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Review and Measurements of Topping DX3Pro DAC and Headphone Amp

milus

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Oct 13, 2018
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Yeh, these vendors jump the gun all the time....

mmmm.... I bought my unit from them and can't complain.
Very good service, quick answers to all my questions, fast delivery (about 2 weeks to Europe) and, more important, my unit hasn't had any failure (knock on wood...)
BTW Serial nº 1808594140

...and all of this thanks to you! @amirm ;)
 

drsb

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Mar 8, 2019
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hi, i bought akg 712 pro to use with my desktop pc that is with creative x-fi titanium fatality soundcard. also i have to buy a dac/amp combo. so now do you suggest Topping DX3 pro? thanks
 

Yuno

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Oct 26, 2018
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hi, i bought akg 712 pro to use with my desktop pc that is with creative x-fi titanium fatality soundcard. also i have to buy a dac/amp combo. so now do you suggest Topping DX3 pro? thanks

No, until issues with it are officially resolved. After that, yes.
 

buggyglint

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Nov 19, 2018
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I currently have the D3 for desktop use with my M50's. I'm thinking of getting this or the NX4, what do you guys think will sound better? I a, interested in possibly using the bass boost on the NX4 when listening to Electronic music.
 

azxswq

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Feb 24, 2019
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Bought mine on Massdrop. so far besides the line out buzz loud bomb, it is perfect... (which I will avoid carefully)

using it with senn 580. 6XX. mono 1060 and power monitor from iLoud.

Thanks guys. and @amirm

had q1 mk2. e10k and fiio A5 in the past. Really enjoy this device. will be back in 1 month or so for my updates.

And watching all the interesting debate from your mods in the meantime.
 

aka_Z

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Jan 14, 2019
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Hmm, I was pretty happy with this device until just now. When connecting digital coax, device is starting to make quite loud buzzing on the line out, which is connected to the active monitors. Interesting, no buzzing at all from the headphones out with the same connection. My primary intention is/was to use device as the source for active monitors.

All devices are on the same extension cord/phase, tried to disconnect all other sources... nothing helped. It's enough to touch with shield of the coax to make buzzing, which leads me to some grounding problem. Now I'm going to buy optical cable. That should fix the problem but there is only one optical input...

What's causing the problem? Any solution?
 

buggyglint

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Hmm, I was pretty happy with this device until just now. When connecting digital coax, device is starting to make quite loud buzzing on the line out, which is connected to the active monitors. Interesting, no buzzing at all from the headphones out with the same connection. My primary intention is/was to use device as the source for active monitors.

All devices are on the same extension cord/phase, tried to disconnect all other sources... nothing helped. It's enough to touch with shield of the coax to make buzzing, which leads me to some grounding problem. Now I'm going to buy optical cable. That should fix the problem but there is only one optical input...

What's causing the problem? Any solution?

An optical cable will definitely solve it but not really find the root cause. The culprit could be coming from other equipment on the line. Maybe an AMP? You can also try on of these, I have the USB purifier and it really does eliminate all audible noise.

https://ifi-audio.com/products/dc-ipurifier2/
 

aka_Z

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Just bought an optical cable and as expected, no electrical connection - no buzzing.

Does anyone have full schematic of the DX3Pro? I would like to see why headphones out is not affected. Maybe line out can be modified in similar way.
 

ChuckT

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Jan 29, 2019
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Hmm, I was pretty happy with this device until just now. When connecting digital coax, device is starting to make quite loud buzzing on the line out, which is connected to the active monitors. Interesting, no buzzing at all from the headphones out with the same connection. My primary intention is/was to use device as the source for active monitors.

All devices are on the same extension cord/phase, tried to disconnect all other sources... nothing helped. It's enough to touch with shield of the coax to make buzzing, which leads me to some grounding problem. Now I'm going to buy optical cable. That should fix the problem but there is only one optical input...

What's causing the problem? Any solution?

Probably a ground loop. There is only a 75ohm resistor and cap at input to ak4418. Use a digital transformer Murata DA101C at the spdif input if you have a ground loop problem.
 
OP
amirm

amirm

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Does anyone have full schematic of the DX3Pro? I would like to see why headphones out is not affected.
The headphone out is "floating" since there is no connection to mains in your headphones. The buzzing is due to ground currents floating to the powered monitors.
 

aka_Z

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Thx you guys for answers. I knew that is ground loop problem and that I need some kind of galvanic separation to prevent stray currents.

@ChuckT Just reading datasheet of Murata DA101C. Funny, everything is there except freq or bitrate range. Only found 100kHz-3MHz. Does it support all bitrates supported by DX3Pro?
 

ChuckT

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Thx you guys for answers. I knew that is ground loop problem and that I need some kind of galvanic separation to prevent stray currents.

@ChuckT Just reading datasheet of Murata DA101C. Funny, everything is there except freq or bitrate range. Only found 100kHz-3MHz. Does it support all bitrates supported by DX3Pro?

It should support at least 192k, which is the max for the spdif input anyways.
 

aka_Z

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Do you have schematic how to connect DA101C? I'm just searching and found suggestion to put resistor on both side to keep impedance to 75 ohms. Does it require any power supplied? As the transformer, should be passive element.

I also found that: "the Murata DA101C, has a measured frequency span (-3 dB down) from 2.2 kHz to about 100 MHz, in an 50 Ohm environment" and in this pdf: "The transformer used in the professional interface should be capable of operation from 3.6 to 24.6 MHz, which is the audio data rate of 28 kHz to 192 kHz after biphase-mark encoding."
 

splkn

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Jan 15, 2019
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An optical cable will definitely solve it but not really find the root cause. The culprit could be coming from other equipment on the line. Maybe an AMP? You can also try on of these, I have the USB purifier and it really does eliminate all audible noise.

https://ifi-audio.com/products/dc-ipurifier2/
Two more such devices need to be installed inside for the analog line power circuit.)))
 
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Dmytro

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chrisliuboy

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I currently have the D3 for desktop use with my M50's. I'm thinking of getting this or the NX4, what do you guys think will sound better? I a, interested in possibly using the bass boost on the NX4 when listening to Electronic music.
For a neutral sounding "studio monitor" M50, I think you may want some warmer DAC. I heard M50, which is similar to my cd900st in sound signature. CD900st didn't pair well with my D3(hiss in highs more obvious and a little bit "dull and lifeless" in the lows "IMHO" in similar volume A-B testing by ear, which is not reliable). And you probably need that bass boost after all.

Well, if you are in U.S., just wait for D3 is available for Amazon prime again, then you could test both them out.
 
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thunderchicken

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Well, I bought one on Amazon, and it worked out of the box. There was some weirdness with the power supply- it came with a European plug and a US adapter... SMH. I ordered a mean well 15vdc 1.2A wall wart. I've been listening to it for six hours now, going back and forth between this and my Schiit stack(USB Bifrost w/ original 4399 boards, Asgard 2) with my trusty Fidelio X2. I don't know if it's a house sound thing or what, but I like the Schiit stack better despite it not being quite as clear. If I had to put numbers on it, it's like the DX3 Pro has a 5% bump in clarity over my Schiit. The stack just has better authority in the bass region- a little more nuance with a little less effort, like it's not working as hard as the Topping. No argument that it's got some haze or grunge blanketing the sound, but what's there is more engaging.

I think my tastes run toward "flavored" instead of dead neutral. I love listening to midrange-forward, slightly rolled off highs, and big bass. That puts me squarely in hybrid tube amp range, or in this case, pure inefficient class A. I'm glad I have the Topping, and I'm still looking forward to the D70, but the DX3 Pro is going to get moved around a bit. It's too neutral for just enjoying the music in my reference setup.

I realize that at $219 (plus $20 for a shipped US wall wart), it wasn't designed to be "reference" quality, but it's very good for the price and offers a lot of utility. I'll be happy to use it with the xbox, and my computer, and my girlfriend's computer, and wherever else I plug it in. It just won't replace the Schiit stack as my primary headphone rig.
 

chrisliuboy

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Well, I bought one on Amazon, and it worked out of the box. There was some weirdness with the power supply- it came with a European plug and a US adapter... SMH. I ordered a mean well 15vdc 1.2A wall wart. I've been listening to it for six hours now, going back and forth between this and my Schiit stack(USB Bifrost w/ original 4399 boards, Asgard 2) with my trusty Fidelio X2. I don't know if it's a house sound thing or what, but I like the Schiit stack better despite it not being quite as clear. If I had to put numbers on it, it's like the DX3 Pro has a 5% bump in clarity over my Schiit. The stack just has better authority in the bass region- a little more nuance with a little less effort, like it's not working as hard as the Topping. No argument that it's got some haze or grunge blanketing the sound, but what's there is more engaging.

I think my tastes run toward "flavored" instead of dead neutral. I love listening to midrange-forward, slightly rolled off highs, and big bass. That puts me squarely in hybrid tube amp range, or in this case, pure inefficient class A. I'm glad I have the Topping, and I'm still looking forward to the D70, but the DX3 Pro is going to get moved around a bit. It's too neutral for just enjoying the music in my reference setup.

I realize that at $219 (plus $20 for a shipped US wall wart), it wasn't designed to be "reference" quality, but it's very good for the price and offers a lot of utility. I'll be happy to use it with the xbox, and my computer, and my girlfriend's computer, and wherever else I plug it in. It just won't replace the Schiit stack as my primary headphone rig.
Haha, same here, my D3 is moved to my friend's house now : ) One thing I liked is to use it while play FPS games, the sound is pale that consistent gun shots in the game will not bother me that much.
 
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