We recently tested 15 DACs – and here are 6 we highly recommend

[What Hi-Fi?]

External DACs can typically play ball with phones, laptops and even hi-fi systems, though some have been designed more for one purpose than the other...

We recently tested 15 DACs – and here are 6 we highly recommend : Read more

 

[Jasonovich]

The Topping DACs provide an excellent alternative to the usual actors in your review. The E50 (DSD/PCM and MQA audio decoding balanced and non balanced outputs) or it's cheaper sibling E30 are great budget DACs.

I have my DAC feeding into a pair of active ADAM Audio TV5 studio monitors with pseudo ribbon tweeters (mono amplified on each speaker). The best duo since Bonnie met Clyde, incredibly dynamic with a great presence of depth. There is soul in those bookshelf speakers. Chord USB cable provides the highest DSD data output.

I get much of my music from the excellent NativeDSD (link removed by moderation) website and brings me absolute delight when hearing high resolution 512 DSD through the E50, really is sublime, neutral sounding with a tinge of warmness. Shades of 'When Harry Met Sally;...Yes, Yes, Yes.......God I'm old!

I urge you WHAT HI FI to be a little adventurous with your reviews, we all know about the Chord, ifi ZEN, the Cambridge et'al, boring and pricey compared to what's out there in the market.
Anyway my 2 cents..................

 

[nopiano]

I urge you WHAT HI FI to be a little adventurous with your reviews, we all know about the Chord, ifi ZEN, the Cambridge et'al, boring and pricey compared to what's out there in the market.
Anyway my 2 cents..................

Do Topping even have a UK importer? If so, you need to persuade them to send WHF one to review. But why would they when ASR say they’re perfect?

 

[MrReaper182]

I would love to upgrade my Cord Mojo to an Chord Hugo 2 (that's my next hi-fi upgrade) but right now I can not afford to which makes me sad.

 

[Jasonovich]

@ nopiano

SHENZHEN AUDIO sells them directly from China.
I'm UK based and there are many computer or electronic outlets that sell them. https://www.scan.co.uk/shop-by-brand/topping sells them for £269. Also https://www.electromod.co.uk/products/ . See the YouTube videos where the Topping is compared and benchmarked against the competition. I purchased mine from Amazon (check the reviews from customers). I understand eBay sells them or if you wish to buy cheaper and don't mind waiting, there's also AliExpress.
I also purchased from AliExpress UK design 5v linear power supply with quality copper toroid transformer for my E50. It's a difference between night and day, it makes a great difference to the sound (not just Topping but all DACs).

 

[Friesiansam]

@ nopiano

SHENZHEN AUDIO sells them directly from China.
I'm UK based and there are many computer or electronic outlets that sell them. https://www.scan.co.uk/shop-by-brand/topping sells them for £269. Also https://www.electromod.co.uk/products/ . See the YouTube videos where the Topping is compared and benchmarked against the competition. I purchased mine from Amazon (check the reviews from customers). I understand eBay sells them or if you wish to buy cheaper and don't mind waiting, there's also AliExpress.
I also purchased from AliExpress UK design 5v linear power supply with quality copper toroid transformer for my E50. It's a difference between night and day, it makes a great difference to the sound (not just Topping but all DACs).

Based on what I read on computer forums, Scan have a reputation for terrible customer service and, if you are buying directly from China, you do not benefit from our consumer protection laws.

 

[Combat]

Can anyone actually tell the difference between a low to medium cost DAC (£100-300) (or a built in DAC in an amp) vs a high end DAC like the Chord? From what little I read, it would be extremely difficult to say that one is better than the other in a double blind test.

What HiFi and other publications used to say that you should split you budget between source, amp and speakers but I feel that there should be an upper limit to you budget for the source and amp that is much lower than speakers.