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Review and Measurements of Topping DX3Pro DAC and Headphone Amp

amirm said:
The documentation for DX3Pro states that it supports: AAC/SBC/APTX/APTXLL/APTXHD

However, I am unable to select anything other than SBC or Aptx on my Samsung S8+. All other selections are ignored. Wonder if that is an issue with Samsung or DX3Pro.

Anywhere, here are the dashboards for each:

Aptx:

View attachment 16812

SBC:

View attachment 16813

So pretty massive hits on a signal that should be very easy to compress.
Click to expand...

I don't think the S8+ supports AptX HD, from a quick Google search. This is why I'd like to see LDAC in this thing, since anything with Android 8.0 supports it. Surprised that SBC's getting higher SINAD, but it might have to do with how aptX compresses audio?

BTW, Amir, thanks so much for the review. How does the headphone output do with sensitive IEMs? Any self-noise?
 
amirm said:
My pleasure and welcome aboard. Yes, Topping has really nailed the functionality and required performance/packaging here. So much so that I am itching to use it for everyday DAC once testing is finished.
Click to expand...


Yeah, it seems like they finally have a dac/amp combo that has it all. I have litteraly been using dozens of different t-amp brands and models since 2005 and I always wondered why they didn't make a dac/amp combo with headhone output and line output. So happy that they finally did. And that it measures pretty good too.
 
WondrousHippo said:
This is why I'd like to see LDAC in this thing, since anything with Android 8.0 supports it.
Click to expand...
I can't select LDAC either on my S8+.

So which phone has the most BT codec support?
 
flipflop said:
What are the downsides of digital volume control? Why don't all amps have it?
Click to expand...
My guess is that the volume control is implemented in the DAC. So pure amplifiers can't utilize this type of operation.
 
amirm said:
AAC does not belong to Apple. Apple has simply chosen to use it for its lossy format but AAC is an international standard and patents are owned by other companies.

As to your question, I did try but my Samsung phone refuses to select AAC as a format. Will have to test with my other bluetooth devices to see if this is a limitation in my phone or DX3Pro.
Click to expand...


Of course, sorry, I know Apple doesn't own the standard.... Just uses it heavily. Hopefully you can find a device to test it. I am not sure if an iPhone 6 does AAC but I have one I can send.

(also, I know your time is valuable. I just am asking :) If you are out of time or would rather Netflix...totally fine. I trust topping.)
 
scibry said:
Of course, sorry, I know Apple doesn't own the standard.... Just uses it heavily. Hopefully you can find a device to test it. I am not sure if an iPhone 6 does AAC but I have one I can send.

(also, I know your time is valuable. I just am asking :) If you are out of time or would rather Netflix...totally fine. I trust topping.)
Click to expand...

Bluetooth AAC is supported on all iPhones from 4 on. Audibly, AAC has been said to rival aptX-HD, but the way it encodes (liberal use of masking) complicates visual graph interpretation.

Take a look at these frequency response graphs here (ignore the bottom aptX titles on the second and third set of graphs):
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/radsone-earstudio.867366/page-22#post-14086297
 
Take my money Topping...can you post more pictures?
I would hope it does AAC bluetooth but a lot of devices don't which is odd considering the high number of iOS devices out there.
Then again I'll probably never use the Bluetooth on this.
 
Fantastic work as usual amirm! But you present me with a hard choice to make. I have the D50 but need a headphone amp plus pre-amp. So I would be buying the DX3Pro but only using 2 out of 3 functions. I stopped using the Schiit Magni 3 because it was such a horrible pre-amp and the headphone section was just OK. How would you test the pre-amp part of the DX3Pro ?
 
amirm said:
I can't select LDAC either on my S8+.

So which phone has the most BT codec support?
Click to expand...

You know what, try one of the LG phones. Despite their great DACs, they also have great Bluetooth codec support. My V20 just got updated to Oreo (FINALLY) a couple weeks ago and the only codec it doesn't support is aptX Low Latency.

Also, make sure in the Bluetooth settings for the DX3 Pro on your phone, you're set to prefer sound quality. Also, messing around with the developer options might be a good idea but that's likely where you're selecting the codecs!
 
Topping continues to impress. I’m glad I held off on the o2 sdac combo. Thanks Amir!
 
Spent 3 hours getting my Macbook Pro working to no avail. Its bluetooth stack will not connect to Topping DX4 or ES100. I tested it with two bluetooth headphones my wife has and it would reject the connection with one of them just as the same. :(

It is a shame because Apple has a great BT developer utility that lets you select codecs, check throughput, etc.
 
I want the headphone amp out of this to pair with my topping d50. It seems more capable than my o2, but I don't need the DAC...

@amirm did you ever test the topping MX3? Wondering if it possibly has this headphone amp in it.....
 
wadec22 said:
@amirm did you ever test the topping MX3? Wondering if it possibly has this headphone amp in it.....
Click to expand...
Not yet. It is sitting in a box someplace. :) I see that it has very low output impedance so it might be close or the same as this.
 
amirm said:
I can't select LDAC either on my S8+.

So which phone has the most BT codec support?
Click to expand...

The LG G7 that you tested. According to specs, it has everything including AptX HD.
 
Last edited:
maxxevv said:
The LG G7 that you tested. According to specs, it has everything included AptX HD.
Click to expand...
The problem is that my son has the LG and he doesn't live with us. So using his for testing is not very practical.
 
Grave said:
Wow, this looks awesome. It is great to see that Topping reduced the output impedance. This has less power than the Topping A30 I guess. I actually like the aesthetics of this better than the Topping D30/A30. I do not like this only having a small headphones jack though.
Click to expand...
They told me before that they are working on an "A50" that will "address the output impedance".
Its possible that this new DX3pro has the Topping "A50" Amp inside of it, just as the DX7 has something like a "Topping A30" inside of it (but with balanced output aswell).
 
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