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Topping DX5 II

Possibly, given the slightly suspect 4.4mm socket on the DX5 ii then the XLR termination may prove the more reliable in the long term?

Of course the only limiting factor is that both 4.4 and XLR sockets are switched in all the time when you select "Balanced" which means it is not ideal to leave two sets of phones connected - which I got used to on my Topping L70 as they were individually switched.

That seems to be more of size issue. One thing to keep in mind is number of cycles.

I was surprised that the beloved Neutrik "only" rates for 1,000 cycles.

The 4.4mm is much less used and suppliers vary in quality and trustworthiness. If this vendor is to believed they rate 5X the cycle time.

 
That seems to be more of size issue.
Possibly, but I think one of the main issues is that the socket is recessed which can make it difficult for leads with certain plug body styles (not the connection pin) to accurately mate.

I have closely inspected both of my Fiio headphone cables, both of which look of reasonable high quality and comparable dimensions but one works normally and the other has to be inserted then withdrawn fractionally to get proper contact? They both work normally both on my Topping L70 and Fiio M15S etc.
 
Possibly, but I think one of the main issues is that the socket is recessed which can make it difficult for leads with certain plug body styles (not the connection pin) to accurately mate.

I have closely inspected both of my Fiio headphone cables, both of which look of reasonable high quality and comparable dimensions but one works normally and the other has to be inserted then withdrawn fractionally to get proper contact? They both work normally both on my Topping L70 and Fiio M15S etc.
I wasn't disagreeing with you.

You aren't the only person here who has reported issues with the 4.4mm jack. By size I meant the dimensions of the jack and the dimensions of the plug. The issues seems to be the amount of "shoulder room" where the male plug meets the jack. Some people complain it doesn't go far enough in to allow a connection while others need to pull it out slightly. Neither is a good thing.

My point is that if you have a 4.4mm plug that actually works you may be better off with that instead of XLR based on the cycle rating.
 
I wasn't disagreeing with you.
No, no, I did not think you were at all!

I am not aware of the cycle rating for XLR plugs and sockets, it obviously depends again on the materials used or the quality of manufacture and tolerances but they intrinsically have a much larger contact area per pin and would probably not fail connection if the plug was not inserted fully I believe whereas the 4.4mm has very much smaller contact areas which have to align accurately with the multiple indents on plug shaft. So that was why I made my recommendation.

I still think it's an odd decision to recess only one of the sockets - perhaps it was a last minute "get you out of jail card" when someone at Topping said "we've discovered there is not enough room to fit the 4.4mm there but if we moved it back a few mm........."?

I don't know why my previous post needed administrator approval - there is only one word which could be construed as possibly having an alternative meaning. Having looked deeper, several times, if added to two more words in the next sentence you could possibly confer a purely natural function. Really?:facepalm:
 
I was surprised that the beloved Neutrik "only" rates for 1,000 cycles.
That may be for legal reasons.

From what I can recall its always been that number across the many different connectors they offer, for a long time.
I can only find two connectors that surpass that - The NC3FX1-TOP and NC3MX1-TOP, 3-pin models only. The rest are all "> 1000 mating cycles".
 
Is there a equal-loudness function? (isophone, "loudness", Fletcher–Munson curves)
 
Why not?
Yes it isn't that simple because it would need to guess the real loudness - but a estimation is better than nothing
 
I was listening to music through Tidal and the left channel started making strange noises.
A couple of minutes later, the left channel stopped working completely, and when I connected the three headphones I had connected to the inputs of the Topping Dx5ii on my Qudelix 5k, the left earpiece failed on all of them.
I had Hifiman Arya Stealth connected via XLR, Focal Elegia via 4.4mm, and B&W P7 via 6.35mm.
 
I was listening to music through Tidal and the left channel started making strange noises.
A couple of minutes later, the left channel stopped working completely, and when I connected the three headphones I had connected to the inputs of the Topping Dx5ii on my Qudelix 5k, the left earpiece failed on all of them.
I had Hifiman Arya Stealth connected via XLR, Focal Elegia via 4.4mm, and B&W P7 via 6.35mm.
Sounds like you want to return the unit under warranty?
 
Is this via USB input on both devices?

Have you tested the headphones on the Qudelix 5k using only Bluetooth as the input source and from a different device (if you were using your laptop previously, instead try a phone .. for example) ?
 
I have tried different sources: via USB on another PC and smartphone, BT, and even the stationary HIFI equipment.
Arya left side completely dead, Elegia and P7 much lower volume than right and crackling/distortion.
 
I was listening to music through Tidal and the left channel started making strange noises.
A couple of minutes later, the left channel stopped working completely, and when I connected the three headphones I had connected to the inputs of the Topping Dx5ii on my Qudelix 5k, the left earpiece failed on all of them.
I had Hifiman Arya Stealth connected via XLR, Focal Elegia via 4.4mm, and B&W P7 via 6.35mm.
Did you have all three headphones connected to the DX5 II at the same time when the malfunction occurred?
 
Arya on XLR and Elegia on 6.35 when it started to malfunction.
Then I turned off the device, factory reset it, and when I connected the P7 on 6.35 to check, the same thing happened.
After another factory reset Dx5ii left channel stop sounding
 
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