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Shenzhenaudio Topping EX5 Review (DAC and Headphone Amplifier)

Fenix84

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ex5 looks really good.

Is it best to connect to a GENELEC 8030c ?

Obviously

28565a28ad1b9e7937652e330e286d2d.jpg
 

Laserjock

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How is this compared to DX3 Pro? Is it worth a step-up?
I almost bought one from a member here but it didn’t work out.
I’d probably wait a bit before I jumped to this one just in case.
(*I have the SMSL M500) still trying to get that issue squared away..
 

Sensation

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Yes. It's ok. There's no issue doing so.

If you press the ex5 volume button for 10 seconds, this is displayed.

Nothing can be done.

So I turned it off and on with the power button on the back.

What is this function?
 

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dorirod

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QUOTE="Sensation, post: 887095, member: 34448"]If you press the ex5 volume button for 10 seconds, this is displayed.

Nothing can be done.

So I turned it off and on with the power button on the back.

What is this function?[/QUOTE]

I see you discovered the Done F'd Up feature.
 
Last edited:

Sensation

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QUOTE="Sensation, post: 887095, member: 34448"]If you press the ex5 volume button for 10 seconds, this is displayed.

Nothing can be done.

So I turned it off and on with the power button on the back.

What is this function?

난 당신이 완료 F'd Up 기능을 발견 참조하십시오. [/견적]


what?

I don't know what you mean.
 

Fenix84

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Just thought I'd run my own heat tests on the unit.

Standby Mode
Ambient Temp 24.0°C / Casing Temp 27°C

Operating Headphone Amp - 70% @ High Gain)
Ambient Temp 24.9°C / Casing Temp 33°C

Operating XLR Pre-Out - 40%
Ambient Temp 24.8°C / Casing Temp 33°C
 

Eneko

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Absolutely, the 130hz to 150hz area is insane, I’m EQing by hearing until I save for my next investment, a good mic and a new pair of speakers for the living room
 

Eneko

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Set the tweeter to ear height to match the speaker height.

And there seems to be booming because there is no space on the left and right of the desk.
The tweeter are already facing my hears, I’m renting the house so, I’m dealing with the speace I have… I’m doing as much as I can by DSP, the 7040 is dealing with the sub 85hz stuff …
 
Last edited:

Berwhale

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iLound MTM
The product was not grounded, is that ok?

What is KSP?

When it arrives, please let me know after connecting xlr ^^

My Tannoy Reveal 402 monitors use a 2 pin 'figure of eight' power connection with no ground pin. My iLoud MTM monitors use a 3 pin 'kettle lead' (IEC C13) with a ground connection. Both are fine from a safetly perspective, but only the MTM offers noise a path to safety ground when using an RCA connection.

KSP = Key Selling Points i.e. the features that make the product attractive to me as a buyer.

Anyway, I recieved the EX5 yesterday and replaced the x50 stack. I connected the EX5 to my PC via USB and to my sub & monitors via RCA (I didn't have a balanced cable at this point). Initially, there didn't seem to be any issue with ground loop noise, but later on, I noticed some noise when nothing was playing. The noise wasn't as bad as with the x50 stack, maybe because the EX5's internal power supply has a safety ground connection and some of the noise is disipated through it. In any case, the noise would have been too much for me to live with for an extended period.

Today, I made up the XLR to TRS cables I need to connect the EX5 to my sub with a balanced connection. As expected, the noise issue has disappeared so i'm happy with the purchase of the EX5.

Pros:
  • As far as i'm concerned, the performance of the EX5 is at least identical, if not better, to the more expensive x50 stack.
  • The EX5 has plenty of power to drive all my headphones through the single ended connection. I am not missing the balanced HP connection on the A50s.
  • The display is better on the EX5.
  • The volume control is larger and easier to use on the EX5.
  • The pre-amp functionality is excellent. I no longer need to disconnect my headphones to switch to my monitors and the volume is remembered independently.
  • The single box is far neater and easier to setup than the x50 stack.
Cons:
  • * This is completely specific to my setup and not a criticism of the EX5 at all * The EX5 uses all the buttons on the remote, whereas several buttons were unused on the D50s (I have the nice RC-21 aluminium version of the Topping remote). Previously, I used a spare button on the remote ('headphones') to control the power to my sub and monitors using an IR controlled mains switch. I can't do this anymore as it also switches the output on the EX5. I may souce a separate remote or overload the 'OK' button as it doesn't really do much on the EX4 unless it's in a menu.
 

Fenix84

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My Tannoy Reveal 402 monitors use a 2 pin 'figure of eight' power connection with no ground pin. My iLoud MTM monitors use a 3 pin 'kettle lead' (IEC C13) with a ground connection. Both are fine from a safetly perspective, but only the MTM offers noise a path to safety ground when using an RCA connection.

KSP = Key Selling Points i.e. the features that make the product attractive to me as a buyer.

Anyway, I recieved the EX5 yesterday and replaced the x50 stack. I connected the EX5 to my PC via USB and to my sub & monitors via RCA (I didn't have a balanced cable at this point). Initially, there didn't seem to be any issue with ground loop noise, but later on, I noticed some noise when nothing was playing. The noise wasn't as bad as with the x50 stack, maybe because the EX5's internal power supply has a safety ground connection and some of the noise is disipated through it. In any case, the noise would have been too much for me to live with for an extended period.

Today, I made up the XLR to TRS cables I need to connect the EX5 to my sub with a balanced connection. As expected, the noise issue has disappeared so i'm happy with the purchase of the EX5.

Pros:
  • As far as i'm concerned, the performance of the EX5 is at least identical, if not better, to the more expensive x50 stack.
  • The EX5 has plenty of power to drive all my headphones through the single ended connection. I am not missing the balanced HP connection on the A50s.
  • The display is better on the EX5.
  • The volume control is larger and easier to use on the EX5.
  • The pre-amp functionality is excellent. I no longer need to disconnect my headphones to switch to my monitors and the volume is remembered independently.
  • The single box is far neater and easier to setup than the x50 stack.
Cons:
  • * This is completely specific to my setup and not a criticism of the EX5 at all * The EX5 uses all the buttons on the remote, whereas several buttons were unused on the D50s (I have the nice RC-21 aluminium version of the Topping remote). Previously, I used a spare button on the remote ('headphones') to control the power to my sub and monitors using an IR controlled mains switch. I can't do this anymore as it also switches the output on the EX5. I may souce a separate remote or overload the 'OK' button as it doesn't really do much on the EX4 unless it's in a menu.

Thanks for the review, before going with the EX5 i was leaning towards the X50 stack and always wondered what I could be missing out on. Ultimately the balanced pre-out was more important to me than the balanced headphone output.
 

yllanos

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So I have been using my EX5 for a couple weeks now.

About the temperature: I can confirm it does get warm. But I've noticed it gets particularly warm when used in LOW gain setting. I have no idea why. I'm on 1.65 firmware version.
 

Berwhale

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My EX5 case temp is 32.6C, ambient temp is 22.5C in my study. The EX5 has been on or in standby since it arrived on Tuesday. This is cooler than my x50 stack, the P50 linear PSU on the bottom chucked out a fair bit of heat. I'm not worried about the temperature of the EX5 at all.
 
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