Topping DX3 Pro+ Review (DAC & Headphone Amp)

[lockheed]

Topping BC3 is a Bluetooth receiver with LDAC that also has optical out. So you could connect it to the optical input on your D30, assuming you're not using that input already.

Topping BC3 Review (Bluetooth Receiver) & BT CODECs

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping BC3 Bluetooth receiver and headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the online seller, Yaoyaotiger HIFI Audio Store and costs US $69. This is a follow up to our previous tests of Bluetooth receivers and investigating performance of...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Of course if you're also anxious to upgrade your headphone amp, then the DX3 Pro+ could be a good choice

Thank you for the suggestion, it is an interesting one. But I would prefer to keep everything in a single device (paired with Sabaj A20a amp) and sell the D30. I mainly use USB input and occasional Bluetooth, so easy or automatic input switching would be great.
I do not have nor do I plan to ever use headphones.

 

[SlowCar]

Is there anything audibly "better"? Would i need ever more power (i will not use HE6 and alike power needing headphones, just normal 300 ohm dynamics or hifiman arya level)?

 

[raistlin65]

Is there anything audibly "better"? Would i need ever more power (i will not use HE6 and alike power needing headphones, just normal 300 ohm dynamics or hifiman arya level)?

The DX3 Pro+ is easily arguable to be noise and distortion-free within the range of human hearing. So it exceeds the highest fidelity audio reproduction your ears can perceive.

So unless you can upgrade your ears to a bat or a dog, a more accurate setup isn't going to sound better.

And yes. It will work fine with those headphones. You can confirm by using this headphone power calculator and then comparing it against the DX3 Pro+ power output review measurements.

Headphones Power Calculator

Calculate the power needed to drive your headphone based on sensitivity (db/mw or db/V), impedance (ohms) and loudness (dbSPL)

www.headphonesty.com

 

[Dukies07]

Is there anything audibly "better"? Would i need ever more power (i will not use HE6 and alike power needing headphones, just normal 300 ohm dynamics or hifiman arya level)?

I'm probably the least qualified person on this forum to respond as I'm new to all this, but I have been doing a lot of research to learn as much as I can before purchasing my first dac/amp combo (not counting the sound blaster x3 I previously owned). Assuming you don't want a stack, I've really only come across two other combo units < $200 worth considering which is the Ifi Zen Dac and the Fiio K5 Pro.

The benefits of the Zen dac over the DX3 Pro+ are balanced input, MQA decoding (if that matters to you), it can run off bus power, and has a bass boost option. Based on measurements from this site, it did not measure nearly as well as the DX3 Pro+. Also, compared to the DX3 Pro+ a couple other differences are the amp is less powerful and no Bluetooth. Also, the USB cable provided with it is extremely short and I've also read people having to buy a wall wart to eliminate noise. There also seem to be a lot of complaints about channel imbalance issues at low volumes.

The Fiio K5 Pro was just re-released because like many others, it had to be updated to utilize a new chip due to the AKM factory fire. Since the new ESS model has just been released, I haven't been able to find much feedback on it and it also hasn't been measured by this site or elsewhere from my searches.

So when you are asking about anything else being audibly "better", if you are basing that off of measurements I doubt you're going to find any comparable unit < $200 that is going to beat the DX3 Pro+. If you're instead referring to sound signature, consistent feedback on the Zen Dac is that the sound is "warmer" from the Burr Brown chip. Based purely on assumptions, I would guess the Fiio K5 Pro ESS to have a similiar sound signature to the DX3 Pro+ but would be surprised if it measures as well (based on previous measurements of prior model DX3 Pro vs Fiio K5). I finally decided to pull the trigger on a DX3 Pro+ last night, so hope to have it soon.

 

[SlowCar]

@raistlin65 Thank You so much for this calculator! It seems like no headphone should be a problem! Even HE6!!

Is there anything that will have same qualities but also symmetric output for monitors? How much pricier will it get?

 

[radix]

I'm probably the least qualified person on this forum to respond as I'm new to all this, but I have been doing a lot of research to learn as much as I can before purchasing my first dac/amp combo (not counting the sound blaster x3 I previously owned). Assuming you don't want a stack, I've really only come across two other combo units < $200 worth considering which is the Ifi Zen Dac and the Fiio K5 Pro.

The benefits of the Zen dac over the DX3 Pro+ are balanced input, MQA decoding (if that matters to you), it can run off bus power, and has a bass boost option. Based on measurements from this site, it did not measure nearly as well as the DX3 Pro+. Also, compared to the DX3 Pro+ a couple other differences are the amp is less powerful and no Bluetooth. Also, the USB cable provided with it is extremely short and I've also read people having to buy a wall wart to eliminate noise. There also seem to be a lot of complaints about channel imbalance issues at low volumes.

The Fiio K5 Pro was just re-released because like many others, it had to be updated to utilize a new chip due to the AKM factory fire. Since the new ESS model has just been released, I haven't been able to find much feedback on it and it also hasn't been measured by this site or elsewhere from my searches.

So when you are asking about anything else being audibly "better", if you are basing that off of measurements I doubt you're going to find any comparable unit < $200 that is going to beat the DX3 Pro+. If you're instead referring to sound signature, consistent feedback on the Zen Dac is that the sound is "warmer" from the Burr Brown chip. Based purely on assumptions, I would guess the Fiio K5 Pro ESS to have a similiar sound signature to the DX3 Pro+ but would be surprised if it measures as well (based on previous measurements of prior model DX3 Pro vs Fiio K5). I finally decided to pull the trigger on a DX3 Pro+ last night, so hope to have it soon.

The Fiio K5 Pro was significantly worse than the DX3Pro+, based on Amir's measurements. That was the non-ESS unit. There is a post at the end of the K5 review saying the ESS version is about the same as the AKM version. They might have the same chips, but the circuitry around those chips and the software does matter.

Pretty much every Topping product I've seen reviewed here has been a star. Fiio, not so much.

 

[raistlin65]

@raistlin65 Thank You so much for this calculator! It seems like no headphone should be a problem! Even HE6!!

Is there anything that will have same qualities but also symmetric output for monitors? How much pricier will it get?

Not sure what you mean by symmetric output?

 

[radix]

@raistlin65 Thank You so much for this calculator! It seems like no headphone should be a problem! Even HE6!!

Is there anything that will have same qualities but also symmetric output for monitors? How much pricier will it get?

Do you mean at the same time as the headphones or switch between headphones and monitors? The DX3Pro+ will work in either headphone mode or pre-amp mode, but not both at the same time. Sorry, there is the O-3 mode that drives both headphones and line out at same time.

You get to O-1 (lineout only) by pressing the "Line Out" button. If you press "Line Out" then the center button, you get to O-3 (lineout + headphones). If you press the headphone button, you go to O-2 (headphones only).

 

[tlr125]

can someone describe how the DX3pro+ sounds with internal headphone amp, in technical side it's great but the sounding is more important for me
is it warm, dark, bright, airy? how the bass going here: deep, punchy?

 

[radix]

Do you mean at the same time as the headphones or switch between headphones and monitors? The DX3Pro+ will work in either headphone mode or pre-amp mode, but not both at the same time. Sorry, there is the O-3 mode that drives both headphones and line out at same time.

You get to O-1 (lineout only) by pressing the "Line Out" button. If you press "Line Out" then the center button, you get to O-3 (lineout + headphones). If you press the headphone button, you go to O-2 (headphones only).

I guess I should also point out that if you drive both speakers and headphones at the same time, you only have 1 EQ setting. So if you EQ the headphones on your player, you'll get that EQ out both speakers and headphones if played at the same time.

 

[radix]

can someone describe how the DX3pro+ sounds with internal headphone amp, in technical side it's great but the sounding is more important for me
is it warm, dark, bright, airy? how the bass going here: deep, punchy?

That's really more of a function of your headphones and EQ than the dac/amp. I don't think the DX3Pro+ is going to color your sound. it has plenty of power to drive highs and lows.

 

[SlowCar]

I meant XLR output

Currently I have dx3 pro so i suppose functionality would be similar.
So to sum up - dx3 pro+ is great value. How much more to have similar value with xlr output? Blutetooh propably needed*

* Are there competent streamers where i can apply eq and easily stream spotify/tidal but mostly Apple Music without loss of quality? Also eq should be easily changed of presets for many headhpones and monitors. Currently i have to use special app on android (USB audio player) which is very inconvenient. I would love to have possibility to stream from apple music and do eq on other device. Also wondering about Dirac possibility - but it seems pricey and i would have to split it from headphones which make it ever more pricier.
I was thinking about dx3 pro+ and moode audio on raspberry pie. Please share Your thoughts

 

[raistlin65]

I meant XLR output

Currently I have dx3 pro so i suppose functionality would be similar.
So to sum up - dx3 pro+ is great value. How much more to have similar value with xlr output? Blutetooh propably needed*

Topping EX5

Shenzhenaudio Topping EX5 Review (DAC and Headphone Amplifier)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping EX5 produced exclusively for Shenzhenaudio. The EX5 is slated to cost US $349.99 which it is released. The sample I have is from production run but is awaiting the manual for formal shipments. It was sent to me by Shenzhenaudio. The...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[SlowCar]

Shouldn't i be concerned of less power?

Is this the same product (lack of Shenzhenaudio):

Topping EX5 MQA Dual ES9038Q2M DAC Bluetooth 5.0 LDAC DSD512 PCM 768kHz Hi-Res Audio wzmacniacz słuchawkowy Hi-Fi Decoder (srebrny) : Amazon.pl: Elektronika

Topping EX5 MQA Dual ES9038Q2M DAC Bluetooth 5.0 LDAC DSD512 PCM 768kHz Hi-Res Audio wzmacniacz słuchawkowy Hi-Fi Decoder (srebrny) : Amazon.pl: Elektronika

www.amazon.pl

EDIT:
propably it is:

 

[Killingbeans]

Shouldn't i be concerned of less power?

Only with really hard to drive cans.

 

[Z3ntariam]

I'm going to get my first good pair of cans, after reading I've decide to go for HE400 SE.
I need a DAC + AMP combo, but here (Europe) most of the popular options are sould out.

Will 3DXpro+ pair good with that cans or a solution like L30 + portable DAC(+AMP) could give me better performances as well as more flexibility?
I would also be able to EQ to Harman and still have some loudness.

 

[lockheed]

Can the display on DX3 Pro+ dim or switch off while in use? I plan to use it in a dark room and don't need the constantly displayed numbers.

 

[gael]

Can the display on DX3 Pro+ dim or switch off while in use? I plan to use it in a dark room and don't need the constantly displayed numbers.

There are three brightness settings and a setting that turns off the display after 30 secs.

 

[eye_scream]

That sounds like a good path.

BTW, you can switch between high and low gain easily with the M button on the remote. I was thinking of getting into the menu system by the knob. If the display says "GAIN" you are in high gain mode.

Problem solved.
There are measurement about Sivga P-II and Wavlet EQ setting file too: link

I can use always the Dx3Pro+ in high gain mode, because the Wavlet EQ cuts 10dB in the high frequency area. (Gain limiter was a wrong way...)

To be honest, it was surprising to me how big the difference was between the measured data and the Harman target curve.
Well, we have to live with compromises.

Thank you for your help!

 

[ZenTraveler]

I'm late to the party here, but a question: How would this fare with the 32-ohm impedance Oppo PM-3? Per Amir's initial comment, it's not great for low-impedance cans... currently using an SMSL SU-8 and a Topping L30, which sound pretty great.

High output impedance only issue with some dynamic driver. Not an issue for Planar driver.