Measurements of Topping DX3Pro LDAC/V2

[Daniel Simion]

You can, but it's not ideal. Output impedance of amp should be 1/8 of headphones impedance, in this case around 4Ohm. I would recommend getting atom as amp with dac of choice instead.

Thank you!

 

[jani80k]

Thank you!

If you have the extra cash, the SMSL M500 is a very good all-in-one device at the moment.
It has superb measurements, is feature packed with MQA decode, which is unseen at this proce point and the headphone Amp has low output impedance. It has also very good balanced XLR output in case you want to add a more serious AMP later like the Drop THX 789.

 

[mateoJazz]

@WolfX-700 Could you measure the device in the preamp mode? Is the adjustable output suitable for power amplifier control?

 

[whazzup]

Thank you for this review of the later revision. So is this getting to be a trend for Topping? Or does every manufacturer do this? Seems a consistent switcharoo going on: fantastic reviews at launch, then over time people write in with mixed results...

 

[JohnYang1997]

Thank you for this review of the later revision. So is this getting to be a trend for Topping? Or does every manufacturer do this? Seems a consistent switcharoo going on: fantastic reviews at launch, then over time people write in with mixed results...

There are always better things coming out. D50s for example, as well as the Soncoz LA-QXD1.
If you are asking about the V2, this version is supposed to fix the dead opamp issue as well as adding LDAC.

 

[whazzup]

There are always better things coming out. D50s for example, as well as the Soncoz LA-QXD1.
If you are asking about the V2, this version is supposed to fix the dead opamp issue as well as adding LDAC.

There was a dead opamp issue in v1??
Yes, interested in the D50s too, and thanks for the Soncoz recommendation, will look that up. The issue is that the new products come in at much higher pricepoints. And when I look at the earlier cheaper models, seems things are being changed. Hopefully to fix issues, but now I don't know if the earlier v1 comprehensive reviews mean anything.

 

[JohnYang1997]

There was a dead opamp issue in v1??
Yes, interested in the D50s too, and thanks for the Soncoz recommendation, will look that up. The issue is that the new products come in at much higher pricepoints. And when I look at the earlier cheaper models, seems things are being changed. Hopefully to fix issues, but now I don't know if the earlier v1 comprehensive reviews mean anything.

Majority of the dx3pro V1 doesn't have issue. There are some of them having the output opamp dead after some time of operation. They didn't get to recreate the issue ever and they tried run every unit for a day before sending out. No hope. So they changed the headphone output circuit completely. (the V1's hp out is as good as jds atom which is pretty impressive for the time) My guess is some of the cables capacitance or plug/unplug shorting the output made the circuit oscillate, but the circuit should be pretty stable in capacitive load.

 

[dcolak]

V2 clearly has better DAC, obtaining SINAD of 110 compared to 106 of V1 which puts it among the best DAC´s that were measured here.

V2 dynamic range of 120dB vs V1 dynamic range of 117dB.

Too bad about the headphone amp.

 

[leyo96]

Is the amp that bad? How would it perform with a pair of AKG 712 pro. Thanks

 

[scribley0]

Keen to hear a final verdict on this device - because it hasn't got a power amp in it like the MX3 has, and it costs more too - presumably the DX3 Pro performs a lot better - right ?

 

[evrial]

Majority of the dx3pro V1 doesn't have issue. There are some of them having the output opamp dead after some time of operation. They didn't get to recreate the issue ever and they tried run every unit for a day before sending out. No hope. So they changed the headphone output circuit completely. (the V1's hp out is as good as jds atom which is pretty impressive for the time) My guess is some of the cables capacitance or plug/unplug shorting the output made the circuit oscillate, but the circuit should be pretty stable in capacitive load.

Do you have any reports of 1904 batch dead? I haven't heard any problem, my unit is still doing as new when came a year ago. Probably a bad batch of OPAmps or components in previous production.

 

[Toku]

I bought two early DX3 Pro (S / N 1808 *****), but I haven't had any problems so far. The two are working really well. Many problems with the HP amplifier part were reported, but at that time I could not understand it.
But I'm also interested in DX3Pro LDAC, and I'd like to compare two units side by side.

 

[Tks]

Same here, mine's still going well (I remain firm on the theory I had long ago that it was due to shoddy solder work, or in one specific case where solder wasn't applied to some parts at all and was just floating over the PCB holes). I don't think any of those older V1 failures had anything to do with the technical design. Topping sadly got so frightened, and ended up including awful output impedance devices after that (sadly it hit the DX7 Pro which was a near perfect combo device if not for the output impedance).

 

[Saeniv]

Thanks for testing.
I tried to compare the old against the new version, but what i miss here is the Power vs Distoriton graphs of the headphone out. Side by side would be awesome. We have a slightly better DAC. I And If i just compare the SINADS of the headphone output. I don’t know what he measured, I think it was high gain with 300R, we even have a better result for the new version.
So the output impedance is way higher, does ist really matter that much. My personal answer based on the diyaudioheaven graphs, with 120 ohm added impedance, of my headphones, no. So maybe i miss the point, but it seems to be a better device.
What i miss is a 6,3mm output but you can't have everything.

 

[MichaelR64]

Hi,
In my study i have a d10 together with a small amp. I am contemplating the dx3 pro for my living room. I have a pioneer sc-lx801 over there which has a es9016s dac.
I will be listening to qobuz studio and some local (nas) dsd stuff. I will not be using the headamp btw.
I like the ldac stuff together with the dac portion.
For me the question is if the dac in the the d10 or the dx3 pro ldac is better than the one in the lx801.
If it isn't then a d10 will suffice because of the digital output (albeit limited to 192khz) although i will miss the ldac . If it is then a dx3 pro looks nice because i will have a ldac input extra.
Any thoughts?

 

[dean70]

Any plans to add support for 48k based DSD rates - is it just a firmware/driver restriction?

 

[Mike123]

Any plans to add support for 48k based DSD rates - is it just a firmware/driver restriction?

It work fine. DAC don't display 48 based DSD and indicated DSD up one level. DSD64/48 indicated as 5.54. DSD256/48 indicated as 22.4 and dsd512/48 don't work . But ASIO status in Topping control panel indicates Sample Rate correctly. I use Foobar2000/SACD 1.2.3/DSD Processor 1.1.4/DSD Transcoder 1.0.10 and output DSD : ASIO : DSD Transcoder (DOP/Native). On picture DSD 256/48: 12288000 Hz = 48000*256.

 

[dean70]

It work fine. DAC don't display 48 based DSD and indicated DSD up one level. DSD64/48 indicated as 5.54. DSD256/48 indicated as 22.4 and dsd512/48 don't work . But ASIO status in Topping control panel indicates Sample Rate correctly. I use Foobar2000/SACD 1.2.3/DSD Processor 1.1.4/DSD Transcoder 1.0.10 and output DSD : ASIO : DSD Transcoder (DOP/Native). On picture DSD 256/48: 12288000 Hz = 48000*256.
View attachment 70192

Got it working can play at DSD256 12.288Mhz now on new system. Previous system refused to play 48k DSD for some reason even though using the same driver.

 

[maty]

MEASUREMENTS: Topping DX3 PRO V2 (LDAC version) - plus frequency/amplitude stepped sine measurements, a quick look at the 8kHz USB PHY packet noise, and AirPods Pro "Spatial Audio" coming...
http://archimago.blogspot.com/2020/06/measurements-topping-dx3-pro-v2-ldac.html

 

[Chuu]

Thanks for the review. I bought one of these from Apos based off the v1 review over the DX5 Pro because of the 1ohm impedance since I have a 32ohm set of headphones I'd like to be able to use, and didn't even realize there was a v2. It's on the way right now.

Guess it's going back. I was so looking forward to it too.