I own a Topping DX7s and it is completely cold during operation or Standby. Never felt any part of my unit even slightly warm and I use it mostly in balanced mode with various high impedance Headphones.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.
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Shenzhenaudio Topping EX5 Review (DAC and Headphone Amplifier)
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I own a DX7s too hooked up to a THX789 and it stays dead cold even when playing for many hours. I need one extra dac/amp combo and probably will buy an other DX7s as can be bought probably for 300USD now but paid 800 when bought it several years ago.... the problem I will need an other high power headphone AMP to go with it. The Topping DX7s It weights a lot and you can clearly feel the construction quality of more expensive line ups.... The best thing would be to go in showrooms and try them yourself.... play with them and see them in person.
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The only thing I don't understand why bother to install a double DAC chipset inside a unit, put a balanced connector on the headphone output and don't offer true balance? What is the point of it all? If you went the all length of implementing 90% why not go the full 100%? This is the only shortcoming still preventing me from buying this unit as I have over 30 headphones and many really demanding. Now the question that comes into my mind is: was it done on purpose so to not destroy sales of more expensive products that offer roughly the same for much more money? This choice of leaving that output not true balance is out of my realm of understanding I have to admit. Otherwise is a good product indeed with an amazing form factor... but that choice.... When I heard it I screamed: WHAAAAATTT????? WHY!!!!! WHA WHA WHAAAT??? I probably will need to wait for the next iteration with a proper balanced output with more power. Maybe remove MQA as I gathered here very few people wants it and with the savings offer a true more power balanced headphone output?
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Lupin
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Balanced is not that important as you think.
The amount of DAC chips used in a design doesn't say anything about a DAC being balanced or not.
Balanced is useful to combat ground loops. Back in the day it was also useful when balanced HP output power was significantly higher then SE output which helped with demanding headphones or for some extra headroom to EQ.
But look at today's landscape of available audio gear. There is the A30Pro which has multiple watts output and yet is still a completely single ended AMP. Actually the A30pro has 70% higher SE output than the flagship balanced A90 and only 25% less SE output than the balanced output power of the A90. With that kind of SE power available balanced lost the edge of being the only thing able to drive demanding headphones.
Balanced is not really that big of a deal anymore with that kind of SE power on tap for just your regular home use.
As said balanced (differential) out from DAC to balanced input to AMP can help combat ground loops. Balanced output from AMP to headphones don't really add anything anymore in 2022 imho.
I don't believe (and measurements don't show) that background is blacker, there is more air between instruments, the lows are tighter and the high more crisp and a 1001 more audiophile lingo terms used to claim how balanced sounds better than SE.
Gradius
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Help me to decide...
This one or...
E50+L50 ?
This one or...
E50+L50 ?
radix
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Will you use it just for headphones, or do you want to hook up speakers and use it in pre-amp mode at other times? I think the dx, ex, and A versions are the choices for pre-amp mode. The L50 is pass-through, so you would need a separate preamp.
I think the L50 has a fair bit more power, but do you need it? The E50/L50 stack is a fair bit more money.
Gradius
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radix
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I use the DX3Pro+, which goes plenty loud for me. The advantage of the ex5 or e50/l50 is they have balanced analog in/out plus balanced headphones. If you will use balanced, go with the ex5 or e50/l50. If you only have singled-ended, I'd personally save my money and go with the dx3pro+.
The L50 does measure a few db better SNR @ 50mW than the ex5, which is better than the dx3pro+, but they are all very quiet to begin with. I surely do not notice any deficiency in the dx3pro+. I think any of these would drive the HD650 without any problems. I use some ath-r70x (450 ohm) with the dx3pro+ and it's plenty loud for me. Amir tested the ex5 with the hd650 and found them plenty loud too.
I've not used the ex5 or e50/l50.
The EX5 doesn't have a true balanced headphone out or any analogue inputs. The output is balanced, it has both XLR and RCA sockets.
The XLR headphone socket has the same specs as the jack socket alongside: as I understand it, it's intended as a convenience for owners with balanced headphone cabling.
The XLR headphone socket has the same specs as the jack socket alongside: as I understand it, it's intended as a convenience for owners with balanced headphone cabling.
Veri
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Yup.
hi, what's better to choose for Headphones (using HD 560s+HD600+HD650): EX5 or DX3pro+, is there any noticeable difference between them in terms of sounding and sound quality? i don't need XLR outputs and so on, but i want to get best sounds quality for headphone in this proce range
If you don't need the XLR outputs, then DX3pro+ is the better choice for the headphones you listed. The DX3pro+ has ultimately more power at similar distortion, so will be able to drive power hungry (lower efficiency) headphones to slightly higher volumes. The EX5 measures a tiny bit better at low volume which is theoretically beneficial for high-sensitivity IEMs, but realistically probably not audible and not particularly relevant for the cans you listed.
DX3pro+ is a better value at MSRP.
radix
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Yes, I second this. If you do not need balanced, go DX3Pro+.
From Amir's reviews, here's the numbers:
| 50 mW SINAD | 33 ohm low | 33 ohm high | 300 ohm low | 300 ohm high | |
| ex5 | 90 dB | 136 mW @ -119 dB | 1.0 W @ -116 dB | 15 mW @ -119 dB | 134 mW @ -119 dB |
| dx3pro+ | 88 dB | 119 mW @ -115 dB | 1.5 W @ -108 dB | 13 mW @ -117 dB | 257 mW @ -117 dB |
The difference in SINAD is not audible. The ex5 has a little bit more power in low gain mode, but a lot more power in high gain mode. And the the THD+N numbers (the dB ratings) are all pretty close and the differences inaudible.
If you put Tidal in exclusive mode it works like it should but if you use Equalizer APO curves for your headphones you can not use exclusive mode and the resolution is 44.1.
@iLoveCats Thank you very much.
I've just received my EX5 which is my both my first DAC and my first headphone amp. Obviously, very exciting!
First impressions - reassuringly solid and heavy.
I'm sending it audio from my MacBook Pro over USB, and I didn't realise I'd no longer be able to control the volume using the volume keys on my keyboard. Having to reach for the EX5's volume control is not the worst thing ever on the scale of human hardship, but it is a slight inconvenience.
There's occasionally a slight glitch in the audio (listening over headphones), like a momentary loss or stutter of sound. Not often, but often enough to be annoying. It's possible it's my ageing MBP but I've never noticed it before running sound through the EX5. Anyone other owners had this?
Aside from that, I have confirmed that my ears are made of cloth. Having tried switching my HD650s back and forth between the EX5 and the headphone socket on this MBP I really can't tell the difference in sound quality. The slight gap as I unplug and replug, and the odd change in volume (I swear the volume is louder when I plug the headphones in and then quickly gets slightly quieter) doesn't help.
But having just tried listening to these six test audio files at NPR I couldn't tell the difference between any versions and ended up guessing randomly, scoring 1 out of 6. Even knowing which is which, 128Kbps MP3 sounds the same as the uncompressed WAV to me (through the EX5 and my HD650s).
Is there any hope for my fifty-year old ears? Is this thing wasted on me and I should send it back and save the cash?
First impressions - reassuringly solid and heavy.
I'm sending it audio from my MacBook Pro over USB, and I didn't realise I'd no longer be able to control the volume using the volume keys on my keyboard. Having to reach for the EX5's volume control is not the worst thing ever on the scale of human hardship, but it is a slight inconvenience.
There's occasionally a slight glitch in the audio (listening over headphones), like a momentary loss or stutter of sound. Not often, but often enough to be annoying. It's possible it's my ageing MBP but I've never noticed it before running sound through the EX5. Anyone other owners had this?
Aside from that, I have confirmed that my ears are made of cloth. Having tried switching my HD650s back and forth between the EX5 and the headphone socket on this MBP I really can't tell the difference in sound quality. The slight gap as I unplug and replug, and the odd change in volume (I swear the volume is louder when I plug the headphones in and then quickly gets slightly quieter) doesn't help.
But having just tried listening to these six test audio files at NPR I couldn't tell the difference between any versions and ended up guessing randomly, scoring 1 out of 6. Even knowing which is which, 128Kbps MP3 sounds the same as the uncompressed WAV to me (through the EX5 and my HD650s).
Is there any hope for my fifty-year old ears? Is this thing wasted on me and I should send it back and save the cash?
(I re-asked the more general question about how to hear better over in the Psychoacoustics: Science of How We Hear forum. Still interested in why the EX5 specifically sounds no different to me than a laptop's headphone out.)
Yorkshire Mouth
Major Contributor
Fabius, for 20 years the internet has been well known for hyperbole, as has audiophileland for many decades before.
It’s not that there’s no difference, are that your hearing is too shot to hear it.
It’s just that the differences are relatively * small, only audible at certain points, and you have to listen carefully, and know what to listen for.
* Relative to differences in the sound of speakers, as an example.
It’s not that there’s no difference, are that your hearing is too shot to hear it.
It’s just that the differences are relatively * small, only audible at certain points, and you have to listen carefully, and know what to listen for.
* Relative to differences in the sound of speakers, as an example.
Foxenfurter
Active Member
Fabius - the sound glitches that you describe sound like they may be buffer underruns. I don't know much about Macs but you may be able to tweak buffer settings to increase the buffer size, try doubling it. The only reason to keep the buffer size low is to reduce latency that is important if you are a live musician or a gamer.
If you are listening at high-bit rates on an old or underpowered bit of kit this can also happen, but it would have to be really ancient or flea powered. I only experienced it on an atom based laptop from c 2009.
If you are listening at high-bit rates on an old or underpowered bit of kit this can also happen, but it would have to be really ancient or flea powered. I only experienced it on an atom based laptop from c 2009.
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