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Review and Measurements of Topping NX4 DSD Dac and Portable Headphone Amplifier

Asylum Seeker

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Daaadou

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Do any of you experience problem during playback from an iPhone ?
When I use my iPhone XR with the NX4 through the cck, it is working but if I’m doing things with the phone, like changing app or whatever, it could sometimes stop the playback for 1 sec.
it’s pretty random.
It never does it from my laptop. And the iPhone will not make that if I use it as a Line out.
 

Daaadou

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And yet another question.
The volume on the iPhone is working when plugged in the DAC. It will automatically switch playing to the DAC once I turn it on but I can crank the volume up or down with the phone. Though, something weird, the volume needs to be set super high on the phone to be neat with the DAC. For example, if I am below 50% on the phone volume level, you won't hear a thing in the headphones.
Once it is up 80%, it gets pretty normal.
As well as when I use the DAC with my laptop through a USB-C, it says it is using the DAC, I can see NX4 in the sound parameter menu but I also can modify the sound from the PC and the DAC. Though, this time, the behavoir of the volume from the PC is far more linear than with the iPhone.

I thought using the DAC would turn off the volume control on sources like laptop and smartphone. Is it normal?
 

Fabdub

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Getting this tomorrow, already own the Tempotec Sonata HD pro.
Would using the tempotec create bigger sound than the Apple lightning to analog dongle?
I know it's 1v vs 2v but would it make a difference with the NX4?
Maybe not worth it either because if I use the Sonata I will drain the battery way less ...
 

TheTalbotHound

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Hello would it be possible for you to re-measure this device with your new, more complete series of measurements?
 

Wh1teWolf

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Hello everyone. I have been eyeing the NX4 for about 6 months now, hopping for a refresh/ re release in late 2020, with no luck as it seems...

I am in search of a semi-portable DAC-AMP and it still seems that nx4 is still the king under 200$. Are there any reasonable alternatives tested?
Q3, BTR5 , XD-05 all seem inferior to a 2018 unit.
 

redribbon

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This is a detailed review and measurements of the Topping NX4 DSD portable headphone amplifier and DAC. It is on a kind loan from a forum member and highly anticipated review. Retail price (shipped from China) on Amazon with free shipping is USD $160 as of this writing. The unit has internal battery so truly portable.

Aesthetically from box design and the DAC itself, it oozes quality and nice industrial design. Nothing cheap feeling. The packaging alone would make you think you are buying a luxury product yet the price says otherwise. I have no idea how Chinese companies like Topping pull this off:

View attachment 13233

You want to know why I never, ever want to get in the business of making audio products? This is the proof. :)

Feature wise, this is a rich product with great format support with PCM up to 768 kHz and DSD512. There are two gains: high and low. A bass boost switch. And a jack for that is for both line in and out (!). I did not test this but the unit can be used as a pure headphone amplifier by using this jack and line out for DAC-only use. My testing was with the headphone jack as that is the most common use.

Battery life which I did not test is stated to be 7.5 hours.

As is with all Topping products, the unit comes with printed documentation that includes measurements from Audio Precision analyzer. Full regulatory certification is included which even some high-end audio equipment lacks. Those of you who are worried about "EMI" should be shopping products that have such certification.

My objective testing was with ASIO4ALL ASIO wrapper. For subjective listening I used the USB class driver in Windows 10 creators edition using Roon player for bit-exact playback.

Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard with gain setting in low but max volume:

View attachment 13234

We see nice output level of 2 volts but with slight channel imbalance. Distortion is very low. SINAD which is the inverse of that, shows distortion and noise free dynamic range of 104 dB, well in excess of what we need for CD playback (93 dB with dither).

Clicking the switch to high gain and max volume, performance degrades substantially:
View attachment 13235

We get super nice boost in output level, nearing 6 volts. But distortion has gone way up (relatively speaking). Fortunately bringing the volume knob down a few clicks gets us back to excellent performance:

View attachment 13236

5.1 volts output with good distortion numbers.

Let's look at frequency response:

View attachment 13237

Not ecstatic about the droop at either end of the spectrum although the effect on those of us over 25 years old (ahem), is negligible. Still, I like to see ruler flat response.

Channel imbalance in mid-frequencies where our hearing is most sensitive is 0.06 dB so not a concern. More to come on this later at other volume levels.

Harmonic distortion and noise is excellent. Here I compare it to the well performing portable Sabaj Da3 and Dragonfly Black:

View attachment 13238

We see that the Topping NX4 DSD is in a different class. Its distortion is so low that it causes my analyzer to have trouble reading it (as indicated by those "T" symbols). I am working on refining the analyzer settings to not do that.

Digging into the spectrum of the distortion we see:

View attachment 13239

The Topping NX4 DSD has substantially lower amount of second harmonic compared to Sabaj Da3. It is also well behaved, lacking that "hump" that exists in the output of Sabaj Da3.

Same story continues in Jitter test:
View attachment 13240

Note that compared to my older analyzer, these are higher resolution FFTs, showing USB packet noise that was not visible before. At -120 dB these are not audible concerns at all. But like to see them suppressed regardless.

Let's get back to channel balance and see what happens when I turn the volume down from max to min manually and plot the difference between left and right (in dB on the right vertical axis):

View attachment 13241

Tracking is good until about -40 dBV (-45 dB attenuation), staying below 0.2 dB of error. From there, it takes a nosedive so better not operate it beyond that region. See my subjective listening tests on the impact of this practice.

On output impedance, I expect to see the typical 10 ohm but was pleasantly surprised that it was much lower at just 0.9 ohms:

View attachment 13242

I love to see this in their desktop products! It eliminates any worry of interacting with the headphone to change its frequency response.

Let's see the output voltage (and hence power) relative to distortion:
View attachment 19667

For reference I am showing the Sabaj Da3 at 33 ohm. We see that the NX4 DSD sails way past it with lower distortion and higher output voltage/wattage. Measured output power as indicated on the graph is about half of what Topping specs I think. The discrepancy can go away by climbing up the distortion line instead of staying at its minimum level.

Subjective Listening Test
In the interest of getting this review out quickly and reducing my significant backlog of products to review :), I did not perform an AB tests. Instead, I just plugged in different headphones and listened to my music library.

On channel imbalance, I only hear that at the extreme low end of the volume level, close to muting. This was with both my Sony headphones and sensitive IEMs. Definitely not a concern in my listening experience.

Bass boost is nicely done when listening to mid to lower volume levels. It nicely fills in the low and adds impact without any distortion. It is especially good for compensating for less than good feel of IEMs. Once you start hearing distortion though, adding the bass boost really screws things up. So only use it for less then ear bleeding levels. :)

With my power hungry Sennheiser HD-650 headphones, there was plenty of volume. I always want more headroom with this headphone when I can get it :), but otherwise, it is a fine pairing.

Other than this, the unit is delightful. I am listening to my music library while composing this review and enjoying it.

Conclusions
Let me make a confession before giving you my conclusion: people accuse me so much of being in Topping's pocket based on good reviews I have given them that I secretly wish that some of their products don't do well so that I can say that and get out of jail!!! :D Alas, that opportunity is not here yet. The Topping NX4 DSD is a superb portable DAC and headphone offering at super attractive pricing.

Yeh, channel balance could be better and frequency response droops a bit. But other than that, Topping shows one more time that proper engineering matters. And design verification matters. That attention to quality and execution matters. And bargain prices matter.

The DSD NX4 has impressed me greatly. It would be my choice for a portable headphone+DAC or a stand-alone desktop DAC for that matter. All the positive vibes on this unit are indeed true.

Recommended!

As always, questions, comments, corrections, etc. are welcome.

-----
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Hello !

I'm considering to buy Topping NX4 but before i have few questions.
I will use the NX4 with a pair of Sennheiser HD-650 headphones.

Q1:
From Amirm review I get that NX4 has just a couple of drawback:
- frequency response not perfectly flat
- not perfect channels balance.

If in the future I will buy a desktop headphone amp (like Topping L30, ...) and I will connect it to NX4 line out port, will the system suffer from the same NX4 drawbacks? Or if you use NX4 as just a DAC, the combo will be exempt?
I guess this is related whether line out signal pass or not through the amplifier.

Q2:
What's NX4 performance when it is powered through USB port? Are performance comparable or they drop too badly?

Q3:
Is there any pratical experience in how solid is? Surfing internet the only concerns regarding NX4 are related to the micro USB connector that brokes easily.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

This is my first post but i love this forum.
 

redribbon

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Eventually I bought a NX4 and for the moment I'm happy about it.

The manual says you can use only the cables bundled with the device. Since I need a longer usb c <-> micro usb cable, I wonder wether i should buy an USB C extension or if I can buy directly a longer usb c - micro usb cable. I prefer the second option (cheaper and cleaner solution).

Are cables normal USB cables? I don't understand why they say to use just the bundled cables.
 

ZenTraveler

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Eventually I bought a NX4 and for the moment I'm happy about it.

The manual says you can use only the cables bundled with the device. Since I need a longer usb c <-> micro usb cable, I wonder wether i should buy an USB C extension or if I can buy directly a longer usb c - micro usb cable. I prefer the second option (cheaper and cleaner solution).

Are cables normal USB cables? I don't understand why they say to use just the bundled cables.
You need to buy OTG cable, it handle data similar to OTG adapter. In fact you can also use OTG adapter + normal USB cable. I tried before using OTG adapter with USB cable and able to output audio to NX4.
 

cleareyes

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what's the advantage of the nx4 over dongles? More power?
I enjoy using my hd6xx, and my iPhone 6s seem to be providing enough volume. Would there be any benefit to getting the nx4?
 

Marcomarco

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Currently I use it line out mode with L30 with sundara and am satisfied. does anyone know the measurements in dac only (lineout) mode. If I wanted a good update to the dac which one would you recommend? I would like a musical and non-analytical DAC like the E30.
 

kohlerm

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FYI, I have got the Topping NX4 about 6Months ago and the right channel died all of a sudden last week. For me it worked pretty well for my Sundara. The shipped cable was crap and would have connection problems on the micro-usb port after a while. That was easily fixed with better cables. I just got an ifi hip dac. Seems to work ok so far. The cables are female USB A on the device side, which is a bit unusual, but they provide a sturdy connection. Sound wise I am not sure I hear a difference. For now I do not have a balanced cable which means it has a bit less output power than the NX4. Otherwise it looks great, is a bit shorter and I hear battery life is not as good as with the NX4. I might get a balanced cable soon, because a bit more power would be good.
 

runner74

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Hope mine lasts. I should have gotten the desktop, just wanted a plug in solution (without the AC).

From a usage standpoint, there is a lot of metal, and it feels tight and well made. And just functions, the knobs, and levers.
Which is good. Channel inbalance has not been an issue for me.
 
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Hi,
I'd like to use the Sennheiser HD 570 (64 ohm - home) and the LG Quadbeat 3 (24 ohm - day by day travel) together with the Topping NX4.

Most of the times I listen to music not at a "super high volume": with low ohm the control knob would allow me to choose the volume I'd like (no gain of course)?

I've experienced that with some headphones amplifiers the volume goes from "silent" to "too high for me" without very little choice in between :)

Thanks!
 

kohlerm

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Hi,
I'd like to use the Sennheiser HD 570 (64 ohm - home) and the LG Quadbeat 3 (24 ohm - day by day travel) together with the Topping NX4.

Most of the times I listen to music not at a "super high volume": with low ohm the control knob would allow me to choose the volume I'd like (no gain of course)?

I've experienced that with some headphones amplifiers the volume goes from "silent" to "too high for me" without very little choice in between :)

Thanks!
yes on low gain volume increase is more fine grained simply because it does not get as loud. Also noise should be lower on low gain,for more sensitive IEMs, like the LG. IMHO should work fine for both headphones.
 

ohmer

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Hey guys,

Thanks for your awesome work and knowledge sharing. Really appreciate.
I bought myself this DAC/Amp and very happy with it so far.
Upgraded from a DragonFly red that I broke in a clumsy late night move :S

Might need to upgrade the headphone now, I got a B&W P7 that I really like but feels limited now.
Any advice? Note that I live in New Zealand, we have limited options.

Cheers,
 

THW

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was looking for a portable battery-powered solution with a good amount of power for not that much money, just got the NX4 DSD and early impressions are that it is really good.

even on low gain it can comfortably drive my HD 600s, assuming no EQ. even with my -10 dB gain with the EQ I use, the NX4 DSD can drive the HD 600s to pretty loud levels on high gain on pretty much nearly any musical content that I have. for the content that is mastered loudly I can use low gain even with that EQ active. sound is clean too.
 
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f78fk

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@amirm Hello. The headset I use is DT880 250O. Can you recommend me a better portable product than NX4DSD?
 
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