Shenzhenaudio Topping EX5 Review (DAC and Headphone Amplifier)

[don'ttrustauthority]

I bought the 30 Pro stack and I'm almost having buyer's remorse. I did need the analogue input, so there's that. But to think I basically paid twice the price for the looks of a stack and the analogue input to the amp is making me sad.

Think I may get this for my brother as a present. Along some Sundaras.

Sir, never have buyer's remorse. Never pay more you can afford. Follow that rule, and buy what you want because it is inevitable you will buy at exactly the wrong time many times in your life.

 

[Labjr]

D30pro has much better dynamic range and lower noise floor.

Can you hear the difference?

 

[Dmitri]

Sir, never have buyer's remorse. Never pay more you can afford. Follow that rule, and buy what you want because it is inevitable you will buy at exactly the wrong time many times in your life.

Hah...I agree...but with products coming out at such a rapid pace with expanded feature sets and improved specifications for the same or even less financial outlay than their previous renditions buyers remorse is almost guaranteed. The trick is to purchase X and then enjoy it, ignoring any and all reviews of newer products until you need replace X.

Good luck with that. ; )

 

[JohnYang1997]

Can you hear the difference?

Depends on the amplifier input noise, amplifier gain, and speaker sensitivity. In some situations it's possible to hear the noise.
Similar topic is whether a low noise preamp improves system noise performance.

 

[D4C]

Not the case here. Only 9068AS can decide on-chip, so far. This uses 2x 9038Q2M.

Now you got me wondering.

What's MQA decoding chip lookslike?

 

[JohnYang1997]

Now you got me wondering.

What's MQA decoding chip lookslike?

Almost all current implementation uses XMOS xu216 for decoding.

 

[Labjr]

Almost all current implementation uses XMOS xu216 for decoding.

How come the D30 Pro doesn't decode MQA?

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

All very nice but where can this be purchased?

 

[Francis Vaughan]

How come the D30 Pro doesn't decode MQA?

The D30 Pro uses a xu208, which has half the processing power. The design probably uses the 64 pin package, so using the xu216 would be a redesign to accommodate the xu216’s 128 pin package. So no easy upgrade.
The doubling of processors in the 216 is what makes thoughts of EQ become interesting.

 

[Labjr]

The D30 Pro uses a xu208, which has half the processing power. The design probably uses the 64 pin package, so using the xu216 would be a redesign to accommodate the xu216’s 128 pin package. So no easy upgrade.
The doubling of processors in the 216 is what makes thoughts of EQ become interesting.

I wasn't asking if it would be upgraded. But why did they chose to forego MQA in the D30 Pro?

 

[JohnYang1997]

I wasn't asking if it would be upgraded. But why did they chose to forego MQA in the D30 Pro?

Because it was planned and released earlier?
The MQA on EX5 is specified by SHENZHENAUDIO, not us.

 

[raif71]

@JohnYang1997 , what is the max output voltage of the xlr for the EX5? Thanks

 

[amirm]

@JohnYang1997 , what is the max output voltage of the xlr for the EX5? Thanks

It is what I showed in the dashboard (4 volt). If you mean the front headphone XLR, then that is 5+ volts.

 

[raif71]

It is what I showed in the dashboard (4 volt). If you mean the front headphone XLR, then that is 5+ volts.

Thanks. I meant at dual xlr out back ...yes I saw your headphone xlr 4-pin headphone out statement.

 

[amirm]

I just confirmed that the EX5 does NOT have the problem that SMSL M500 does:

 

[aandres_gm]

So would you test please for 3rd harmonic distortion in stereo to make sure the smsl culture is not corrupting the topping?

If you had read the M500 thread, you'd know Wolf tested a bunch of DACs, many Toppings among them, and couldn't find the issue in any but two: SU-9 and M500

 

[GWolfman]

@JohnYang1997 Maybe you've been dodging the question or maybe others weren't direct (enough) about it, but any plans for:

• PEQ/DSP-enabled products?

Also, any interest in including summed/subwoofer output(s)?

 

[Giangi71]

How many watts at 32ohm? Thanks

 

[NM156]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping EX5 produced exclusively for Shenzhenaudio. The EX5 is slated to cost US $349.99 which it is released. The sample I have is from production run but is awaiting the manual for formal shipments. It was sent to me by Shenzhenaudio.

The EX5 goes into one of my favorite "skins" from Topping with the cute orange LED display:

View attachment 136422

As you can see, this is a combination DAC and headphone amplifier. Note that the XLR style headphone out is for convenience and does not produce more power.

There are however and surprisingly so, balanced XLR outputs:

View attachment 136423

We also have the now standard Bluetooth input.

The remote control cycles through four output modes which selectively turns on the different outputs for both on. I did not have the patience to decode all four modes. But I imagine this is very useful to control different output devices using the remote, making this a rather unique multi-function device.

The remote control buttons are a bit "overloaded" with "M" indicating gain mode of the headphone output rather than being "mute." But you get used to it.

The unit runs a bit warm to touch but nothing that concerns me.

Topping EX5 DAC Measurements
Let's start with our usual USB In and XLR out and see what we get:

View attachment 136424

And what we get is excellence from Topping as usual even at these rather budget prices. SINAD is in top 20 of all DACs tested:
View attachment 136425


View attachment 136426

Unbalanced output is essentially the same:
View attachment 136428

Dynamic range is excellent:

View attachment 136429

Intermodulation distortion (60 Hz and 7 kHz signals) is kept very much under control:

View attachment 136430

It nicely beats the first incarnation of this packaging in DX3 Pro.

Multitone test shows super results despite the 32 tones involved:

View attachment 136432

Jitter measurements show some very low level unwanted signals but they are way under audibility threshold:

View attachment 136433

The usual suite of DAC filters are provided with some "correct" ones which is strangely rare:

View attachment 136434

Linearity is nailed:

View attachment 136435

THD+N versus frequency using wide band (90 kHz) capture is sensitive to type of filter you use as that determines how much of the unwanted ultrasonics are let through. Here are a couple of them:

View attachment 136437

Topping EX5 Headphone Amplifier Measurements
Switching to headphone out, here is our very nice dashboard:

View attachment 136438

Interestingly enough SINAD increases by a couple of dBs.

Signal to noise ratio at much reduced output level of 50 mv to simulate what you would get with a very sensitive IEM shows very low noise floor:

View attachment 136439

View attachment 136440

Power versus distortion+noise shows extremely good performance:

View attachment 136441

Distortion and noise are so low that they almost fell off the bottom of this graph! My threshold is 100 mv here as far as power and we have more than that so you should have little problem driving high-impedance headphones.

Same is true of low impedance headphones:

View attachment 136442

You get slight clipping right at the limit of 1 watt which is plenty for vast majority of headphones out there. Indeed, this is a capable of headphone amp no matter what load you throw at it:

View attachment 136443

Output impedance has been going up and down in some Topping products of this class so good to see them target a near zero impedance yet again.

Topping EX5 Listening Tests
The EX5 produced exceptionally good performance with bot my Drop Ether CX and Sennheiser HD650. There was good amount of volume available in low gain and in high gain, it was skull rattling powerful for the second or so I cranked the volume up. Detail, bass performance, absence of distortion -- there were all there. If the sound sucks, it is your content.

Conclusions
I expect nothing but excellence from Topping and we get that here in EX5. The unique feature set of balanced output in this category product put a smile on my face as these devices are usually shipping with just RCA out. The small packaging with orange LCD is one of my favorites. So really, I have nothing to complain about. Shenzhenaudio and Topping have done a great job producing a very functional device with superb performance.

It is my pleasure to put Shenzhenaudio Topping EX5 on my recommended list.

Note: this is a brand new product. My testing is only limited to its performance, not functionality and reliability. If you are worried about any risks in this regard, you may want to wait until early adopters test it first.

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@amirm There's a typo "XLR Out" in the unbalanced dashboard.

 

[ShiZo]

So wait, is xlr out fixed or pre amp? I saw it asked earlier and it wasn't clear to me which it was.