Topping DX5 II

[dimon0869]

No need for this language here. Time to catch up with the civilized world.

I didn't even want to comment on your message, as I'm all too familiar with the parable of what happens when you start arguing with a fool. I hope you've heard it too, but now I understand—if I don't explain it to you, you'll never understand anything again. I understand now: I assumed this forum was populated by technically savvy people, as well as product developers interested in solving user problems, but what's happening now disabuses me of that.

I described the problem in detail, explaining that the processor needed to be replaced, but one "doer" is seriously advising me to update the firmware, despite the fact that the bootloader isn't even working and the device isn't even detected as a USB device. Such inattention or stupidity shocked me, but I also assumed that this person hadn't read my messages carefully, and that they also thought I was completely inattentive and short-sighted, which I quite correctly acknowledged in my reply.

And now I'm addressing you personally. Why do you continue to spew spam instead of constructive communication and practical technical advice?! Do you think you've written anything intelligent or that it will help other forum visitors?! Do you even have a single technically sound and relevant piece of advice on this forum?! And how happy are some people to even like your writings and emulate you? I'm simply shocked by it all!

 

[dimon0869]

I apologize for the possible inaccurate translation into English.

 

[Berwhale]

however there is indeed a difference the Wiim Pro DAC is less detailed and the channel separation is much better with the SMSL

Amirm's measurements (with a $30,000 Audio Precision analyser and the knowledge and experience to use it) tell a different story. It would be worth investing some of your time learning to understand the measurements and what is and isn't audbile. This is a good place to start...

Audibility thresholds of amp and DAC measurements

Introduction A recurring theme on ASR is whether or not the various measured qualities of the devices are audible. In this post, I'll present some clear and visual thresholds for when those imperfections can be considered a potentially audible concern. I will not explain the basics of amp/DAC...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Lombrigas]

Les mesures d’Amirm (avec un analyseur Audio Precision de 30 000 $ et les connaissances et l’expérience nécessaires pour l’utiliser) racontent une histoire différente. Cela vaudrait la peine d'investir une partie de votre temps à apprendre à comprendre les mesures et ce qui est ou n'est pas audible. C'est un bon point de départ...

Audibility thresholds of amp and DAC measurements

Introduction A recurring theme on ASR is whether or not the various measured qualities of the devices are audible. In this post, I'll present some clear and visual thresholds for when those imperfections can be considered a potentially audible concern. I will not explain the basics of amp/DAC...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Vous avez tout à fait raison, d'ailleurs je n'étais pas au courant de ce sujet mais de sa nature. Nous ne sommes pas des chauves-souris, je suis d'accord. Pourtant, les différences sont souvent audibles même sur des équipements identiques mais avec une architecture différente. Merci encore pour le sujet. Mais mon sentiment de ne pas savoir si je retourne le SMSL reste intact car il fonctionne et très bien même de plus l'image stéréo rend mon set plus dynamique et malgré votre commentaire meilleur que le Wiim seul. Ce qui me dérange, c'est le POP quand aucun son n'est rassurant. J'avoue me laisser guider par les commentaires sur ce sujet et beaucoup parlent de problèmes même si certains disent que c'est génial.

 

[drey]

Just received this unit two days ago. Had to wait quite a long time before the black version was shipped.

It's too early to give it a thorough review but I have some initial pros / cons in no particular order:

- The bass is a lot more impactful and detailed than before. For reference I'm using it with the Aeon 2 Noire which was already bassy to begin with. But it doesn't become just more boomy, the bass has more attack to it. It's very enjoyable!
- Some initial reviews mentioned the vocals appear more front. I can confirm that. But it's not just music, it's also for dialog when watching TV shows. Previously using the DX5 v1 I often had to enable subtitles when watching old shows like The West Wing -- the show is notorious for characters speaking really fast. But with the DX5 II I haven't had to enable subtitles anymore, the language is clear and this is great!
- The display screen is nice and big, but I don't think it's an OLED. It looks nice from the front but there is a blue hue over the entire screen when viewing the unit from the side or at an angle, typical of LCDs.
- The new remote doesn't allow fast change of volume without lag. For example when holding the volume up button on the remote it takes 2 seconds before the unit starts to react. It does however react instantenously if the volume button is quickly pressed and released. I've e-mailed Topping asking if they could give us an option to reduce or eliminate this lag with a firmware update.
- The new volume knob is decent. It's not as long as the old one but it's quite functional. The push-to-select functionality when scrolling through menus has the exact same problem as the DX5 v1 had, sometimes pressing to select will accidentally move the knob first -- so you end up selecting the wrong menu at times. But it's not a dealbreaker for me especially since I can use the remote.
- Just as with the previous version there's zero noise coming out of the unit.
- No more overheating! The previous version would heat up even when idle. This new unit stays cool even when using it for several hours. Really impressive stuff.
- I want to give my ears enough time to adjust to the new sound but I'm already liking it a lot. I'm not really qualified to talk about sound clarity or things like that, but subjectively it sounds better to me than the previous DX5.

Thanks~

 

[drey]

I've also noticed a new item in the menu called "DC detect sens". It's not well documented in the manual at all. But it has two settings options High and Low. I assume this might be related to the problem the DX5 v1 had where it would shut down when there's a spike below 20hz. I haven't tested this yet but it did happen to me on the old unit a bunch of times, mostly during music production rather than any time I listened to professionally produced music.

 

[magor34]

I've also noticed a new item in the menu called "DC detect sens". It's not well documented in the manual at all. But it has two settings options High and Low. I assume this might be related to the problem the DX5 v1 had where it would shut down when there's a spike below 20hz. I haven't tested this yet but it did happen to me on the old unit a bunch of times, mostly during music production rather than any time I listened to professionally produced music.

There's been quite a few changes from one firmware to the next. The new default setting in the newer more up to date firmware seems to be working well for normal listening. Previously there was quite a few false positives from songs that shouldn't trigger it.

Now if there's actual DC current (If I'm understanding it correctly) detected it should trigger the protections if the output is close or near maximum and should not trigger at normal listening levels for most headphones and speakers.

 

[gyordanov]

@gyordanov : I can launch the app but it doesn't see the device (Ubuntu/Wine). Did you do any tricks initially?

nothing really, no tricks or even settings ....... try using proton-ge, i know its supposedly for games, but its the only thing that can run amazon music for me

 

[qirex]

I can't review 108 pages in depth but the problems people are having are mostly/entirely related to the onboard EQ and Topping tune, correct? If one was not planning to use the DSP features are there any other quirks or reliability issues? I was just going to use Roon's eq.

 

[Timbo2]

I can't review 108 pages in depth but the problems people are having are mostly/entirely related to the onboard EQ and Topping tune, correct? If one was not planning to use the DSP features are there any other quirks or reliability issues? I was just going to use Roon's eq.

There was a DC protection issue some people were having, but that appears to have quieted down. I haven't read anything about it on the more recent firmware.

Some dead units, but nothing conclusive - people aren't going to post here to say their unit is working.

PEQ is still early beta at best. I bought it expecting it to be problematic and I haven't been disappointed. If you don't need the EQ I'd have no issues recommending it.

 

[dimon0869]

There was a DC protection issue some people were having, but that appears to have quieted down. I haven't read anything about it on the more recent firmware.

Some dead units, but nothing conclusive - people aren't going to post here to say their unit is working.

PEQ is still early beta at best. I bought it expecting it to be problematic and I haven't been disappointed. If you don't need the EQ I'd have no issues recommending it.

I have a dead unit, it died after two hours of operation, on the second power supply. What's so unconvincing about you? I can't even get it repaired, even for money, and the manufacturer is silent as a fish and offers zero support?!
I've written about all this in great detail here, but you're misleading people by distorting the facts.

 

[Timbo2]

I have a dead unit, it died after two hours of operation, on the second power supply. What's so unconvincing about you? I can't even get it repaired, even for money, and the manufacturer is silent as a fish and offers zero support?!
I've written about all this in great detail here, but you're misleading people by distorting the facts.

I don't get the hostility. You were already chastised for it in the other thread. I get you are pissed. Don't take it out on me.

In no way did I DENY that you have a failed unit. Every single piece of consumer electronics has failure rate. The data presented in these threads gives no statistical cause to suggest that this failure rate is either higher or lower than other consumer electronics.

How is that "distorting facts" on a "science" based website when the sample here is small and non-random?

 

[jmdesignz2]

There was a DC protection issue some people were having, but that appears to have quieted down. I haven't read anything about it on the more recent firmware.

Some dead units, but nothing conclusive - people aren't going to post here to say their unit is working.

PEQ is still early beta at best. I bought it expecting it to be problematic and I haven't been disappointed. If you don't need the EQ I'd have no issues recommending it.

What DC protection issues?

My DX5 II has shutoff with “HP DC abnormal” but only when playing a specific Spotify track

14-15 seconds into Jan Hammers “Original Miami Vice Theme” oddly enough lol

 

[Timbo2]

What DC protection issues?

My DX5 II has shutoff with “HP DC abnormal” but only when playing a specific Spotify track

14-15 seconds into Jan Hammers “Original Miami Vice Theme” oddly enough lol

That's the issue! Later firmware has a sensitivity adjustment buried it somewhere.

You can try the track again and see if it still trips with it in the default setting or change it to whatever they called the reduced sensitivity.

It never impacted me.

 

[jmdesignz2]

That's the issue! Later firmware has a sensitivity adjustment buried it somewhere.

You can try the track again and see if it still trips with it in the default setting or change it to whatever they called the reduced sensitivity.

It never impacted me.

Ok. I’ll update firmware

 

[Gibsonian]

Anyone with an RME ADI-2 FS compare it to this DX5-II?

 

[jmdesignz2]

That's the issue! Later firmware has a sensitivity adjustment buried it somewhere.

You can try the track again and see if it still trips with it in the default setting or change it to whatever they called the reduced sensitivity.

It never impacted me.

The new firmware had the low sensitivity setting which solved that issue

But now there doesn’t seem to be any difference between DAC mode and Preamp mode. I’ve been using DAC mode which sets full gain output and deactivates the volume control

Now in DAC mode output the volume control still works. Weird

 

[Timbo2]

The new firmware had the low sensitivity setting which solved that issue

But now there doesn’t seem to be any difference between DAC mode and Preamp mode. I’ve been using DAC mode which sets full gain output and deactivates the volume control

Now in DAC mode output the volume control still works. Weird

From very foggy memory from some of the old posts - I think DAC mode will reset back to zero when you turn it off and on. But I only use Preamp.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Anyone with an RME ADI-2 FS compare it to this DX5-II?

I have both units, what you do want to know?

 

[JIW]

The new firmware had the low sensitivity setting which solved that issue

But now there doesn’t seem to be any difference between DAC mode and Preamp mode. I’ve been using DAC mode which sets full gain output and deactivates the volume control

Now in DAC mode output the volume control still works. Weird

It does not on mine on FW 1.76 using the volume knob.