Recently uploaded the latest firmware to my Topping D900 DAC (V1.47). There was a new feature provided in the settings to support cross feed. So, decided to give it a go and see how it went.
The Topping cross feed has two modes of operation: Simple and Convolution. The simple mode was not very good, but the Convolution mode can sound quite decent. This is provided that the studio room option is selected as Studio Room. The other option is small room, which doesn’t sound right. The limitation with cross feed is it only supports 44.1 or 48 KHz. It does support PGGB-RT at 107 bit with 44.1 or 48 KHz.
I quickly came to really enjoy the cross feed set at convolution and studio room. Every headphone I have tried sounds excellent with this setup. I had read that Alex Grell had suggested that headphones were meant to be listened to with cross feed. The Grell OAE2 sounds outstanding with the Topping D900/A900 using cross feed. The sound was not disjointed whatsoever. The soundstage was wide, deep, and a sense of natural depth.
I have also tried the cross feed with the Sony MDR-Z1R, the HD 600, and the ATH-AWKT. All the headphones seem to benefit from using cross feed. In fact, I find for now that I’m using the cross feed almost all the time. I’ve also gone back to listening to disc media, and have been very impressed with how good the sound can be from that media.
So, why isn’t cross feed more popular, and why don’t more manufactures offer it? I have used cross feed with the Chord DAC’s in the past, but it wasn’t as good as the Topping.
I think crossfeed definitely has its uses, but it’s not a yes or no proposition. It really depends on the recording your listening to, and whether it sounds “better” to your ears with it on or off.
I’ve encountered crossfeed implementations that are better than others, and some of the hardware ones are fairly crude imo.
The best one I’ve come across is via software from goodhertz.com , called CanOpener Studio. It’s a plugin for Mac or Windows, and it is highly customizable in the amount of crossfeed it applies. It works really well, and doesn’t degrade sound quality in any way.
It’s definitely worth checking out, and for any Mac users out there I use it with SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba software, another excellent product in its own right but that also lets you use any AAU plugin you wish.
To me, it depends on the recording. Old Decca, single mike or Blumlein recordings makes it sounds weird so no. Some modern pop/rock productions can be better if the “in your head” with headphones is to much.
Thanks for the information on Can Opener. Will look into it. Need to work out what the limitations are with the software.
The really nice thing about embedding the cross feed in the DAC is that ALL inputs can be used to apply the functionality. I’m very impressed with the results using cross feed. Every headphone I’ve used with the function does indeed sound improved.
I find cross feed to be very headphone and recording dependent. The only headphone I regularly use it with is my Grell OAE1.
I’ve tried Can Opener, Roon, and a few other software cross feed implementations, but the cross feed feature in my Luxsin X9 is the best I have heard so far.
Makes sense. The cross feed with the Topping D900 is excellent, far improved from the basic one with the Chord Hugo. I’m finding it helps all my headphones, especially the Grell OAE1 and OAE2.
Also tried this cross feed with the Sennheiser HD 820. Amazing difference. The HD 820 sounds so much better with the D900 cross feed enabled. The difference is such that a lot of music does not need EQ to sound great with EQ applied. It seems like the frequency response during playback seems somewhat different with the cross feed applied.