :/
Thats fucked up @@simtheory7894
I also ordered the dx9 excited for that screens look amazing finally nice look on headphone gear
getting this pair myself, a70 / d70, a welcome upgrade from dx3+ pro, which, for $250 is a slam dunk, thank you for this review!
Swooped the a70/d70 saber stack on ebay for 750$. Super happy with everything. Have had 0 issues.
Chi fi warranties are basically meaningless in my experience. Fiio wanted me to pay $130 shipping to get my UTWS5 repaired. Moondrop is just outright refusing to cover my dark saber that had the 2 pin socket pull out of the shell the second time I removed the cable, and they're forcing the seller to cover the cost of the replacement.
the experience mostly depends on the seller you purchase from, check around the policies of different stores and see what offers the best
Nice. Good work. I just don't really see why you'd buy an A90 if you could get a A70 Pro? It feels like there is too much overlap in Toppings stuff.
Their whole business model is clickbait product launches with back-of-the-box features and "good measurements". It all sounds the same, none of it's well made or has any R&D or QA behind it. Their R&D is "oh, reddit and youtube didn't like this one... More power/add Bluetooth/lower the SINAD/fix this downright dangerous issue/add a Pro to the model name and sell it again" until eventually they release something resembling a finished product. Buying a Topping amp is the audio equivalent of buying a new FIFA game on launch; it's all the same boring stuff, doesn't work properly and it'll be obsolete and worthless in a year's time. And yet people eat it up.
I own this. I use it to drive my HD 800 (OG w Dupont mod) and my OG LCD X's and its perfect. Use it in conjunction with my A16 Realiser which has 24 channel captures of Dutch & Dutch 8C's and my LS 50 Metas. It provided the power I need to overcome the dynamic range the Smyth eats up in processing overhead.
Also have used it in low gain mode to drive my Crinacle Truthear Reds and Blues. It really works well for this. Really lets me hear just what a stupid good value they are, though obviously not in the same league as my over ears coupled to a Smyth Realiser.
Isn’t by combining with A16 realiser technically you’re double amp it?
No the Realiser has its own internal DAC and Amp but both can be bypassed and the processed LPCM can be sent by spdif output to an external DAC and Amp, so no double amping.@@Curry.N
This amp is amazing. I bought one two months ago, and I have an A90 and one of the older D90 with the AKM chip. The power that this has just makes everything effortless. I prefer it over the A90 for sure. It has really opened up my Arya (Stealth) and makes them sing. Love it. Also, the fact that you can purchase the Ext90 (normally sold with the Pre90) to add to it allows for added system inputs from the menu in the amplifier. It's just Awesome!
Just ordered mine. Looking forward to it
Great review been looking into picking one of these up! Also, Matrix Audio Mini i-pro 4 review soon???
I just picked up these 2 after watching this vod. Really like how responsive my DT 990 Pro's sound compared to my old Fiio K5
I like the look of these over the A90/A90D and D90/D90SE, but this is too powerful for what almost everyone needs. The reason I say that is my A90 went out after only a couple years. So I bought the A90D, and after only 1 year it developed a very noisy background hiss. After a few days it started popping at full volume, even if the volume was set low. It hurt my ears so bad that I had to slap the headphones off my head and I heard ringing for an hour. It did this 3 times in a couple of days so I threw in the towel. I want a replacement and the A70 is a maybe but if it becomes the 3rd topping headphone amp in a row to go out in 1-2 years and pops in my ear with 17 watts it would be really bad for my headphones and more importantly my ears.
Those screens make them look like the good old RME Adi2
This goes for any amp but definitely this one need a bit of distance between (arms length maybe) being able to adjust the volume, accidentally ramming the knob over and 🔇 🔇also having it turned down before listening prevent startup accidents when using different gear especially sensitive iems
I cannot wait for the screens on these to eventually come to an improved future version of the A90D and D90. That would be awesome. And usb-c for the D90 as well. I think I’ll hold off on the A70/D70 pro for now and wait for these features to come to the big boys.
That would be the D90 Pro and the A90 Pro. Oh yeah
What do you presume would be the advantage of those coming A90d for example if as he joshua stated this thin can already deliver sufficient amount of power for any headphone?
@@maikij082 - Well, in this video he said the A90D has: more precision, more impact in the sub-bass, more clean treble details, and a wider soundstage than the A70 Pro. Perhaps the A90 Pro could combine the qualities of the A90D with the A70 Pro. The ability to drive inefficient headphones is rarely an amplifier's most important quality.
@@charlesurias literally just pure placebo when both the A90D and the A70 Pro are measured to be totally dead flat throughout the whole frequency. So Joshua is just speaking out of his ass. Check ASR forum for measurements.
@@Glenn056 - While I believe most of these types of UA-camr’s incomes are partially dependent on how much they sensationalize the differences between these amps and DACs, I am in the camp of folks who believe that measurements don’t tell the whole story.
Need it for most open back headphones. Especially ATH-r70x and higher end senheissers
reviews on these units were pretty scant until recently, i bought mine over amazon days as i knew i needed something powerful for my he6sev2 and i took advantage of the sales.
i wish more reviews like this were out months ago to be honest although i understand why not.
i love mine and luckily i got a unit that works well and sounds amazing but knowing the qaulity control issues may have steered me towards something else.
for those wondering why does anyone need so much power? well i cant get my headphones up to defening levels but definately loud enough to be comfortable and fun but at about -15 to -10 db on high gain the overhead isnt really there to not have to worry about a little clipping here and there
Totally agree. I bought mine like 3 months ago when there was only 1 review which mainly focused on its qualities as a preamp with large speakers.
Holy moly what were you thinking getting an amp that was thrown together and vomited onto Amazon for a headphone like the HE6se?
@ChrisStoneinator works pretty spectacularly for me, big shame your bias has you missing out. honestly I'm having a blast and your negative nonsense can't stop me
I've been in the market for a new DAC to go along with my Topping A90D. I wanted to get the Topping D90 but I've been obsessed and refuse to get rid of my RME ADI2 FS. I love the features but I also love the spectrum display. Now that Topping offers a DAC with a spectrum analyzer.. Should I finally retire the ADI-2? Is the D70 a good fit for the A90 discreet? And finally isn't there a few different variations of the D70? Which one would pair best with A90? Thanks in advance Josh.
Just got this and it’s crazy how my shiit magni 3 amp stack is louder and has more punch on my hd800s not sure if I’m saying this rite but man I this feel like all I upgraded was the look and with a screen sheesh
Have you tried the Aune S17 Pro?
Bricking Amplifier??? Pass.
My Trilogy 933 will never not work.
Great production as always, Josh.
Did you have issues with the volume pot? That was my issue with the original a90 and they replaced it right away.
Is it powerful enough to drive the Hifiman HE6, though? Or do you 5 billion watts for that?
I'm looking to buy a headphone amp and dac, and was watching some of your videos. I'm a little puzzled about your source. Are you simply streaming straight from a laptop via USB into these devices or...? Thanks!
Upgraded to this from the D50S/A50S. I'm only driving meze 109 atm so this is hugely overkill, I was disappointed that the dac isn't galvanically isolated at this price point though as I had to carry on using my HS02 to prevent speaker hum. The user experience otherwise has been pretty solid, it's so much more customisable with separated and combined outputs etc
This might be a dumb question from someone who is relatively new to the audiophile scene, but do you feel that the A70 Pro or D70 Pro would/could each pair well with a different DAC or Amp other than each other? Could be any other Topping or other brand, and if so, which DACs or Amps would you or others in the comments think could also pair well with either of these?
As long as the DAC and AMP are properly connected to each other, 95% of the time it'll work. Mixing and matching is one of the best ways to achieve a sound you like.
@@niko1even If properly connected, how could a DAC/amp combination be incompatible?
@@mattrismatt preference issues. Some DACs just don't sound good with certain amps.
@@niko1even The Voltage-out from the DAC might be an issue, like a unbalanced DAC into a balanced amp that requires more juice to sound right. But as far as DACs and amps 'sounding good' together, I'd say 'mixing and matching' is one way to eventually achieve the preferred sound. Though finding the right match can be quite a journey!
HI, THANKS FOR THE VIDEO, I WOULD HAVE TO SAY, WHY IS IT THAT KNOW ONE ACTUALLY SPEAKERS ABOUT THE REAR SPEAKER OUTPUT, ARE THEY AS GOOD AS THE HEADPHONE OUTPUTS CAN THE REAR OUTPUTS BE USED AS A AMP, WITH OUT HAVING TO BUY A AMP . I HAVE A SET OF ADAM 10''SUBWOOFER WITH 2 8'' MONITORS , PLEASE EXPLAIN THANKS
Topping are nuts, what is next, 100 Watt headphone amp?
I had the LA-90. Bricked. But got a new one for free. Lost my trust a bit so bought a purifi amp instead
I really hope someone will cover the topic of lossless files, the difference between wav flac aac, and so on, and compare to 320 256 192khz. Add to that what are 24bit 18bit when should we listen or what type of music should we listen to music based on these so many formats and so many different bitrates. Most importantly how do we spot genuine lossless files, using different software to identify the authenticity of music files could cause confusion for example Spek and Fakin' The Funk, not all the time both softwares agree with one another when accessing a lossless music files thus this caused greater confusion of am I holding a genuine flac file or not. I think someone should cover a topic like this to educate the proper basic guide maybe even before getting a headphone perhaps.
Having new models launching with problems and bugs is kind of a trend right now (not only in the audio industry). With consumption figures decreasing, every company is fighting to keep good sales numbers, and that means pushing new products into the market as soon as possible. Naturaly, testing, qc and the sort tend to be left behind... Some friends of mine who work in the tech/ electronics business have told me that they are feeling most companys are launching products in beta stage. Either way, Topping has had lots of issues like this in previous units. Conclusion: don't buy products that have been recently released. Let them be tried and figured out before that.
I got L30+ E30 combo right now and i'm running Hifiman arya stealth +Thieaudio mmk3
What would be the best upgrade path , a90d+d90 / a70 pro + d70 pro /dx7 pro or lastly dx9 pro ? Just can't make up my mind or decide if I'll actually even benefit from upgrading right now
keep the dac first
Is it better than schiit Asgard 3 ?
Very down to earth review! Some points that have not been discussed in other channels. A glitch in the firmware hits and it goes from low volume to full blast 💥, it could be dangerous! However, I only have seen that happened and it was to me on the original LH LABS GeekOut 450mwW model. Even with some buds, it was PAINFUL 😖. But that was a badly designed aspect of the product. They changed it later to some other function
Hi, I'm a bit late but I am looking at this amp currently, do you have any idea if it still has this issue or if it was fixed with more recent firmware?
Any feedback for the a70 / d70 to use them on IEMs ?
Is diana MR horrible as other models?
How does an amp increase the sound-stage of headphones?
aune s17 pro review soon?
I want to share my bad experience with this Amp(Topping A70 Pro). Firstly I am a hardcore headphone, IEM enthusiast. Don’t like the audiophile term 😂. I have beenthru lots of headphones,iem and amps in the last 5 years and a few of them have been topping amps/dacs. Latest amps/ dacs I have been using is holo audio bliss, holo audio spring 3 kte, also got the ferrum orr, wandla stack plus a few smaller amps/dacs. I had a spare dac the Gustard x26pro that I thought I would pare with the Topping A70pro. Really liked the more analytical sound that this amp/dac combo gave me. After testing it with some high end headphones and iems this includes Susvara lcd 5 etc etc decided to use it for my current favourite headphones the Utopia and after half hour the left hand driver gave up. Not sure if this was the amplifier or just unlucky but wasn’t listening at high volume and was sat relaxed as normal. Really gutted as my Utopia not under warranty and getting focal headphones repaired seems to be a big challenge. I am currently scared of plugging any more headphones in to the topping a70pro. Could a amp damage my headphones 🎧? Not sure how I could test this. Not other issues before this happened. But been quoted around £1500 to repair but Focal can’t confirm price until the get the headphones and test them. They won’t send me replacement drivers either so not happy. 😢
Doubt it, i think its likely your focals have just failed :( i had my 1990 pro's die the other day so i've just bought Audeze LCD-X's.
Im looking at getting this amp too so im not sure about it atm im on the fence.
I was intrigued but then stopped watching after like 30 secs because of all the comments about QC issues on Toppings. Too bad but QC has always been and still remains the Achilles heel of many Chifi brands.
Hi Joshua. Hope you are doing good. Could you please review the HipDac 3?
I thought my schiitt with 5watts was powerful lol 17 is insane but I am getting it for the cool screen
no topping
People complain about their QC even on ASR so yeah i would not buy topping at all...
It's true, I've had topping and smsl fail immediately out of the box. Amazon return policy helps tho, once you get a working unit they seem pretty solid.
It's typical Chinese landfill electronics, avoid at all cost
I feel the exact same way about Hifiman products no matter how much people like Joshua and DMS praise them. Will never buy their stuff.
@@Enigma1990ad same and I would love to have aryas…
@@DragonWhisper14my topping a90d failed 2nd time after use, took a month and repeat emails for Apos to finally RMA it.
i have a zh1es and z1r, looking to buy a abyss tc wondering if this is better suited for it or the a90
Zh1es is a great amp, I have it myself but it struggles with some powerful HPs I imagine the Abyss will just run out of headroom maxed out. Get a a90 and use the zh1es as preamp to give it some warmth as the a90 can get a little cold or boring with the wrong source.
@@mikeg2491 have you tried the tc? how is it compared to the susvara and expanse. measurement wise the expanse is the best.
I’m looking to upgrade my A90 amp would do this or upgrade to another Amp? I find the A90 to bright for my Ayra Organic.
Please invest in knowing how to do basic eq and stop this purchase addiction train.
I tried the Organics with original D90/A90 and I too thought the organics were way too bright for my ears, almost painfully so... I tried the to EQ it and it helped slightly but the sound signature was still there I felt.. Also tried with Ifi Zen can with same results.
Everything was “burnt in” as I just borrowed them from a store where the owner had them burnt in.
Got the Clear MG instead with some slight EQ bass boost and it suits my ears perfectly.
I’m a noob in this hobby but that’s my experience with bright headphones..
@@Besserwisser1900 I have the Clear MG’s also and it’s slightly bright but no where near as bright as the Organic’s with A90/D90 setup. However, I was listening to another UA-camr and he was reviewing cables, which to be honest with you I never really believed in the expensive cable equals better sound but, what he was saying is that usually 100% copper cables will make the sound signature warmer. He was reviewing cables anywhere from $75-2000 and I wasn’t going to pay hundreds of dollars on a cable. So I bought the Audio Ninja 4.4 balanced cable for HifiMan headphones and Focal for about $75, even though I was skeptical. But I have to say it does make the Organics sound warmer or I should say that the organics are less piercing. Its still bright, but better than the OG cable after a few days.
@@Nebo600 Yeah that’s interesting! If I understand you correctly, you tried this also on The Clear MG with different cables?
How was that doing to the sound of those headphones?
I’m satisfied with original cables of my MG’s for the moment though .
I have no idea why you'd want to use an amp this powerful for headphones, it seems like it has the potential to blow up gear and worse, your ears
Not a fan of Topping stuff, but I'm sure Susvara owners are curious about it
What AMP and DAC do you have?
@@Nebo600 I've got 2 setups. I've got the newest Geshelli DAC and Amp with the AK DAC and Sparkos op amps along with a LYR 3 tube amp and Lokius tone control. Just sold the Gustard A26 DAC. My gaming and movie set-up is a Schitt SYN DAC to a Burson Soloist 3XP with a Lokius. I prefer the SMSL stuff over Topping when it comes to the Chinese DAC's and amps
Also got the "HP DC Abnormal" error on a brand new (used for less than 3 days) A70 Pro Black. Don't know which production batch this unit is from. Nothing can be done to fix it by the user.
Not great having to send it to be replaced from Finland to Hungary (the closest place to me I could buy it from)
Ok, joshua, how can I take you seriously If you speak about amp soundstage?
I need 2 - 5 watts. I think.
Voshua Jalour
Would it be able to drive AKG K1000? Have been looking for a headphone amp that can power AKG K1000 but so far hasn't had any luck. Would like to look for some suggestions
120 Ohm impedance? This amp should be able to do that, as A90, A90D and mayyybeee EF400 should do in the same price range below 1K. But if you want to use _that_ HP, then you will be able to do the math much better than me?
EDIT: That is what I thought. But speaker amp is being recommended :-D
Thank you! Yeah despite the impedance the problem with KK is its extremely low sensitivity, at some places ppl says you need 10W at 120ohm to make it work properly which I'm not sure right or wrong @@Thund3rstone
max power 4.8 Watts
Afaik the power curve actually drops below the A90D rather quickly.
A70 Pro: 1370mW @ 300 ohms and 670mW @ 600 ohms. A90D: 1000mW @ 300 ohms and 500mW @ 600 ohms. A70 Pro is more powerful at all impedances.
If you and a bunch of other people had problems that's not just every now and then it's a design flaw...nope.... I'll put my 1200 someplace else
A70 or Fiio K9??
Looks like they stole the display off the RME ADI-2 😂
Dollar per watt value? Now that is a useless metric. Thx for the video
Finally a affordable headphone amp that can power an HE-6. To bad basically no headphones need this much power.
you don’t need 17 w for he6😢😢my benchmark hpa4 can easily push he6 and my sus to above 130db😅😅 17w is even way more than enough for akg k1000 with 72 sensitivity 😅😅
I can power my HE6se v2 -- which is lower sensitivity than OG HE6 -- with a SMSL HO200 on medium gain with volume to spare. You don't need a speaker amp for them and anyone that says that is straight up placebo'd themselves into thinking it makes a difference. I bought a speaker amp just to do an A/B test between it and my headphone amp at the time... There was zero audible difference.
@@luckyupyours what what speaker amp would that be?
@@En_Joshi-Godrez It's irrelevent. Planars are not a difficult load for amplifiers. They basically act like a pure resistive load due to their flat impedance curve. Dynamic drivers and IEMs, at least from an electrical perspective are actually a more challenging load than any planars would be.
@@luckyupyours so you are talking based on conjecture. Got it. 😂
Honestly I feel like everything new in this channel is out of my budget these days.
Maybe I need to get rich quick
Some people do not need a TV or a car. Just a bike, a phone and a headphone with dac/amp.
I could run my speakers on 17 watts!!!
Why make an amp with this much power? Just bragging rights? You're more likely to damage something than to ever need half of what it can output. I have to assume it's just bragging rights/marketing.
Probs marketing, they can’t keep selling the same stuff (kinda) in different cases, they already have stupid good specs in all their stuff so I guess now they have the “cleanest amp at 17W”.
So yeah, marketing and bragging rights.
still not enough power for a sr009😂😂 not enough voltage, not powerful enough 😂😂(just kidding if anyone can’t see)
yeah its more demanding than most buds, i normally set to over 50% not sure maybe 100 ohms
People need to stop getting so excited all the time by spec sheets in this community.
Bigger numbers does not always mean more powerful amplification, the quality of the components, in particular the power supply play a huge role when it comes to control over a headphones drivers.
Overkill much
Topping is boring stuff. Nobody really cares about Topping.
😢
@@icywolf9312 amateur stuff
Just wondering , What competes at the same pricepoint as the a70 Pro ? That’s not ”amateur stuff” hehe
The "nobody ...." that's now popular on the internet amuses me to no end, because if there's even a forum where people are discussing issues they've experienced with this Amp? That's a number of "somebodies", who are discussing issues meaning they definitely care. Don't speak for everyone.
nobody cares