Review and Measurements of Topping MX3 DAC & Amp

[RTI]

Just for the record, my unit died after 1.5 years. The speaker amp part died (left channel completely, right channel has a hiss). Never pushed or abused the unit, so I wouldn't recommend this device to anyone.

 

[jnygrgrs]

@RTI and others with dead MX3's, I'm curious, did you use the standby mode? I don't know what it is with these things. But maybe being sort-of on constantly wasn't good to them? I had some annoyances with that mode so have disabled it. Have had it for about a year and a half now.

I did have an issue with the rotary encoder sometimes sending the volume in the opposite direction I was turning the knob (always was an issue with my unit if I recall correctly). I opened the unit up for a little Deoxit spraying and it seems I fixed the issue.... but I cannot get the case back on. Doing the job cleanly seems to require a hex key longer than the unit so you can remove the faceplate... otherwise you're not going to get the ribbon cable hooked back up.

Oh well. If the user who wanted internal photos would still like some, just reply I did previously find one shot of the board on Google Images, for what it's worth.

I'm tempted to put together my own casing rather than get a very long hex key for putting the case back on. The remote control now behaves much, much better. It seems the case greatly limited the IR sensor's performance.

 

[Pennyless Audiophile]

Hi All.

I have an MX3 since April that I use for my desk setup. Suddenly, yesterday it stopped working. i.e. it is not turning on. Not even the power led. I noticed that I have a blue flashing led on the power brick but it seems that there is nothing I can work on to diagnose the problem. Any suggestion before I go through the tech support?

 

[eas]

Am I correct in assuming that you've unplugged the power brick from mains and pugged it back in?

 

[Pennyless Audiophile]

Am I correct in assuming that you've unplugged the power brick from mains and pugged it back in?

Of course yes, and nothing changes. I believe that there is something wrong with the power brick, actually, but there is no fuse socket or reset button, it is a very basic one.

 

[edahl]

Bought this for work without checking any reviews really. Still, for the purpose of having something to plug a headphone into at work (that also takes bluetooth) this isn't a bad device.

 

[mx3]

Just signed up to say my MX3 has died at just under 2 years old. It made an audible pop noise while the volume was being adjusted then I could see it sparking inside. I got it open after having to order a tool as the hex bolts are very difficult to reach. Inside FB15 was visibly scorched. I did some research and came to the conclusion it was a ferrite bead for filtering high frequencys and it may operate ok without it. Powering it on after bypassing that component gave no signs of life. I then removed the bypass and powered it on and a nice cloud of magic smoke came out. It's now going in the bin and I am hunting for a non-Topping branded replacement .

 

[wrevilo]

It is very interesting to see an objective test of this amp, one of which I have owned since the start of 2018. It sits on a shelf in my kitchen and via the bluetooth connection to my phone powers a set of Q Acoustics 3010 speakers, which were bought predominantly because of their depth, which is no greater than the shelf they sit on!

For curiosities sake I replaced the supplied power supply with a 24V 5A brick, and noticed no difference. Nevertheless, the MX3 does its job fine.

 

[chunky_lafunga]

Is it possible to use the MX3 to power only a centre speaker? How would I go about doing this?

For context, I've just replaced the MX3 with a Loxjie A30 on my desktop, and replaced the centre speaker Elac C5.2 with a Elac C6.2 in my home theatre.

Since I now have a MX3 and an Elac C5.2 lying around, wondering if I can hook these 2 up and use in my bedroom TV (I don't need stereo sound there anyway).

Thanks!

 

[Matias]

New MX3s (200 usd) and its improvements. Speaker amp is very good at 93 dB SINAD in 5W 4 ohms, and 58W at 1% into 4 ohms.

TOPPING MX3s Desktop DAC/ Headphone Amp/ Power Amp

A system in a box The TOPPING MX3s is a comprehensive audio solution that combines a DAC, headphone amplifier, and power amplifier. With this versatile system, you can experience your favorite music and movies through a variety of devices, including in-ear monitors, full-sized headphones, and...

apos.audio

 

[covd59]

Do you mean its a singe headphone amp ?

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Is it possibly time for Topping to re-visit this, to take on the WiiM Amp?

Beef it up a bit - I’m thinking something like the EX5 with PA5-II amplification, and some bass management for the subwoofer out.

Don’t worry about the streaming - we can add a WiiM Mini.

 

[raceskier]

I've been using my MX3 in a second office desktop system for about a year now. The only issue I have been having is related to electrostatic discharges. I live in an extremely dry environment. (8K ft altitude) Even with the MX3 grounded to the computer desk frame, that is in turn grounded to the household power ground, touching the desk or laptop, with the attendant finger tip spark, causes the unit to cease any output. I need to use the remote to turn off the unit and then cycle through the power options to restart the unit. Anyone else observe this kind of behavior?