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Topping DX3 Pro+ Review (DAC & Headphone Amp)

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Greetings to the community, it has been more than two weeks since I bought it through amazon and from that moment until now (two weeks) it did not have any type of movement, it had to arrive on November 6, I doubt it very much, what other option to buy? ? loxjie d30 v2? Thank you!
Most of the Pro+ Got shipped from Shenzhen, China on the 27th of October, customs will put them on hold a few times delaying them even further. Supply chain in the US right now is a mess. Give it till when they say November 6 sound spot on to me.

For others fyi mine is scheduled for next week and have been in contact with Apos from day one of ordering, even informing me there would be delays. Shipping has updated regularly through tracking but slower than usual.
 

Xenio

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Would it be a good idea to use this + a hypex power amplifier ?

I'm not that knowledgeable but people still come to me to ask for advice.

I was thinking that the dx3 pro+ would be a good go-to recommandation for dac+preamp considering how good it is overall. What do you think ?
 

Killingbeans

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How easily does it clip at these ohm-levels?
With 50 Ohms it clips around 7 Vrms.

If you use a calculator like this, you can get a rough idea of how much voltage you need to get painfully high SPL:
 

jools

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Would it be a good idea to use this + a hypex power amplifier ?

I'm not that knowledgeable but people still come to me to ask for advice.

I was thinking that the dx3 pro+ would be a good go-to recommandation for dac+preamp considering how good it is overall. What do you think ?
I'm currently using a DX3-pro V2 into a Hypex Ncore amp (Audiophonics, based on 252 module) and have no complaints. Will be swapping it for the Pro+ as soon as it arrives. I am using a pot-in-a-box in between the DX3 and the amp which is probably not ideal from a noise point of view but it is more convenient - I've set it so when the DX3 is at full volume that's as loud as I typically want to go and my usual use is in the 0 to -20dB range which I find I like more than remembering where to go in the -30 to -50 range, plus I can't accidentally go to neighbour annoying levels.
 
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Mine arrived today, much earlier than being reported on shipping, a nice surprise!

I don't have time to give any listening impression but will update when I do.
 

JRS

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Most of the Pro+ Got shipped from Shenzhen, China on the 27th of October, customs will put them on hold a few times delaying them even further. Supply chain in the US right now is a mess. Give it till when they say November 6 sound spot on to me.

For others fyi mine is scheduled for next week and have been in contact with Apos from day one of ordering, even informing me there would be delays. Shipping has updated regularly through tracking but slower than usual.
That included my pair, which landed in Chicago and then landed in Uttduck TX. Hopefully here in ABQ next 2 days. I'm psyched--only thing I have heard my new Sundara's through is crappy laptop. They are so wanting to kick up their heels.
 

Nabobalis

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I just got mine through the post and I have two questions:

1. Filter choice: amirm mentioned that 2 was the best in post 22. Should I using that? Do the filters have any noticeable affect?
2. I have the official 3.5mm adaptor on my HD560s and if I plug it all the way in to the jack on the front. The right channel stops. I have to loosen it out for both channels to work. There is static if I leave it in all the way on the left channel, but I wiggle it a bit, it stops and doesn't come back. Is this an issue with my adaptor or the unit? I am unsure how to debug with only one headphone.

Edit: I just re-plugged my headphones back in and they now work as normal...
 
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Wink

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Hello, just registered to tell you my experience of ordering a dx3+ to UK. Ordered on the 08/10/2021 thinking Shenzen audio had stock, they did not. They kept telling me it should be soon and that topping had delays. It might be coming mid November. I think those saying on here that they just got it are not telling the truth and hyping. Had to cancel my order though PayPal. Edit, I had contacted another seller that stated 11 in stock and when emailed they had zero. Not sure why they cannot just give a predicted supply date. Anyway, rant over I will still get the dx3 pro+ as it looks to be a step up over my zen blu v2 with a better dac, headphone amp and more inputs. : ))
 
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ManuMaker

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DEFCOM 4: greetings! Today the Amazon seller answered me, I bought more than two weeks ago, it should arrive tomorrow and he tells me two more weeks. As I told you, I am Argentine where anything it costs three times more and that it arrives is Kafkaesque, a friend from Germany brings it to me, we don't have time, I have to order something else NOW. What do you think of loxjie d30?
 

Wink

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That included my pair, which landed in Chicago and then landed in Uttduck TX. Hopefully here in ABQ next 2 days. I'm psyched--only thing I have heard my new Sundara's through is crappy laptop. They are so wanting to kick up their heels.
DEFCOM 4: greetings! Today the Amazon seller answered me, I bought more than two weeks ago, it should arrive tomorrow and he tells me two more weeks. As I told you, I am Argentine where anything it costs three times more and that it arrives is Kafkaesque, a friend from Germany brings it to me, we don't have time, I have to order something else NOW. What do you think of loxjie d30?
Looks good, but I'm lucky I have the zen blu v2 which will do until the dx3 pro+ actually comes out. The date has slipped on amazon again today, and I do believe Shenzhen when they said topping have a parts supply issue.
 
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Bleib

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With 50 Ohms it clips around 7 Vrms.

If you use a calculator like this, you can get a rough idea of how much voltage you need to get painfully high SPL:

Ah, so basically I would be nowhere near any chance of making it clipping really..
  • Headphone type: Closed-back.
  • Max. input power: 200 mW.
  • Audio frequency bandwidth: 16 – 28000 Hz.
  • Sensitivity: 104 dB SPL/V.
  • Rated impedance: 55 Ohms.
 
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I just got mine through the post and I have two questions:

1. Filter choice: amirm mentioned that 2 was the best in post 22. Should I using that? Do the filters have any noticeable affect?
2. I have the official 3.5mm adaptor on my HD560s and if I plug it all the way in to the jack on the front. The right channel stops. I have to loosen it out for both channels to work. There is static if I leave it in all the way on the left channel, but I wiggle it a bit, it stops and doesn't come back. Is this an issue with my adaptor or the unit? I am unsure how to debug with only one headphone.

Edit: I just re-plugged my headphones back in and they now work as normal...
Adapter/Plug problem: I haven't run into that problem with the 4 sets of cans/iem I have tested. I'm not using an adapter so I think it's safe to say it that. As for the filters 2 would be the one preferred but try them all, if you think you can tell a difference abx them to prove it to yourself. Personally I can't hear anything pass 15-16k so it would make much of a whoop to me.

I've tested usb and opt. USB-OTG cable is connect with an iphone as a source and Optical is connect to pc

While not a R2R attenuator it does have a that nice click..click..click to the volume knob, with steps of 1. Everything tested so far works as intended and without problems.

I've tested
# Z ZS10 PRO 24-ohm
# Tin T2 16-ohm
# Senhieser Massdrop HD 58X Jubilee 150-350-ohm
# SUPERLUX HD668B 60-ohm

For people wondering about iem's or lower impedance cans, everything played extremely loud and more than I could bear! I never reached max volume nor would I want or think it would be safe with what I tested (not for the ime/phones but my ears)

If anyone has any question I'll answer the best I can and as fast as possible. So far this is perfect for my desktop-setup and am happy with my purchase.


My unit was ordered fro Apos (not amazon or shenzhen audio) that could be be the reason other devices haven't come yet.
For the naysayer
dx3pro+ - Copy.png
 

Bleib

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Adapter/Plug problem: I haven't run into that problem with the 4 sets of cans/iem I have tested. I'm not using an adapter so I think it's safe to say it that. As for the filters 2 would be the one preferred but try them all, if you think you can tell a difference abx them to prove it to yourself. Personally I can't hear anything pass 15-16k so it would make much of a whoop to me.

I've tested usb and opt. USB-OTG cable is connect with an iphone as a source and Optical is connect to pc

While not a R2R attenuator it does have a that nice click..click..click to the volume knob, with steps of 1. Everything tested so far works as intended and without problems.

I've tested
# Z ZS10 PRO 24-ohm
# Tin T2 16-ohm
# Senhieser Massdrop HD 58X Jubilee 150-350-ohm
# SUPERLUX HD668B 60-ohm

For people wondering about iem's or lower impedance cans, everything played extremely loud and more than I could bear! I never reached max volume nor would I want or think it would be safe with what I tested (not for the ime/phones but my ears)

If anyone has any question I'll answer the best I can and as fast as possible. So far this is perfect for my desktop-setup and am happy with my purchase.


My unit was ordered fro Apos (not amazon or shenzhen audio) that could be be the reason other devices haven't come yet.
For the naysayer
View attachment 163313
Thanks for the mini-report.. does it run hot, is it hot to touch?
 

Wink

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Sorry bud, but are you a reviewer as normal stock cannot be ordered. Apos are out of stock, I would have expected more reviews if stock was fluid. The naysayer.
 

Bleib

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Sorry bud, but are you a reviewer as normal stock cannot be ordered. Apos are out of stock, I would have expected more reviews if stock was fluid. The naysayer.
Amazon sent my unit 1-2 days ago. So it's not impossible that some have them by now
 

JRS

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Mine is here--it's in a damn lockbox though.:facepalm: So the shipment that landed a week ago is being distributed.
 
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Miiman

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Mine is on the way from Audiophonics. Hopefully it will be a good match with my Sundaras. Its my first headphone hifi setup. The low ohm thing is a bit concerning but there was not a whole lot of options for a ~€200 combo in EU. I dont listen at very high levels anyway.
 

jools

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Sorry bud, but are you a reviewer as normal stock cannot be ordered. Apos are out of stock, I would have expected more reviews if stock was fluid. The naysayer.
Mine is in customs - unless we're being so paranoid that we're including the possibility that Audiophonics lied about sending it and sent a parcel without it to cover their tracks for a few days... but I think they did get stock on the 3rd Nov and did send it. Others may well have received theirs. And other retailers probably got their stock around the same time as Audiophonics did in France. Last time I ordered from them it took a couple of days for customs to decide how much I had to pay, then I paid over the phone and the parcel was delivered the following day. If the UK hadn't left the EU, I might even have had it by now.
 

haen

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Hi.

Few days ago my DX3 Pro+ arrived so I though I will write a short opinion piece. I won't touch topics of measurements or sound quality etc. - I have no knowledge nor means to do that beside subjective claims (well, it seems to produce sound, so...).

I recently replaced my old M-Audio speakers with KRK Rockit 5 and what I really needed was a sort of glorified volume control device plus ability to plug in my headphones. So I could probably find some cheaper alternative, on the other hand DX3 Pro+ with its good measurements and few additional perks seems like a good option.

I wasn't 100% sold on the look of the device - actually I liked Loxjie D30 a bit better, and if that one had a black variant I imagine I would picked D30. The element I was not sure was this orange display as I planned to place the device in front of me under the computer monitor and I was worried that it will be a bit distracting. But you can switch the display to turn off all the information (besides the input indicator) after 30 seconds which is good enough for me. Other than that the device seems to be a good looking and nicely build one - I don't have much experience here really so take this statement with a grain of salt. The box and packaging is nice, no complaints.

The primary feature that made me select DX3 Pro+ was ability to switch between output modes. There are three - line out, headphones and line-out and headphones both at the same time. It means that I can connect my KRK's (using two RCA - XLR cables - picked up something cheap from some Polish vendor) and my headphones (I have just a pair of Superlux HD668B) and then easily switch using the volume knob or the remote.

The volume knob is of click-clickety type. My wife immediately noticed this trait - I'm not sure if she was in the kitchen, but she came in and expressed her opinion anyway (actually she asked 'Does that thing have to do that?' with her eyebrows raised). I would say the clicks are a bit on the loud side, personally I don't find it annoying or distracting.

As you can find in the manual the volume knob is multi-functional. Besides controlling the volume you can press it once to switch between input sources, and double press to switch between outputs. That was another advantage of this device. For example I also considered some models from JDS but they have the line-out/headphones switch button on the back and it is also used to power off/on - not the best design IMO. Anyway in practice one may find double-press action of the volume knob in DX3 Pro+ a bit hard to execute initially. I have learned that you really need to allow the button to 'de-press'/go back to the initial position before executing the second click/press, otherwise you will likely switch input sources twice. It could be a bit better/easier (its a mechanical thingy primarily I suppose), but after few days I kind of adjusted to it. Anyway, one can also use the remote to switch the outputs. Personally I would prefer to have outputs switcher bound to one click and inputs switcher bound to double click, but that's me I suppose.

I don't have personally much use for coaxial or optical inputs. I tested the Bluetooth input with my phone (Nokia 8/Android) and it seems to work. Although I think I had one or two cases when the connection seems to be established but no sound was produced - I had to fiddle a bit with switching inputs to fix it, or something like that. Also my phone won't connect to DX3 Pro+ automatically - I need to select it each time. I don't care about this feature much (at least for now), maybe there are some settings in Android, dunno. I may try to test it with other phones later - from time to time my phone seems to have problems with talking to my car via Bluetooth so the problem may be on its side.

As mentioned earlier you can switch between line-out, headphones and both. Each mode has a separate volume level maintained which is quite nice. Before, when connecting my headphones to my M-Audio speakers I had to pump-up the volume (and then decrease it before disconnecting headphones again...). The new configuration allows to more control in that regards obviously.

The device is a bit of warm when powered on, but not hot, so I think everything is OK on that front as well.

Below are a few Linux-related comments, as this is what I use on my PC.

Actually after connecting DX3 Pro+ to the PC via USB I got no sound initially. I fiddled a bit with the sound settings, alsamixer etc. but to no avail. I restarted the computer which helped. I had no such problems later so I haven't try to investigate it more.

In the sound settings I have two new output devices: 'Digital Output (S/PDIF) - DX3 Pro+' and 'Analogue Output - DX3 Pro+'. I kind of don't understand that really, I'm not sure if that's how it supposed to be? Switching between them does not seem to make any difference.

PulseEffects seems to work - I don't use it much to be honest, just played a little bit with its PEQ some time ago.

You can configure Pulse Audio to (try to) avoid resampling - I tested several high-res sample audio files and according to info displayed by DX3 Pro+ they weren't resampled.

There is one weirdness related to the list of USB devices. DX3 Pro+ is identified as Bus 001 Device 003: ID 152a:8750 Thesycon Systemsoftware & Consulting GmbH DX3 Pro+ which is kind of strange (Thesycon seems to be some company related to USB audio). Anyway, the real weirdness is that after connecting DX3 Pro+ my mouse, which is normally identified as Bus 001 Device 005: ID 1e7d:2dc2 ROCCAT now is identified as Bus 001 Device 005: ID 1e7d:2dc2 ROCCAT DX3 Pro+. On the other hand I'm definitely observing much improved smoothness and accuracy of my mouse - the cursor glides now through the screen with unparalleled accuracy and anything it moves over is blessed with additional sharpness and level of details. Unexpected, but I suppose that's what makes Topping so awesome company!
 
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