Shenzhenaudio Topping EX5 Review (DAC and Headphone Amplifier)

[Walter]

I'm just gonna say, there is a reason serious DSP units are still a thousand bucks, there's always a reason.

True, but at that price you usually get automatic correction using Dirac or a similar system. If you just take the functionality of the miniDSP 2x4 and mate it with a GOOD DAC, as opposed to the mediocre one in the miniDSP 2x4 HD, that would be enough for me. The miniDSP 2x4 costs $120 and there is a German made one from t.racks that I believe is very similar and costs about $90. There are good quality DACs with balanced outputs and volume controls (both important to me but not essential) for $200 - $250. Therefore, producing and selling a device such as I described for $300 - $350 should be feasible. I just don't know if there is a big enough market for it.

 

[JohnYang1997]

I'm very interested in this DAC but not if I can only buy it from Shenzenaudio. They have a poor reputation for after sales support. Will it be available from other/local dealers?

If you encounter any issue please report to us. And there should be Amazon warehouse around the world sourced from them. There's slight chance Apos would carry them. But that's to be decided by both SHENZHENAUDIO and Apos.

 

[the_brunx]

when will/ can topping now concentrate on making a great ADC? Thanks.

 

[bboris77]

There are of course lots of stuff behind the scenes. I can't say much. But we have our new goals and evaluations.
The comment was made simply to say it was not a easy thing.
I don't want our competitors to know what we are doing. And I also don't want people to have too much expectations on the new coming things. Neither I want to hype it up just to see it delayed over and over again. When something is done something is done. Having hope is good though.

Tubes? Just joking

 

[hege]

You people mentioning PEQ with DAC, is it the same as what E1DA PowerDAC is doing ?

Yes that is perfect example how to do it. Simple smartphone UI to control settings by Bluetooth. A one (two) man band achieved all that for $60.

Then again personally, I would like atleast 4 channels and crossover capability for my uses. Well actually that describes most of the MiniDSP lineup, just make it with better specs!

 

[infinitesymphony]

Studios are aware of RME and are becoming aware of miniDSP due to the built-in PEQ and performance. If Topping wants to target that market, that's the next step.

It doesn't even have to be integrated into a DAC. I would love to have a hardware box with all digital I/O that operates as a PEQ pass-through before hitting a DAC. There are options from miniDSP, Behringer, etc. but performance seems far lower than it could be.

 

[seattle-michael]

I didn't see an answer to the question of whether the back XLR and RCA outputs can be used simultaneously when not in headphone mode.

I am considering using this for powered monitors (Genelec 8341a) that have balanced XLR inputs and a KEF subwoofer that has RCA inputs. Would that work?

 

[JohnYang1997]

I didn't see an answer to the question of whether the back XLR and RCA outputs can be used simultaneously when not in headphone mode.

I am considering using this for powered monitors (Genelec 8341a) that have balanced XLR inputs and a KEF subwoofer that has RCA inputs. Would that work?

Yes.

 

[Massimo]

Shenzenaudio is proving themselves to be a substandard vendor in they way they give customers the run around when problems surface. I appreciate that this is a Topping product, not SMSL, but since it also bears the Shenzenaudio brand, I would avoid it until they demonstrate that they make good on problems with products they distribute.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Shenzenaudio is proving themselves to be a substandard vendor in they way they give customers the run around when problems surface. I appreciate that this is a Topping product, not SMSL, but since it also bears the Shenzenaudio brand, I would avoid it until they demonstrate that they make good on problems with products they distribute.

If you encounter any issue with Shenzhenaudio, report to us. We are not SMSL, we are helpful. Previously, I saw no complaints about Shenzhenaudio in the L30 replacement situation.

 

[Tokyo_John]

Studios are aware of RME and are becoming aware of miniDSP due to the built-in PEQ and performance. If Topping wants to target that market, that's the next step.

It doesn't even have to be integrated into a DAC. I would love to have a hardware box with all digital I/O that operates as a PEQ pass-through before hitting a DAC. There are options from miniDSP, Behringer, etc. but performance seems far lower than it could be.

I agree, and I was going to mention it but glad to see others beating me to the punch. Topping could really be competitive in this area, and push the frontier….whether integrated into a DAC, or not. For example, DSP crossovers, Dirac, PEQ, etc., these are fast growing markets and ripe for a company like Topping to enter…

 

[Francis Vaughan]

I would hesitate to dictate business models to Topping, but I rather suspect they have a game plan that does not involve chasing niche players like MiniDSP or RME.
MiniDSP made their business on the back of providing easy to use EQ and crossover software, and sold hardware with lacklustre analog performance embodying it. Nowadays they are moving away from the OEM and DIY markets and by partnering with Dirac have an interesting if still niche market. DSP is not an area for the novice to try to get working. It is an evil hybrid of a set of computing skills that not many people have the need to master together. So selling pre-canned DSP software systems was a good start for MiniDSP to get the company going.

Going into the home studio market is probably not on their radar either. That is a pretty crowded space. As much as we might like to see them put their proven engineering ability into an ADC, the work needed to get a foothold into that market probably would never pay off.

What we can say is that DSP based EQ for headphone use is a market awaiting tapping. Although it needs to be done in the right way. Exactly what that way is isn't fully clear. There is so much ignorance in the audio community that you are guaranteed to get vitriolic kick back from some quarters no matter what you do. Just getting the science right isn't going to be enough. Like I wrote above, the user experience is going to be key. And that is really hard. One only needs to read this thread to see that there is at least one opinion on the requirements per person. I have my own ideas, but I have been in the game long enough to know how much value they have (not much).

What I do hope is that any DSP based product provide a portal to access the underpinning raw parameters (say a set of bi-quads) so that enthusiasts can bend it to our will. But that isn't going to be the main game for a company like Topping, they clearly have bigger plans for market share.

The other space to operate involves licensing various proprietary systems. Apple/Dolby for Atmos encoded space for instance. Those are shark infested waters. If Topping wants to get big in consumer space, they may have no choice but to go this direction. But it would be easy to lose a lot of money very quickly here.

Dunno. Topping are not Sony. They may however desire to be so one day.

 

[adamjohari]

Hmmm. I have a Topping D10s and a Drop 789. Should I get this and connect it balanced to my SMSL DA-9? Seems like I can save space. Would it also be an upgrade? Or is there going to be an upgrade to the DX7 Pro, wonder if I should wait for that.

 

[usern]

Should I get this and connect it balanced to my SMSL DA-9?

You can't connect EX5 and SMSL DA-9 together. They both have line outputs, not inputs.

 

[adamjohari]

You can't connect EX5 and SMSL DA-9 together. They both have line outputs, not inputs.

This is the Speaker Amp SMSL DA-9. Think you're talking about SMSL SU-9?

 

[usern]

This is the Speaker Amp SMSL DA-9. Think you're talking about SMSL SU-9?

Yeah, sorry, I was thinking about DAC.

 

[Fenix84]

Unit looks great with everything I need. Any official release date? Also waiting on the release of the Fiio K9 pro, which is also a similar unit. Too many options.

 

[alekksander]

I didn't see an answer to the question of whether the back XLR and RCA outputs can be used simultaneously when not in headphone mode.

I am considering using this for powered monitors (Genelec 8341a) that have balanced XLR inputs and a KEF subwoofer that has RCA inputs. Would that work?

What are the benefits of such configuration? Is it better (quality wise) to feed sub and speakers separately?

 

[seattle-michael]

What are the benefits of such configuration? Is it better (quality wise) to feed sub and speakers separately?

I'd like to take advantage of the speaker's balanced XLR inputs (to reduce ground loop), and also looking for a way to run my Sennheiser HD600 high impedance headphones.

 

[Robbo99999]

It's not easy.
Let me ask you, what dsp chip supports 384khz or 768khz. And take a step back what src chip supports it? What about DSD input? FPGA? Then how many bands do we need? What precision? Do we also need to be able to upgrade FPGA code? Via microcontroller from XMOS?
Another question what's the percentage of people knows how to use parametric eq? What if 90% of the users don't know how to use and completely jammed up our custome service channel? Do we teach them or give some online documents? What if half of them still can't get it working or don't know what to do? Maybe just ignore them? Then we are off for a big trouble in the future.
And do people really think 5/7 band PEQ is good enough? Don't they want something like 32 band and maybe auto correction from a file or something?
It's not easy. Too much thought are put into this.

(From my own point of view I'd be happy with somekind of compatibility with EqualiserAPO, in terms of somehow config style text files could be loaded into the DAC when connected one time to a PC. 20 bands would be good, 10 would be acceptable. There could be quite a high skill & knowledge level associated with such an implementation, but at least it would mean that only people who know what they are doing could risk mucking it up. How you communicate & market that feature when it's only accessible to knowledgeable enthusiasts I'm not sure - beta/unnofficially supported feature perhaps, might not be long term solution.)