Ever since I got my first D90 III Discrete a while ago, I fell in love with the sound of Topping’s PSRM 1-bit converter. It was especially amazing sounding for me when paired to the borderline ancient Pre90 for active buffer volume control (absolutely shitty remote control and all)…

Unfortunately, I’ve had two D90 III Discretes go bad on me, and after returning the second one, gave up on them. I tried D90 III Sabre, and while it was pretty good, it somehow just didn’t have the same way of bringing the music to life for me. I tried a couple of other DACs and the only one that came close for me was Gustard’s R26 II. It also brought the music to life, albeit in a more surreal sort of sense. If D90 III Discrete was being there live, R26 II was reliving the performance in a dreamscape.

Sadly, R26 II did not work out for me in the end. I had an uncurable hum from the linear power supply that an iFi DC Blocker+ had absolutely zero effect on whatsoever. So, sadly, I had to return it. However, I had been keeping up with the available alternatives (that have switch mode power supplies instead of linear) and lo & behold, Topping had released the DX9 Discrete. In my mind, this had the potential to be a one-box answer to the D90 III Discrete/Pre90 stack with a non-shitty remote control, all wrapped in gorgeous, sexy chassis-work. The incredibly nice people at Apos arranged a one for one exchange (plus partial refund!) for me and so the R26 II went back (which they tested and found no issues with, so confirming that the problem is with my power, as I had suspected all along despite the DC Blocker+ being ineffective) and finally today my DX9 Discrete has arrived.

I’ve had it playing with a Raspberry Pi 5 running Volumio as Roon bridge to the USB input of DX9 and, frankly, I am in love. The sound is sublime, bringing me right back to the D90 III Discrete + Pre90 sound that I loved, except with a truly premium remote control in hand. Fingers crossed that the DX9 Discrete proves more reliable than D90 III Discrete in the long run

DX9 Discrete Has Finally Arrived