Review on Topping D30 High-Resolution Audio Decoder With DSD Support, USB, Coaxial, And Optical Inputs, Xmos Technology, And CS4398 DAC Chip For 24Bit/192Khz Playback by Hurst Batiste

I had been using an M Audio 2496 PCI audio card and the sound was quite good by internal audio card standards. However I had made major improvements to the rest of my system and I wanted a better DAC.So, I bought the Topping D20 thinking it would be a great improvement but I was wrong. Within five minutes of starting to listen to familiar high quality CDs I could feel the listener fatigue setting in. I didn't like the sound -- it was strained, not effortless, it was not open or transparent. It made me tense just listening to it. I sent it back the next day and bought a Schiit Modi 2 Uber. I chose the Uber particularly because it has a better analog section after the DAC and a servo-controlled output whereas the plain Modi 2 has a simple analog section and a capacitor at the output blocking DC. When it arrived and I first listened to it I knew absolutely that I'd made the right decision. The Topping was a substantial step back from the oldish but smooth M Audio card and the Schiit was a very solid step forward.The Topping D20 is indeed an external DAC but the sound is nowhere near as good as it should be. I am happy with the Schiit.