Topping DX1 mini desktop DAC & AMP

[MrNice13]

Theres only the 2 sliders so knock yourself out adjusting both to taste

you are so right !!
Cannot live without now .. on some old record you can really hear how it affects the horizontal or vertical hearing cannot explain what the feeling is xD it affect the spacial hearing of the tracks. On jazz record without the cross its nearly impossible to ear like the song on just one side... xD Thanks @Jimbob54 for the TIPS.
Peace

 

[BEsosturu]

ok, my onboard audio is alc887, it runs my HD58X cans at a decent volume, sometimes i use 60-70% of volume, with some tracks, so i am satisfied with that. but second HP's
Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO 80 Ohm Black Edition , volume is kind of low, at maxed, so i figure yea resistance is lower but sensitives also low, so needs a little more power, more headroom, should i try out Topping DX1, or more cheaper one fiio E-10K is enough? my goal is a little better sound than onboard. also other options are welcome to recommend.

 

[MrNice13]

The Dt770 80 ohms are special I've had problem driving them with the iBasso dc03 pro and it is using double cirrus 43131. I recommend the dx1 over the cheap Fiio e10k.

 

[Yashiro_R]

Just got mine couple hours ago, since then continuously enjoying music (which I didn't knew could sound this great, my M1 Air or Phone wasn't able to drive the 80 Ohm Beyers which many claim are easy to drive...not in my case).

Just using a simple USB Adapter that came with Segate External HDD, works great with my M1 Air.

And Yes, My Phone Samsung M31 also Supports this (which isn't even an high-grade phone) perfectly. My Music Library is entirely in that phone's SD Card (24 bit, 192 khz), which was not in use as my phone wasn't powering my Cans enough. With DX1 & using Poweramp (with EQ), they sound like never before.

This is My First AMP/DAC, thus don't have any comparison points, sounds far better than the dac/amp in M1 Air & Samsung M31.

 

[Gigachad]

Just got mine couple hours ago, since then continuously enjoying music (which I didn't knew could sound this great, my M1 Air or Phone wasn't able to drive the 80 Ohm Beyers which many claim are easy to drive...not in my case).

Just using a simple USB Adapter that came with Segate External HDD, works great with my M1 Air.

And Yes, My Phone Samsung M31 also Supports this (which isn't even an high-grade phone) perfectly. My Music Library is entirely in that phone's SD Card (24 bit, 192 khz), which was not in use as my phone wasn't powering my Cans enough. With DX1 & using Poweramp (with EQ), they sound like never before.

This is My First AMP/DAC, thus don't have any comparison points, sounds far better than the dac/amp in M1 Air & Samsung M31.

You can end your DAC journey here tbh, doesn't get better than this

 

[CDMC]

Wondering if I need to upgrade my DX1. I purchased as set of the Dan Clark Aeon X Open (the Drop version) headphones. They are less sensitive than my prior Sennheisers and rated at 94db/m2w with a 13 ohm impedance. According to the measurements for the DX1 is puts out about 300 mw into 16 ohms and Topping says it is rated to 8 ohms. My calculations say that I should be able to hit over 115 db, but I also see a lot of people speaking about needed high powered headphone amps for planar headphones (i.e. more than 1w). I do not listen at high levels, does anyone thing I may be running the DX1 out of power and clipping without realizing it and should get something bigger? If so, what as a combo Dac/headphone amp that is reasonably priced?

https://cdn.l7audiolab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/1663622326-THDN-Ratio-vs-Measured-Level.jpg

 

[Tallulah]

I got mine a couple of weeks ago to replace my laptop's DAC/Amp (Realtek ALC257). I tested it with the HD 600 and the Edition XS. Maximum volume is overkill for me. I'm using a -7 dB preamp to boost the bass and I'm listening to music with ReplayGain (-18 LUFS). Despite that, I rarely go above half volume with low gain, and I've never needed to use high gain. I usually listen to music at normal conversation volume, around 60 dB.

I was very skeptical about getting this dedicated DAC/Amp and I thought that I would return it, but the truth is that I do feel the sound slightly "cleaner", especially the treble. I can't do a proper blind test so I'll believe that and keep it.

 

[RaB_7382]

how are you all managing the channel imbalance?
please tell me how to do it.
regards

 

[staticV3]

how are you all managing the channel imbalance?
please tell me how to do it.
regards

Use low gain and turn up the volume knob to compensate.
Channel imbalance is lowest with the knob turned up:

 

[RaB_7382]

thank you.

 

[slg1986]

Is possible connect this DX1 only with iPad/iPhone and hearphone? thanks

 

[Marcus925]

I have both the DX3 pro+ and the DX1. I would definitely recommend the DX1 as a desktop piece, since the volume control is smooth and the unit is compact.

I've seen you said that you own dx3 pro+ and dx1. Please tell me about the sound difference. I've heard that dx3 sounds a bit thin in the mid and it has a bit harsh highs. And which one sounds "warmer"?

 

[Katzz]

Does anyone notice a diference in timbre between 24 bits 44100 hz and 192000 hz? I recorded at the same distance and at the same volume at the center of the tweeter of the klipsch the fives. This happen with any song at 44100 hz, 96 khz or 192 khz, there always a change on timbre when you change the dx1 sample rate

 

[Tallulah]

Does anyone notice a diference in timbre between 24 bits 44100 hz and 192000 hz? I recorded at the same distance and at the same volume at the center of the tweeter of the klipsch the fives. This happen with any song at 44100 hz, 96 khz or 192 khz, there always a change on timbre when you change the dx1 sample rate

I am unable to tell the difference when comparing your demos and I'm also unable to tell any difference when I switch between sample rate modes on my DX1. My hearing may not be very good, I'm curious to read what other users think.

EDIT: I've just compared the spectrogram of your demo files... you can open each image on different tabs and switch between them for comparison, since these are already aligned. I don't think there's any audible difference between these two spectrograms, but who knows...

 

[Katzz]

I am unable to tell the difference when comparing your demos and I'm also unable to tell any difference when I switch between sample rate modes on my DX1. My hearing may not be very good, I'm curious to read what other users think.

EDIT: I've just compared the spectrogram of your demo files... you can open each image on different tabs and switch between them for comparison, since these are already aligned. I don't think there's any audible difference between these two spectrograms, but who knows...

Interesting, I could had swear that the cymbals had some kind of elevation at 44100 hz, making it them sound more "direct" and harsh meanwhile at 192 khz those sounded more recesed but somewhat they sounded more right, at 384000 hz is pretty much the same at 192 khz. I guess it was just my brain....

Edit: I made some screenshots showing the first 8 seconds on each recording from the samsung voice recorder app, but not sure how usefull this is since this is audio recorded from a phone mic

 

[Yashiro_R]

I got the Truthear Hexa & they sound amazing with these (High-Gain on 3' with 60-70% on Macbook). They are loud with just my phone but they are atleast 30% better with DX1.

 

[CDMC]

Wondering if I need to upgrade my DX1. I purchased as set of the Dan Clark Aeon X Open (the Drop version) headphones. They are less sensitive than my prior Sennheisers and rated at 94db/m2w with a 13 ohm impedance. According to the measurements for the DX1 is puts out about 300 mw into 16 ohms and Topping says it is rated to 8 ohms. My calculations say that I should be able to hit over 115 db, but I also see a lot of people speaking about needed high powered headphone amps for planar headphones (i.e. more than 1w). I do not listen at high levels, does anyone thing I may be running the DX1 out of power and clipping without realizing it and should get something bigger? If so, what as a combo Dac/headphone amp that is reasonably priced?

https://cdn.l7audiolab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/1663622326-THDN-Ratio-vs-Measured-Level.jpg

So the answer to this question is I did need to upgrade, and I didn't. I decided to try a more powerful Amp. Running the RCA outputs out of the DX1 into a JDS Labs Atom Amp+ I decides to compare the internal amplifier of the DX1 to see if it was running out of power. As close as I could by ear, I volume matched. I was surprised to find there was a substantial difference in sound, but it wasn't clear what the difference was. Finally when playing some drums that panned around a great deal, it became clear, there was a several db mismatch between the left and right channels on the DX1 resulting in the entire image shifting right. I double checked with another old headphone amp I had laying around (waiting for a buyer, now sold) and confirmed that it was the DX1 and not the JDS.

Otherwise, the amps section sounded basically identical to me. I say basically, as if I turned it up to levels louder than I every normally listen (i.e. levels I would only listen to if really cranking it up for one song), the bass was more solid with the Atom, from what I suspect was the DX1 reading its power limits and starting to mildly clip.

I still think the DX1 is an absolute bargain. Since I already bought the JDS and there was a difference, I am keeping it and using it with Schiit Modi+.

 

[uwotm8]

Hello, I have a moderately stupid question
Does DX1 work as a preamp, I mean, is RCA output variable or fixed?

 

[staticV3]

Does DX1 work as a preamp, I mean, is RCA output variable or fixed?

The analog volume pot does only affect the Headphone output.
To change the DX1's Line out volume, you'd have to use software volume on your source device, or alternatively UAC2 hardware volume in case the DX1 supports that.

 

[Alexium]

I have involuntarily conducted an interesting test today. My mini PC's power supply is giving up the ghost, it started humming today, and simultaneously significant hum and static appeared in the audio out. It's clearly a power supply noise as it's not affected by any volume controls (including the physical knob). And I can tell you that the power supply noise rejection ratio of DX1 is not the best. Surprisingly, it's a lot worse than this cheapo DAC ($16 on Aliexpress, $25 with a case):

But the integrated Realtek is way way worse than DX1.