The only difference is MQA decoding, right?
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Yea I believe so, happy to report with my 1+ 7T Pro 5G and Usb Android Player Pro [MQA Licenseās purchased] D90 was plug an Play!!!
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I am still am enjoying my D90 non MQA version!
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oh! I was thinking mqa came via firmware update to the D90
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They are loading a new USB interface XMOS XU216 vs std XU208
XU216 Datasheet
216 has 2x the cores and memory, mostly likely they running the MQA decoder on XMOS unit prior to feeding the DAC. Since everything else is the same. So it is a little more then Firmware update.
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Thank you for making this clear, in such an easy understandable way
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So what youāre saying is that Topping could update my regular D90 to decode MQA, but isnt in favor of selling me a whole new device.
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When did Topping become Apple? 
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I would even pay $100 for the firmware update for MQA. Iām probably not going to buy a whole new unit and then sell the old one. After taxes and transactional fees thatās probably a $300+ Delta.
Except the version you have cannot run the firmware that the MQA version has, since the difference isnāt just firmware. And the XMOS chipset isnāt something you can simply swap in either - itās not on a daughter-board.
Topping actually announced both versions at the same time, so that those that wanted MQA new it was coming and could wait for that version.
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They may already be running at the performance limit current XU208 remember it has local processing it more than just USB controller.
What amazing is this team spun out of Graphcore they guys doing the big deep learning chip. now they are going to build little IOT deep learning chips as well. Took side road to build XU208 and XU216. https://www.xmos.com.
XCORE.ai is the project I love to play with since it builds off they XU2xx serries, it be fun to work with tinyML and Audio signals.
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As Torq said this chip is Wave soldered down, you need to buy a different DAC. Personally I would invest $100+ dollars/euros into Qobuz and get better audio quality
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THIS! So much this. The source files/masters are much more important than MQA will ever be.
And hopefully these shenanigans will just highlight how much of a joke mqa really is.
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You can thank MQA for a lot of the new masters, as they were done specifically for MQA.
Iām in agreement that the masters have a greater impact on the musical reproduction, but I also think their filtering is doing something good.
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Brilliant marketing, actually! Theyāve found a way to make DRM a selling point, and a licensing opportunity.
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I might thank them for the remasters if any of them were good.
I will never applaud music DRM, not because itās bad to protect IP, but because itās been abused by labels in the past so much and so poorly. Remember iTunes back in the day, and being unable to play the music you purchased unless you had an internet connection and valid login? Being locked into using only iTunes or an apple device to play your music? Realizing youāre pretty much just screwed when you tried to switch between digital ecosystems?
I guess Iām still bitter.
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I think some of the remasters are quite good.
I understand and agree with a lot of what you said regarding DRM.
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I personally kinda have MQA just to be relevant when MQA branded products hit the market, and there are a very SELECT few MQA masters that I feel are worthwhile
So when your buying MQA Hardware your hopefully a happy TIDAL subscriber, and what I do like about Tidal [not so much MQA] is their content curation. Theyāve got a nice selection of MQA specific playlists they generate and honestly even the USB Android Player Pro āTidalā Subsection is cleaner/faster to navigate than itās Qobuz portion is. An while I prefer Qobuz purely for itās quality, I miss the Tidal content and overall delivery & Convenience.
I enjoy exploring music more so thru Tidal than Qobuz, every now and again an awesome Qobuz playlist will land.
That said, Iām wondering what other benefits the Xmos 216 chipset brings into the overall performance of the D90 MQA. Non the less going to fire up the Tab S4 tonight and see how easily it integrates with D90 MQA and my little set of JBL 305p MK iiās
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I get that 100%, the irony is having understood that at a very early age I owned CD and windows based music systems. Heck my hesitation to even get into streaming was tied into that early mind set of wanting the freedom of offline content and a disdain for the entire CONCEPT of having to require both a constant online connection AND login to access my music
Growing up I had didnāt have constant and steady internet access so streaming was never a worthwhile option, so at my core I still hold a LOT of offline content and I view streaming purely as a convenient way to explore and enjoy. I still purchase any music I find worthwhile so that I may always have access to it, and yea Iāll admit that I would NEVER limit myself to purely MQA for many of the same reasons your bitter.
So yes Iām willing to pay for the convenience and exclusivity of MQA but I would never suggest any one buy into 100%, I still feel that streaming is a supplement to owning content and offline solutions.
My reference system is still 100% offline content and I may start to build a local network within my home for my next reference rig, but I will never switch to purely streaming onlyā¦ heck I still have back up DAPs loaded with music to serve me in a āworse case critical loss scenarioā
Ehm, that said D90 MQA pairād nicely with my Tablet, no issues with full MQA Decoding either
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Iām considering getting the Topping D90 from the Audio Science Review. Do you think this was an unbiased review? It seems like this DAC is the third best DAC to be reviewed there. Now there is the Topping D90 Pro MQA, which I am considering buying. Do you feel this is as good a DAC as the Matrix X Sabre MQA which is the second best DAC reviewed on Audio Science Review. Both DACs have the same MQA chip. This is my first post here and I have never had a DAC. I have an Apple iMac late 2012 desktop. What would be the best connection from the iMac to the DAC: USB or another connection?
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