Review and Measurements of Topping DX3Pro DAC and Headphone Amp

[Wolven]

Are the clicks people talk about come with the change between modes and sample rates and heard from the unit?

I got a problem that happens randomly when i browse in the track's timeline which - the music gets stuck and repeats playing the same millisecond for about 10 to 40 seconds until Foobar crashes "timeout" (sounds like a sawchain running). it did not happen with my other sound cards. anyone know why does that happen?

Thank you

Yes, when you go from 44.1 to 192 and so on, that's normal.

It shouldn't do that. WASAPI event with newest Foobar, all good on Win7. Did you follow the Topping instructions and installed their Foobar components and drivers? How big is your buffer under output and in advanced settings under WASAPI?

Btw. My old dac had your problem it just didn't like the WASAPI driver.

 

[Toku]

Are the clicks people talk about come with the change between modes and sample rates and heard from the unit?

The timing when the click comes out is right.
Clicking means mechanical sound when the relay operates.

 

[Tup3x]

DVD audio for movies and shows is also AAC 448 kbps.

It's actually AC3 (or MP2, PCM or DTS) and bitrate depends on the amount of channels used. DVDs never use AAC audio.


Used audio codec and the actual encoder is rather important when talking about lossy compression. Not all encoders are equal and some formats like Opus do much better job at lower bit rates (they do get rid of audio data but at least the compression artifacts aren't in your face).

It's also good thing to realise that some tracks compress better. It's possible that some classical tracks to have around 300 kbps average bitrate when compressed using FLAC. It's kinda like compressing an image. Lossless compression can sometimes be smaller and more efficient (while obviously being lossless) than fixeed rate lossy encoding.

 

[Patrick1958]

It's actually AC3 (or MP2, PCM or DTS) and bitrate depends on the amount of channels used. DVDs never use AAC audio.


Used audio codec and the actual encoder is rather important when talking about lossy compression. Not all encoders are equal and some formats like Opus do much better job at lower bit rates (they do get rid of audio data but at least the compression artifacts aren't in your face).

It's also good thing to realise that some tracks compress better. It's possible that some classical tracks to have around 300 kbps average bitrate when compressed using FLAC. It's kinda like compressing an image. Lossless compression can sometimes be smaller and more efficient (while obviously being lossless) than fixeed rate lossy encoding.

http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/difference-between-mpeg-and-aac/

 

[shocker]

Yes, when you go from 44.1 to 192 and so on, that's normal.

It shouldn't do that. WASAPI event with newest Foobar, all good on Win7. Did you follow the Topping instructions and installed their Foobar components and drivers? How big is your buffer under output and in advanced settings under WASAPI?

Btw. My old dac had your problem it just didn't like the WASAPI driver.

When i got the unit i did these:
1. installed the driver from their website.
2. installed the dsd plugins for foobar2000
3. installed the asio (which im sure i had before but just in case)
4. setted up the DSD in foobar as they wrote in the manual
5. chose the output in foobar to be foo_dsd_asio

my buffer is 1090ms for right now on foobar, should it be different?
my buffer settings on the topping control panel is 512 samples, safe mode. should it be any different?
my output format on the foobar control panel shows me 2channels - 32 bits, should it change it?
on the "speaker properties" under "advanced" tab, my defult format says 32 bit - 44100Hz, should i change it? (it does NOT change automatically like the unit itself does on it's screen when i play audio files with different sample rates)

i did not update the firmware and my driver ver. is 4.47.0. should i change that?

Thank you <3

 

[Wolven]

When i got the unit i did these:
1. installed the driver from their website.
2. installed the dsd plugins for foobar2000
3. installed the asio (which im sure i had before but just in case)
4. setted up the DSD in foobar as they wrote in the manual
5. chose the output in foobar to be foo_dsd_asio

my buffer is 1090ms for right now on foobar, should it be different?
my buffer settings on the topping control panel is 512 samples, safe mode. should it be any different?
my output format on the foobar control panel shows me 2channels - 32 bits, should it change it?
on the "speaker properties" under "advanced" tab, my defult format says 32 bit - 44100Hz, should i change it? (it does NOT change automatically like the unit itself does on it's screen when i play audio files with different sample rates)

i did not update the firmware and my driver ver. is 4.47.0. should i change that?

Thank you <3

I tried asio output didn't work well.
Switched to WASAPI event for USB Topping and it fixed the problem, I would try that. In Foobar I keep 32. In Windows properties under shared 32/44.1 should not be a problem, I use 24/44.1.

Ohh, I would update the firmware, to get rid of the annoying clicks.

 

[bleachershane]

Missed my delivery of my DX3 Pro by DHL just today... grr! Was charged £18 customs too...

 

[bellyofthebizd]

Missed my delivery of my DX3 Pro by DHL just today... grr! Was charged £18 customs too...

today i've got mine, it came with 1.04 firmware. Testing it as preamp dac with Nad amplifier, no problems with clicking or remote for now.

 

[Klenfo]

today i've got mine, it came with 1.04 firmware. Testing it as preamp dac with Nad amplifier, no problems with clicking or remote for now.

Try Bluetooth and you will hear clicking problem

 

[bellyofthebizd]

Try Bluetooth and you will hear clicking problem

not realy, it behaves like normal usb pc playback (no ticking when play pause, next track) i've tried it with poweramp, and it sounds good, unluckly samsung s7 dont have aptx hd to try better codec.

 

[Rollingsound514]

today i've got mine, it came with 1.04 firmware. Testing it as preamp dac with Nad amplifier, no problems with clicking or remote for now.

Cool, I plan on doing same with a C320BEE, which amp are you using? I hear that some of the pre's from NAD can suck, my amp in particular

 

[bellyofthebizd]

Cool, I plan on doing same with a C320BEE, which amp are you using? I hear that some of the pre's from NAD can suck, my amp in particular

c356bee, the diference is not as huge as it's described, i would tell that is somehow less bass focused when topping is serving as preamp, maybe bass is a bit more neutral, but as i not have two pairs to instant switch between them im just telling this from my musical memory i would stay on this setup a while to judge is it worth it or to use it as a simple dac

 

[Rollingsound514]

c356bee, the diference is not as huge as it's described, i would tell that is somehow less bass focused when topping is serving as preamp, maybe bass is a bit more neutral, but as i not have two pairs to instant switch between them im just telling this from my musical memory i would stay on this setup a while to judge is it worth it or to use it as a simple dac

C356bee is more modern, problem with the C320BEE was NO bass lol

 

[nirschl]

My first order was apparently lost via China Post...the seller has now shipped one via FedEx and due to arrive 12/28 by 6pm. Fingers crossed

 

[ngs428]

Finally was able to get my hands on my DX3 pro. Working well under windows 10 via USB using the latest version of foobar. I was able to update to 1.04 no problem.

One question, the topping driver is showing a 44.1kHz sample rate when I am playing a 96k sample rate file. How can I get it to properly play the 96k at 96k?

Also, does anyone here typically use replaygain in foobar?

 

[Klenfo]

One question, the topping driver is showing a 44.1kHz sample rate when I am playing a 96k sample rate file. How can I get it to properly play the 96k at 96k?

Use WASAPI or ASIO output in foobar

 

[Veri]

Finally was able to get my hands on my DX3 pro. Working well under windows 10 via USB using the latest version of foobar. I was able to update to 1.04 no problem.

One question, the topping driver is showing a 44.1kHz sample rate when I am playing a 96k sample rate file. How can I get it to properly play the 96k at 96k?

Also, does anyone here typically use replaygain in foobar?

View attachment 19318

Your direct sound (windows) output is resampling to your device's sampling rate within Windows. You need to use a different output method

 

[ngs428]

Use WASAPI or ASIO output in foobar

Your direct sound (windows) output is resampling to your device's sampling rate within Windows. You need to use a different output method

Thank you both. I installed both components and am using ASIO at the moment. Not sure if one is better than the other (based on some research it did not see like there is much difference). Thanks!

 

[Yuno]

Thank you both. I installed both components and am using ASIO at the moment. Not sure if one is better than the other (based on some research it did not see like there is much difference)

WASAPI is always recommended over ASIO when possible. WASAPI is a native windows solution to bitperfect playback, ASIO is not. From audibility perspective, it's probably the same (or very close to be the same), ASIO is just redundant.
As a side note, to my ears direct stream downsampled to 44.1kHz is audibly the same as high res bitperfect playback. I doubt there is many people who are capable of discerning between the two, and out of this entire golden ears group, majority are falling for placebo and would most likely fail controlled ABX test.

 

[Vosya]

WASAPI is always recommended over ASIO when possible. WASAPI is a native windows solution to bitperfect playback, ASIO is not.

What is this absurd statement based on?