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Topping DX3 Pro+ Review (DAC & Headphone Amp)

x360720x

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Recently purchased this combo but for sufficient volume on my LCD-X it requires a volume of anywhere between -30db to -15db depending on the song. Is this normal? Seems awful high given the headphones are apparently very easy to drive?
 

Robert C

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adphone Amplifier Measurements
Let's start with our signal to noise ratio with headphone out:

Topping DX3 Pro+ Measurements Headphone SNR USB DAC Bluetooth Stereo.png
Could someone kindly help me understand this test?

I assume the results on the left are with the volume at max with no signal being played? What about the 50 mv one? Is this a 1 kHz signal at a volume that produces 50 mv?
 

Nusara

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Hi, The DX3 Pro+ has been serving me well trying my HD58x and Edition XS plenty loud. However I've just picked up a HeKV2 for relatively cheap. I was wondering how the DX3 Pro+ will pair as a dedicated DAC to the A30 Pro?
 

milosR

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Hello,

I found a small bug on my DX3 Pro + display when higher gain is set. When I turn on the auto display mode L - A, that turns off the display after 30 sec, the GAIN indicator disappears after the display is turned back on. The gain setting is still set to higher gain but the GAIN indicator is not displayed. After reboot the GAIN indicator is then back again and it doesn't appear back after the 30 sec timeout. I have the latest firmware 1.25

Can anybody else also replicate this?
 

rarewolf

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Could someone kindly help me understand this test?

I assume the results on the left are with the volume at max with no signal being played? What about the 50 mv one? Is this a 1 kHz signal at a volume that produces 50 mv?

My understanding is that its simply showing S/N for 2 very different loads on the amp, high level output into typical impedance load and a low level output into a high impedance load.
 

Bleib

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Bass killer, lifeless, ess hump shill, in ear knifle like, metallic sound...

Dx3pro+ literally killed all my HP's bass. Even first gen k3, my second hand zxr, k5 pro akm sounds much much better than it.

Tygr 300r, dt770pro, Hd650, even my Denon D5000 (which has subwoofer tonned bass) totally sound dull. Like someone sucked all the bass out.

Low-Fr quantity is significantly less compared to all my other sources but it also hits fast with no decay time. You wont feel anything with these in regards of bass frequencies.

Latest FW, latest drivers, tried all the filters... Same. How can this be praised that much ? Un-believable !
Thunderous bas with budget headphones Superlux HD 681. Not so much with HE400se because those don't have a lot.
Sound appears to be completely neutral depending on the material and headphones used
 

Ostanin

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Hello! I need a device with which I can listen to my favorite music through Audio Pro Addon T14 active speakers and my 6 pairs of IEM headphones (I don't like full size headphones). Headphone impedance from 8 to 64 ohms. Is this device right for me? Will I be disturbed by spurious noises due to the high sensitivity of the IEM headphones? Thank you!
 

rarewolf

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It was my understanding the DX3P+ displays the bit depth and sample rate for the PCM submitted to the DAC, but I never see it. Under what conditions is it displayed?
 

staticV3

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@rarewolf in Preamp mode, it will display the volume. In DAC mode, it will display the sample rate. The display lacks enough segments to show the bit depth as well.
You can change modes via the remote or the volume knob.
Here's the manual
 

rarewolf

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I use the DX3P+ as a headphone amp only. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the manual implies I won’t be able to adjust the volume in DAC mode. Apparently the display doesn’t have enough segments to display both the volume and the bitrate(?)
 

asorle

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I recently got the DX3 Pro+ and always when I go to play some music after it has had enough time to cool down, let's say in the morning, it pops and crackles every 15-20 seconds. These sound like when ASIO buffer is too low and you get overruns. No matter what I change it is always the same.
I use it via USB directly plugged into my PC running foobar with ASIO or WASAPI. Drivers installed v5.50 and firmware updated to latest v1.25. After 10 minutes of running it settles and no pops are heard almost like it warms up and problem is gone. Is this a normal behaviour or should I be looking to return it?
 

milosR

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I recently got the DX3 Pro+ and always when I go to play some music after it has had enough time to cool down, let's say in the morning, it pops and crackles every 15-20 seconds. These sound like when ASIO buffer is too low and you get overruns. No matter what I change it is always the same.
I use it via USB directly plugged into my PC running foobar with ASIO or WASAPI. Drivers installed v5.50 and firmware updated to latest v1.25. After 10 minutes of running it settles and no pops are heard almost like it warms up and problem is gone. Is this a normal behaviour or should I be looking to return it?
I can also report that I hear some crackles after turning on the device, but it stops after a couple of minutes. I am using it with Linux over USB and it has 1.25 firmware installed. Not a deal breaker but also doesn't bring up confidence about the long term quality.
 

hellshinoda

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Jun 8, 2021
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I'm considering between the DX3 Pro+ and L30II/E30II stack for my HD 800s. Is the headroom provided by the stack worth $100 over DX3 Pro+? I won't purchase anything required more power than HD 800s (in the near future), so future-proofing in terms of power is not necessary.
 

x360720x

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@x360720x what Gain is your DX3Pro+ set to in the menu?
Sorry to come back to this. Just tried hi gain and it requires -25db to - 30db, with Fidelio X2's (another easy to drive headphone) -10db. This surely can't be right can it? There's also loud microphonic noise whenever I touch the headphones when plugged into the amp, again not sure if that's normal?
 
Last edited:

Bleib

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Now I have the first sign of trouble with a Topping product. The screen is losing some of its numbers, well parts of it. As it is now it recovers after a few seconds but I expect this to get worse with time.
Always used screen-off function so the screen itself is not on a lot.
 

Bleib

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I recently got the DX3 Pro+ and always when I go to play some music after it has had enough time to cool down, let's say in the morning, it pops and crackles every 15-20 seconds. These sound like when ASIO buffer is too low and you get overruns. No matter what I change it is always the same.
I use it via USB directly plugged into my PC running foobar with ASIO or WASAPI. Drivers installed v5.50 and firmware updated to latest v1.25. After 10 minutes of running it settles and no pops are heard almost like it warms up and problem is gone. Is this a normal behaviour or should I be looking to return it?
Never had that occur for me, if you have warranty then try to have it replaced.
 

haen

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Jun 6, 2021
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Now I have the first sign of trouble with a Topping product. The screen is losing some of its numbers, well parts of it. As it is now it recovers after a few seconds but I expect this to get worse with time.
Always used screen-off function so the screen itself is not on a lot.
Unfortunately the quality of (some) used components / quality of control seems to be severely lacking here. Obviously all we know is based on information posted on this or other forums or other places. Topping is the only party that has a clear picture how many units were returned or how many/what kind of problems are reported. But I must say that I'm disappointed:
- my first unit had this problem with the volume knob when trying to increase volume would be ignored,
- for the second unit this problem was less pronounced, although still present, but around 1 month ago one of the segments on the LCD display starts disappearing,
- now I'm waiting for the third unit...

It is nice that the merchant said that I can keep faulty units - may be useful for some future repairs, outside the warranty window...

I don't want to be mean or ironic, but... less SINAD, more quality control... @JohnYang1997.
 
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