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RME ADI-2 DAC vs Topping D90

Posted by Rod M (W) on October 29, 2021 at 18:52:37

I been using the D90 for many months in my office and have been hankering to upgrade my main system in the family room. After Abe's review of the RME, I decided to give it a whirl.

Equipment used is as follows:

RME ADI-2 DAC: RPi4 via usb connection

Topping D90: Squeezebox Touch via optical

Both units were connected to my BAT VK5i preamp via balanced cables feeding my McIntosh MC30s and Altec Model 19 speakers. Both DACs had the volume levels matched as best I could so switching from one to the other was seemless and instantaneous. All settings were the default other than the Loudness on the RME which is very subtle.

The RME was trickery to get set up. Many options require using the remote and I had to figure out how to configure it for the RPi4. I found this trick using ssh to login to the RPi4:

$ aplay -L

hw:CARD=DAC56680474,DEV=0

Changing the Squeezelite setting, change the Audio output setting to USB and the Output setting to hw:CARD=DACXXXXXXXX,DEV=0 where the Xs are the serial number of the RME.

Ok, so how do they sound? In a word, fantastic! Doing fast switching, neither my wife or I could reliably tell the difference. After a while, we found a cut from Pat Green with spooky imaging and played the first 10-15 seconds of the cut over and over from one to the other. My wife thought that the D90 was wider, slightly fuller. My thought was that she was right, but I felt the RME presented a slightly more delicate image versus one that is a bit bigger and rounder.

After several days, our impressions didn't really change. So, I swapped the RPi4/USB to the D90 with the RME getting an optical feed. Again, fast switching gave us no difference. If anything the wider effect on the D90 largely went away. The two DACs sounded even more the same than different. If anything, I suspect that the USB interface is a bit more precise versus the optical output from the Squeezebox Touch.

I'll be moving the D90 up to the main system as it uses a Squeezebox Touch for a steamer. I prefer it there as it works and anyone can control the music from it without needing my phone app. The RME will stay in my office.

The next question is which do I prefer. That's a toss up. My favorite feature is the ability to turn the lights off the RME. The D90 has a dim mode, but doesn't turn off all together. Changing the volume on the RME is easy and obvious with a big knob. However, I haven't figured out how to change inputs on the RME without the remote, Topping wins in that regard as the select button on the face plate goes through the input options.

Another difference is that the Topping is fairly warm, even a touch hot where the power transformer is located. The RME uses an external box for power and a plug unlike a typical wall wart as it is threaded and locks in place. This difference makes the RME run much cooler.

If you're a tweaker, the RME will please you with its equalization, saved settings and various filter options. OTOH, the manual is on the cryptic side. It's also far more sophisticated than the D90.

Considering the lower cost, the Topping D90 is a very good DAC for the current $900 price. For an extra $300, the RME offers auto shut off light on the screen which comes back on if you change anything and then goes out. And you get a bunch of cool stuff that I suspect that I'll never use.

My choice is the RME by a small margin.

-Rod

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