Topping D50s DAC, PA3, & P50 Reviews | Drop

Feb 28, 2020

j-techHey there @j-tech Yes, I'd say that the D50s is night and day to the to UMC 202HD but let me qualify why. The UMC is a fine piece of equipment, and I have been generally very happy with it. The only downside is the weak headphone amplification. When using the the 202HD with Powered speakers it sounds great. The chip just fine and the speakers take care of amplification, and in truth, I bought the the UMC202HD as an external sound card because I needed the interface to record audio from my mic to Zoom Meetings and YouTube videos. With high sensitivity IEMs, the 202 did a great job and I was happy, but when I picked up the Tin P1s I knew the Behringer wasn't giving me everything they were capable of. So, already having a D50 out in the living room, I knew the D50s would be an excellent DAC. I cant really comment on the sound DAC vs DAC on the 202HD vs D50s because to use the D50s you also need an AMP, in my case the JDS Atom. But when I compare the D50s + JDS Atom to the UMC202HD - it's night and day. All the resolution and clarity the D50s is capable of producing fed into an outstanding headphone amp is just audio bliss. I still use the UMC202HD to feed PC Audio like you tube videos or sound from a skype / zoom meeting to external speakers and I'm happy. I send all of my music files to the D50s. From time to time I still plug my earphones into the 202HD to listen to youtube and other audio and am always amazed at how good it sounds for such a low budget device, but it just cant compare to the extra power and clarity of the DAC + Amp set up. So, this is how I have my office PC Audio Configured: UMC202HD is the default audio playback and recording device. I use it for everything on on the PC except my Music. I use JRiver for all of my music and under Jriver settings have the D50s set as playback device. In this way they don't conflict with each other and I can run them both at the same time. The other really nice thing about D50s is the BT input. Sometimes I'll listen to Tune-In Radio, Spotify, or a YouTube music track, and I can just send it over from my phone or tablet to the D50 / Amp combo in Hi Res LDAC.

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Feb 28, 2020

j-tech

Feb 28, 2020

holsenThanks for the detailed response. That’s very helpful!

Feb 28, 2020

Feb 29, 2020

holsen @holsen Hi can you help show me a hand drawing on how you connect up your UMC, D50s, PC , Mic, Amp and Speakers ? Thanks.

Feb 29, 2020

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Feb 29, 2020

I hope this helps. I connect both the UMC202HD and D50s to the PC via USB Hub. I use the UMC202HD as the default audio device and set the D50s for exclusive use with my media player (JRiver). There are other set ups possibilities. You could connect the speakers to the 1/4" outputs on the rear of the UMC202HD or you you could control the speakers through the JDS Atom which also has RCA outputs on the Rear. For me, I want to control my headphones (music) and general PC audio separately.

Feb 29, 2020

Mar 1, 2020

holsenHi thanks

Mar 1, 2020

Mar 6, 2020

holsenHi Holsen, do you think the D50s will work with Marantz CD5005 that plays a SACD ?

Mar 6, 2020

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Mar 6, 2020

KenfingerThere's no reason why it shouldn't. The Marantz has optical and coaxial out either of which will pass the digital signal to the D50s. With the remote or the toggle.switch you can select whichever input on the D50s you want to listen to: BT, COAX, OPTICAL or USB. Should work fine.

Mar 6, 2020

Mar 7, 2020

holsenOK great, thanks.

Mar 7, 2020

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Mar 7, 2020

KenfingerDo you know where I can get good value for money coaxial cable (CD5005 to D50s) , and what cables to connect from D50s to the Amplifier PM5005 ? Thanks.

Mar 7, 2020

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Mar 14, 2020

KenfingerJust found your question. For the Coax, I would just jump on eBay and hunt for a decent cable. You know what your budget is. Generally speaking as long as you're not buying a $5 cheapie you're going to get a good digital signal throughput. A cable in this case is not going to make any meaningful difference in sound you're simply passing a digital signal. I would say the same thing about the RCA out of the D50s to PM5005 - just find a decent quality RCA cable. I'd make sure they had gold connectors and a decent gauge. You really cant go wrong here as long as you're not using the Cheap RCAs that come with logitech speakers for example. eBay, Amazon, Ali Express have tons of options.

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Mar 14, 2020

Mar 19, 2020

holsenHi Holsen, I need help. My D50s was working fine from Marantz CD5005(Coaxial) to D50s and then to PM5005 for over a week. Today I tried to play CD again but I cannot get any sound from my speakers. I've tried everything, but it is not producing sound. I tried using BT and USB and it has sound. Just not the Coax. Thanks.

Mar 19, 2020

Mar 19, 2020

KenfingerI would suspect a faulty Coax Cable. First thing to do is rule out or rule in the Cable. Unfortunately the PM5005 only has Analogue (RCA) inputs, so you cant test the cable by plugging the the CD to AMP by Coax. So ..... Test the CD Player. Connect CD to Amp with RCA and listen, if it works, you know its not the CD Player. Since BT and USB are working on the D50s, its safe to assume the DAC is fine. Try 1 of 2 things. (1) Try a new Coax Cable (they do fail, especially cheap ones) (2) Try an optical cable from CD to D50s It is possible, there's a fault in the DAC at the Coax input but I'd put my money on a problem cable. Toslink (optical) cables sometimes need to be replaced because they get a kink and stop transmitting the full signal Same it true for Coax.

Mar 19, 2020

Mar 20, 2020

holsenHi Holsen, I'm still at the coaxial issue. Someone in Drop discussion mentioned that the D50s is very picky, it chooses good quality Coaxial Cables instead of the cheap Amazon AmazonBasics Digital Audio Coaxial Cable, 8 Feet type which I'm currently using and its new. How is this true as this is a passive product (the cable) ? I believe different quality of coaxial cables will give different quality of sound but it does not determine whether it will carry the digital signal over to D50s or won't ?

Mar 20, 2020

Mar 20, 2020

KenfingerLike I said: Cable is 90% the issue. The longer the cable the bigger the chance. It is not passive. It is an active part of carrying a digital signal the shorter the cable the better. The other user says the same thing. I'm convinced there's nothing wrong with your D50s. I can tell by your questions you're new with all this. . and that's ok. Get a good cable, as short as possible to make the connection. I consult at $500/ hour and I'm VERY HAPPY to contribute to this community, but between drawing pictures for you, writing explanations, etc.... I cant give THIS ISSUE any more attention. Get a new cable and if your CD has toslink on the back try that too. Its still cheaper than a new amp, dac or cd player. The Cable is your problem, The cable is your problem, I'm certain the cable is your problem

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Mar 20, 2020