TOPPING - D10s

Topping D10s has only a USB B input and analogs to COAX/OPT/RCA. This is done by ES9038Q2M which is the latest and the greatest of the SABER DAC series. So this product addresses very specific needs. I am using it for Kanto YU6 speakers which accepts OPT/RCA. I am using it at 32bit 192kHz for Spotify as it doesn't supports either 352.8kHz or 384kHz. My source is an assembled mATX based desktop with a small GTX1080Ti graphic card (I will tell you why I mentioned this later in this review).

Those who use a desktop like me are probably aware of the issues related to the strange electrical noises/distortions produced by the components hooked up on the motherboard. Specially the graphic card with can consume power in a widely varying window of Wattage based on the task being done on the desktop. So I had two of these issues.
a) The central image of my speaker always had a hiss, which is very noticeable specially at night. Same image produces pop or boom when track are changed all of a sudden but that is not frequent so not a real bother.
b) Since its close to winters here in NCR, I am not using the ceiling fan and in a 41db-55db room I began to notice the electrical signals of my mouse movement getting represented in the form of sound in my speakers. Yeah you read that right. All over the speaker image depending on the mouse movement. This is a real pain because due to this I cannot work and at the same time listening to music without getting distracted every minute.

I am happy to report that the above stated problems are completely gone when using over OPT and colossally reduced in RCA (Noticeable at about 90% max volume of my speaker but you won't reach there in nearfield. I seldom go above 50% so hurray!!). To achieve this you have to buy an additional filter like Audioquest Jitterbug which is in the range of 7k-7.5k in INR. Apart from that you have to purchase a separate DAC of your liking. So now it depends on your level of Audiophilia how do you want to go forth and to ease this decision, I will describe the DAC performance next.

I will be comparing it with the inbuild DAC of my speaker Kanto YU6 over OPT first. The sound of D10s is more airier and detailed over the inbuild DAC/AMP of the speaker and it very apparent in nearfield. From the couch, which is about 5 feet away from the speakers, its only noticeable. But the sloppy bass of the speaker has become a lot tighter using the D10s. So definitely an improvement overall.

Nextup, the ES9018K2M of Audio Opus #2 when being use as a DAC with lineout configuration. This is where I was disappointed and removed a star from the 5 star rating that I was about to give this DAC. The detail level of D10s is on par with Audio Opus #2 with the image is wider and deeper on D10s. But the bass production of D10s is very sloppy in comparison to the Audio Opus #2. To compensate for the sloppiness, I have to reduce the bass by one click and sometime 2 click when listening to multiple layers of EDM bass. I admit that I regret making this comparison as I cannot use Audio Opus #2 all the time as a DAC on my desktop setup because essentially it is a music player and is used by my wife for that purpose quiet often. Hence I am stuck using D10s for my setup but with a little correction within the speaker, it is manageable but still a manual effort. None of the above DAC even hold a candle to DAC on Marantz HD DAC/AMP 1 though. Another benefit of using D10s is to clear the signal of the Marantz HD AMP over optical. But that applies only to desktop sources as laptop source is sufficiently clearer.

So if you I would strongly recommend D10s for desktop as a signal filter. It has a decent DAC but not excellent for people who can spend more money on say Marantz. At this price point it is perfect for gaming where sound is not the real focus and to fulfill mild audiophilia needs.