Depending if you have v1 or v2 version. In v1 you can switch mode via remote or fast double click on the knob. In v2 you have enter special menu during power on. I have v1 so I can’t guide you by heart but it should be well described in the user’s guide.
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Review and Measurements of Topping DX3Pro DAC and Headphone Amp
- Thread starter amirm
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I just received my dx3 pro in the mail. I am coming from plugging sundara into my macbook directly. And I have some questions about expectations. (I am also new to headphones. Like tuesday new)
The sound is better, but not in some crazy leap. Just a touch cleaner and better defined across the board. That's fine and not really a surprise. What was a surprise is max volume (at least in low gain) seams to be not that different from my macbook pro. This came up because watching movies caused me to max out my macbook volume using the sundara. I kind of expected to have at least a bit more headroom/volume using the dx3 pro. I don't seem to have gained much volume. I get some if I move to high gain.
Now, I don't *need* this volume with the sundara. so I probably don't need to do anything. But I am a bit concerned about this thing driving 470 ohm headphones I have coming in to audition.
Did I choose poorly?
Are my expectations crazy? Should I consider something else?
Thanks!
The sound is better, but not in some crazy leap. Just a touch cleaner and better defined across the board. That's fine and not really a surprise. What was a surprise is max volume (at least in low gain) seams to be not that different from my macbook pro. This came up because watching movies caused me to max out my macbook volume using the sundara. I kind of expected to have at least a bit more headroom/volume using the dx3 pro. I don't seem to have gained much volume. I get some if I move to high gain.
Now, I don't *need* this volume with the sundara. so I probably don't need to do anything. But I am a bit concerned about this thing driving 470 ohm headphones I have coming in to audition.
Did I choose poorly?
Are my expectations crazy? Should I consider something else?
Thanks!
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Using headphone dacs/amps seems to throw this problem up quite often. I suspect there are myriad reasons why your low volume issue might arise, many of which might have nothing to do with the dx3.
What is your findings listening to music through either set up. As in something that won't be doing any downmixing /levelling.
For music, both are plenty loud for most genres. Some quieter songs may need me to pump up the volume, but that's with both the dx3 and the laptop.
Since the source is ultimately the laptop in all cases, I have made sure every volume slider is maxed. When you plugin a dac, it seems to automatically do that for you. But I am not sure what else to check to make sure the laptop isn't interfering.
Second thing, the high gain makes a substantial difference on music. So, ok, the movie (in this case LOTR) is downmixed. Which is fine. Was just caught off guard by this. Is that all this is?
I was getting carried away comparing specs and measurements of various things, leading me to contemplate L30+E30 vs DX3 Pro... where I reckon the two wouldn't be distinguishable for me anyway. But then again I don't know if I'd distinguish them from my current Hot Audio DAC Destroyer (such a humble name) either, despite that one certainly being inferior in measurements and features. It's not like the DAC Destroyer clips or anything with my AKG K702 62ohm headphones, despite not specifically being marketed as an actual amplifier. Since it has no volume controls on it, Windows does the controlling, and there I usually end up between 20-40% volume. Seems odd, considering. I almost blew my ears out testing bass tracks yesterday for a while at higher volumes after doing a bass port mod on the headphones. There were some slight irregularities in the sound of the heavy and low bass impacts, but I can't say for sure if it was the 160kbps source stream, the DAC, or the headphones, since I didn't switch around. Something to test futher, I suppose. In any case it was only with volumes louder than I can comfortably listen at, especially for such bass-heavy tracks (Bass Mekanik and other such things I normally wouldn't listen to as "music").
Granted, the DX3 Pro is a much more versatile (not to mentioned "polished" and "pretty") product, given its other inputs compared to DAC Destroyer's USB-only. So it has value in that way already, but enough for 220€ (which it costs here)? Probably not, given my finances and other things like acoustic treatments for my speaker system I should be saving up for, but who knows what I'll end up doing. Will be on a lookout for any Black Friday sales, at least.
Granted, the DX3 Pro is a much more versatile (not to mentioned "polished" and "pretty") product, given its other inputs compared to DAC Destroyer's USB-only. So it has value in that way already, but enough for 220€ (which it costs here)? Probably not, given my finances and other things like acoustic treatments for my speaker system I should be saving up for, but who knows what I'll end up doing. Will be on a lookout for any Black Friday sales, at least.
DX3 is worth it over the e30/l30 stack *if* you don't care about the current models 10 ohm output resistance. I actually like the thing a lot, but so far my favorite headphones are all low ohm planars, so it was the wrong choice for me. The stack would have been better. Thinking about keeping it as a dac, but it will probably go back!
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Ah, so the V2 hikes the headphone out to 10 ohm compared to the review unit's 1 ohm? It's not been updated in the review itself, and well, there's 244 pages to go through for such info, which I admittedly haven't! Anyway, I've honestly no experience with how much if any effect it'd have in practice, the supposed frequency shift, and I've no idea what ohm ratings my current devices (namely mainly AVR and the DAC Destroyer which are what I use the K702 with) have for their outputs either. The E30+L30 stack would be 270€ here, so 50€ more than the DX3 Pro V2, but it also loses Bluetooth - admittedly rarely needed at best - and the ability to have both the E30 connected as DAC only to both L30 (and thus headphones) and an integrated amp at the same time, which might have utility if I want to use my stereo amp for music instead of my AVR sometimes, without having to mess with the DAC cables. Of course you could connect the L30 to the stereo amp, but then you get double-pre-amping, just like if I try to connect the stereo amp to my AVR's pre-out (no HT bypass unfortunately, otherwise I'd always keep it connected to the AVR).
Speaking of looking for sales like I said I would, the closest Topping vendor did just put all Topping products on a "Singles' day" sale... for all of 5%! Even with the additional free shipping, doesn't help me much
I suppose their BF sale won't be much different.
Speaking of looking for sales like I said I would, the closest Topping vendor did just put all Topping products on a "Singles' day" sale... for all of 5%! Even with the additional free shipping, doesn't help me much
I suppose their BF sale won't be much different.Ah, so the V2 hikes the headphone out to 10 ohm compared to the review unit's 1 ohm? It's not been updated in the review itself, and well, there's 244 pages to go through for such info, which I admittedly haven't! Anyway, I've honestly no experience with how much if any effect it'd have in practice, the supposed frequency shift, and I've no idea what ohm ratings my current devices (namely mainly AVR and the DAC Destroyer which are what I use the K702 with) have for their outputs either. The E30+L30 stack would be 270€ here, so 50€ more than the DX3 Pro V2, but it also loses Bluetooth - admittedly rarely needed at best - and the ability to have both the E30 connected as DAC only to both L30 (and thus headphones) and an integrated amp at the same time, which might have utility if I want to use my stereo amp for music instead of my AVR sometimes, without having to mess with the DAC cables. Of course you could connect the L30 to the stereo amp, but then you get double-pre-amping, just like if I try to connect the stereo amp to my AVR's pre-out (no HT bypass unfortunately, otherwise I'd always keep it connected to the AVR).
Speaking of looking for sales like I said I would, the closest Topping vendor did just put all Topping products on a "Singles' day" sale... for all of 5%! Even with the additional free shipping, doesn't help me much
10ohm output impedance seems to only matter if you have low ohm headphones. The rule is supposedly 8 to 1. So 80ohms+ is "safe". I am running a 20ohm set on mine and I think it explains some things I am hearing. Hence I am sending my dx3 pro back. (or using it as a dac).
It's otherwise awesome. If you aren't a planar / low ohm user, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase for normal headphones.
And I think it's a guide. I am using 20ohm headphones with a dx3 pro and I don't think I am having any of the issues. But the headphones are planar (flat frequency response) and the other problem is adding bass and if it's doing that it's helping not hurting.
So I would go dx3 pro. just make sure you can return it.
As things go with the vendor that sells them here, returning an opened package incurs a restocking fee (20-50% of price, so yikes). The V2 impedance change is slightly concerning, but in the end I doubt I'd have any audible issues with the product outside of actual malfunctions (which of course are then a matter of warranty), considering even with the current older, definitely not top-of-the-line stuff it's mostly about the feature set rather than any sonic issues.
https://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=938196&st=1620
Russians solved the problem with pop on shutdown.
Russians solved the problem with pop on shutdown.
I have the dx3 pro and an iphone + adapter. If I can find them all I will try and report back.
You are so lucky. I actually found the adapter! Just to be specific, it is apple's usb3. It is here:
https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Lightn...ocphy=9003076&hvtargid=pla-403917398107&psc=1
I can't say any other adapter works, but this one DOES!!!
I may move my dx3 up to the couch and use my iPhone to power it! Brilliant!
--Derrek
That is a great news! Thanks Derrek
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Heard a loud pop and now there's no sound. Just an orange dot. Pressing the switch makes the dot flash for a bit then it goes back to solid. Tried factory reset and it didn't have impact. Is the unit bricked?
Veri
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Unfortunately, from the sound of it that's a "Yes".
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