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Shenzhenaudio Topping EX5 Review (DAC and Headphone Amplifier)

respice finem

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Got my EX5 an hour ago. Very good first impression, all solid and heavy. Needs high gain mode to drive the 600 Ohm (de facto almost 1 kOhm) Beyerdynamic T1 Mk2, but then it drives them louder than bearable at 100% without audible distortion. No noise all the way up, same with speakers.

One thing I've noticed @my HTPC (after trying the lazy way and "stealing" the RME's USB cable/port): The EX5 absolutely won't play if the RME driver is installed, drops sync every minute and such. I was initially afraid to have a DOA sample, but no, with my laptop, without the RME driver, all is well. I'll test it later on the same PC/port, using Linux (HTPC has Linux Mint as a second OS) and report back.

/edit: With Windows, I've just been too lazy and didn't install the proprietary driver. With that, it works fine. With Linux, so far, no cigar... Linux doesn't seem to "see" the EX5. USB is blinking and that's all. Does anybody know any Linux drivers for it, or am I too lame again? :rolleyes:
 
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respice finem

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Update to above post: The EX5 was recognized immediately after trying a USB 2.0 port (for which I had to use an internal mainboard header, previously unused). With USB 3.1 Gen1 and Gen2, it just won't. Also, only 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz seem to be available, maybe another trick is needed? I hope it can be helpful to some Linux users.
 

SuperDave

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Update to above post: The EX5 was recognized immediately after trying a USB 2.0 port (for which I had to use an internal mainboard header, previously unused). With USB 3.1 Gen1 and Gen2, it just won't. Also, only 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz seem to be available, maybe another trick is needed? I hope it can be helpful to some Linux users.

I am a Linux user who just ordered one a few seconds ago; will post back with my impressions from Ubuntu 21.10 after it arrives. Thx for the tip on USB 2.0. Fortunately there's an external port available. :)
 

respice finem

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Follow-up: My (Windows) laptop recognizes the EX5 immediately, despite using USB 3 port, so it seems to be device-dependent.
 

SuperDave

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Follow-up: My (Windows) laptop recognizes the EX5 immediately, despite using USB 3 port, so it seems to be device-dependent.

Or chipset-dependent. My motherboard (Asus X570 Prime Pro) states in the manual that its' USB 3 ports are for data storage devices only. I'll give it a shot so I can use rear I/O if possible (my USB 2 ports are front panel) but am not expecting much.

My EX5 is in-hand and will be introduced to my other components soon. I'm impressed with how tiny it is, and not impressed that they didn't offer batteries for the remote. Just had to buy 8 AAA's to get the two I need. :p
 

SuperDave

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I am delayed by an unrelated problem which has revealed itself downstream of this component, and which has to get fixed first. That said, my mobo/OS appears to have recognized and operated the EX-5 natively via both USB 2 and USB 3, and it appears to be stuck on 44.1kHz. Can't troubleshoot until everything else is known good so this is very preliminary.
 

Anthony101

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Topping-EX5-01-1024x576.jpg


Today I received the Topping EX5 DAC and Headphone combo; the EX5 went deep and punched exceptionally well. First, I paired it with my Sennheiser HD 650s. The dynamics were excellent and with a powerful kick. Then I used my DT 770 PRO 250 ohms; the Topping made them sing handsomely, with punchy performance, tight bass, and good treble. The noise floor was dead silent, nothing absolute blackness.

IMO Topping and Shenzhenaudio have gone above and beyond and produced a quality DAC and headphone amp combo that is excellent in both the features and performance department for the money.

Thank you, ASR, for your fantastic and educational reviews.
 
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Yorkshire Mouth

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View attachment 198151

Today I received the Topping EX5 DAC and Headphone combo. EX5 went deep and punched exceptionally well. First, I paired it with my Sennheiser HD 650s. The dynamics were excellent and with a powerful kick. Then I used my DT 770 PRO 250 ohms; the Topping made them sing handsomely, with punchy performance, tight bass, and good treble. The noise floor was dead silent, nothing absolute blackness.

IMO Topping and Shenzhenaudio have gone above and beyond and produced a quality DAC and headphone amp combo that is excellent in both the features and performance department for the money.

Thank you, ASR, for your fantastic and educational reviews.

Similar phones to me, and the same experience.
 

RandomEar

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I just confirmed this with my EX5. When it is on the coax input, if there is no input on the L channel, after several seconds it auto-mutes both output channels. The time delay depends on the sample rate. At 192k it's about 5 seconds, at 44.1k it's about 25 seconds.

Wow, yet another EX5 software bug (the other is the display always stuck at 44.1k regardless of the actual sample rate).
@JohnYang1997 Did either of those bugs get fixed in the meantime? Latest EX5 firmware I could find is v1.65 from 2021-07-18.
 

t$$

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I just confirmed this with my EX5. When it is on the coax input, if there is no input on the L channel, after several seconds it auto-mutes both output channels. The time delay depends on the sample rate. At 192k it's about 5 seconds, at 44.1k it's about 25 seconds.

Wow, yet another EX5 software bug (the other is the display always stuck at 44.1k regardless of the actual sample rate).

I am running the latest 1.65 firmware on my EX5 and initially I could not duplicate this issue, but after a little bit of work I can, maybe this will help you put a case in with Topping.

Attempts that DID NOT lead to EX5 auto-muting the COAX input:
  • Using my Windows 11 motherboard sound card, I set the system balance to Left Channel 0 and Right Channel 100, then played music and after 30+ minutes it was still running.
  • Using AudMeS frequency generator to output a 315Mhz sine wave on the R channel only. For 5+ minutes without it auto-muting.
  • Using AudMeS to play white noise or sine wave on the L channel does not mute as far as I can tell
Attempts that DID automute:
  • Use AudMeS to produce white-noise on the R-channel-only causes muting of the R input within 10 seconds.
  • Use Audacity to produce white-noise on the R-channel-only also causes muting of the R input within 10 seconds.
This is not a problem for my usage, so I am not going to bother to try to contact Topping about this, but hopefully this will give you some additional fodder to work with Topping if you chose to pursue a firmware fix from them.
 
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MRC01

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... maybe this will help you put a case in with Topping. ... if you chose to pursue a firmware fix from them.
Since Topping could not reproduce the problem, I returned the EX-5 (buying through Amazon makes this easy). However, this info could be useful for others.

The bugs I encountered were when driving the EX-5 SPDIF (optical or coax) from a Linux machine (Ubuntu 18, ESI Juli@ sound card), and from my Oppo BDP-83 disk player. When doing this, the EX-5 did not display the proper sampling rate, and it would shut itself off when playing frequency sweeps. However, people driving it from Windows computers don't seem to encounter these bugs, so that may be a clue.

It's worth mentioning that these bugs don't occur when driving other DACs from the same Linux box, and from my BDP-83. So the bugs are specific to the EX-5. I am now using an SMSL SU-6 with these same devices and it does not have these bugs. My Corda Soul (DAC and amp) does not have these bugs either. They always indicate the correct sample rate and they never shut off when playing sweeps. I don't mean to imply these devices are "better", just giving information for troubleshooting that the bugs are specific to the EX-5.

Edit: the auto-shutoff happened with freq sweeps having R channel only (no digital signal on L channel). Both channels, and L channel only, worked fine. Weird, huh? And the delay before shutoff varied by sample rate: about 25 secs at 44.1k, about 5 secs at 192k, so it seems related to total samples received.
 
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DeepFried

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possibly a dumb question: Is the Bluetooth capable of acting as a transmitter (for BT headphones) as well as a receiver? the product description just describes it as an input, so I guess not?
 

Toku

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possibly a dumb question: Is the Bluetooth capable of acting as a transmitter (for BT headphones) as well as a receiver? the product description just describes it as an input, so I guess not?
The BT in the DAC is equipped as an input source. Therefore, there is no function to send from DAC. This is common to most DACs.
 
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Robbo99999

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View attachment 198151

Today I received the Topping EX5 DAC and Headphone combo; the EX5 went deep and punched exceptionally well. First, I paired it with my Sennheiser HD 650s. The dynamics were excellent and with a powerful kick. Then I used my DT 770 PRO 250 ohms; the Topping made them sing handsomely, with punchy performance, tight bass, and good treble. The noise floor was dead silent, nothing absolute blackness.

IMO Topping and Shenzhenaudio have gone above and beyond and produced a quality DAC and headphone amp combo that is excellent in both the features and performance department for the money.

Thank you, ASR, for your fantastic and educational reviews.
Very nice pic and noise floor observations, gave you a like for the pic! (but not the for the flowery handsome singing, ha!)
 

Garrincha

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Stupid question, since I am always also interested in design besides performance: Is it possible to get rid of the "MQA" writing on the front without harming the finish (as well as the "Shenzenaudio")?
 

SpaceMonkey

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Stupid question, since I am always also interested in design besides performance: Is it possible to get rid of the "MQA" writing on the front without harming the finish (as well as the "Shenzenaudio")?
Maybe sugar will work but be careful
 
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