Topping DX3 Pro+ Review (DAC & Headphone Amp)

[ikd]

I got today the C200 first impressions are very good. It has a sound that I like much more than Topping D50s, so DAC wise is truly excellent. Amp wise has a lot of power but little less than ATOM.

Does the C200 power Edition XS sufficiently?

 

[JediMa]

Does the C200 power Edition XS sufficiently?

No it doesn't, I had to send it back to amazon and I got a Topping L50

 

[Kimbrough Xu]

That's something we all look forward to Some of the ideas so far:
1. DSP/EQ functionality
2. Multi-Channel
3. Pro-Audio with ADC and associated software/features
4. Portable DAC/amps
*5. Subwoofer support (I'm foreign to this, so am hesitant to add it in case it already exists. Do tell me if so)

Usually I use it for my desktop usage, for my powered speakers and subwoofer, so I don't need multi-channel, but I really need subwoofer support.

And if you add ADC to a DAC, it is not a DAC then, you may need to search for other products.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

DX3 Pro+ with custom printed under table mounts. Used E30/L30 template from thingverse and scaled to 106,2%. PETG material. All good.

Topping E30/L30 underdesk mounting by dstrelnikov

Simple underdesk mounting braces for Topping E30/L30.You will need to print 4 of topping_mounting_side.stl for mounting either E30 or L30, and you will need to print in addition 2 of topping_mounting_middle.stl if you are going to mount both E30 and L30 side-by-side.

www.thingiverse.com

I did similar but different.
I just used double sided tape and glued it to the desk

 

[cestmoi]

Does the C200 power Edition XS sufficiently?

No it doesn't, I had to send it back to amazon and I got a Topping L50

What kind of improvement you got with L50?

 

[JediMa]

What kind of improvement you got with L50?

Much more power, now Edition XS have plenty of it to sound at best. Then i liked the balanced option and it works nicely with the Topping E50

 

[atagunov]

Am I going mad?

I am comparing

• Topping D10s + JDS Atom Amp+
• Topping DX3 Pro+

I'm listening to energetic 48Khz music on Youtube, I'm using AKG K702 headphones

I am fully convinced that I'm hearing a marked difference between the two sets: all kinds of drums come through more "energetically" on DX3 Pro+
But this shouldn't be the case should it?.. All hardware had similarly perfect reviews on this website.
Both sets cost about same money. Topping manufactured both DAC-s. I expected pretty much equivalent sound.

I initially wanted a setup worthy of trying to mix music. Or at least mess with sound on Youtube-quality level videos.
So which set should I now mix on? Which set should I trust?

I am feeling a lot more energized initially with the "deep" "agressive" percussion on DX3 Pro+
I am also getting tired of listening to it pretty soon, more so than I am with D10s/Atom+
So even for regular listening I am hard pressed which one to choose
Both are powered on and sitting on my desk right now and I keep switching between the two.

P.S. Switched again. It is possible I'm deceiving myself? %) And sound is in fact similar? Trying D10s/Atom+ again. Might be a little less tiring not sure

 

[antcollinet]

Am I going mad?

I am comparing

• Topping D10s + JDS Atom Amp+
• Topping DX3 Pro+

I'm listening to energetic 48Khz music on Youtube, I'm using AKG K702 headphones

I am fully convinced that I'm hearing a marked difference between the two sets: all kinds of drums come through more "energetically" on DX3 Pro+
But this shouldn't be the case should it?.. All hardware had similarly perfect reviews on this website.
Both sets cost about same money. Topping manufactured both DAC-s. I expected pretty much equivalent sound.

I initially wanted a setup worthy of trying to mix music. Or at least mess with sound on Youtube-quality level videos.
So which set should I now mix on? Which set should I trust?

I am feeling a lot more energized initially with the "deep" "agressive" percussion on DX3 Pro+
I am also getting tired of listening to it pretty soon, more so than I am with D10s/Atom+
So even for regular listening I am hard pressed which one to choose
Both are powered on and sitting on my desk right now and I keep switching between the two.

P.S. Switched again. It is possible I'm deceiving myself? %) And sound is in fact similar? Trying D10s/Atom+ again. Might be a little less tiring not sure

Make sure your amps are level matched with a voltage meter accurately to around 0.1dB at the output.

Then test blind.

You won't hear a difference unless one lacks power to drive your headphones at your listening level.

 

[little-endian]

Am I going mad?

No rhetorical questions allowed here in such a serious forum.

I'm listening to energetic 48Khz music on Youtube, I'm using AKG K702 headphones

The duo Nyquist/Shannon would argue that on a 48 kHz sample rate, you're rather listening to "24 kHz music" at best (when starting from 0 Hz), energetic or not.

I am fully convinced that I'm hearing a marked difference between the two sets:

On a bit of philosophical thought - whatever you perceive is heavily filtered through more than limited senses. Human ears probably being the most over-estimated body parts of all. There is not a lot of reason to trust oneself of anything, really.

It is possible I'm deceiving myself?

Very possible, but from what I see at least not within too pricey territory anyway, so you may forgive yourself either way.

What might speak for the DX3 Pro+ from an technical point of view, is the DSP based volume control, which, opposed to the analog ones in those dedicated headphone amps, are at least nominally less prone to wear (only the physical encoder triggering might also fail one day).

 

[pioterd]

No it doesn't

Yes it does.
When you write something like this, please provide more details. Did you make tests with volume matched with 0.5dB accuracy? Are you about 20% deaf for example? Do you have around 12-15dB attenuator in your system? Do you use EQ with some sophisticated -10dB entry threshold?
Edition XS are easy to drive to about 110-112dB SPL, as long as the device does not have problem with around 20ohm impedance. C200 does it’s job well.

 

[Luminair]

Does DX3 Pro+ remember the selected input after power off and on? After disconnection from power? Does it automatically select an active input?

 

[staticV3]

I have an old laptop with Windows XP. Is it possible to connect Topping dx3pro+ to it? As a DAC exactly?

No. Topping's Audio Driver is only compatible with Windows 7 to Windows 11:


Please do not use Windows XP. It's unsafe.

 

[symetrix]

Greetings! How will the DX3 Pro+ feel when connecting two pairs of DT 990 Pro 250 Ohm through a splitter jack? Will there be any degradation in quality, and how much? Poor stereo crosstalk, etc?

 

[staticV3]

Greetings! How will the DX3 Pro+ feel when connecting two pairs of DT 990 Pro 250 Ohm through a splitter jack? Will there be any degradation in quality, and how much? Poor stereo crosstalk, etc?

If the splitter is built properly, crosstalk will not be affected. Neither will volume.

However, it's likely that one DT990 will play slightly louder than the other.

 

[symetrix]

Если разветвление построено правильно, порекестны помехи не будут затронуты.

Thsnks! This splitter schematic

 

[Jophantazy]

Hi! I recently noticed that some IEMs have a low hum when using the DX3pro+. How common is this? If I touch the Jack connector or the surface of the DAC, there is no noise. Is there a simple way to eliminate this noise, some kind of grounding?

 

[Jimbob54]

Hi! I recently noticed that some IEMs have a low hum when using the DX3pro+. How common is this? If I touch the Jack connector or the surface of the DAC, there is no noise. Is there a simple way to eliminate this noise, some kind of grounding?

I had the same with my rme dac. I ended up using the digital coax out empty input and connecting to a grounded device.

Got a monitor/tv or something with an rca input somewhere near?

 

[Jophantazy]

I had the same with my rme dac. I ended up using the digital coax out empty input and connecting to a grounded device.

Got a monitor/tv or something with an rca input somewhere near?

I don't have a device with rca connection, I only have modern things, but thanks for the answer.

 

[Boltman92124]

Hi folks,
Sorry if this is repeat question on such a long thread. I'm enjoying my new DX3Pro+ very much. It works perfectly with all sources and sounds excellent. Question- Is there a sonic advantage(using line outputs) of using the unit in DAC mode vs. headphone + Line out with the volume set to maximum? Also, if using the unit with volume control, is this a digital volume pot or analog? If digital, is it full bit rate down to a certain setting?
Thanks in advance!!

 

[novorei]

How do their USB drivers compare on Windows? Do they have some kind of low latency ASIO/etc support?

The DX3Pro+ should be able to drive a Hifiman Edition XS right?

How much practical improvement a L30II brings compared to DX3Pro+ (100 vs 88 SNR@50mV)? And what DAC could be paired to make the most out of it (DX1, D10, E30, DX3Pro+ itself)?

All of them will sound about the same, so it's mostly about the featureset:

​	Topping DX3Pro+​	FiiO K7​	SMSL C200​	iFi Zen DAC V2​
Headphone out​	SE​	SE+Bal​	SE​	SE+Bal​
Line out​	SE​	SE​	SE+Bal​	SE+Bal​
Line in​	✕​	✓​	✕​	✕​
Display​	✓​	✕​	✓​	✕​
Bluetooth​	✓​	✕​	✓​	✕​
Remote​	✓​	✕​	✓​	✕​