Topping DX5 II

[ziggurcat]

Excluding the MX5 no one talks about, why isn't Topping focusing on making DACs that can power speakers? Their DAC/amp combos can only power headphones.

I had two MX5 units, and they both failed. One had a broken volume knob, and the other literally broke within the time it took me to take a shower one morning. Was listening to it, left the unit on (no audio playing) to go take a shower, and when I came back, a loud hiss was coming out of the left channel. It had been working flawlessly for the two weeks I had it up to that point. I did not order a third, opting for the L50 HPA, PA5 II amp I have now and the E50 DAC. I think if that first one didn't have the broken knob, I would still be using it today.

I do have a MX3s that is still in the box, not used so far (got it for my bedroom, but changed my mind, I think).

Given that they launched a brand new "Ultra Flagship" DAC (D900) and HPA (A900 - not on the site, but shown in the D900 product page) around the same time as the DX5 II, it looks they are working on updating their offerings with new aesthetics, and that Aurora UI. I don't think a new DAC/HPA/power amp all-in-one is that far behind. The MX5 has been discontinued for a little while, so I think that's the next new product iteration.

Thanks, yeah I definitely see them taking the power amp direction over this, I guess wisely. I've never owned a Class D so I'm curious to try something like the PA5 II or Plus model for my 4 ohm speakers. Maybe the latter just to see what giving my speakers an extra 40 W would do.

The PA5 II is very nice. I wouldn't necessarily bother with the Plus version, especially if it's a desktop computer situation. The non-Plus gets plenty loud with clean sound without much of a turn on the volume knob IME.

 

[somebodyelse]

The one thing to be aware of with the ARM-base Windows 11 is that if you try to install the most recent drivers for PC, it will not. You will get a "current system is not supported" error. I have not figured out a way to run non-ARM-based drivers.

I guess VMware only does VMs of the same architecture as the machines it's running on. VirtualBox has the same limitation I think. Qemu VMs can have different architectures, but I don't know whether it does USB passthrough. Parallels Desktop can run x86 VMs on Apple silicon machines, and USB passthrough. Whether it can do both at the same time is another question.

 

[ziggurcat]

@ngs428 Has Topping gotten back to you on the list of bugs you reported to them? You cited a different e-mail than what is listed on the Topping site - the one I have sent questions to has been: [email protected]

 

[ngs428]

@ngs428 Has Topping gotten back to you on the list of bugs you reported to them? You cited a different e-mail than what is listed on the Topping site - the one I have sent questions to has been: [email protected]

They have not replied.

I retrieved [email protected] from their website under Support>FAQ, www.toppingaudio.com/faq, scroll to the bottom and hit the "Contact Us" button.

I see the other email is on the https://www.toppingaudio.com/about page.

I’ll send an updated email to the [email protected] now.

Edit: REV01 of the attached issue log has been sent to [email protected]

 

[JIW]

@ngs428 Has Topping gotten back to you on the list of bugs you reported to them? You cited a different e-mail than what is listed on the Topping site - the one I have sent questions to has been: [email protected]

I sent them my e-mails to that address and received an answer to the first one so it should work. I have sent my own list of errors on Friday with some updates on Saturday and Sunday and not received an answer so far.

 

[JanHantschke]

I sent them my e-mails to that address and received an answer to the first one so it should work. I have sent my own list of errors on Friday with some updates on Saturday and Sunday and not received an answer so far.

I received two replies after contacting them at [email protected]. I also noticed popping noises while playing dune awakening every few minutes. Could this be a jitter problem or the sample rate change noise that the dx3 pro+ had? (This does not happen in other games so far)

 

[ngs428]

I sent them my e-mails to that address and received an answer to the first one so it should work. I have sent my own list of errors on Friday with some updates on Saturday and Sunday and not received an answer so far.

Thanks for your continued reporting on this one. The PDF I linked above (V01) had your recent report about ALL the color themes having the same issue. It seems they list 2 service emails on their website ([email protected] and [email protected]), so I hit them both!

I did place my order for one yesterday.

 

[JIW]

Thanks for your continued reporting on this one. The PDF I linked above (V01) had your recent report about ALL the color themes having the same issue. It seems they list 2 service emails on their website ([email protected] and [email protected]), so I hit them both!

I did place my order for one yesterday.

I know. I had mine pretty much typed up when I saw that you sent it to them so decided to send it anyways.

 

[Nezil]

I'm curious to try something like the PA5 II or Plus model for my 4 ohm speakers. Maybe the latter just to see what giving them an extra 40 W would do.

I agree with @ziggurcat, the PA5 II is a perfect partner to the DX5 II; it's what I'm using as well. The PA5 II Plus had a longer lead time last I looked, and I decided not to go with that because I didn't think it was necessary and I'm not left wanting...

The difference in price was $60 when I last checked, and the difference between the PA5 II and the PA5 II Plus is only the PSU. If you later find you need the extra power, you can swap out the PSU and get it. The PSU is available from Audiophonics.

 

[Jarrett]

I agree with @ziggurcat, the PA5 II is a perfect partner to the DX5 II; it's what I'm using as well. The PA5 II Plus had a longer lead time last I looked, and I decided not to go with that because I didn't think it was necessary and I'm not left wanting...

The difference in price is $60 when I last checked, and the difference between the PA5 II and the PA5 II Plus is only the PSU. If you later find you need the extra power, you can swap out the PSU and get it. The PSU is available from Audiophonics.

Oooo that is interesting! Do you mind linking me to this PSU you mention? I bet Topping has something up their sleeve this year to replace the PA5 and 7. They are good units, but still lacking in some testing areas / reliability - we're getting there.

 

[audiofun]

They have not replied.

I retrieved [email protected] from their website under Support>FAQ, www.toppingaudio.com/faq, scroll to the bottom and hit the "Contact Us" button.

I see the other email is on the https://www.toppingaudio.com/about page.

I’ll send an updated email to the [email protected] now.

Edit: REV01 of the attached issue log has been sent to [email protected]

JDSAtom has a software update that supports crossfeed and loudness today: https://blog.jdslabs.com/2025/07/element-iv-firmware-v1-5-0-and-core-gets-opra-by-roon/
In follow up email, could you please let them know this feature request? Implementing them is trivial once they have proper EQ support, as they are based on the same math.

 

[JaccoW]

Finally got mine set up to also work with DSD. Still waiting for my XLR > TRS cables to arrive but even over RCA it sounds great. Definitely better than the original built-in dac of the motherboard.

I'll probably try and add these mini aluminium feet I picked up in Japan last month; AFM25-12S

Peeled off the little rubber feet from the device and added the little aluminium feet I picked up last month with some double sided tape. Looks pretty nice IMHO.
Got it hooked up to my main PC using USB and my work laptop through Bluetooth. A quick press on the <Input> button and I can easily switch sources.

I'll be bringing it along when I try a couple of open back headphones later this year at a shop nearby.

 

[ngs428]

JDSAtom has a software update that supports crossfeed and loudness today: https://blog.jdslabs.com/2025/07/element-iv-firmware-v1-5-0-and-core-gets-opra-by-roon/
In follow up email, could you please let them know this feature request? Implementing them is trivial once they have proper EQ support, as they are based on the same math.

I can do that. Still waiting on a reply from my initial email.

 

[Nezil]

Oooo that is interesting! Do you mind linking me to this PSU you mention? I bet Topping has something up their sleeve this year to replace the PA5 and 7. They are good units, but still lacking in some testing areas / reliability - we're getting there.

Here you go: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/power-supply/topping-switching-power-adapter-38v-4a-gx12-p-19468.html

 

[ziggurcat]

Here you go: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/power-supply/topping-switching-power-adapter-38v-4a-gx12-p-19468.htm

404 error

 

[Nezil]

404 error

Copy / Paste error; try now.

 

[sergiomiranda]

Hello,
I am considering buying a DX5 II ever since I saw its announcement, but missed the first batch of stock available and now I have been following this thread about the current bugs trying to decide if should order one or not.

The issue that am I most worried about is the DC output because, as I understood, it might be hardware related. I wanted to wait at least until Topping provides some feedback about this one.

The other ones all seem to be fixable with firmware updates, and some might even already be fixed by the time I receive one.

Anyone else holding out on buying until these issues are addressed?

 

[ziggurcat]

Hello,
I am considering buying a DX5 II ever since I saw its announcement ... The issue that am I most worried about is the DC output because, as I understood, it might be hardware related.

As it has been pointed out, the DC issue is pretty rare, and the track cited is apparently an extreme example. I also think it was mentioned that it could be resolved with a FW update.

IIRC, I was told the protection circuit is there, it just does not appear to be functioning as it should -- or maybe it's functioning as it should, it just isn't as sensitive as one might expect. Who knows at this point.

At this point, I wouldn't worry so much about what one, very specific track does.

 

[Gibsonian]

The DC thing is overblown here. Don’t care a whit about that. I’d like to see Topping do the fixes required and I’d like to hear a head to head comparison to RME ADI FS, my current DAC.

 

[audiofun]

Topping is doing FFT on audio content and display it on screen as spectrum.
dc level is bin 0 of such FFT. As long as they want to support DC protection, it’s feasible to work on a solution based on what they already have.
The only question is whether they want to support it or not.