• 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!

Review and Measurements of Topping DX3Pro DAC and Headphone Amp

Veri

Master Contributor
Joined
Feb 6, 2018
Messages
9,596
Likes
12,036
Does anyone knows why ak4495 that is older and had less good specs is at higher price than ak4493 ic?
Someone on the forum told it was 5bit delta digma do you think that makes it better in someway?
The AK4497 is architecturally quite similar but overall improved on all fronts to the AK4495 so there is little point to getting it nowadays. The AK4495SEQ was dubbed the special 'sound quality'-tuned chip by AKM which catered to the people that like such bizarre statements I guess. Maybe that explains the higher price, also maybe lower availability since its older.

I have an Aune S16 which I got second hand. It uses an AK4495 that they implemented with the help of AKM and actually surpasses the chip's datasheet specs, they could push this chip as far as AK4497 specs way back then but since the 4497/4499 chips are out now the 4495 is really quite pointless :)

AK4493 as with the DX3 comes really quite close to the D70, close enough that for all but the most demanding customers I feel it is more than fine :) AKM really outdone themselves with this 4490 upgrade. It's freakishly good!
 

upsfon

New Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2019
Messages
1
Likes
0
Location
Moscow, Russia
Hey, all

I listen my DX3 Pro with Fostex T60RP headphones.
In low gain mode the sound seems not enough loud for me - I am normally close to 0dB level. That's high gain which helps.
Fostex T60RP are 50 Ohm impedance and 92 dB/mWatt sensitivity...
DX3 Pro is connected via USB to PC
PC is on Linux Mint
ALSA driver is used
Audacious player and Cantata with MPD
Mixer disabled so volume is always at 100%
... not enough power and loudness. I am 48 yo but not deaf yet :)

Seems I need to look around for more sensitive headphones?
Thanks.
 

pacman

Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2018
Messages
76
Likes
84
Location
Sao Paulo/Brazil
Hey, all

I listen my DX3 Pro with Fostex T60RP headphones.
In low gain mode the sound seems not enough loud for me - I am normally close to 0dB level. That's high gain which helps.
Fostex T60RP are 50 Ohm impedance and 92 dB/mWatt sensitivity...
DX3 Pro is connected via USB to PC
PC is on Linux Mint
ALSA driver is used
Audacious player and Cantata with MPD
Mixer disabled so volume is always at 100%
... not enough power and loudness. I am 48 yo but not deaf yet :)

Seems I need to look around for more sensitive headphones?
Thanks.
I guess it depends on what you're listening to.

With Senn 660S and old masterings like Pink Floyd's Dark side of moon and Janis Joplin's I got dem ol' kosmic again mama!, both first press CD, I can crank the volume up to -5dB to listen at loud levels.

With modern music like Radiohead's OK Computer or Daft Punk's Random Access Memories at -12dB, for me it's pretty loud, on threshold of discomfort.

I'm 37 and did an audiometry test recently and got excellent results, I'm far from deafness :)
 

Megatronic

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Messages
29
Likes
11
Can you please tell me if the topping dx3 pro would be better than the topping d70 if you use it only as a DAC in combination with the jds atom amp? Or is it a waste of money?
 

Calexico

Senior Member
Joined
May 21, 2019
Messages
358
Likes
72
Why are no burr brown dacs in the asr tests?
Do you think old pcm1794 still compete with new dacs?
 

Veri

Master Contributor
Joined
Feb 6, 2018
Messages
9,596
Likes
12,036

Doomguy

New Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2019
Messages
2
Likes
2
I've been eyeing this unit since it came out as I want something to replace my AudioGD NFB15.32 DAC/Amp unit. Would somebody kindly give me the skinny on the current situation with this unit? The size of this thread is a little overwhelming o_O

I remember reading that it had a problem related to a bad opamp or something causing to it shut down without warning? I also vaguely remember something about one of the outputs (can't remember if it was fixed or variable) not being great? I'm wanting to use this unit as both a headphone amp and a preamp volume control for my speakers, so it would be a deal breaker if it wasn't ideal for that latter purpose. If I did decide to pull the trigger on it, is there a particular serial number I should be looking for?

Thank-you in advance!
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2019
Messages
58
Likes
29
I've been eyeing this unit since it came out as I want something to replace my AudioGD NFB15.32 DAC/Amp unit. Would somebody kindly give me the skinny on the current situation with this unit? The size of this thread is a little overwhelming o_O

I remember reading that it had a problem related to a bad opamp or something causing to it shut down without warning? I also vaguely remember something about one of the outputs (can't remember if it was fixed or variable) not being great? I'm wanting to use this unit as both a headphone amp and a preamp volume control for my speakers, so it would be a deal breaker if it wasn't ideal for that latter purpose. If I did decide to pull the trigger on it, is there a particular serial number I should be looking for?

Thank-you in advance!

Topping said they rectified the situation, anyone who has failing units seems to have older production units. And tbf, the number of failures were probably within the normal range for a mass produced electronic product, the audiophile community is just small so when someone has a broken product, you can be sure they will make noise on all social media and audio forums (and rightly so). Also, I don't know where people came up with that that the line outs suck, Amir didn't say that in his initial review? I've been using it with powered monitors and an AV receiver in a 2.1 set up, it sounds great to me (I'm just a consumer who can appreciate good audio, I'll leave the technical aspects up to others in the forum). I purchased mine through the Schenzhen Audio eBay store, they seem to have the newer production units and they have excellent customer service.
 

Doomguy

New Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2019
Messages
2
Likes
2
Fortunately there is a store in my country that sells the DX3 Pro, so I wouldn't have to deal with international shipping in case of returns. All that said, the two main selling points of this unit (remote control and bluetooth) really are of no value at all to me, and with the release of the outstanding JDS Labs Atom, it's probably a good idea to wait for a successor to the O2+odac unit based on the atom design, or go for separate units entirely rather than an AIO solution. My AGD is still fully operational, after all, I just have an itch for something a bit more transparent and neutral. Probably best to be patient.
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2019
Messages
58
Likes
29
Fortunately there is a store in my country that sells the DX3 Pro, so I wouldn't have to deal with international shipping in case of returns. All that said, the two main selling points of this unit (remote control and bluetooth) really are of no value at all to me, and with the release of the outstanding JDS Labs Atom, it's probably a good idea to wait for a successor to the O2+odac unit based on the atom design, or go for separate units entirely rather than an AIO solution. My AGD is still fully operational, after all, I just have an itch for something a bit more transparent and neutral. Probably best to be patient.

Well there you go, you answered your own question :) my situation was different, I was running my powered monitors from the headphone out of a Fiio E07k so I NEEDED a proper desktop unit, the Dx3 ticked all the boxes for me and at a good price.
 

Yuno

Active Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2018
Messages
215
Likes
266
Fortunately there is a store in my country that sells the DX3 Pro, so I wouldn't have to deal with international shipping in case of returns. All that said, the two main selling points of this unit (remote control and bluetooth) really are of no value at all to me, and with the release of the outstanding JDS Labs Atom, it's probably a good idea to wait for a successor to the O2+odac unit based on the atom design, or go for separate units entirely rather than an AIO solution. My AGD is still fully operational, after all, I just have an itch for something a bit more transparent and neutral. Probably best to be patient.

If you don't need it right now, wait for new version of dx3 pro. If topping manages to get all the issues out of this device with second version, this will be perfect budget dac.
 

kukocz

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 19, 2018
Messages
166
Likes
155
Location
PL
If you don't need it right now, wait for new version of dx3 pro. If topping manages to get all the issues out of this device with second version, this will be perfect budget dac.
It could happen even next year... Look when D70 has been released. Delayed for about 6 months.
 

dmac6419

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 16, 2019
Messages
1,246
Likes
770
Location
USofA
Fortunately there is a store in my country that sells the DX3 Pro, so I wouldn't have to deal with international shipping in case of returns. All that said, the two main selling points of this unit (remote control and bluetooth) really are of no value at all to me, and with the release of the outstanding JDS Labs Atom, it's probably a good idea to wait for a successor to the O2+odac unit based on the atom design, or go for separate units entirely rather than an AIO solution. My AGD is still fully operational, after all, I just have an itch for something a bit more transparent and neutral. Probably best to be patient.
The dx3 is just as good or better,the atom is a amp,so you will need a dac
 

miguelx74

Member
Joined
May 15, 2019
Messages
78
Likes
17
Location
Italia
I'm not German, but Croatian :D
Yes, it is almost always the same with amazon.com, because it's outside of EU, you can always expect there will be customs and import fees to pay over certain item value. And I think there will always be VAT, regardless of item value. I also think that amazon support may sometimes give wrong info, particularly when they talk of external sellers.
So when you order from amazon.com (usa department) you can be certain there will always be additional charges if importing to EU.

But like you, I thought these fees are always calculated and charged in advance, via Amazon. It seems it doesn't have to be that way. From the whole experience I think it is always calculated and charged in advance by Amazon itself if it is fullfilled by Amazon or bought directly from Amazon. But if it is bought only through Amazon marketplace, but from external seller, then it doesn't have to be calculated and charged in advance. I suspect this theory applies to your case too, but cannot be sure.
That's why I ordered from Amazon department within EU, to be certain that it'll ship from EU country to EU country and that no import fees and additional VAT would be charged. But I did it on mobile phone amazon app and it really doesn't give you all the information, If I ordered it via desktop I'd notice my mistake before concluding the purchase. I ordered DX3 Pro on May 2nd, it arrived 2 days ago, but would have arrived few days sooner if the invoice were in the package, which it hadn't been.
Also take care that you always get items sold / fullfilled by Amazon itself, from any of EU Amazon stores. That way you will know that you won't get charged anything else.
To summarize your case is somewhat similar, with the main difference being it was ordered from USA Amazon department, and from that I think that import/customs fees and VAT were to be expected from the start. But anyways, the seller Shenzen Audio is very polite and understanding, so you may try politely explaining everything and asking them for help.
Be careful if refusing package, first ask on Amazon and seller too if you have grounds for it, and whether you can get full refund or costs of shipping and handling will be deducted from it.
I wish you good luck with it

update.
The package arrived in Italy without requiring the payment of customs costs. I rejected the package and the seller SHENZEN AUDIO immediately refunded me.
I'm really happy. I also highly recommend this seller
 

sonci

Active Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2018
Messages
233
Likes
112
Has anyone tried it against the new D70? I don't need balanced output, so if there's not a big difference audibly, then why spend more. I also tried a Topping Dac before the D30 but I didn't like it..
 

Veri

Master Contributor
Joined
Feb 6, 2018
Messages
9,596
Likes
12,036
Has anyone tried it against the new D70? I don't need balanced output, so if there's not a big difference audibly, then why spend more.

If no balanced output is needed, I'm positive one cannot hear the difference between DX3/D70. Their performance is just too similar.

DX3/AK4493 just too good :D
 

TiborG

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2019
Messages
38
Likes
16
For my ears D70 has a much better sound than Dx3Pro but it's a subjective opinion.
OK, so sometimes go under Win 10, Mac OS X or Arch Linux sound through AptX HD and give a message ..
Hang still on the cables, hmm
 

Attachments

  • AptX HD.jpg
    AptX HD.jpg
    623.2 KB · Views: 196

fsturbo15

New Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2019
Messages
1
Likes
0
I like the all in one package of the DX3 versus the JDS Atom + separate DAC, plus all the criticism the JDS gets for below par build quality but the reliability issues I am hearing about the DX3 Pro sound pretty scary.

I am thinking I should just get the Atom and a seperate DAC; it may not be as pretty and feel a bit cheap but we know the performance will be top notch and it won't fail on me. Does anyone know if JDS is coming out with DAC/AMP combo version of the Atom soon or should I just get seperates now OR are we confident the DX3 Pro quality issues have been corrected?

I'll be driving HD650's.
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2019
Messages
58
Likes
29
The weirdest thing just happened. I got one of those USB-C to HDMI adapters and was trying out Dex for Samsung with my Galaxy S9+ (essentially turns your smartphone into a desktop PC). There is an extra USB 3.0 port on the adapter for peripherals so I thought "hey, let's try out the DX3 and see if we can route audio out while video runs out the HDMI port on the adapter".

I opened up Poweramp Android music app and music played for about 5 seconds before cutting out. Poweramp kept playing music and it said it was running to the DX3, but no sound was playing either from my speaker nor headphones. Gave up on it and plugged the DX3 back into my PC. The PC wouldn't recognize the DX3 at all (this is via USB), Bluetooth was working, but no USB functionality. I tried pre-line-out and headphone out and no sound would play, the Topping driver panel in WIndows would not recognize anything either. I tried selecting full line-out to my speakers and lo and behold there was sound (nearly blew my speakers and eardrums :| ), It said 192 khz was running out the back, but the song that was playing was a different frequency. So essentially the DX3 was stuck in 192 khz and would only play sound when full line-level output was selected. Tried factory reset where you turn the dial 6 times counterclockwise while in rest mode, that did nothing. After a bit of panic, I remembered to pull the power plug out the back and then plug it back in, that seemed to fix the issue!

Everything seems to have returned to normal. Got a hell of a fright as well thinking something had broken on the damn thing. Does anyone have any idea as to what I just experienced?
 
Top Bottom