Topping DX3 Pro+ Review (DAC & Headphone Amp)

[The Masked Onion]

The only mentions of a tinny sound with the DX3 pro+ I've seen outside ASR say that it was caused by an issue with the 3.5mm socket. It only seemed to happen if the headphone jack was pushed all the way in to the socket. They said to slightly pull the jack out about 1mm and that fixed the issue for them.

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/xhk57s

Maybe there was a batch with bad 3.5mm sockets?

 

[TurboNatalia]

The only mentions of a tinny sound with the DX3 pro+ I've seen outside ASR say that it was caused by an issue with the 3.5mm socket. It only seemed to happen if the headphone jack was pushed all the way in to the socket. They said to slightly pull the jack out about 1mm and that fixed the issue for them.

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/xhk57s

Maybe there was a batch with bad 3.5mm sockets?

that looks like just the classic 3.5mm issue, not the subtle and subjective "tinny" sound referred in this thread.

 

[milosR]

I have a similar experience with DX3 Pro+ like the Reddit review described. Listening from the RCA outputs did little change with speakers, and even a warmer class A headphone amp was of little help. So I decided to buy the Fiio K7 and test how it works and I am much happier. No more Topping products for me. Fiio K7 costs the same, much better build quality, design and volume control button. Only bluetooth missing, but I don't need it. And there is also a linear power supply option to upgrade to latter next year.

 

[Doodski]

And there is also a linear power supply option to upgrade to latter next year.

That's not exactly a upgrade. What do they tell you this is does and why is it advantageous?

 

[milosR]

That's not exactly a upgrade. What do they tell you this is does and why is it advantageous?

I will buy it as an experiment. If I get a 5% change in sound for the better it is enough for my curiosity. Linear power supplies are technically upgrades to switching supplies. The more I analyse DAC's the more I respect the ones that put effort into power supply and output stage design. The chip is secondary.

 

[Tobii_73]

Hey guys i have purchased the dx3pro+ and the time i installed the drivers for it it was jumping audio on youtube in games and on offline music sources it sounded like u skip 1 sec forward and on youtube it looked like that too.
After uninstalling the drivers from topping my dx3+ worked fine agin.
My question is do i need the drivers i am mainly gaming and listening to music do i need ASIO to get faster latency for gaming?

 

[Veri]

Linear power supplies are technically upgrades to switching supplies. The more I analyse DAC's the more I respect the ones that put effort into power supply and output stage design. The chip is secondary.

Not... really. One can build a perfectly over-engineered and more than adequate switching supply. In many cases it will actually be harder to get low noise from an internal LPSU. And AFAIK buying aftermarket LPS has never been proven to be beneficial https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...o-you-need-linear-power-supply-for-dacs.7021/

You might actually get a marginally cleaner signal buying an USB isolator (obviously still highly debatable if audible) rather than investing in an LPS which is almost never going to up performance in a proper made device, the power filtering should really be happening inside. Not outside.

 

[Jayzqa]

yes ... it looks like that. I do not really need that much of dac or balance either.
I'll try to go blind with an aune x1s or Sabaj a10d, both are competitors around the same price. They are measured worse here but I'd be good with it as long as no audible noise.

Just choose carefully so that you get all the things you actually need. For example Aune x1s won't mute RCA-outs if you plug in headphones etc

 

[georgitt]

Hey guys i have purchased the dx3pro+ and the time i installed the drivers for it it was jumping audio on youtube in games and on offline music sources it sounded like u skip 1 sec forward and on youtube it looked like that too.
After uninstalling the drivers from topping my dx3+ worked fine agin.
My question is do i need the drivers i am mainly gaming and listening to music do i need ASIO to get faster latency for gaming?

Check the dpc latency of your device.

I don't know of any games that use ASIO. Maybe some use WASAPI. Either way, if it works without drivers, you can still use it. It might not be able to play hi-res content, however (192kHz stuff and above).

 

[akbetter01]

So I decided to buy the Fiio K7 and test how it works and I am much happier. No more Topping products for me. Fiio K7 costs the same, much better build quality, design and volume control button.

i agree, some problems i had with the dx3, besides the thin sound:
- refuses to detect pcm audio on cold boot
- volume knob skipping db
- limited operating angle of the remote
- the led display will break in little time
- way too hot and high power consumption in ide
- usb cable provided is bad quality

 

[MajoloBama]

Akbetter; you seem to be one a mission here….you should be banned

 

[akbetter01]

Akbetter; you seem to be one a mission here….you should be banned

then do it, I don't trust a site that praises products because the THD+N is 0.0001 below human hearing but ignore all these problems I mentioned. unfortunately i only read the main post when buying this.

 

[MajoloBama]

The only one here with an agenda seem to be you…

 

[RobinOC]

The only mentions of a tinny sound with the DX3 pro+ I've seen outside ASR say that it was caused by an issue with the 3.5mm socket. It only seemed to happen if the headphone jack was pushed all the way in to the socket. They said to slightly pull the jack out about 1mm and that fixed the issue for them.

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/xhk57s

Maybe there was a batch with bad 3.5mm sockets?

I bought the DX3 Pro+ on Black Friday, and long story short, I found it had the headphone socket problem so returned it for a replacement, same problem. So it's either systemic with all the units, or a bad batch. Maybe owners could chime in on if they have the problem and when they bought their unit.

BTW, I wasn't about to have to fiddle with the headphone socket on a new product. I would think it would lead to worsening over time.

I ended up buying the S.M.S.L. C200. Two headphone jacks, twice the headaches! I sure hope not. I won't be arriving until after Christmas but reviews seem to put it on par with the Lapping, but the lapping is a nicer looking unit.

 

[georgitt]

No problems for me, 1 month in use. But the build quality is visibly poor, and I don't think it will last long. Specifically, the jack doesn't seem to be attached to the case, which probably causes problems over time.

If it breaks, I'm not going to return it. Maybe I'll try to mod it or something. You get what you pay for.

 

[RobinOC]

I bought the DX3 Pro+ on Black Friday, and long story short, I found it had the headphone socket problem so returned it for a replacement, same problem. So it's either systemic with all the units, or a bad batch. Maybe owners could chime in on if they have the problem and when they bought their unit.

BTW, I wasn't about to have to fiddle with the headphone socket on a new product. I would think it would lead to worsening over time.

I ended up buying the S.M.S.L. C200. Two headphone jacks, twice the headaches! I sure hope not. I won't be arriving until after Christmas but reviews seem to put it on par with the Lapping, but the lapping is a nicer looking unit.

Sorry, that's Topping not Lapping. (Duh). I'm losing my eyesight, and it seems my ability to type without looking at the keyboard as I type.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Does anyone know delay depending on selected input?

 

[Toph17]

Bonjour à tous. Je suis nouveau et je recherche un DAC pour sonoriser mon Klipsch RF82 mk2 via un ampli de puissance Crown xli-1500 qui serait soit branché en RCA soit en XLR. Je n'écoute pas au casque, ce sera principalement du bluetooth et de l'optique via mon lecteur CD blu-ray. J'ai actuellement un Douk Audio P1 donc il a des tubes et je ne sais pas si je peux m'attendre à mieux avec Topping ou un autre DAC. J'ai lu jusqu'à la page 30 de ce fil. J'hésite beaucoup entre ce Topping dx3 pro+ et le SMSL DO100. Pourriez-vous m'apporter quelques éclaircissements ? Désolé pour la mauvaise orthographe, je suis français et j'utilise la traduction de Google.

 

[MajoloBama]

Putain or is it poutayitre

 

[Veri]

Désolé pour la mauvaise orthographe, je suis français et j'utilise la traduction de Google.

Please translate it back to English.