• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Topping DX5 Review (DAC & HP Amp)

Rate this product:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 16 4.3%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 7 1.9%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 88 23.7%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 261 70.2%

  • Total voters
    372

lordhumungous

Active Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2020
Messages
234
Likes
231
I believe it was not caused by firmware update. It seems like something inside suddenly broken down, and the device was in a faulty state, causing the random "upgrade" on screen messages.
Well sorry to hear your dac bit the dust.
 

Jayzqa

Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Messages
27
Likes
11
Finally arrived. I cannot differentiate the sound from dx7 pro and that's a little saddening. :(
 

Toku

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,391
Likes
2,776
Location
Japan

perridox

New Member
Joined
May 26, 2022
Messages
2
Likes
0
Anybody tried this with the DCA Aeon 2 Noire? Looks like it might offer just enough power to get the most out of it, but have also read some say the Aeons really shine with extra headroom, so considering the A30pro as an alternative. Only issue there is my "DAC" is currently a Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen, which has an output impedance of 430 ohm - apparently too high/mismatched for the 2-2.5k ohm input impedance of the Topping amps? So I'd have to budget for a standalone DAC too, but would obviously basically never have to upgrade the A30pro for any headphones down the line. Unless I wanted tubes for the character I guess. Thanks!
 

carmol

Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2021
Messages
12
Likes
6
New firmware 1.38, wich adds also
a "sound mode" option valve or transistor,
and a balance option.

Upgrade went flawless

No documentation about these new features
and the "dither" one in previous firmware.

Hopefully an eq feature on next updates ? :)

P.S.
I can't hear any difference between sound modes !!
attached an oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer, can't see any difference ! :oops:
 
Last edited:

audiofun

Active Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2021
Messages
242
Likes
243
New firmware 1.38, wich adds also
a "sound mode" option valve or transistor,
and a balance option.

Upgrade went flawless

No documentation about these new features
and the "dither" one in previous firmware.

Hopefully an eq feature on next updates ? :)

P.S.
I can't hear any difference between sound modes !!
attached an oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer, can't see any difference ! :oops:
valve/transistor just increase thd to mimic the sound of tube, to -50dB.

if you don't hear difference, then you dont need to buy a dac in the first place:)

that true for almost everyone. -50dB THD is hard to discern. people just don't need <-100THD dacs.
 

Toku

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,391
Likes
2,776
Location
Japan
I received my DX5 from Amazon 3 days ago and tested it immediately and found that there were many problems with the DX5's operation. None of PCM, DSD, MQA works properly like the E50 and DX3 Pro + I have used so far.
Pop noise caused by switching to songs with different sample rates or switching songs between DSD and PCM. Occurrence of sound interruption or pop noise that occurs several times at the start of MQA playback. In addition, the volume may suddenly drop extremely and no sound may be output from the left CH. The sound quality is good, but I am not in a state where I can listen to music with peace of mind.
I immediately learned about the new firmware V1.38 and installed it in anticipation, but nothing improved. I will investigate the symptoms a little more and then return it to Amazon.

addition
You will hear a loud relay operation sound every time you switch songs on the DSD. However, this relay sound may not be produced at all while using it. It's a very strange behavior.

* Whenever I receive a DAC product, I use PCM 44.1 ~ PCM768kHz, DSD64 ~ DSD512, and several types of MQA files to check the operation.
 
Last edited:

carmol

Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2021
Messages
12
Likes
6
I received my DX5 from Amazon 3 days ago and tested it immediately and found that there were many problems with the DX5's operation. None of PCM, DSD, MQA works properly like the E50 and DX3 Pro + I have used so far.
Pop noise caused by switching to songs with different sample rates or switching songs between DSD and PCM. Occurrence of sound interruption or pop noise that occurs several times at the start of MQA playback. In addition, the volume may suddenly drop extremely and no sound may be output from the left CH. The sound quality is good, but I am not in a state where I can listen to music with peace of mind.
I immediately learned about the new firmware V1.38 and installed it in anticipation, but nothing improved. I will investigate the symptoms a little more and then return it to Amazon.
defective unit
mine works fine
 

hakkiro

New Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2022
Messages
2
Likes
0
@amirm :

Thank you for making me aware of the Topping devices.
I searched the Shenzeaudio site but cannot get a definitive clarification to the question :

- is there a Topping DAC (with the usual digital ins : USB/SPDIF/BT LDAC) which also has a true Balanced headphone amp outputs ?

They have some DACs featuring 4pin XLR and/or 4.4mm headphone output sockets which are traditionally for Balanced headphones.
Sadly, Topping do a very poor job at making it clear in their product description/specs whether the Headphone amp is truly Balanced or not.
Most seem to be just Single Ended amps with XLR or 4.4mm sockets for convenience only.

Being as knowledagble as you are in the Topping products :
Can you please help clarify this and point us to the specific Topping products which have a true Balanced Headphone amplifier (and not just physical output sockets which 'look' like they may be Balanced) ?

Failing that :
Could you suggest such a DAC/HPA device which is in the class of Topping as far as spec and price range ?

Thank you very much.
 

formantzero

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2022
Messages
29
Likes
6
Apologies if this has been covered before, but I just bought this on Amazon and tried to upgrade the firmware to the new 1.3.8. Unfortunately I'm on a Macbook Pro M1 Max, and when I try to run the mac application to do the update, it says: The application "Topping USB DFU" can't be opened.

It's not a security/permissions issue, the file doesn't say "This application can't be trusted" like most firmware update tools (where you then go and grant it permission). This just straight-up won't run. I assume this is because the firmware updater is written for Intel macs, and there is no native firmware updater for ARM based Macs.

Can anyone confirm this?

Also in the 1.38 firmware zip file, the actual firmware bin is v 1.3.7, which is weird.

Seems like I can't update firmware on an M1-based macbook?
 

audiofun

Active Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2021
Messages
242
Likes
243
Apologies if this has been covered before, but I just bought this on Amazon and tried to upgrade the firmware to the new 1.3.8. Unfortunately I'm on a Macbook Pro M1 Max, and when I try to run the mac application to do the update, it says: The application "Topping USB DFU" can't be opened.

It's not a security/permissions issue, the file doesn't say "This application can't be trusted" like most firmware update tools (where you then go and grant it permission). This just straight-up won't run. I assume this is because the firmware updater is written for Intel macs, and there is no native firmware updater for ARM based Macs.

Can anyone confirm this?

Also in the 1.38 firmware zip file, the actual firmware bin is v 1.3.7, which is weird.

Seems like I can't update firmware on an M1-based macbook?
you need chmod +x
 

audiofun

Active Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2021
Messages
242
Likes
243
@amirm :

Thank you for making me aware of the Topping devices.
I searched the Shenzeaudio site but cannot get a definitive clarification to the question :

- is there a Topping DAC (with the usual digital ins : USB/SPDIF/BT LDAC) which also has a true Balanced headphone amp outputs ?

They have some DACs featuring 4pin XLR and/or 4.4mm headphone output sockets which are traditionally for Balanced headphones.
Sadly, Topping do a very poor job at making it clear in their product description/specs whether the Headphone amp is truly Balanced or not.
Most seem to be just Single Ended amps with XLR or 4.4mm sockets for convenience only.

Being as knowledagble as you are in the Topping products :
Can you please help clarify this and point us to the specific Topping products which have a true Balanced Headphone amplifier (and not just physical output sockets which 'look' like they may be Balanced) ?

Failing that :
Could you suggest such a DAC/HPA device which is in the class of Topping as far as spec and price range ?

Thank you very much.
as long as the desired level could be reached, there's zero benefits for hp outs to be internally balanced.
 

formantzero

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2022
Messages
29
Likes
6
you need chmod +x

It's technically a directory, you can do "Show Package Contents" but it doesn't seem to contain anything that will work. I tried "chmod u+x" but it didn't actually change anything because the permissions were already:


drwxrwxr-x@ 3 myusername staff 96 16 Mar 2021 Topping USB DFU.app
 

formantzero

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2022
Messages
29
Likes
6
The Topping DX5 is supposed to output 1800mW into 32 ohms. Meaning it should be (roughly) around 3600mW into 16 ohms. The DCA guys told me the Aeon 2 Noires require 500mW into 16 ohms to get proper performance. Since the DX5 should be able to deliver more than seven times that, I thought it would be plenty powerful in the high gain setting.

However, using the Aeon 2 Noire's single-ended cable, I have to really crank it to around -15dB on the high gain setting to get any appreciable volume. On some music I've been listening to, any higher than that and I start to hear clipping and distortion.

I thought this amp was supposed to have oodles of power for these headphones -- I guess I misunderstood something? Or maybe there's an issue with some of the gear in my chain. Not nearly enough slam in the bass, and everything just sounds a bit thin and weak.

If the DX5 can't power this properly, I doubt the Chord Mojo 2 could do much better since it only does 600mW into 30ohms.
 

cheapmessiah

Active Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2021
Messages
231
Likes
378
Location
Mordor
The Topping DX5 is supposed to output 1800mW into 32 ohms. Meaning it should be (roughly) around 3600mW into 16 ohms. The DCA guys told me the Aeon 2 Noires require 500mW into 16 ohms to get proper performance. Since the DX5 should be able to deliver more than seven times that, I thought it would be plenty powerful in the high gain setting.

However, using the Aeon 2 Noire's single-ended cable, I have to really crank it to around -15dB on the high gain setting to get any appreciable volume. On some music I've been listening to, any higher than that and I start to hear clipping and distortion.

I thought this amp was supposed to have oodles of power for these headphones -- I guess I misunderstood something? Or maybe there's an issue with some of the gear in my chain. Not nearly enough slam in the bass, and everything just sounds a bit thin and weak.

If the DX5 can't power this properly, I doubt the Chord Mojo 2 could do much better since it only does 600mW into 30ohms.

You are hitting the current limiter, I have aeon 2s open and have been using them on the SE output of both a zen can and thx 887. I can get both amps to clip with certain songs with too much bass.

Zen can can drive them loud-ish, 887 is proper loud. My guess would be that mojo would be listenable, but not satisfactory loud.
 
Top Bottom