Review and Measurements of Topping DX3Pro DAC and Headphone Amp

[g_t_j]

I have just bought a 15v 3a Toshiba PSU just for the DX3 Pro.

If there is a problem with the PSU, if must be of lack of amps.

Even so, i am extrapolating, based on that amirm measured, the kit psu is fine.

I'm not sure a better PSU or even a linear PSU will make any difference in SQ.
However, it's generally advisable to replace all those cheap Chinese wall-wart PSUs which sometimes -even worse- ship with a ''death-dapter''- US to 2-pin EU or 3-pin UK.

Having said that, an iFi might be an overkill but a better reliable and most importantly safe PSU seems to me like a good idea.

 

[Veri]

Having said that, an iFi might be an overkill but a better reliable and most importantly safe PSU seems to me like a good idea.

iFi iPower seems to be a rather bad product from the times Amir used one:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/ifi-ps.2425/#post-68964
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...asurements-of-sonore-microrendu-streamer.577/

Far from an 'upgrade' to a cheap chinese supply. Don't try to fix what isn't broken...

 

[g_t_j]

iFi iPower seems to be a rather bad product from the times Amir used one:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/ifi-ps.2425/#post-68964
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...asurements-of-sonore-microrendu-streamer.577/

Far from an 'upgrade' to a cheap chinese supply. Don't try to fix what isn't broken...

Right, I don't doubt it might not be a good PSU.
However, I doubt it's worse compared to the generic that came with th device.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Right, I don't doubt it might not be a good PSU.
However, I doubt it's worse compared to the generic that came with th device.

These isolated SMPS mostly have better main supply noise rejection. And there are linear regulators in the products themselves. So it really can be worse than "generic" that came with the device.

 

[g_t_j]

These isolated SMPS mostly have better main supply noise rejection. And there are linear regulators in the products themselves. So it really can be worse than "generic" that came with the device.

I see. So what do you suggest? Do you believe it's better to stay with the stock one or opt for at least a Mean Well (the one with the 1.66A output)?

 

[JohnYang1997]

I see. So what do you suggest? Do you believe it's better to stay with the stock one or opt for at least a Mean Well (the one with the 1.66A output)?

Stay with stock of course.

 

[Yuno]

I have just bought a 15v 3a Toshiba PSU just for the DX3 Pro.

If there is a problem with the PSU, if must be of lack of amps.

Even so, i am extrapolating, based on that amirm measured, the kit psu is fine.

Yes you are. People here bought mean well PSU's few months back trying to "fix" issues of this device. Didn't fix a thing, didn't change a thing. I'm one of those people by the way, and I have nice spare mean well PSU now in my drawer.

I'm not sure a better PSU or even a linear PSU will make any difference in SQ.
However, it's generally advisable to replace all those cheap Chinese wall-wart PSUs which sometimes -even worse- ship with a ''death-dapter''- US to 2-pin EU or 3-pin UK.

I would not be surprised to see a difference with linear, but I would be surprised to hear audible difference.

I see. So what do you suggest? Do you believe it's better to stay with the stock one or opt for at least a Mean Well (the one with the 1.66A output)?

If you are in dire need of spending some money, get a mean well. It will work.

 

[g_t_j]

Yes you are. People here bought mean well PSU's few months back trying to "fix" issues of this device. Didn't fix a thing, didn't change a thing. I'm one of those people by the way, and I have nice spare mean well PSU now in my drawer.


I would not be surprised to see a difference with linear, but I would be surprised to hear audible difference.


If you are in dire need of spending some money, get a mean well. It will work.

No I'm not in need of spending any more money of course nor do I have to fix anything on my device.. It's been rock solid since I received it a week ago.

I'm just wondering if a Mean Well PSU with a slightly more powerful Amperage output would be better in terms of overall safety, long term reliability and longevity of the device and possibly sound (or at least that will achieve all the aforementioned and won't alternate how the DX3 sounds)

 

[g_t_j]

Can someone measure the voltage output of their Mean Well PSU? The stock one I have supplies constant 15.21 V which is substantially higher than 15V. I assume the Mean Well one should be more ''accurate'' leaning more towards the 15V reading.

However, I have fine-tuned linear power supplies in the past of 5 and 9V and have found the sound benefits from a slightly higher voltage (staying of course within the tolerance range for any given device).

 

[DouglasteR]

Ah yes, i forgot to ask.

Anyone here with any 600ohms HP ? I will be using the Beyer T1 (gen 1) on the DX3 Pro.

As such, going by @amirm tests, i believe it will be able to drive it successfully ?

 

[thomasjast]

It will drive it but the sound is not outstanding. ( poor sound stage)

What’s the rationale here? That’s generally a function of driver placement and stimulating the pinna...

 

[DouglasteR]

This is the first time that I encounter this issue, very clear sound but poor sound stage. With DSD it's acceptable. My FIIO E18 Kunlun has a better sound stage. Nothing rational , just plain weird. The sound remain very separated left and right, nothing much in the middle. I can't invent what's not there. Hopefully you'll get a better sound stage. I can remove my answer up there if you don't believe me. I'm not doing a freak show here. Post deleted , I don't feel like arguing. Good luck.

Must be some kind of filtering/effect of your card.

 

[DouglasteR]

Ah yes, i forgot to ask.

Anyone here with any 600ohms HP ? I will be using the Beyer T1 (gen 1) on the DX3 Pro.

As such, going by @amirm tests, i believe it will be able to drive it successfully ?

Do anyone here have a similar setup ?

 

[DouglasteR]

I guess i will be the first to have the honor !

 

[thomasjast]

I guess i will be the first to have the honor !

I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s not like they’ll be starved for power or anything. What were they made to be used on, and what are the chances that thing has more power than the DX3 anyway?

 

[DouglasteR]

I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s not like they’ll be starved for power or anything. What were they made to be used on, and what are the chances that thing has more power than the DX3 anyway?

Well they are not a HE-6 for sure, but they are know to be hard to drive.

 

[Wolven]

I've found out something today, there is an option to bypass the volume and when this is selected the sound image appear. The sound is not stuck in the box anymore. There is a slight hissing when DSD output is selected with no music on. So now, things start to make sense. Finally, it's a very decent device. DSD has a very good image/sound stage.

I have never noticed the hiss, perhaps something in your settings.

 

[thomasjast]

Bought a DX3 on Aoshida's eBay store. It'll be weeks before it gets here, but wish me luck in getting a good one.

 

[Noob2313]

Just bought a new DX3 Pro from Amazon (USA). It arrived this afternoon and died after about 5 hours of play time, including an hour at full power into a set of Hifiman HE-400i's (which made surprisingly good bookshelf speakers). The failure occurred after I dialed back the power and was just listening normally at -24 dB. It appears to be the well known "stuck in standby" problem. I did not hear any pops or other noises when it failed. Too bad, the DX3 Pro's feature set was perfect for me...

BTW my unit's serial number is 190359xxxx. I installed the firmware update 1.04 (18L) as soon as I got it powered up. Both the firmware update and driver installation (Windows 7 Pro) went smoothly.

As I said above, the DX3 Pro's feature set is perfect for me. So, I asked Amazon (USA) for a replacement. It arrived yestered and died after 24 hours of run time. First it stopped playing on the right channel. Then, 20 minutes later I power cycled it and it locked up in standby. The serial number on the second unit was also 190359xxxx -- it probably came out of the same warehouse crate as the first one.

So, I'm done with Topping. Good luck to the rest of you!

BTW Out of the box the firmware version on the second unit was 1.04, so I did not apply the firmware upgrade to this unit.

 

[flowzeph]

Just purchased a DX3 Pro as there was some stock available in an Amazon warehouse here in Australia.

After a bit of reading though, some people have had their IEM's damaged from the DX3 Pro which is very concerning and would like to know if anyone could clarify if I should be cautious/wary? I will be receiving the DX3 Pro within 3 business days at the same time that I'm receiving a new pair of Beyerdynamic DT1990's, with the intent to drive them with this DAC/Amp. However now I'm unsure if I should be cautious/wary of any potential damage that could be caused by a faulty unit.

Australia's standard voltage is 230v (do excuse me I know very little about voltages) and from what I understand it's likely that I'm going to receive a power adapter that does not use an Australian plug, so I ordered a basic universal power adapter (Lencent) off of Amazon with the DX3 Pro if that provides any useful context.

Any help would be much appreciated.