Topping DX3 Pro+ Review (DAC & Headphone Amp)

[MerlinGS]

I'm waiting for DSP room correction licensing from Dirac or some other proven technology

That would be a great addition; however, Dirac license will easily add $200-300 (close to the latter and a calibrated mike would add another $100). As soon as it is released half the posters will be complaining that $450-600 is too much and they want one without Dirac (despite the fact that one would exist, but complaints are par for the course).

 

[Illtrick]

Does anyone know if Bluetooh operates on this in the same fashion as Topping's other devices? My experience was that it was always advertising it's bluetooth connection regardless of the selected input. That was maddening as anytime I got near the device with my phone it'd connect. Ultimately it lead to me returning the device. Hopefully it's just when the bluetooth input is selected that connectivity is available.

 

[MRC01]

Does the EX5 offer anything that this unit lacks? Yes I have buyer's remorse with my 2 week old combo

For me the main difference is with the rear balanced outputs, which is convenient for connecting to my active speakers with. Some people will also want the *dual headphone outputs to accommodate their current *headphone cable terminations
*added for clarity

Compared to DX3 Pro+, the EX5 has:

• Slightly better SNR @ 50 mV
• Outputs both Balanced and SE, for headphones & line
• SE headphone output is full size 1/4"
• Internal power supply (no wall wart)

PS: another difference is the digital filters. They both have 7 to choose from, but they're different. The DX3 Pro+ has 3 filters with a stopband of 22.05, where the EX5 has 2. The DX3 Pro+ has 2 with a stopband of 24, where the EX5 has 3. They both have 2 filters with a stopband of 28. Also, the names given in the manual to describe the filters make sense (match the graph) with the DX3 Pro+, but do not make sense or match the graph with the EX5.

The "best" for the EX5 is filter #2, and for the DX3 Pro+ is #3, both are 0 dB @ 20 kHz with full attenuation by 22.05.

Of the 3 DX3 Pro+ filters that are "correct" (stopband at 22.05), one (#2) is labeled minimum phase but you wouldn't want to use it since its passband is about 18k and it's -12 dB at 20 kHz. It doesn't say whether the other two (#1 and #3) are linear or minimum phase, so you'd have to do a freq sweep with phase curve or square wave to find out.

 

[strummr]

That would be a great addition; however, Dirac license will easily add $200-300 (close to the latter and a calibrated mike would add another $100). As soon as it is released half the posters will be complaining that $450-600 is too much and they want one without Dirac (despite the fact that one would exist, but complaints are par for the course).

^ this... the most certain of certainties...

 

[antcollinet]

It's not exactly the same for front jacks on a desktop product where you use big 1/4" plug, combined with an inline adapter. It creates a lever and it's quite heavy. You can easily bang on them unintentionally too. I personally seen many fail even tough it may not be the main failure on smart phones, the Use Case is different. If the Jack is trough hole of course it won't happen, but generally speaking, I don't know about this one, many still only use surface mount connectors, with or without snaps. They are quite fragile, in most device that comes at a budget. It's just piece of mind to not add extra lever weight, don't mean it'll fail. But I'm sure if you've been around electronic products a lot, yes, connectors are one of the key parts that can fail on a product. really I do not need statistics to know that.

I would always use 90degree for 3.5mm. So either a short (wired) 3.5mm (right angle) to 1/4 inch, or one of these:

https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg02769/jack-adaptor-6-35-st-to-3-5-st/dp/AV17284

 

[PeteL]

That would be a great addition; however, Dirac license will easily add $200-300 (close to the latter and a calibrated mike would add another $100). As soon as it is released half the posters will be complaining that $450-600 is too much and they want one without Dirac (despite the fact that one would exist, but complaints are par for the course).

But they already have products around the 1000$ marks

 

[NiagaraPete]

I just ordered a DX3 pro now I’m thinking I should have gone for the DX7 pro.

Done, cancelled DX3 pro and bought D30 pro.

 

[MartinEighty8]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping DX3 Pro+ DAC and headphone amplifier. It is a replacement for one of my most favorite combo products, the DX3 Pro. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $199.

The DX3 Pro+ maintains the gorgeous and high contrast orange LEDs which I am very fond of:

View attachment 157571

The back panel is a bit unusual in a good way with sporting dual Coax inputs:

View attachment 157572

There is a remote and support for Bluetooth. The external power supply is a 15 volt one which should help with power output of the headphone amplifier.

Topping DX3 Pro+ Measurements
Let's start with our DAC measurements and the dashboard:

View attachment 157573

I expect great performance from Topping and the DX3 Pro+ naturally delivers. Distortion products are at -125 dB worst case which is well below threshold of audibility. THD+N sums to 0.000146 which matches company spec of 0.00015 rating of the company. Converting that to dB, we get our SINAD which comfortably lands in our top tier of all DACs tested:
View attachment 157574

Zooming into its neighbors:

View attachment 157575

Dynamic range is excellent:

View attachment 157576

Multitone test shows again the low level of distortion no matter how many tones we throw at it:


View attachment 157577

Intermodulation distortion shows that it matches its older brother and then beats it at highest output levels:

View attachment 157578

The graph never tilts up indicating that it is noise limited, not distortion.

Jitter test shows a bit of interference below 1 kHz which fortunately is completely inaudible:

View attachment 157579

Linearity is nailed showing excellent accuracy of levels:

View attachment 157580

A bunch of filters are available for you to play with as usual:

View attachment 157581

THD+N vs frequency naturally varies with the filter you use:

View attachment 157586

Headphone Amplifier Measurements
Let's start with our signal to noise ratio with headphone out:

View attachment 157582

I was hoping for a little bit better performance at 50 mv output although what is there is clearly above average:


View attachment 157583

Most important test here is power output:

View attachment 157584

There is plenty of power and no clipping/rise in distortion.

Switching to 32 ohm load, we still have good bit of power:

View attachment 157585

Testing at many load impedances tells us that the amp doesn't like very low impedances:
View attachment 157587

This was a good test of the microprocessor controlled protection circuit which kicked in at the lowest impedances. This had been a sore point with the older DX3 Pro and Topping has gone aggressive with active monitoring here.

Topping DX3 Pro+ Listening Tests
I performed all of my testing in high gain and there, the DX3 Pro+ had no trouble bringing out the best fidelity in both Sennheiser HD650 and Drop Ether CX. It drove them with authority, creating a dynamic response with tons of detail and superb tonality. Anyone who thinks these superbly low noise and distortion audio products sound "clinical," should check themselves into a clinic!

For grins, I also drive my Dan Clark Stealth headphone. Here, there was less power than when using the above to headphones but still very usable. Note however that when I cranked up the volume to 0 dB for testing, the amp went into protection. I tried it again but could not duplicate it. Regardless, it was pretty good before it hit that limit anyway.

Conclusions
Prior to this review, I was getting depressed testing product after product with awful performance. Results were so bad that I was starting to doubt my Audio Precision analyzer! Fortunately I had the DX3 Pro+ to test which as you see, not only performed superbly, it also vindicated the audio analyzer! This combo unit gives you everything you need in a compact and attractive unit at excellent price. It doesn't have infinite capability as far as low impedance headphones are concerned so for that, you need to step up to myriad of other options from Topping. Outside of that niche use though, the DX3 Pro+ does the job and does it superbly.

I am happy to recommend the Topping DX3Pro+.

-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Thank you very much Amirm for this review, I just pre-ordered mine and am very much looking forward to owning a quality desktop headphone dac-amp at last.

Have a great one

 

[JRS]

Nice.
If one pauses to think about the metaphor invoked why would “clinical” be negative? What would they prefer? Oh yea, superstition.

I never figured out why “warm” means good either though. Or what warm sound would be. Is it so Loud that it’s vibrations increase ambient temperature?

Don’t get me wrong. I have a tube preamp I enjoy a lot sometimes Not because of its warmth (though it does get toasty), but because i enjoy those holographic sonic effects of tube distortion with some recordings.

The other oft used adjective to malign an ultralinear device: sterile
My thoughts are if you are to cleanly dissect the artists intent in a recording, it should be done in a clinic under sterile conditions.
With a good single malt scotch for warmth.

 

[Rottmannash]

another topping, another not so excellent multitone performance in low frequencies (compared to the rest of spectrum). yet still better than my d30pro. what gives? my assumption towards marketing plan rather than engineering.

regarding the design i'm happy to see the form of old dx3 pro which still looks attractive. probably gonna get one for my beloved as „aio music solution”.

still i wish topping makes a plain dac with usb in → balanced output with fixed volume and without any additional features. display is redundant in such design as well. pure performance in reasonable price for those who sleep better knowing their dac is performing in both sinad and multitone, but never intend to use coax/optical/bt or play with remote. d10b is close ofc, but not in terms of performance and lack of features. it'd have to be even simpler and outperforming. just connect and forget abut its existence.

In what way does the D10 Balanced underperform??

 

[JRS]

Thanks for another thorough review @amirm.

Now that improvements in Topping & SMSL products make no real audible difference it would be great to see an increase in their features and usability.

IMO the inclusion of a streamer within a DAC like this one would be very welcome, as I would have thought most members stream the majority of their music. Would I be correct in saying that this could be done for little cost and no increase in the size of the unit based on the bit perfect Chromecast Audio (which is no longer in manufacture).

I for one would absolutely love that. The BT here helps, but rather it stream, better both. As others have said, features and flexibility vs inaudible sonic improvements..

 

[charleski]

Does the EX5 offer anything that this unit lacks? Yes I have buyer's remorse with my 2 week old combo

Higher output into really low impedances. The EX5 manages 1W into 16ohms, whereas this does ~300mW.

 

[HiFidFan]

Nice performance. I can't get past the inconsistent display lighting.

 

[Killingbeans]

Damn. I had given up on the original DX3 Pro in the seach for my dream AIO desktop audio solution for active speakers, and I was starting to look at other brands. But now Topping pulls me right back in

 

[ReaderZ]

The fire at AKM factory means we have to refresh lots of our product line. And the component shortages this year is making things worse. It's been a difficult year for many companies.
In terms of something new. I had been teasing for some time now. A new class D amp is coming with satisfactory performance.

NX7 still a thing?

 

[musicforcities]

Can't blame ASR for how quickly Topping churns out great-measuring stuff. We won't complain if you help us discover an equivalent rival though

Topping ‘s product line strategy seems to be an all you can eat buffet. Burp!

 

[musicforcities]

All others are just a quick tip swap away.

Hey man, this is a family site.

 

[JohnYang1997]

NX7 still a thing?

yes

 

[Gradius]

Looks like is not hard to mod this into fully balanced on both audio outputs.

Of course, you will lose the warranty.

 

[JDiSilverstein]

The fire at AKM factory means we have to refresh lots of our product line. And the component shortages this year is making things worse. It's been a difficult year for many companies.
In terms of something new. I had been teasing for some time now. A new class D amp is coming with satisfactory performance.

When, sir? ballpark it - before Christmas?