Wow! AKM vs ESS SMACKDOWN

The two DACs here under review are on the outside complete clones of each other.  Topping E70, and Topping E70V.  The difference is in the chipset, and oh, about 100 dollars more for the E70 'Velvet' version.  Is it worth the extra money?  Well, it has its own unique weaknesses, but overall I would say YES.  We will get to that in the thorough review and comparison that is coming.  (No, I am not trying to emulate George 'ARGH' 'ARGH' Martin and never finish his work.)  Patience, and you will have all you ever wanted or needed to know about these two Topping 'sister' DACs.  

In the meantime, here are some numbers.  The E70V and its dual chip DAC consisting of the AK4191 and the AK4499EX lay down some amazing performance numbers.  That even exceed the incredible numbers we saw last month with the ESS 9028 based E70.  On the LEFT are the E70 VELVET.  On the RIGHT for comparison is the 'standard' E70.  

E70V                                               E70
SNR  < -126.2db                              < -125db
THD -131db / 0.000028%              -130db / 0.000032%
SINAD 121.3db / 0.000086%           120db / 0.00010%
Jitter 16 bit < 23 picoseconds           < 3 picoseconds
Jitter 24 bit < 3 picoseconds             <3 picoseconds                     

So the newer E70V is managing to eek out a tad more measured performance in all above categories except for jitter.  There is a rather insignificant amount of higher jitter at 16bit 44khz in the E70V, but with 24 bit 44khz data, the two DACs have vanishingly low jitter below 3 picoseconds.  

Both have impeccable measured performance.  They are both obviously engineered to the exact reference design standard for the respective chips.  

But, how do they sound?  

​More on that coming soon.....