Shenzhenaudio Topping EX5 Review (DAC and Headphone Amplifier)

[xtiva200]

We suggest turn-off when not using it.

Sorry to clarify turn off as in from the back of unit or just putting it standby from the front of the unit...

 

[seattle-michael]

If that is a well informed answer then it's very disappointing, as my DX7 pro never had to be turned off, it will put itself to sleep as soon as my PC goes to sleep or turned off.

There is an automatic standby setting with two choices. I think A-O is supposed to turn on and off with the source. Unfortunately when my iMac Pro is in sleep mode it periodically causes external devices to turn on and off for no apparent reason. This was happening with an Apple dongle USB-C DAC I tried previously.

A-C is confusingly labeled "Auto off" in the manual. Originally I thought this was intended to shut off the device automatically without automatically turning it back on again. But it's not doing that for me, so I think it actually disables auto on and auto off.

 

[SeriousSam70]

My EX5 is still warm even several hours latter after switched off (by remote control). Especially the case area above the internal power supply (top back left corner) is warmer (I mean almost-hot-worm), but the entire case is warm nonetheless.
The only way the case cools down and reaches ambient temperature is to turn off the unit completely from the I - 0 switch/button next to the IEC C14 type power connector on the back of the unit !
Is this a normal behavior for DACs or DAC+HP Amp combos with relatively small enclosures and internal power supplies ?
@JohnYang1997, @SHENZHENAUDIO: please clarify this situation/issue regarding the overheating of EX5 (in my opinion), because I am afraid to leave home and leave the unit even in standby for fear that something bad might happen.

 

[JohnYang1997]

My EX5 is still warm even hours after switched off (by remote control). Especially the case area above the internal power supply (top back left corner) is warmer (I mean almost-hot-worm), but the entire case is warm nonetheless.
The only way the case cools down and reaches ambient temperature is to turn off the unit from the I - 0 switch/button next to the IEC C14 type power connector on the back of the unit !
Is this a normal behavior for DACs or DAC+HP Amp combos with relatively small enclosures and internal power supplies ?
@JohnYang1997, @SHENZHENAUDIO: please clarify this situation/issue regarding the overheating of EX5 (in my opinion), because I am afraid to leave home and leave the unit even in standby for fear that something bad might happen.

It runs warm not hot. Headphone amp section is always on as it shares supply with DAC section.
The protections are implemented.
Yes overall it's looking normal.

 

[SeriousSam70]

@JohnYang1997: thank you for the clarifications.
But when in standby, it is normal for the unit to be still warm ?
Also, bigger combo units, like DX7 Pro, have separate electrical supplies for the DAC and for the HP Amp sections ?

 

[JohnYang1997]

@JohnYang1997: thank you for the clarifications.
But when in standby, it is normal for the unit to be still warm ?

Yes.

 

[Lupin]

@JohnYang1997: thank you for the clarifications.
But when in standby, it is normal for the unit to be still warm ?

Seems like that (same with other recent Topping models) standby just turns off the display but all the circuitry is left largely powered on. So not really standby mode by any modern means. Personally I would much more prefer the standby mode to be actually standby mode as in power usage less then 0.5W and "sacrifice" the auto on/off capability if need be.

But who knows maybe Topping bought shares in electricity companies or bought into some startups doing electricity transportation.

 

[Fenix84]

We suggest turn-off when not using it.

Then what the point of Auto-On/Auto-Off, what actually happens when this feature is enabled?

 

[RFox]

We suggest turn-off when not using it.

Can I use a switch activated power strip to turn off and on?!? I use something like this Foot Powerswitch (for years) with my Fiio E09K/E17 setup - and also turn the power off on my 2.1 Adam nearfield studion monitors (A5X + Sub7) - never had an issue

 

[Lupin]

Then what the point of Auto-On/Auto-Off, what actually happens when this feature is enabled?

Unit comes out of standby once it detects a valid signal on the inputs. Unit goes into standby when there is no valid signal on inputs for about 30 seconds i think on top of my head.

Actually should put standby between brackets as the unit is never really put into standby.

 

[Fenix84]

Unit comes out of standby once it detects a valid signal on the inputs. Unit goes into standby when there is no valid signal on inputs for about 30 seconds i think on top of my head.

Actually should put standby between brackets as the unit is never really put into standby.

Hmm i see, so why even go into "standby" at all if the unit is still running and is recommended to be powered off anyways.

 

[Lupin]

Hmm i see, so why even go into "standby" at all if the unit is still running and is recommended to be powered off anyways.

I dunno, I didn't come up with it.

 

[Ranton]

To interject some data into this discussion, I used an IR thermometer to measure the top housing temperature on my EX5. After sitting in "standby" mode for more than 24 hours, the top of the unit registered about 92 deg F (33 C). I then began playing back music via the headphone output. Volume was set to high gain, 70% output driving my Sennheiser HD650s. After 45 minutes, the temperature had moved less than one degree! I then raised the output level to 90% (resulting in an uncomfortably-high listening volume), and the temperature remained the same. Somewhat surprisingly, then, I found no difference in operating temperature between standby and headphone operation. This has convinced me that placing the unit in standby is a waste of time, and from now on I won't worry about it.

 

[VariousArtists]

To interject some data into this discussion, I used an IR thermometer to measure the top housing temperature on my EX5. After sitting in "standby" mode for more than 24 hours, the top of the unit registered about 92 deg F (33 C). I then began playing back music via the headphone output. Volume was set to high gain, 70% output driving my Sennheiser HD650s. After 45 minutes, the temperature had moved less than one degree! I then raised the output level to 90% (resulting in an uncomfortably-high listening volume), and the temperature remained the same. Somewhat surprisingly, then, I found no difference in operating temperature between standby and headphone operation. This has convinced me that placing the unit in standby is a waste of time, and from now on I won't worry about it.

View attachment 142440

Interesting - are you able to measure the power usage in similar conditions?

Edit: probably not necessary to measure power as your temperature measurement is pretty conclusive, I was wondering if power measurement will show a tiny decrease in standby due to the screen being off? Agree it's pretty pointless.

 

[Ranton]

Interesting - are you able to measure the power usage in similar conditions?

Edit: probably not necessary to measure power as your temperature measurement is pretty conclusive, I was wondering if power measurement will show a tiny decrease in standby due to the screen being off? Agree it's pretty pointless.

Sorry, I don't have a power meter. However, I also thought the temp is probably a pretty good proxy.

 

[dorirod]

Sorry, I don't have a power meter. However, I also thought the temp is probably a pretty good proxy.

I have a meter and IR gun, I'll try and measure when I get a chance if no one else tries it before.

Edit2: It's been on standby all night, no signal going to it though: ambient temperature 79F, EX5 temperature on top was 85.2F, power usage at 1.5W. I turned it on (with remote power button) and it jumped to 5.2W (again no signal sent to it), and after 20 min of sitting there being on with no signal, it went up to 90.1F. After sitting there for 1.2 hrs on with no signal, 5.3W, it went up to 96.4F with 77F ambient temperature. It seems to rest warm even when not playing anything.

Edit3: Playing for 25 min, only went up to 97.4F, and 5.4-5.5W, playing either headphone or line out (no difference in wattage, but I don't have hard to drive headphones), on HI, level 50.

 

[Urushi]

I got my EX5 today. Doesn't seem to display 192khz when Apple Music says it is playing 192khz. Not sure if that is an Apple thing.

How important is that firmware update? I don't really want install that software, especially if it requires a terminal command to work.

 

[adolchristin]

I assume these devices will eventually be shipped from US Amazon Warehouses? Eager to pick up a couple but would rather avoid international return shipping in the case of a faulty device (I'd also like to be sure I got a US/Japan power adapter!)

 

[seattle-michael]

It's been on standby all night, no signal going to it though: ambient temperature 79F, EX5 temperature on top was 85.2F, power usage at 1.5W. I turned it on (with remote power button) and it jumped to 5.2W (again no signal sent to it), and after 20 min of sitting there being on with no signal, it went up to 90.1F. After sitting there for 1.2 hrs on with no signal, 5.3W, it went up to 96.4F with 77F ambient temperature. It seems to rest warm even when not playing anything.

I got similar temperature readings here. It's definitely drawing less power in standby mode.

 

[Ranton]

I got my EX5 today. Doesn't seem to display 192khz when Apple Music says it is playing 192khz. Not sure if that is an Apple thing.

If you are playing from a Mac, it is an Apple thing. Apple Music on the Mac does not automatically change the output sampling rate based on what is playing; you have to change that manually using the Audio MIDI Setup tool. Major pain in the butt. Oddly, on iOS devices, automatic switching IS done. John Darko gives a pretty good overview of this topic: