Shenzhenaudio Topping EX5 Review (DAC and Headphone Amplifier)

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Wow! That comes out at only £310, which is £40 cheaper than Amazon U.K.

 

[renofury]

Are you in the U.K.?

I am from Malta, and Amazon.fr was the only that delivered to my country. It arrived from China via DHL and only took 3 days to arrive. In your case seeing the .co.uk might be than cheaper to buy directly from https://shenzhenaudio.com.

 

[Ryogo]

Found a small issue - while playing music from pc tried to switch gain from "lo" to "hi" and there was no sound after that (switching back from "hi" to "lo" not helped) until I switched off to stand-by and switched back on.

Latest firmware kinda "fixed" the issue by disabling gain switching when in "pre" mode. Miss my L30 a little bit now

 

[someone somewhere]

During operation, the upper part of the case heats up to about 50 degrees Celsius. Maybe a little more.

 

[SeriousSam70]

During operation, the upper part of the case heats up to about 50 degrees Celsius. Maybe a little more.

Are you sure about the exact temperature (50 degree C) ? Did you measure it or it's just a guess?
I ask you this because it also initially seemed to me that my unit was heating up a bit too much during operation and that it remained quite warm even in standby, but later I calmed down after other forum members measured their units with infrared remote thermometers (and also measured the unit's consumption in watts) both during operation and in standby, and the values measured by them were quite reasonable.
In addition, I read on the RME ADI-2 DAC FS dedicated forum that it also heats up during operation quite a lot (up to 58.1 degrees Celsius), but that it is considered normal. I will quote (in part) the answer given to a worried user by one of the administrators of the forum (and representative of RME Audio): "The unit has a 10 layer PCB that spreads the heat totally even over the PCB. That means that all components have the same temperature, instead of some staying cool and others getting really hot. The temperatures reached are no problem for any silicon. They could only be a problem for the electrolytic capacitors, drying them out more quickly. Of course we were aware of that. The special low ESR types used throughout also have higher temperature specs, a lot higher than the typical temperature of the PCB". Of course, the answer is valid in the particular case of RME ADI-2 DAC FS, but it can be extrapolated somewhat to other similar devices.
More important, JohnYang1997 on this forum (Technical Expert and Topping Manufacturer Representative) assured me that there is no problem and that the EX5 has overheating protections included, so nothing bad can happen (at least in the short term).
The problem with electrolytic capacitors that could dry out earlier due to the high temperatures in the EX5 enclosure, that's another story. Anyway, you just don't want to keep your EX5 forever, do you ?
Anyway, it seems to me that this (relatively) high temperature during operation phenomenon is a common "problem" for combo devices DAC + HP Amp, compared to devices that are only DACs, with no headphone amplifiers included.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Are you sure about the exact temperature (50 degree C) ?
I ask you this because it also initially seemed to me that my unit was heating up a bit too much during operation and that it remained quite warm even in standby, but later I calmed down after other forum members measured their units with infrared remote thermometers (and also measured the unit's consumption in watts) both during operation and in standby, and the values measured by them were quite reasonable.
In addition, I read on the RME ADI-2 DAC FS dedicated forum that it also heats up during operation quite a lot (up to 58.1 degrees Celsius), but that it is considered normal. I will quote (in part) the answer given to a worried user by one of the administrators of the forum (and representative of RME Audio): "The unit has a 10 layer PCB that spreads the heat totally even over the PCB. That means that all components have the same temperature, instead of some staying cool and others getting really hot. The temperatures reached are no problem for any silicon. They could only be a problem for the electrolytic capacitors, drying them out more quickly. Of course we were aware of that. The special low ESR types used throughout also have higher temperature specs, a lot higher than the typical temperature of the PCB". Of course, the answer is valid in the particular case of RME ADI-2 DAC FS, but it can be extrapolated somewhat to other similar devices.
Anyway, JohnYang1997 on this forum (Technical Expert and Topping Manufacturer Representative) assured me that there is no problem and that the EX5 has overheating protections included.
It seems to me that the phenomenon of relatively high temperature during operation is a common "problem" for combo devices DAC + HP Amp, compared to devices that are only DACs, with no headphone amplifiers included.

When I get mine I'll measure it with my Thermapen.

 

[someone somewhere]

It's definitely over 42 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, the temperature is such that there will be no thermal burn of the skin even with the longest contact. Therefore, a range of 45-48 degrees Celsius at an air temperature of 28 degrees Celsius will be a more accurate estimate. Unfortunately, I cannot measure this instrumentally.
However, the sound is beyond praise.

 

[donald24]

Is that while driving headphones/RCA or just being idle?

The DX3Pro measures 7 degrees Celsius over ambient while actively running RCA-out, that is basically not even warm to the touch...

Standby power of the EX5 per manual is approx 2.5 Watts which is sub-par for EU-standards of max 1 Watt.

 

[someone somewhere]

while driving RCA

just being idle

does not matter

 

[Berwhale]

I'm so torn on this device... if I should buy it or not. Please hear me out.

Current setup:

PC1 -> USB -> Topping D50s -> RCA -> Topping A50s -> Sennheiser HD660s, Beyerdynamics closed T1, Fosstex T50rp (modded) etc.
-> USB -> Soncoz LA-QXD1 -> XLR - ADAM T5Vs

PC2 -> USB -> Topping DX3 Pro -> Presonus Eris 3.5
-> Koss KPH30i, Sennheiser HD58X Jubilee etc

Why I have 2 DACs on my main desk is because the Soncoz doesn't have an output switch and the D50s is not balanced (T5Vs are groundloop sensitive)

I've been looking to try to get all of this performance into one device for the main PC and make the Soncoz free for my Sony A80J + Emotiva Airmotiv5 active speakers. At the same time removing device and cable clutter from my desk.

The closest I could come to similar DAC and AMP performance while gaining balanced XLR outputs and getting an output switch is the D30Pro+A30Pro combo, but that's a rather price option..

Now the EX5 is out... The only thing that's lacking is output power. My HD660s don't need tons of power but some of the other cans really do like power .

Now I do planning expanding my setup with a more powerful Singxer SA1 hybrid class A amp and some more planar magnetics for more music focussed listening. But that's more long term.

The EX5 does not have an balanced headphone output. Althoug it is XLR out for the headphone jack it does not seem to be balanced. The A50s does 3.5W @ 32ohm and the EX5 runs out of breath at 1.3W @ 32ohm. I'm pretty sure it will be enough for the more efficient HD660s but still doesn't sit right to do a downgrade.

I might still just keep the A50s on top of the EX5 for AMP purposes. I bet the dual ES9038 in the EX5 are on par with the D50s which has an older design.

Can I have your opinions?

I'm in a very similar situation. I had to move my D50s to an optical connection because of the ground loop issue introduced when I purchased my iLoud MTMs. I've been considering buying the EX5 and plugging one of my A50s (I have 2) into the RCA output and my MTMs into the XLR output. Then I could sell my whole x50 stack.

 

[Pillars]

This MQA stuff is ridiculous, I'd rather buy it without.

 

[Berwhale]

When I get mine I'll measure it with my Thermapen.

Nice avatar, I still have my medicine somewhere.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

does not matter

Has anyone tried to see what temperature it comes to with the physical On/Off switch on the back set to ‘Off’?

 

[donald24]

does not matter

Hm, if device is connected to USB it will always have the same power, I am curious if it will be on powersave with USB-off.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Nice avatar, I still have my medicine somewhere.

It dulls the pain but kills the joy.

 

[dorirod]

Has anyone tried to see what temperature it comes to with the physical On/Off switch on the back set to ‘Off’?

Yes, for me room temperature when off with back switch (which I don't see how it could be otherwise lol, no free energy, it's the law .

 

[Suppa92]

nice

 

[Sensation]

fact!

temperature:
The temperature was about 32-38 degrees.
After playing for two days of standby time, I checked it with a digital thermometer.
(Do you have any other fact photos that I checked with a digital thermometer?)

Digital button:

One short click of the volume button adjusts the input level, and two short clicks adjust the output level.

hd6xx:
When I tested it in high gain mode on my headphones, it was a decent line with neither too much nor too little output.

 

[Sensation]

Now the topping is to make an EX5 size hybrid digital analog tube XLR linear amplifier You must have an internal power source!

Then you can stick it on any topping series!

You will get huge profits!

Topping Digital Analog Hybrid Tube Amplifier!

 

[Roddydesu]

We cannot make sure when will our ca account get back to normal, while thanks for your inquiry.

Can you predict when you guys can get your Amazon Canada account back?