[carlcamper]

anybody flashed the new firmware (version 2.4) yet? feedback?

Yes, it was successful for me. The unbalanced unplugging and plugging issue is still fixed, meaning instead of restarting, it temporarily shows -5, then continues working.

 

[carlcamper]

not at the moment but it was on topping's site.

Heres the link to V2.4: https://www.topping.audio/newsinfo/686950.html

 

[Mista Lova Lova]

I never had the original A90 here. But given the way people described it, and this one, I'm definitely thinking they are hearing whatever DAC they are pairing it with, not the amp.

I have been using the same DAC for both, switching back and forth. I think I've had enough of the new A90 already and will be sending it back shortly. It might be good for warm/thick-sounding cans, it has much less body than the OG, sound becomes thin in comparison (hence the perception of being cleaner and more transparent, I suppose). Closer to THX 789 than the original A90 to my ears. At least it's rekindled my love for the OG A90

 

[wazzupi]

I never had the original A90 here. But given the way people described it, and this one, I'm definitely thinking they are hearing whatever DAC they are pairing it with, not the amp.



I was going to do an AAA ONE vs. Magni review, when the former was discounted to $129, but I find it unlistenable now.


Sorry, I forgot to say that it's an A2/OG with Unison. Depending on how everything is set-up, it is either fed by a streamer, or fed from the MScaler (often with some up-sampling switched on). It has a slightly less "dry" sound from the MScaler.

I wonder if it fixes a weird issue I have where if I touch the volume knob gently, and almost turn it, that the volume will jump 20 steps (in either direction). Got a link?

Omg yes !!! I had it at 60 and it jumped to 85 on me I was luckily listening to hps and not my IEMs….

 

[Lacas]

I compared the A90D with the SA-1 yesterday, level matched, from the Yggdrasil. I did find the SA-1 to be a touch more nuanced driving the Stealth, and the A90D a bit less. I hadn't been expecting that. It was quite subtle though. I reckon if someone finds these amps a bit bright (or lean or harsh, or whatever word one prefers) a Jotunheim 2 would be better. It also seems to deliver a better sense of depth (ie: front to back imaging) which is noticeable with headphones such as the Utopias.

I wonder if this bright/lean/harsh impression, which I didn't experience myself, is because I'm using a power conditioner. I'm also wondering if most people don't pair them with a Topping DAC as well. I'll have a go tomorrow with the D90 (original) with both hooked up directly into the mains to see if I can't figure it out.

Edit: I had a quick listen just now via the D90 and now and it's the DAC for sure. Five Man Army (Massive Attack) has unpleasant sibilance via this combination. The USB input on the D90 is not so great, so direct from a computer sounds hard and edgy to me.

Edit 2: Normally, when an amp (or DAC) is made down to a price, the designer will tune the circuit to make it sound a bit warm to cover any hardness or edginess in the sound that comes as a consequence. This is not something that affects the frequency response of the amp, but is done in other ways that don't show much, if at all in conventional measurements. However, if you only design things to look impressive at 1kHz on an analyser with optimised settings, that hardness/edginess will come through (maybe from IMD, noise floor modulation, noise generated by the USB receiver in DACs and other things that only show up when actual music is playing with headphones connected, and not test tones being fed to an analyser) and the music will sound unpleasant. Gotye's Puzzle With A Piece Missing through the Topping stack is like being stabbed in the ears.

I think i can agree with your assumption - since i use a power conditioner and a Pangea power cable with the A90 OG the harshness is gone or at least minimised, sound is much more palpable (dac is D70S connected through xlr, primarily used on medium gain)

 

[PointyFox]

Normally, when an amp (or DAC) is made down to a price, the designer will tune the circuit to make it sound a bit warm to cover any hardness or edginess in the sound that comes as a consequence. This is not something that affects the frequency response of the amp, but is done in other ways that don't show much, if at all in conventional measurements.

Got any sources for this information?
How do you know this?

 

[Arniesb]

I have been using the same DAC for both, switching back and forth. I think I've had enough of the new A90 already and will be sending it back shortly. It might be good for warm/thick-sounding cans, it has much less body than the OG, sound becomes thin in comparison (hence the perception of being cleaner and more transparent, I suppose). Closer to THX 789 than the original A90 to my ears. At least it's rekindled my love for the OG A90

Good luck finding suitable amp.
I loved Violectric V280 with every analytical headphones, but next time i just get whatever headphone that doesnt need eq or specific amps.

 

[Mista Lova Lova]

Good luck finding suitable amp.
I loved Violectric V280 with every analytical headphones, but next time i just get whatever headphone that doesnt need eq or specific amps.

I think you misunderstood my previous posts. I am happy with the OG A90; I wasn't until I bought the Gustard X26 Pro, with this DAC in my system the overall synergy is fantastic. I only "bought" (effectively borrowed) the new A90 out of sheer curiosity, thinking: Did they use a different topology but arrive at the same result or does it actually sound different? I guess that having been in the hobby for a while, and having had my preconceptions shattered on a few occasions, I couldn't resist conducting my own little experiment and thus reaching empirical conclusions.

I have only shared those findings because: 1. I find them interesting and contrary to my expectations; 2. I was hoping that this would assist some fellow audiophiles in making a decision whether this amp is for them, especially when torn between this and the OG.

I am not currently looking for any upgrade to my system and am happy where I am (for now, hehe).

 

[Mista Lova Lova]

Just a quick update - I have done a direct comparison between the THX 789 and the new A90 - the A90D is miles ahead of the THX. It's much more 3D-sounding, with instruments having their own space as opposed to being painted on a two-dimensional canvas. It's worth noting that this difference may not be so apparent on headphones which do not have great depth and layering (the price difference between the amps is very significant).

So the A90D is in the same league as the OG, except it prioritises clarity and airiness over warmth and "ease of listening". Both the full-bodied and rounded-off sound of the OG and the extra clarity of the A90D are quite addivictive, to be honest, I've been switching back and forth depending on the track... I guess my ears are adjusting after a few days.

 

[N0sferatu]

Can't wait to get this unit tomorrow. On a total impulse I went nuts and bought the A90D, D90SE, and a Schitt Lokius today all with overnight delivery so I'm hoping FedEx gets it right and has it on my door step tomorrow.

I've had the proper headphone (Hifiman Arya + Periapt cable) but was running through some budget yet potent DAC/AMP for the money (Topping D30 + Schitt Hersey). I found a neighbor who I got on the bug of this hobby and he bought an HD650 and likes my D30/Hersey combo. So I got him agreed to buy it off me as soon as I get this setup so I decided to just start clicking buy buy buy today.

I got two questions:

1.) What kind of monumental upgrade am I going to see tomorrow when this thing arrives? I can't believe I just dropped some stupid coin but figured it'll match with a proper headphone rather than pairing it with entry level hardware.

2.) Will it be worth getting a Periapt XLR cable for the Arya and ditch the unbalanced setup?

 

[PointyFox]

1.) What kind of monumental upgrade am I going to see tomorrow when this thing arrives? I can't believe I just dropped some stupid coin but figured it'll match with a proper headphone rather than pairing it with entry level hardware.

2.) Will it be worth getting a Periapt XLR cable for the Arya and ditch the unbalanced setup?

1) You'll probably hear as much of an upgrade as you believe you should. In reality, it's probably indistinguishable once volume matched since the Arya is easy to drive only only requires about 214 mV, or like 0.0016 W to reach 94 dB while the Heresy can put out a little over 2.4 W into the Arya.
2) No, you already have enough volume range with the Heresy. The only benefit of going balanced is more power if SE isn't loud enough. There could be very very slightly better channel separation, but that is dependent on the amp.

 

[ezduzit2500]

Been trying this amp for several times. Nice neutral-warm tone, and defitely better depth presentation compared to A90.

One question, how to change gain without remote? Sorry if silly question haha.

Depth recreation, a relatively closed-in upper treble/tipped up mid-bass (either/or both), and less than comparable timbre were where the OG A90 failed, IMO. I enjoyed my Schiit Magni 3+ (cheap, discrete topology) in those areas much more than the OG A90 in those areas.

 

[ezduzit2500]

It might be a good idea, I should check that out, but to be honest since I bought the Gustard DAC I've been really happy with the original A90 which seemed to mostly strike a good balance between clarity and just a tiny bit of warmth and rounding things off to make things a bit smoother. But the new A90 Discrete is bothering me with its laser-sharp precision. But I got it mostly out of curiosity to compare the two seemingly very similar amps, it just turned out to be different from what I'd expected, but it's got its own strengths so it was an interesting exercise nonetheless.

IME, new discrete amps (many amps really) take a while to run in and open up (~a week to ten days at least). I think it has to do with the discrete components and capacitors reaching their ideal or nominal state of operation. I've heard this phenomenon with several brand new out of the box components. Give it time - I've even setup a pink noise loop overnights to speed along the process. Give us some impressions after a week to see if your impressions change in any way.

 

[ezduzit2500]

Its just that open headphones have almost no bass. Better of with headphones that have more bass.

Hahaha. You obviously haven't heard any good planars - they excel in bass with all it's many characters (ie: speed, depth, punch/dynamics, texture).

 

[PointyFox]

Hahaha. You obviously haven't heard any good planars - they excel in bass with all it's many characters (ie: speed, depth, punch/dynamics, texture).

The only open back planars I've heard with what I'd call good bass are the Susvara and Arya V3. Open back planars compared to dynamics tend to have better bass extension but worse bass impact. Dynamics are better known for their bass impact.