DAP still works great. It is about 2.5 years old and I don’t want to replace it while it is still working.
I am really used to my Sony DAP. Have thought about going higher in the line-up, but they get Really expensive.
Wouldn’t they all be digital in’s?
I went with the D30 to have more input options.
Right now I have the Topping D30, SMSL SU-8 and now the BF2.
I put off replacing my old Cayin N3 DAP for about 3 years and when I got the Hiby R5, I release that I had been making a mistake. Everybody has a different use case, so I get it. Hopefully your DDC works out for you.
At this point my DAP is just a transport.
Although using my rower today with balanced directly out of my Sony sounded pretty good. 
My DAP is basically used as a transport too. but I used it daily while working from home on my chain in my den
We use it almost similarly. Only time I don’t use it is when I am on my main chain upstairs here gaming or listening to music.
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Just so your aware DDC’s vary in quality, they end up responsible for creating the clock, so there will be some quality penalty for using a budget one.
But it’s probably not night and day.
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If it works and works well, I will look at getting a higher quality unit.
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The D10 has USB in to Coax and Toslink out. Read it VERY carefully. The D10 is the closest thing to the Schiit Eytr or something. You can ignore the analog out on it and just feed the BF2 from one of the digital outs. With all the DACs you have, maybe a spliter of the coax out?
There is only one input and that’s a USB. The other connections you can see on the back are optical and coaxial. Beware that those are actually digital outputs.
https://iiwireviews.com/toppind-d10-the-cheapest-topping-review
I don’t know who you’re quoting, but I don’t own a D10. I wanted a unit with more inputs and went with the D30.
It does seem like it might be a good addition though.
Have to see how the cheapie works first.
I was quoting the article, I though you were looking for a USB -> Digital adapter? That’s why I brought up the D10 specifically.
D10 is a good <$100 DAC, It’s an adequate SPDIF converter if you own one, it’s not worth buying as a D2D converter.
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I didn’t know it had that function.
Would you call it a high quality converter?
For $100 it gets the job done about as well as you could ask for. If you want a high quality solution then you chase that endlessly. I will say the quality loss using the d10 -> digital out won’t be noticeable. However given the choice, use Coax and not Toslink. Less jitter on toslink. On the BF2, USB has the best sound but the other interfaces are still VERY good.
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If it’s any help @ShaneD I used to use a micca origen g2 as a D2D converter. Before my E30, I used a JDS labs EL DAC. I tried using it over USB on my computer, but I’d get intermittent popping sounds coming from the DAC (didn’t matter what I set it to). I decided to get the Micca origen g2 for D2D because my computer didn’t have a TOSLINK connector (and this way I knew it would support 24/192 as some cheap D2D’s can’t pass along a signal like that). In theory a D2D should work, as TOSLINK just passes the 1s and 0s for the audio only. I think that’s why zeos went straight optical/TOSLINK for a while (and still is I think?), as it takes away any possibility of there being driver issues (and makes it possible to split the connection to run to multiple DACs for testing). But as DagoRed said, the D10 would also do the same thing. The micca origen g2 would be smaller, but it’s up to you. Both options may fix your issue.
Edit: you can’t really buy the original D10 anymore, but the D10S is the same price and function. Also, both the origen and D10S are usb powered so you wouldn’t have to worry about needing to use an additional power plug either way. I hope the D2D you already got works for you though and maybe you can get an upgrade if you feel like it down the line. All the best!
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Is there any difference on how you choose to feed a DAC?
Specifically, would you notice any difference between using a laptop to DAC set-up vs using a DAP as a transport to pass music to the DAC?
The files would be exactly the same for both.
I have the stock tube, and a Philips ECC88. I have ordered a higher powered otl tube amp though, which I believe will be more revealing of dac differences. Vali is the tube equivalent of a magni, after all.
Question/suggestion for @ShaneD: have you looked into the Ikko Zerda? Was thinking about it for a portable setup a for a friend. It would work as a DAC/Amp on the go, and a D2D (spdif) for home use. But it her case would be for a smartphone, so I don’t know if it’ll work the same in a DAP.
Thanks for thinking of me, but I am not looking for a portable set-up. I just use my phone on the go.
I am just using my DAP as a transport with my current DAC.
I will hook my laptop up with the BF2 tomorrow.
I also have a digital adapter coming from Amazon. It will allow the DAP to go USB to S/PDIF.
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