I got this because I was curious about the AKM 4499ex DAC chip, since it was touted as being warmer than the ESS alternatives. I hooked this up to my NAD C538 CD player, which had a limited internal Wolfson DAC, and the difference was astounding. Bass & Midrange are rich and smooth and there's enough detail to surprise you but not so much that you forget to enjoy the music. The highs have some sizzle, which I dialed back with EQ and the soundstage is wide and fairly deep. A bonus was that you could adjust the balance (+ or - 10db), which I like because I have a bit of asymmetry in my hearing. The remote was bog-standard Topping, but works well and the display is easy to read from my 5-6 foot listening distance. I'm still in the foothills of my DAC journey, but this one really leans into my preferences for a delicate balance between dynamics and warmth.

最初の100時間はエージングが必要なようです。低音が躍動感に欠ける印象でしたが良くなりました。個体が軽いためかセッティングには敏感です。最初付属の電源ケーブルの関係で床に置いてましたが躍動感が出ても低音が緩かったのですが電源ケーブルを変えてしっかりしたラックにセットしたら締まった躍動感のある低音になりました。電源ケーブルだけでなく　USBケーブルや音声ケーブルの影響も強く受けるようです。キャラクターとしてはステージが奥と横に広く（奥に比べると前が少し弱いかな　良い電源ケーブル欲しくなるね）　実音と響きと間接音のバランスが良いのでアコースティック楽器やボーカルはステージで実際に演奏をしてる感じで再生されます。一方響音をあまり必要としないハードでシャープな音を必要とする音楽ではおっとりとしてぬるく感じます。SNは良く繊細な音も情報としてしっかり出してくれるのですが小さな音をはっきり聞こえるように強調したりしないので高画質な写真を見るようなオーディオ的快楽を求めると方向性が違う感じがします。広く自然なステージと少し淡色の音色のバランスの取れた中庸な音の良さが分かる人向けデジタルフィルターもかなり効果が変わります。F1は広い空間にしっかり楽器が定位します。音の立ち上がり下がりが管理されている感じで良くも悪くもCD的な音F2はF1に比べると定位は劣るが音の立ち上がり下がりが自然で肩の力が抜けた良い演奏って感じ　F1F2どちらも強調される音はなくきちんとしたアンプスピーカーでバランスを取ってセッティングされているシステムだとこのどちらかがメインになると思います。うちはF2がメインです。F3はF1に　F4はF2に音の厚みを付けた感じの音　バランスの取れたオーディオで聞くと常に同じ感じで厚みが付くので違和感を感じるが　古いJAZZやROCKはF3で　メロウな女性ボーカルはF4で聞くと実に雰囲気が良いF5は使いどころに迷うがBGM的に流すなら刺激がなくて良いのかもしれないF6はF1並に定位が良くF2より立ち上がりが早い一見F1F2の良いとこどりの様に思えるがなんか定位が不自然というかステージ感が不自然　AVアンプのDSPでバーチャルサウンドを聞いてる感じ　シンセや打ち込みみたいな正解のない音楽なら面白いかもしれない。プリモードのボリュームを使ってパワーアンプに直接入れてみました。音質劣化は思ったより少ないけど良いプリがある人には不要かな　パワードスピーカーを使う人やデジアンに入れる人には便利　クオリティ重視ならDACモード一択ブルートゥースでスマホに繋いでYOUTUBEとかSPOTIFYやNAIMAUDIOのCD Quality Lossless FLACを再生しましたがこれは明らかに音が悪いレンジが狭く音が単調　スマホのせいか？別の何かか？　期待してたのに残念CDプレーヤーのデジタルアウトを繋いでみました。これももう一つ。PCトランスポート（daphile）の方が明らかに良い。CDプレーヤー単体で鳴らした方が自然で簡単値段を考えるとすごくよくできた商品だけど　万能じゃない　むしろ好き嫌いが出るくらいクオリティは高いという証明

after orderingi found out that tests show that it DOES NOT process dsd correctly.the dsd cut offs are very low.dsd is cut off at 19kz. it should be much higher.tests show topping goofed, the manual said there are 2 filers for dsd 38 and 68 kzapparently it was an errordsd filters cannot be changed they are stuck at 19so tests show dsd64 should be usampled to dsd512this will give you cut off in the high 70s.512 should have a cut off of 150.the whole point of using an akm chip i a dac is to give you best possible dsd soundNOt with this dac.topping messed up big time.pcm is brill. dsd is a no no.better to use the e70 sabre.

I've owned several DACs, and the general online consensus I've seen is that after a certain level there is no difference, that it's a solved problem. I used to think that too, using measurements as a basis for buying decisions, and insisting DACs can't sound different.I can no longer claim that after using this DAC. Funny thing is this isn't even the most expensive DAC I've owned, this costs less than half that, but sounds better to me. I know, the sound isn't supposed to sound different, but it does. Maybe it's the filter, but it's there. Generally speaking, motherboard audio is and has been fine for a long time. An upgrade to a solid DAC above that, say a Topping D50s with ESSabre chips, tends to be better, albeit not sound any different from Cirrus Logic and many other other DACs and chips I've had. Go up to say an ESSabre 9028Pro or equivalent is maybe a fraction better. But I found I liked AKM's sound when I briefly tried an SMSL d-6 (Also found in Schitt Modi, Topping E30 II and some other options, all great choices). So I figured I'd grab this one, and I'm just blown away. I'm not going to bore you with audiophile terms, but it just really does sound more detailed and resolving and all that stuff. It shouldn't, that's what I've read at ASR and the like, but somehow it does.Now onto some specific issues. I actually didn't get a remote. I asked Amazon CS and they couldn't help. Fortunately e-mailing the seller did, they're sending me a remote. They responded quickly. I haven't gotten it yet, you don't need it use it but it will make changing options including filters much, much easier. I also didn't get instructions, Amazon CS did link me to those, so I was able to program the options that way, fortunately. I'd like to try out the other filters, but have left it to the default and recommended setting of 3. Product did take awhile to arrive, but it arrived in the delivery window, at the very final day. This also has a one minute auto-standby, but doesn't turn off when you turn off your computer immediately. Also if you did turn it off while the computer was on (manually or something happened) it doesn't automatically turn on, you'd have to select source and tap that button a few times manually. Honestly all this would ordinarily cause me to dock a star. And heck, I'll say I did, because this is a 6* quality product and I'm giving it 5*.You might not need the driver but I have it installed and it covers all Topping products, so it was an easy switch and plug for me. Google the driver, or go to toppingaudio dot com. You probably don't actually need the driver, but just in case you want it or something doesn't go right. There are no instructions for this anywhere. The driver does give you a nice little status icon in the system tray with latency and other options, and a display of the current sample rate---the DAC doesn't display this like the D50s does, so this is the best way to check that.Update: Product has been shutting down randomly (standby and not detecting USB) while in use. I've owned the product less than 2 weeks now and I've had 4 such failures, I think they're getting more frequent now and it probably will get worse.Update 2: Contacted seller and they were willing to replace, but also mentioned using USB 2.0, I had plugged into USB 3.2 slots. So far so good, problem might have been on my end (random so I can't be sure for a few more weeks). So it's something to keep in mind. Putting this back at 5 stars, and I want to also mention seller was quick to respond and help. I also received the remote. Unfortunate it wasn't initially inside the product, but I'm not going to ding a star for now. Hopefully just a rare mistake and others don't have to deal with it, but in case it happens to you, e-mail the seller.Update 3: Ultimately decided to return it, since I was within my return window, when the issue happened again. Probably the seller would have just replaced it, and I saw after they promise to handle shipping costs for one year, which usually isn't the case. Truth be told I've been burned by too many bad warranties and sellers that I didn't want to take the risk---this seller very well could be a great one, and I would have probably found out if I was past my return period---but I just didn't want to take that risk.I still think highly of the sound of this product, and do miss it. I'll keep an eye out for these chips in the future, maybe for a better price down the line. Maybe even this product again to roll the dice and hope it works out better. I still highly recommend it, and just cross your fingers that you don't have any issues like I did (I'm sure just bad luck on my end, but Amazon returns are great, and I did get my full refund--I almost never return anything, but it's good to know you're protected just in case).

Ich hab mir sogar gleich zwei angeschafft, einen für den living room und einen fürs musikzimmer.

smsl D300がサンプリング周波数が変わる度に盛大なノイズが出て解決しない為、取り替えました。当たり前なのかもですが、ノイズはありません。フィルターを変える機能の1と2に入る時少し出ますが、チリッという程度で問題になりません。・使い勝手リモコンが付属しますが、音量調整不能なDACモードにしないと音が良くない様なのでアンプにリモコンがないと手動で辛いです。設定メニューの入り方も説明書をなくしたら分からないですね。(PDFで日本語説明がありました)・音質全てを拾い上げてきた様な、曖昧さのないソリッドな世界。柔らかい昔ながらの音しか聴いてこなかった人には衝撃が走りそうです。5.3万円で5年楽しめるなら、お買い得だと思いました。4499EXをフルに活かしているかは不明ですが、いいDACですね。パネルに高級感があれば良かったですが、1万円の激安デコーダーみたいなのだけが惜しいです。

Vielleicht vorab. Der DAC ist Stereo. Das 5.1 in der Beschreibung bezieht sich auf den Bluetooth Standard und nicht auf Surround.Die Soundqualität des Topping DAC ist sehr gut. Er ist hörbar besser als der, der in meinem 15 Jahre alten Yamaha Receiver eingebaut ist. Allerdings liegen jetzt keine Welten dazwischen. Es ist eher ein kleinerer Upgrade.Es ist der beste DAC Chip (oder besser Chips - es sind zwei) von AKM eingebaut (AKM 4499). Und AKM ist einer der besten Hersteller von DAC Chips.Man kann ihn in einem Vorverstärkermodus betreiben und Lautstärke und Eingänge über eine Fernbedienung steuern. Dann braucht man nur noch eine Endstufe. Das klappt aber nur, wenn man nur digitale Quellen hat, da der Topping keine analogen Eingänge hat.Man kann zwischen sechs Sound Modi wählen aber offen gestanden höre ich da keinen großen Unterschied.Man kann etwas sparen, wenn man den Topping E70 (ohne Velvet) nimmt. Dann bekommt man den Top Chip von ESS, dem anderen Hersteller von DAC Chips. Der spielt wohl in der gleichen Klasse aber insgesamt etwas dunkler.Ich empfehle das Gerät für alle, die einen Upgrade an ihrer Stereoanlage vornehmen wollen sowohl als DAC wie auch als Vorverstärker.

It's a good product for 500 Euros. Will improve most budget systems. For higher model amplifiers and speakers, one needs to invest more, which was my case. The Seller is Great, I would definitely recommend to buy from this Seller.

Thé E70 velvet is a very high quality Dac which is very enjoyable to listen to.It benefits from the latest AKM chip which brings an even higher resolution and a wide soundstage but also from the impeccable build quality and intelligent implementation of the Topping team. Congratulations !

Hi alle Hififreunde, der Dac ist traumhaft, schon so einiges gehabt, von Naim bis Nad, aber wie der klingt, und wie die Stimmen present sind ist einfach einzigartig, Superbühne traumhafte Töne, und ich interessiere mich schon länger für diese Sparte. Habe sehr große Piegas, und einen musical fidelity dazu, m6si, der internde DAc ist echt ein Witz gegen das, die Kabel sollten passen, Cinch und UsB von Audioquest, so zwischen 200 und 400 Euro reicht vollkommen um das masterpiece gut zu hören. Viel Spaß beim hören, ich hab ihn jetzt.

Best DAC I have heard. Works extremely well both with USB, optical, and Bluetooth sources. Also has a nice option to switch off and turn on automatically when the source (including Bluetooth) is disconnected or connected.