Review on 🎧 Linsoul Topping D10S HiFi USB DAC: Ultimate Sound Quality with ES9038Q2M Chip, Analog Digital Output (Silver) by Loren Jacobson

I first used Musical Fidelity V Link between my laptop and the ESS Saber DAC to sort and clean up digital anomalies with great results, but shorted out after 7 years of use. I've replaced it with a $25 Revain USB DAC with RCA, coax, and toslink outputs with acceptable results. I was planning to buy an SMSL SU-9 or Loxjie D30 to upgrade my 8 year old DAC, but I was curious to try the Topping D10 as a buffer or "decoder" between my laptop and my old DAC. He arrived on Friday morning. small and light. I replaced the $25 DAC with a D10 with RCA going straight to the sub and coax and optical digital outs to the old DAC. For the first few hours, the D10 put out very strong bass, but whimsical, foggy, harsh mids and highs. Day 2 - He became more open and relaxed with a wide soundstage. Day 3 - the magic started to show itself with liquid/juicy mids and brilliant highs. Dominic Miller's "First Touch" album came out clean, crisp and juicy, with nylon string guitar. Riley Pierce's recordings came out with a powerful bass and juicy mids, while the vocals by Suzanne Vega, Karen Souza, Diana Krall and Melody Gardot sound fantastic. (Poorly recorded and anemic Led Zeppelin songs were still anemic. I guess no matter how many times Page will remaster some of those classic Led Zep songs). Acoustic jazz and European jazz artists sound fantastic. What struck me is that the D10s integrates my Mirage subwoofer and B&W speakers, which smoothly reproduce very full, articulated bass and give the mids and highs crisp and clear definition. Not sure if my 8 year old DAC needs an upgrade now. Topping D10s MUST be used as an interface between a laptop and any DAC you may have. This eliminates digital flare which may re-sync the digital feed. A great device is the Topping D10s, which will save you hundreds of dollars on DAC upgrades. UPDATE**** 9/26/2021 I thought my system was going to lose it. I cleaned all the speaker and RCA connectors but no improvement. I swapped out my SIGNTEK HIFI USB interface and LIFE and SPARKLE are back. This topping product was great at first but seems to be slowly dying out over time. I want my money back or a replacement device!