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Review and Measurements of Topping DX7s DAC and Headphone Amp

dc655321

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is it possible to use the dx7s' dac to output to another amp and not its built in amp? just curious asking for someone i know who bought one and is waiting for it but has mostly high impedance cans and also ordered a bottlehead crack during the sale they had. thanks

One might argue that's the real purpose of the dx7s: to feed an amplifier.

c.f. http://en.tpdz.net/products_detail/productId=32.html
 

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derp1n

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using default Brickwall Filter

The default filter is mode 5, "linear phase fast roll-off filter". It's easy to see this if you do a factory reset. Unfortunately, entering the settings menu by holding down the volume knob and cycling the power makes it easy to cause the filter mode to cycle to mode 6 when releasing the button, so I can understand how you made this error.
 

frogmeat69

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FunctionalDoc

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I was wondering can I hook this up to my intergrated amp by RCA jacks and then hace the XLE outputs going to a headphone amo at the same time ? I will only have 1 amp on at a time. I really need the DAC out to got to 3 devices -OTL Glenn amp,, Yamaha CA-1010 Intergrated amp that I have owned since the late 70"s and the Massdrop THX- AAA 789 soild state amp.

Any suggestions to output the DX7S to all 3? Yamaha and the OTL tube amp only have RCA inputs and the THX has XLR and RCA inputs and SE passthrough RCA's.

Can these be done and will I need a connector switchable box?

Thanks
 

FunctionalDoc

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I thik I will use the XLR out DX7S to the THX amp then use SE RCA passthroughts to the the Gelnn OTL amp then the DX7S RCA's to the the Yamaha intergrated amp.

Would this work ?
 

stunta

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So when is Topping supposed to let us buy their remote again?
 

vato3001

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From Topping:

Hello

We area waiting for the last component of the remote, which expected to arrived after 2 to 3 weeks. When it arrived, we are able to provide remote.

Best Regards!

From Topping 2:

Hello

We are waiting for the last component of the remote. We believe it will be OK in 2 to 3 weeks.


Best Regards!




So it may be available in June :)
i asked them on 29 May.
 

bambadoo

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Hi, not sure if it has been said (cannot find information here).
When pluggin in a headphone to the DX7s. Does it mute the "analog" outs (relay based or something)? or are they still active?

Sincerely
 

Toku

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Hi, not sure if it has been said (cannot find information here).
When pluggin in a headphone to the DX7s. Does it mute the "analog" outs (relay based or something)? or are they still active?

Sincerely
Analog output is not muted.
Switching the operation of the analog output of RCA and XLR is only the operation of double pushing the multi-function button and switching.

Double-click the multi-function button on the front panel then It cyclically changes to the next three modes
Mode1 Headphone amp and Line out(RCA & XLR).
Mode2 Headphone amp
Mode3 Line out(RCA & XLR)
 

ripvw

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Have been using my DX7s for almost two weeks now – got it from Amazon for $500 – arrived a couple of days before the post that Massdrop was now selling it for $379 – story of my life…

In any case I’m pretty happy with the product. As others have written it unboxes like audio jewelry 2 or 3 times the price – and looks the part as well. Can’t wait for Amir to do the teardown on HIS DX7s – the image of the interior shown on Topping’s website is tantalizing but not detailed enough.

I was using an ancient Benchmark DAC-1 until the DX7s showed up – I sent the Benchmark in to repair the pot as it would occasionally get noisy in the right channel. An equally ancient pair of Austrian-made AKG K 701’s made good music through the DAC-1 and the two have worked flawlessly for over a decade now. I also have a pair of Dynaudio Pro BM6A’s but truth be told in my current environment I don’t play them very often. They are also over a decade old so it was time to make some changes.

The DX7s was able to drive the 60-ohm AKG’s to sufficient volume – at least for my listening tastes - but the 10-ohm output impedance led to some audibly strange results with certain songs – clearly something was amiss with the frequency response curve. For some reason the even lower impedance Etymotic ER3SE balanced armature earphones did not seem to suffer the problem to the same degree but that may be due to their extreme efficiency compared to the AKG’s. Combined with their heroic levels of external noise isolation it made for a VERY quiet listening experience. But the Ety’s are for use on the road with my iPhone SE and 6th Gen iPad. They will soon be joined by the Topping NX4 DSD thanks to Amir’s positive report on that product.

Back at home it became obvious that I needed some new headphones. I had been considering the Etymotic ER4SR earphones since I loved the ER3SE’s so much but with the DX7s output impedance it made more sense to try something with higher impedance – enter the Sennheiser HD600’s. My out of the box impression – WOW! This was a MUCH better match for the DX7s except from the standpoint of headroom – on some tracks I found myself pushing the volume level above -20db on the DX7s display. The background noise was dead silent – my ears are 62-years old so you can take that for what it’s worth – and I found myself listening to CD after CD as if hearing them for the first time. It reminded me how good the DAC-1/K 701 combo sounded when I first heard them back in 2007.

Yes, you heard right, Redbox CD sound courtesy of another ancient device, a Marantz CD5001 CD player into the brand-spanking new DX7s via 1 foot of Belden 1694A coax from Blue Jeans Cable. Since the DAC-1 did not have a USB input the entire computer audio experience was unknown to me except via Apple Music from the iPhone and iPad in the last year. I did have a kluge setup with TOSLINK into the DAC-1 via a Turtle Beach Micro II USB adapter but this was completely unacceptable for music listening – good enough for YouTube but that’s about it.

But now I’ve discovered Tidal HiFi using the stock USB cable from my first ever Mac into the DX7s. I’ve set up the Tidal desktop app and I’m running it in Master with Exclusive mode and the volume maxed so the DX7s display now lights up showing 88.2kHZ or 96kHZ if I pick the right album to listen to. I finally get what the rest of you have known for a while now – maybe I’ve purchased my last CD.

About the headroom with the HD600 – or lack thereof – I got an entry-level “balanced” cable from C3 Audio and I’m now running the HD600's off the XLR connection up front. I’ve gone from 10-ohm output impedance to 20-ohm – YIKES! – but I’ve also got more drive from the second TPA6120A2 now in the loop. I’m seeing an improvement in headroom from 7db to 10db depending upon what album I’m listening to. I’ve only experimented with Tidal so far - waiting for my DAC-1 to get back so I can do some detailed comparisons between the two units using all 3 headphones. I will also loop the USB out of the DX7s via coax into the DAC-1 to see how Tidal sounds through that combination. I have no doubt that the sub-1ohm headphone amp in the Benchmark will blow away the DX7s dual TPA6120A2’s in terms of headroom and drive but I’m hoping the DX7s makes up the difference with the latest ESS DACs and associated circuitry. I’ll be sure to let you know.

Sorry my first post is so long – but it has been over 10-years since I upgraded my DAC/headphone combo so I had a lot to talk about.
 

nefilim

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Heh! I did order on Massdrop ... and I'm replacing a Benchmark DAC1 in my office :) It's more than 10 years old and other than the scratchy volume pot at low volume just keeps on working!
Fortunately all my headphones (so far) are very easy loads.
 

Jorj

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FYI - The DX7s remote controls are now available from Topping. I just ordered one from my DX7s store/shop on AliExpress for $24.99 and should have it in the next several weeks I hope.

Great! I'm already using mine as a very nice little DAC\preamp and the remote would just seal the deal. Ordered! This thing is a peach.
 
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