Some info about Topping's incoming DX1 II

[Bleib]

Well, optical in works fine with everything except Fosi Merak CD-player. When the DAC functions optical output works as well.
USB has always been problematic..I can sometimes have stability for 1-2 hours until the sound glitches out. Then I have to use the remote to switch between USB and optical to get the USB functionality back

I'm not using the original USB cable provided with it though, I have a HQ 60w cable for this. I know it works because it works with everything else
I've also made sure no power saving modes are on in the computer

 

[Power Pop 23]

A 'thank you' to the members of ASR who ended up 'beta testing' the new DX1 II for Topping Audio.

I look forward to a finished product that measures as performant.

 

[Mike123]

but rear balanced outputs leak a lot whatever I do

This happens when a complex 5-pin connector doesn't insert properly. Either it's not inserted all the way or it's too deep.

 

[Demmers]

A 'thank you' to the members of ASR who ended up 'beta testing' the new DX1 II for Topping Audio.

I look forward to a finished product that measures as performant.

I honestly just thought it would be another purchase that just happens to be “first” from the production line
It works well “enough” for me due to the way I use it, but for sure, not without issues that shouldn’t be there. I just hope they can all be fixed with firmware updates, and not turn out to be due to poor physical design.

 

[pier25]

This happens when a complex 5-pin connector doesn't insert properly. Either it's not inserted all the way or it's too deep.

No issues here when I tried the unbalanced RCA outputs. Couldn't find a 4.4mm splitter cable locally to try on my unit.

 

[NTTY]

No issues here when I tried the unbalanced RCA outputs. Couldn't find a 4.4mm splitter cable locally to try on my unit.

No issues with RCA, it was my first measurement (from optical in).

 

[NTTY]

Well, optical in works fine with everything except Fosi Merak CD-player. When the DAC functions optical output works as well.
USB has always been problematic..I can sometimes have stability for 1-2 hours until the sound glitches out. Then I have to use the remote to switch between USB and optical to get the USB functionality back

I'm not using the original USB cable provided with it though, I have a HQ 60w cable for this. I know it works because it works with everything else
I've also made sure no power saving modes are on in the computer

I wasted a good portion of my Sunday on the little thing. I failed getting sound from USB. It can update the firmware but does not want to stream music, go figure.

I tried with the Merak (63ppm clock deviation) as inputs via SPDIF optical and saw only noise, extreme instability of the signal. I did not try to listen to that. So I tried with another CD player (Teac VRDS 25x that has a more precise clock at -2.5ppm) and measured instability too but much less. All of that looks like clock instability, and this is why I mentioned the values for both CD players. I tried to listen to the Teac and heard the sound drop from time to time.

So, I went back to using the SMSL PO100 Pro (clock better than 0.5ppm) and listened to music sent by my computer to the SMSL and SMSL to the Topping (opti) without issues.

With that, I believe the Topping does not slave itself to the incoming clock of the digital signal. I have that possibility with my Motu, I can switch to make it the master (use its internal clock) or slave (it locks to the incoming signal). If I put it in master mode, it relies on its internal clock and ignores the one of the incoming signal. But if the device sending the signal does not have the same precision as the Motu, then I see the same type of errors I saw with the Topping.

I’m not sure I can confirm that, I mention it only from experience and I’ll try to think about a test to verify. Maybe Topping made the error to set their device in "master" mode for both digital input and output. If the digital input is forwarded as is to the output, then maybe I can figure out a test using my Motu.

 

[Bleib]

I wasted a good portion of my Sunday on the little thing. I failed getting sound from USB. It can update the firmware but does not want to stream music, go figure.

I tried with the Merak (63ppm clock deviation) as inputs via SPDIF optical and saw only noise, extreme instability of the signal. I did not try to listen to that. So I tried with another CD player (Teac VRDS 25x that has a more precise clock at 2.5ppm) and measured instability too but much less. All of that looks like clock instability, and this is why I mentioned the values for both CD players. I tried to listen to the Teac and heard the sound drop from time to time.

So, I went back to using the SMSL PO100 Pro (clock better than 0.5ppm) and listened to music via my computer without issues.

With that, I believe the Topping does not slave itself to the incoming clock of the digital signal. I have that possibility with my Motu, I can switch to make it the master (use its internal clock) or slave (it locks to the incoming signal). If I put it in master mode, it relies on its internal clock and ignores the one of the incoming signal. But if the device sending the signal does not have the same precision as the Motu, then I see the same type of errors I saw with the Topping.

I’m not sure I can confirm that, I mention it only from experience and I’ll try to think about a test to verify that. Maybe Topping made the error to set their device in "master" mode for both digital input and output. If the digital input is forwarded as is to the output, then maybe I can figure out a test using my Motu.

Thanks for testing, I've wasted a lot of hours on this thing as well... not sure I should keep it or ask to send the whole thing back, I absolutely do not want to pay for shipping it back. This thing is certainly is not ready for release.

@TOPPING-Service @TOPPING some more user experience

 

[pier25]

Personally I've had a lot more issues with the EQ software than the hardware or firmware (although I'm still on 2.46).

ToppingTune still has untranslated portions of the GUI:

There's also a weird bug I've seen a couple of times. When moving the mouse over the bottom part of the window, the window itself moves.

I'm happy with the DAC and amp for my use case (no optical, only for headphones). I was hoping to be able to get rid of SoundSource but the software to configure the DSP is a big turnoff.

 

[olieb]

A 'thank you' to the members of ASR who ended up 'beta testing' the new DX1 II for Topping Audio.

ToppingTune still has untranslated portions of the GUI:

Yep, every time this Chinese language dialog pop up, I am reminded of the fact that beta status has not even reached yet.
Not for ToppingTune and even less for the firmwares with PEQs. And the hardware? Who knows?
If you want to ruin your reputation, that seems like a very effective way to do it.

 

[tunkejazz]

Umm, I think I will wait and see how this develops. I was almost pulling the trigger, but the main motivation for me is PEQ, and if software is not ready, I rather not use it.

 

[giraffe]

Umm, I think I will wait and see how this develops. I was almost pulling the trigger, but the main motivation for me is PEQ, and if software is not ready, I rather not use it.

In addition to the dedicated PC equalization app, Topping Tune, there's a web version called Topping Home. I haven't seen any complaints about it.

 

[Demmers]

In addition to the dedicated PC equalization app, Topping Tune, there's a web version called Topping Home. I haven't seen any complaints about it.

Topping Home works fine for me, I don't believe i've had any issues with it.

 

[Bleib]

It's weird, about 3 hours of use through USB and it has worked fine.

 

[Mike123]

It's weird, about 3 hours of use through USB and it has worked fine.

Yes, after 17 pages it was unexpected .

 

[NTTY]

Got the USB to work. It simply was that when connecting the Topping, master sound went on mute, as opposed to my other DACs. Shame on me
As for the digital input/output I think this is what I suspected. I measured a drift of 9.5ppm from input to output which means the Topping uses its internal clock instead of the one coming from the SPDIF. I should be able to run complementary tests to confirm.

 

[NullVoid]

Being unable to update (Without a VM or doing some things on Wine/Proton) might’ve been a blessing in disguise in Linux.
No complaints so far on my end aside from the website(and therefore the manual) being down the day I decided to setup one.
And oddly sounding quieter than I expected.

 

[staticV3]

Being unable to update (Without a VM or doing some things on Wine/Proton) might’ve been a blessing in disguise in Linux.
No complaints so far on my end aside from the website(and therefore the manual) being down the day I decided to setup one.
And oddly sounding quieter than I expected.

Check Alsamixer, there might be a hardware volume slider not set to 100%.

Otherwise, you can check any DAC/Amp's output volume using a basic multimeter.

 

[Bleib]

So. 2nd day the DAC works :O
For the record, the only change I did yesterday was changing to the included USB A to C cable, it's still connected to USB 3.0.
(the USB cable I've used previously works with absolutely everything else connected before like Fosi ZH3)

 

[Matias]

he website(and therefore the manual) being down the day I decided to setup one.

Website was down for me to but I eventually managed to save the manual.