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DX7 Pro Headphone Amp Upgrade?

domiji

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Hello Audio Science Review Community,

i own a Topping DX7 Pro for several month and i use it with a pair of Grado GS 1000 and Beyerdynamic Amiron Home.

I was asking if there will be any sound quality improvement from another headphone amp connected to the DX7 Pro?
Maybe a Topping A90?

Thanks for your help :)
 

Doodski

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The Topping A90 has more power output, less output impedance although the DX7Pro output impedance is still pretty low and as far as SN at 50 mV output the A90 beats the DX7Pro. Your Grado GS1000 cans are SPL 1mW @99.8 dB output and so I think either amplifier will do the job very well.
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domiji

domiji

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Hello Doodski and thanks for your help :)

So there won't be any great improvement in sound quality i guess.

I've good the feeling that the Grados sound a bit to bright and analytical with the DX7 Pro. I've changed the OP Amps inside the headphone section to a pair of Burson V6. I couldn't say if it is just my mind of if it really sounds a bit more "relaxed".

I thought maybe an additional headphone amp would do the job better. Maybe i should try some EQ with the Grados. I tried some EQ with my Amiron Homes but i didn't like it in the end.
 

Doodski

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Hello Doodski and thanks for your help :)

So there won't be any great improvement in sound quality i guess.

I've good the feeling that the Grados sound a bit to bright and analytical with the DX7 Pro. I've changed the OP Amps inside the headphone section to a pair of Burson V6. I couldn't say if it is just my mind of if it really sounds a bit more "relaxed".

I thought maybe an additional headphone amp would do the job better. Maybe i should try some EQ with the Grados. I tried some EQ with my Amiron Homes but i didn't like it in the end.
EQ is a very good start. EQ will give you the most obvious change. You won't hear a difference between the two Topping amps unless you are turning the power wayyy up or have very difficult to drive headphones. I have been told that the Grado headphones generally sound bright and I have never heard them so I don't know first hand.
 
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domiji

domiji

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Thank you very much - that helped me a lot!

I think about to swap the Burson V6 out for the original LME49720. Maybe it was just my mind that told me it has to sound more relaxed :)
What do you think?
 

Doodski

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Thank you very much - that helped me a lot!

I think about to swap the Burson V6 out for the original LME49720. Maybe it was just my mind that told me it has to sound more relaxed :)
What do you think?
OP amp rolling generally can be productive but in most situations any difference will be in the gain of the OP amp causing a loudness difference. Sometimes the distortion and noise from a different OP amp will be better but not always. OP amp rolling is generally not going to make a change that is worth the bother and sometimes the designer picked a specific OP amp for reasons we don't know and substituting that for another just makes things worse. OP amp rolling is a good way to muck about with electronics for newbies and can be fun. :D
 

Thu

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I used Hifiman Sundara + Fiio K5 pro. Recently ordered Hifiman Arya and since it needs more power I bought Topping DX7 pro. Everyone said it's so good. But I was really disappointed with it cause compared to Fiio the sound became cold, pinched, the instruments didn't sound natural to me, the music lost sense of scale. After many tests on different music genres, I ended up putting DX7 pro to the box and was thinking to return to the store, I thought something is broken. I started to read and realized that this is what people call "natural" sound. Why would anyone need "natural" if the sound can be "wow" and give goosebumps? But that's another topic haha.

I replaced stock op-amps(LME49720) with 2x Muses01 and 2x Alfa AS402 in the filter section. Cause I've heard Muses01 uses FETs and gives warmth and depth while keeping details and Alfa uses bipolar transistors(that works well combined with FETs) and gives clarity and good details. I am not really deep in the technical side but I decided to try. After the op-amps change DX7 pro is completely another level device. The sound changed not 1% or 2% percent but it's a full transformation to me. Everything is musical, got depth, instruments are natural and detailed. Now I enjoy it a lot.

Someone was mentioning Burson V6 here. I've also heard they are quite good and move the sound to the direction I like, but for some reason, they don't say that Bursons don't fit the size of the device and you'll not be able to close it.

One more thing I learned - under the radiators there are few more chips AD8397 which play the role of digital to analog converter. Replacing them can also help improve the sound and better predict the final result of other OP-amps influence.

So far conceptually I am really happy with what I got but maybe will experiment more in the future ;)
 

Doodski

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I used Hifiman Sundara + Fiio K5 pro. Recently ordered Hifiman Arya and since it needs more power I bought Topping DX7 pro. Everyone said it's so good. But I was really disappointed with it cause compared to Fiio the sound became cold, pinched, the instruments didn't sound natural to me, the music lost sense of scale. After many tests on different music genres, I ended up putting DX7 pro to the box and was thinking to return to the store, I thought something is broken. I started to read and realized that this is what people call "natural" sound. Why would anyone need "natural" if the sound can be "wow" and give goosebumps? But that's another topic haha.

I replaced stock op-amps(LME49720) with 2x Muses01 and 2x Alfa AS402 in the filter section. Cause I've heard Muses01 uses FETs and gives warmth and depth while keeping details and Alfa uses bipolar transistors(that works well combined with FETs) and gives clarity and good details. I am not really deep in the technical side but I decided to try. After the op-amps change DX7 pro is completely another level device. The sound changed not 1% or 2% percent but it's a full transformation to me. Everything is musical, got depth, instruments are natural and detailed. Now I enjoy it a lot.

Someone was mentioning Burson V6 here. I've also heard they are quite good and move the sound to the direction I like, but for some reason, they don't say that Bursons don't fit the size of the device and you'll not be able to close it.

One more thing I learned - under the radiators there are few more chips AD8397 which play the role of digital to analog converter. Replacing them can also help improve the sound and better predict the final result of other OP-amps influence.

So far conceptually I am really happy with what I got but maybe will experiment more in the future ;)
If there is a very noticeable improvement perhaps you could send it to AR for tests? :D
 

Doodski

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Oops.. I meant ASR, Audio Science review. This website that you are using. :D Still early morning for me and I need coffee. ;)
 

Thu

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Stock DX7pro is already perfect based on tests and numbers haha.
I am just sharing my experience for people that had similar impressions and up to some experiments ;)
 

Doodski

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Stock DX7pro is already perfect based on tests and numbers haha.
I am just sharing my experience for people that had similar impressions and up to some experiments ;)
Yes, experiments are fine although if the results are so different then it would be good to test the unit and see what changed. :D
 

AlfaR

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Dear Doodski
Interesting moment - about measurments. How can we ship samples to You?
Some info:



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