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DAC input overload

rodman101

rodman101

Active Member
Just purchased a Topping E30 to use on Audiolab 6000CDT. It is not working correctly??? It cuts outs out on dynamic/loud passages using either coax or Toslink??? Works fine on Toslink from my TV, USB from laptop and PC, coax from Fiio X5. The transport works fine on coax with sub $30 DIY DAC kit I purchased from auction site but that unit delivers horrible sound in all respects. Any comments welcome.
 
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Recent Topping DACs are sensitive to less than perfect (jittery) SPDIF sources and can’t lock on the signal reliably is some cases, I think it happens due to a design flaw. Sounds like you stepped on this issue unfortunately. AFAIK there is no remedy.
 
Here is an idea. I have personally had very good results using this coaxial/optical converter:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C1LNKGK

But you could also use it simply as a buffer between your source and DAC, since it repeats the signal. It may be more tolerant of the input from your source, and in turn, send your DAC a signal that is more palatable.
 
Chris Brown said:
Here is an idea. I have personally had very good results using this coaxial/optical converter:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C1LNKGK

But you could also use it simply as a buffer between your source and DAC, since it repeats the signal. It may be more tolerant of the input from your source, and in turn, send your DAC a signal that is more palatable.
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That's certainly an option. However, if it were me, I'd return the DAC for a refund. Just my $0.02, but I suspect that Topping DAC is not the best match for your Audiolab 6000CDT. The Audiolab 6000CDT deserves better.
 
If your DAC can't handle a digital stream over Toslink or coax (literally its only job!), it's not worth having in your chain.

Get something that works properly instead.
 
Chris Brown said:
Here is an idea. I have personally had very good results using this coaxial/optical converter:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C1LNKGK

But you could also use it simply as a buffer between your source and DAC, since it repeats the signal. It may be more tolerant of the input from your source, and in turn, send your DAC a signal that is more palatable.
Click to expand...

At $11 it’s worth a shot but anything more expensive doesn’t make much sense. Someone didn’t have much success even with an iFi SPDIF iPurifier, which is a proper reclocker, but it was another Topping DAC and it could’ve been defective too.
 
benricci said:
If your DAC can't handle a digital stream over Toslink or coax (literally its only job!), it's not worth having in your chain.

Get something that works properly instead.
Click to expand...

A DAC that can lock on a crappy signal isn’t necessarily a better DAC, in fact chances are it’s the opposite as all those clock irregularities end up on the analog output as jitter artifacts unless the DAC has been specifically designed to suppress them using a robust PLL or ASRC.
 
gvl said:
A DAC that can lock on a crappy signal isn’t necessarily a better DAC, in fact chances are it’s the opposite as all those clock irregularities end up on the analog output as jitter artifacts unless the DAC has been specifically designed to suppress them using a robust PLL or ASRC.
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My point was pretty simple and clear. His DAC literally can't handle an incoming digital signal, rendering it useless in its sole function. Why on earth would anyone keep it?
 
benricci said:
My point was pretty simple and clear. His DAC literally can't handle an incoming digital signal, rendering it useless in its sole function. Why on earth would anyone keep it?
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He could sell the expensive transport instead. An el cheapo CD player with a better SPDIF output that works with this DAC will be just as good or better.
 
gvl said:
Does it? The only job a CD transport needs to do is to provide a stable digital output, and it clearly fails at that given other sources work.
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So, you've concluded that the transport is the issue? I'm not sure I'm quite ready for a conclusive diagnosis in this case.
 
whell said:
So, you've concluded that the transport is the issue? I'm not sure I'm quite ready for a conclusive diagnosis in this case.
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It’s a composite issue, the DAC is not forgiving enough to support sources with marginal output, and the source is marginal. According to the OP his TV and Fiio work fine with the DAC over SPDIF, just not the transport, so it does point to the transport as the main suspect. Several recent Topping DACs were reported to have these issues with certain sources, IMO they use too tight of a PLL to get low measured jitter at the cost of compatibility with all sources. I don’t like it and they should have done a better job, but on the other hand if an expensive player can’t get its output right, is it fair to say it’s all Toppings fault?
 
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All your feedback is greatly welcome!
A friend has been generous enough to bring over 3 DAC's from his collection audioengine D1 he uses at work, Mytech liberty from his main system, Arcam RDAC now in retirement. All 3 playback fine with my CD transport. He was not convinced about my claim so we switched back to the Topping E30, same thing, and he agrees that the "cut out" happens only on loud/dynamic passages with the Topping E30. He reminded me that the CD player (tascam cd-200) I use in my rec room has a digital output, horrible that I wasn't even aware, and the Topping E30 plays fine with this??? I am not going to spending more time on this but obviously there is a compatibility issue with the two devices. I now have the knowledge that at least three more DAC's will work with my transport. That Mytek is sounds incredible but this is not in my budget. He's going to let me use the Arcam for as long as I would like...
 
Certainly not an ideal situation, hopefully you can return the E30. Topping has more work to do clearly. I know they tried to understand this issue, but probably not hard enough. The Rdac is one of the first DACs I acquired and still keep around, it has since been repurposed to secondary duties but I like it till these days, and realistically I would be happy with it as my main DAC anyway.
 
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GVL - I agree with you on your Topping comments. The RDAC was the main DAC in my friends and system for several years. I'm quite happy with the way it sounds and I even offered to purchase it from him but he has no interest in taking my money and I have no interest in taking advantage of his charity so the search continues but in the meantime I am SOLID!
 
The RDACs had some sort of issue developing over time with the internal relay clicking and cutting the output, mine is affected. It seems to have something to do with the lousy power barrel connector input, as I need to wiggle it to get it going again, one of these days I will find the time to replace it. Just an FYI it in case you end up looking for one.
 
gvl said:
Here’s a related read. Seems the E30 compatibility with CD players went south since recently when Topping started using a different receiver chip because the original AKM one is unavailable due to the factory fire in Japan that happened last year.

https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/jitter-with-topping-e30.25151/
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I knew about the fire but I didn't know this was a problem on these newer models/production runs. My DX3 Pro LDAC works flawlessly over SPDIF and Toslink (with a recent model CDP and Smart TV), but it's over 2 years old now. It also has an AKM chip.
 
patient_ot said:
I knew about the fire but I didn't know this was a problem on these newer models/production runs. My DX3 Pro LDAC works flawlessly over SPDIF and Toslink (with a recent model CDP and Smart TV), but it's over 2 years old now. It also has an AKM chip.
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It's the SPDIF receiver chip, not the DAC chip. Apparently AKM receivers are more robust than the older CS8416 receivers, but at the same time these Cirrus Logic chips were around for quite some time, so chances are Topping just didn't do a very good job designing SPDIF input this time.
 
gvl said:
It's the SPDIF receiver chip, not the DAC chip. Apparently AKM receivers are more robust than the older CS8416 receivers, but at the same time these Cirrus Logic chips were around for quite some time, so chances are Topping just didn't do a very good job designing SPDIF input this time.
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Right. It would be interesting to test the same disc spinner with another company's unit that uses the same CS spidf chip. Just glad I'm not dealing wit this issue.
 
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