Review and Measurements of Topping DX3Pro DAC and Headphone Amp

[slazyel]

The HF 580 is a planar magnetic headphone, so output impedance shouldn't matter (flat imp. curve), besides that, 10 ohm is not that much, so unless you are using iems I doubt you will notice anything.

So, that means i can use DX3 Pro v2 without any issues with the Takstar HF 580?

 

[Jimmy]

Planar magnetic headphones should be the least affected by amplifier output impedance, however 10 ohm is not really a high output impedance unless using IEMs. For example headphone jacks of integrated amplifiers have much higher values (often >100 ohm), and sometimes people say they sound "fuller", when what's happening is that depending on the headphones used there's a mid-bass hump.

So, that means i can use DX3 Pro v2 without any issues with the Takstar HF 580?

 

[arboretum]

Hi, new to ASR and I have read through the discussions here.

I recently purchased DX3 Pro v2 (basically my first dac amp setup...)
I was planning to pair it with HD800s and desktop speaker (JBL pro 104).
would it be beneficial to purchase jds atom and attach it to line out of dx3 pro?

To summarize,

1. DX3 (internal headphone amp) ====> speaker or in-ear earphones
2. DX3 (line out) ====> atom ======> HD800s

I am quite a newbie to audiophile and not sure whether this is a desirable setup or mere waste of money.
Any advice would be grateful!

 

[Veri]

Hi, new to ASR and I have read through the discussions here.

I recently purchased DX3 Pro v2 (basically my first dac amp setup...)
I was planning to pair it with HD800s and desktop speaker (JBL pro 104).
would it be beneficial to purchase jds atom and attach it to line out of dx3 pro?

To summarize,

1. DX3 (internal headphone amp) ====> speaker or in-ear earphones
2. DX3 (line out) ====> atom ======> HD800s

I am quite a newbie to audiophile and not sure whether this is a desirable setup or mere waste of money.
Any advice would be grateful!

From my experience the amp inside is already fine. DX3 to Atom sounded no different... DX3 to THX AAA sounded no different.. (but thx via Balanced headphone out has more power if needed).

 

[arboretum]

From my experience the amp inside is already fine. DX3 to Atom sounded no different... DX3 to THX AAA sounded no different.. (but thx via Balanced headphone out has more power if needed).

I appreciate your advice. Sad that I cannot withdraw the order from JDS Labs btw
Then what about Arcam rhead? do you have any idea? Cheers

 

[JohnYang1997]

I appreciate your advice. Sad that I cannot withdraw the order from JDS Labs btw
Then what about Arcam rhead? do you have any idea? Cheers

Oh. Maybe you didn't understand him. Objectively, atom has a bit less distortion and less noise. And performance of either is superb. You don't really need more expensive ones. Meaning you won't hear the difference unless it's worse(and often more expensive at the same time).

 

[Veri]

I appreciate your advice. Sad that I cannot withdraw the order from JDS Labs btw
Then what about Arcam rhead? do you have any idea? Cheers

I don't feel there's any need of getting an additional/external amp unless you need more power for your specifically power hungry headphones. The DX3 performs admirably well as an all-in-one dac and amp.

 

[arboretum]

I don't feel there's any need of getting an additional/external amp unless you need more power for your specifically power hungry headphones. The DX3 performs admirably well as an all-in-one dac and amp.

I see. The only reason I was thinking of atom was because of 10 ohm impedance of dx3 which MIGHT affect the frequency responce of high impedance headphones compared with atom (which has 0.1 ohm impedance)

I will just try both cases!

 

[Veri]

I see. The only reason I was thinking of atom was because of 10 ohm impedance of dx3 which MIGHT affect the frequency responce of high impedance headphones compared with atom (which has 0.1 ohm impedance)

I will just try both cases!

Ahh, if you have the V2 then yes, there might be a benefit with sensitive dynamic headphones. How much an issue the 10 ohm output impedance truly is, I'm not sure. My experience is only with the V1, should have clarified that my bad

 

[thomasjast]

Hi, new to ASR and I have read through the discussions here.

would it be beneficial to purchase jds atom and attach it to line out of dx3 pro?

I can only speak for myself, but I just had a DX3 v1 and now have a JDS Atom. For my AKG K7XX, the Atom sounds substantially better. These particular headphones are hard to drive (despite how the specs seem) and the Atom is the first time I feel like I'm getting the bass and fullness I expected. The power and volume headroom seems limitless.

But for the other headphones I tested (much less demanding), the Atom was no different to the DX3 at all.

 

[Veri]

I can only speak for myself, but I just had a DX3 v1 and now have a JDS Atom. For my AKG K7XX, the Atom sounds substantially better. These particular headphones are hard to drive (despite how the specs seem) and the Atom is the first time I feel like I'm getting the bass and fullness I expected. The power and volume headroom seems limitless.

But for the other headphones I tested (much less demanding), the Atom was no different to the DX3 at all.

Do you listen to loud listening levels? I didn't test any AKG but with my HD650 I didn't notice any better bass or fullness.

 

[maty]

Only some words about amp output impedance vs headphone input impedance. The relation must be at least 1/8 with dynamic drivers.

If amps have 20 Ohms -> heaphones must have at least 160 Ohms.

http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/headphone-amp-impedance.html

Electrostatic drivers do not have this problem.

 

[SRKRAM]

I'm just debating whether to buy a used Grace M900 or a new DX3 Pro. The used Grace would still be a little more expensive than a new Topping, but would it be worth paying any additional for it instead of the Topping?

I would mainly use it with Audeze LCD2s. At the moment I've got an Audeze Deckard but I want something which takes up a little less desk space.


Many thanks!

 

[Jimmy]

Did you have them and tested them both at the same time?, auditive memory can be misleading, I have experienced that myself. Something that you've heard in the past that impressed you and when you try it again you realize it wasn't as remembered (in my case one example was when I listened in a show to the Sony MDR-R10 headphones in the early 90s, they were demoing them along with some top of the line Sony ES amplifier and APM series honeycomb speakers with varied music and the Top Gun movie, and it was just like wow, It can't get any better than this. However I was able to listen back not long ago to them, and while still being good, there are better headphones out there as of today).

Regarding amplifier output impedance, for example read this :

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pping-dx7s-dac-and-headphone-amp.2378/page-28

For most headphones 10 ohm will not make any significant difference in tonal balance (unless you have bat ears), and certainly I prefer a stable headphone amplifier than a low impedance one without protection that can cause trouble.

It's not really that difficult to design a headphone amplifier with near zero output impedance, but to do that at a very low cost with bullet proof reliability (short circuit and overcurrent protection, isolation from cable capacitance, ...), is not that easy, and I would take any day 10 ohm output impedance instead of something that can potentially break down and/or damage headphone drivers.

I can only speak for myself, but I just had a DX3 v1 and now have a JDS Atom. For my AKG K7XX, the Atom sounds substantially better. These particular headphones are hard to drive (despite how the specs seem) and the Atom is the first time I feel like I'm getting the bass and fullness I expected. The power and volume headroom seems limitless.

But for the other headphones I tested (much less demanding), the Atom was no different to the DX3 at all.

 

[cenix]

Hello, does it matter what bit and sample rate I select in windows settings, if I am using ASIO/WASAPI within MusicBee/FooBar anyway? I have left it at 24 bit and 48kHz at the moment.

 

[THW]

From my experience the amp inside is already fine. DX3 to Atom sounded no different... DX3 to THX AAA sounded no different.. (but thx via Balanced headphone out has more power if needed).

yeah the DX3’s inbuilt amp is already pretty good, very clean, more than enough power for HD 600, 125 mW at 300 ohms is a good amount

 

[DouglasteR]

One month (i believe?) with mine.

No problems so far !

 

[tharos96]

I contacted the Amazon seller.
The last ones in the Amazon Prime depot in Europe were V1s.
Now they're only available from China - those are all V2s.
From 15th of September the V2s will be available from Europe's depot.

 

[tharos96]

Seems like they arrived early, mine has shipped already.
Should be a V2 - will report back.

 

[Schackmannen]

So I ordered the V1 version from Amazon but not that surprisingly I got the V2 version instead. But I have this issue where I quite often hear a buzzing sound in the right channel when I use my Tin T3 with it. It happens even if I disconnect the USB cable and only have the power connected. What's weird is if I put my hand on the DX3 or on the connector that's plugged in it immediately disappears but returns as soon as I let go. But it shouldn't be grounding related since it's only connected to the ground in one place so it shouldn't be possible for a voltage difference to occur right? What's even more strange is that the problem doesn't appear at all if I use my Tin T2 instead so could it be that it's something weird with the T3 cable/connector? I got the DX3 to use with my Focal Clears that haven't arrived yet so if there is no issue with them I won't bother investigating the issue further but maybe someone here has experienced something similar.

Edit: The issue persists when the unit is turned off and in standby mode, looks like it might be defect?