Shenzhenaudio Topping EX5 Review (DAC and Headphone Amplifier)

[Yorkshire Mouth]

FYI, v5.30 has been out for over a month:

Revision History
-----------------------------------------------------
V5.30.0 (December 1, 2021)
-----------------------------------------------------

* New: support for Windows 10 (21H2)

* Fix: problem with only one MIDI direction

* Fix: scaling issues in control panel

* Chg: some improvements for MIDI

* Chg: sample rate recovery improved

* Chg: Documentation


-----------------------------------------------------
V5.27.0 (October 19, 2021)
-----------------------------------------------------

* Fix: fixed a security vulnerability (update recommended)
* Chg: DspPlugin (Mixer) now works with IN or OUT only devices

How do I apply the new firmware?

 

[bahamot]

How do I apply the new firmware?

That's not new firmware but new Windows driver

 

[Smislov]

FYI, v5.30 has been out for over a month:

Revision History
-----------------------------------------------------
V5.30.0 (December 1, 2021)
-----------------------------------------------------

PLS LINK for v5.30
TNX

 

[Veri]

PLS LINK for v5.30
TNX

I don't think a public driver is out, but that @Gradius copy-pasted thesyscon release notes..

 

[Berwhale]

v5.27 is the latest published by Topping and is here: https://www.tpdz.net/newsinfo/571736.html

According to the release notes, it includes a fix for a security vulnerability.

 

[Davywhizz]

Just got the EX5 today. It's the start of a small music system for a guest bedroom, but I'll be in there sometimes when I can't use the main hifi. For now it will be bluetooth only, Amazon Music HD from my phone using LDAC. And only headphones at first. So far I like it: easy to set up and the bluetooth is very stable. I thought there might be more headroom in the volume, but it's enough. One question if anyone can help: the display so far shows 96 pcm, whatever is playing (sample rates from 44.1 to 192). Is that because it's on Bluetooth?

 

[Smislov]

Just got the EX5 today. It's the start of a small music system for a guest bedroom, but I'll be in there sometimes when I can't use the main hifi. For now it will be bluetooth only, Amazon Music HD from my phone using LDAC. And only headphones at first. So far I like it: easy to set up and the bluetooth is very stable. I thought there might be more headroom in the volume, but it's enough. One question if anyone can help: the display so far shows 96 pcm, whatever is playing (sample rates from 44.1 to 192). Is that because it's on Bluetooth?

U can setup your quality in phone

 

[Davywhizz]

Thank you for that. I'm new to Bluetooth, having recently realised it can be pretty good.

 

[MRC01]

... One question if anyone can help: the display so far shows 96 pcm, whatever is playing (sample rates from 44.1 to 192). Is that because it's on Bluetooth?

The EX5 has a firmware bug in that the display doesn't always show the correct sample rate. I encountered this with SPDIF (toslink or coax) inputs. It did show the proper rate with USB input.

 

[Berwhale]

One question if anyone can help: the display so far shows 96 pcm, whatever is playing (sample rates from 44.1 to 192). Is that because it's on Bluetooth?

Yes, I think it gets set to 96k when you use LDAC (I confirmed the same behaviour with my EX5) - The Bluetooth sample rate was set to 'use system setting' in Developer settings on my phone.

 

[Smislov]

LDAC is default and max 96khz

 

[Gradius]

PLS LINK for v5.30
TNX

Send an e-mail to Topping to stop begin lazy on releasing such drivers (they are almost ready "out of box").

They only put the logo on it, perform some test, and that's it.

 

[Veri]

Send an e-mail to Topping to stop begin lazy on releasing such drivers (they are almost ready "out of box").

They only put the logo on it, perform some test, and that's it.

You are mistaken, there is such a thing as licensing. Many smaller brands still roll out version 4.67, do you think they are all "lazy" or that there is a cost involved? If you have no first hand experience with buying software from Thesyscon, those kinds of bold/confident statements are really unwarranted..

 

[Davywhizz]

So...I've now tried my new EX5 with a usb connection to my laptop and set it to 32/384 in Windows. The display shows 384, whatever I play. It is still always 96 on bluetooth even though I set the phone settings. Should I be seeing the display change whenever there is a track playing of a different resolution, or does the display only ever reflect the highest device setting?

 

[Berwhale]

So...I've now tried my new EX5 with a usb connection to my laptop and set it to 32/384 in Windows. The display shows 384, whatever I play. It is still always 96 on bluetooth even though I set the phone settings. Should I be seeing the display change whenever there is a track playing of a different resolution, or does the display only ever reflect the highest device setting?

The display will show whatever you set it to in Windows or Android. What you play will then get up or down sampled to match the system setting.

To play files at their native resolution in Windows, you have to use a WASAPI Exclusive or ASIO connection. This allows the player app to take control of the DAC and switch the sample rate as required (note that no other sounds will reach the DAC, only what the player is sending)

On Android, you would need to use an app like USB Audio Player Pro which can bypasses the Android audio stack and can control a DAC directly in a similar way to what I described above.

 

[Lupin]

The display shows 384, whatever I play. It is still always 96 on bluetooth even though I set the phone settings.

BT maxes out at 24/96 using the LDAC codec. So it's totally normal that the display shows 96. You can't get 32/384 transmission over BT.

You need USB connection to get 32/384 on windows and UAPP on Android to bypass the android audio stack.

That being said I don't see the point in wanting and or using 32/384 in the first place.

 

[Davywhizz]

Thanks Lupin. I don't have anything higher than 24/192 on my laptop so I agree, I was just trying out what the display would show. My question was more about what I should expect to see on the EX5 display: should it respond to show the sampling rate of each track, or only what I set as the maximum on the source device?

 

[JamesYeomans]

Thanks Lupin. I don't have anything higher than 24/192 on my laptop so I agree, I was just trying out what the display would show. My question was more about what I should expect to see on the EX5 display: should it respond to show the sampling rate of each track, or only what I set as the maximum on the source device?

"To play files at their native resolution in Windows, you have to use a WASAPI Exclusive or ASIO connection. This allows the player app to take control of the DAC and switch the sample rate as required (note that no other sounds will reach the DAC, only what the player is sending)"

 

[Pedecia]

D30pro has much better dynamic range and lower noise floor.

Why does it have more dinamic range when all good DACs sound the same? Is it the Headphone AMP section that sounds better? Thanks

 

[Lupin]

Why does it have more dinamic range when all good DACs sound the same? Is it the Headphone AMP section that sounds better? Thanks

D30Pro has measurable better DNR and lower noise floor then the EX5.
However the DNR and noise floor of the EX5 are already way over the threshold of human hearing that it is not an audible difference, both DACs are transparent by any means.