Topping DX5 Review (DAC & HP Amp)

[bahamot]

PEQ is available on Moode audio like software. Which can be easily paired with DAC.

 

[Merkurio]

PEQ is available on Moode audio like software. Which can be easily paired with DAC.

But does it work as a full system solution? Can I use YouTube, Apple Music or any software with it enabled on Windows or macOS?

 

[tavishdegroot]

I would like to ask anyone who has tested both the Topping DX5 and EX5, if the DX5 has a deeper (and grander?) soundstage than the EX5. Because both online reviews and my usage of my own EX5 have shown to me that the EX5 has a relatively shallow soundstage. I have found the EX5 soundstage to be, like online reviews say, a wall of sound in my face.

 

[PeteL]

I would like to ask anyone who has tested both the Topping DX5 and EX5, if the DX5 has a deeper (and grander?) soundstage than the EX5. Because both online reviews and my usage of my own EX5 have shown to me that the EX5 has a relatively shallow soundstage. I have found the EX5 soundstage to be, like online reviews say, a wall of sound in my face.

Get ready to duck, tomatoes coming your way.

 

[Merkurio]

I would like to ask anyone who has tested both the Topping DX5 and EX5, if the DX5 has a deeper (and better?) soundstage than the EX5. Because both online reviews and my usage of my own EX5 have shown to me that the EX5 has a relatively shallow soundstage. I have found the EX5 soundstage to be, like online reviews say, a wall of sound in my face.

Confirmation bias.

If online reviewers would have say that the soundstage is massive, then your brain would be perceiving it as a concert hall.

Instrument grade DAC/AMPs like these Toppings don't have any sound signature nor do they alter the original signal, conversely, we have reached a point where complete sound transparency has been democratized for quite some time.

It's all in your music, headphones/speakers and your brain.

 

[Mario Sanchez]

Topping might have a linear power amplifier coming soon-ish, the whole superb-measuring DAC,HPAmp and Combo Machines does get a little boring. (albeit in a good way)
I wish I can see the company stirring up other market segments too. Personally I wish they make something that is up there with Okto's 8ch offerings in a smaller package...

 

[Phos]

I would like to ask anyone who has tested both the Topping DX5 and EX5, if the DX5 has a deeper (and grander?) soundstage than the EX5. Because both online reviews and my usage of my own EX5 have shown to me that the EX5 has a relatively shallow soundstage. I have found the EX5 soundstage to be, like online reviews say, a wall of sound in my face.

A full course in perception is beyond the scope of this forum post but the short version is that's not how soundstage works.

 

[CedarWind108]

Since this forum is about perfection, the amp section that is beat by the relatively cheap L30 and IEMagni could be a little better for IEMs.

I don’t mind the new design but prefer the “Hot Hatch” (to quote Topping) retro design of the previous products.

Hope the next DAC/AMP can improve the amp to perfection and incorporate one of the new AKM chips.

 

[192kbps]

Since this forum is about perfection, the amp section that is beat by the relatively cheap L30 and IEMagni could be a little better for IEMs.

I don’t mind the new design but prefer the “Hot Hatch” (to quote Topping) retro design of the previous products.

Hope the next DAC/AMP can improve the amp to perfection and incorporate one of the new AKM chips.

EX7? DX9Pro?

 

[Doodski]

EX7? DX9Pro?

How about a A30Pro with a plain Jane high end DAC inside and no fluffy display stuff to fail or distract from the operation.

 

[bkdc]

I have to agree with others. Measured perfection again is boring (and great). But what Topping needs to work on isn't textbook perfect SINAD but feature-set reliability. I would love to see a Topping that just works without quirks in any of the inputs. This is hard to do when you're putting out multiple new models every year. I want to see a refined model that just works and stays on the market for years and years with all the bugs worked out. Like the ADI-2. I don't think this jives with the Chinese business model.

 

[192kbps]

How about a A30Pro with a plain Jane high end DAC inside and no fluffy display stuff to fail or distract from the operation.

I'm hearing about the next generation of the A90 in the next few months.

 

[Doodski]

Chi-Fi

OooPs! Not supposed to use, "Ch-Fi." Peeps used it as a derogatory racist term so it's been banned here @ ASR.

Otherwise I'm on board with a solid model that is bug free and a performer.

 

[bkdc]

Oops. Edited. Didn't mean anything derogatory. I only have respect for what's coming out of Guangzhou. Whatever manufacturing company made Oppo units a decade ago is still in business... and the innard layout of Oppos bear an eerie resemblance to the circuitboards inside a Gustard.

 

[onslash]

Love the looks, matching poweramp with sub outs would be end game for a desktop setup.

 

[Doodski]

the innard layout of Oppos bear an eerie resemblance to the circuitboards inside a Gustard.

It's not uncommon for PCBs to be made by a contract company and then different brand names use the same contractor for PCBs making and stuffing.

 

[AlephAlpha001]

It's not uncommon for PCBs to be made by a contract company and then different brand names use the same contractor for PCBs making and stuffing.

Bingo. There’s a reason all these guys are based around Guangzhou / Dongguan / Shenzhen — there’s a huge hardware design / component supply / PCB assembly infrastructure there with roots going back 30+ years. And the same must go for CNC / metal bashing for cases, buttons, etc.

Head up the coast a few hours and you’ll find just about every carbon composite bicycle frame and wheel rim manufacturer there is. Specialised industries tend to cluster in ecosystems.

I saw some YouTube videos by a guy who went around Shenzhen PCB contractors looking at their capabilities.. Really very interesting and illuminating. He had a few funny episodes where he’d build a working iPhone from spare parts bought in electronics malls.

 

[aj625]

I have to agree. This latest Topping SINAD queen is boring. Deserves a yawning panther. I see no innovation here.

They should have put the pcb in 12kg billet aluminium casing with a blue uv meter and a big volume knob with number of lights and priced it $10k then it would have been very entertaining ? Isn't it ? Why people hate so much better measuring yet cheap products ? May be you have some extra cash than others !

 

[AlephAlpha001]

They should have out the pcb in 12kg billet aluminium casing with a blue uv meter and a big volume knob with number of lights and priced it $10k then it would have been very entertaining ? Isn't it ? Why people hate so much better measuring yet cheap products ? May be you have some extra cash than others ,,!

I’m surprised Haute Audiophoolia hasn’t insisted on cases being made of Low-background Steel fished up from the bottom of Scapa Flow.

 

[jae]

It’s a well-measuring dumb product. It has great engineering spec but nothing with a potential to improve real or perceived audio fidelity compared to thousands of other boxes. No PEQ, no bass management, no loudness compensation, no crossfeed, no anything that adds value. I think it’s hard to argue it won’t sound the same as a similar component from 2015, or probably 2005. What’s the greatness in that?

Topping right now makes spectacular dumb products. I’m currently listening with one (E50 I think is the model number - DAC with coax input and balanced outputs) in the signal chain - but it’s a cog that could be replaced with a lot of other cogs with zero to de minimis difference. The added value is really on either end of it: the miniDSP SHD Studio processor and Neumann monitors. When Topping starts thinking more holistically, I’m sure they will add considerable value. But another dB on a SINAD chart is more pleasing to the engineer’s brain than the listener’s ears.

At this point I believe the better SINAD is mostly just to compete with other (mostly) Chinese manufacturers doing the same things. All the new revised products are meant to fill in price point niches as most people buy audio equipment with some kind of budget in mind. Features you mention like hardware DSP will just increase the price needlessly with more silicon, DSP is better accomplished with a source device/software anyway. There's lots of other things to focus on like beefier power amps, ADCs/interfaces, better AIOs, products with more inputs/outputs/digital outputs, streamers (which can easily have software DSP as well).

On a side rant, I really don't like their design language at all for most of these products. Only their 90-series products actually look "quality" but could still be improved. Yulong/Singxer looks better in my opinion but they have limited products that are comparable in value to Topping. Topping also needs to stop being afraid to make products have have higher vertical dimension so they can include things like more inputs/outputs, digital outputs, etc. that actually add some value to current designs. Perhaps they are trying to keep product dimensions down to save logistics costs. The footprint of the product is already taking up desk space, I don't think anyone cares much if its taller. Practically everything else on my desk is more vertical than this equipment. Does anyone else hate having to contort their hand into their desk to adjust volume? Give me a larger or higher positioned knob please. Or at least make my wallet hurt with a machined chassis.

I have been ready to give my money to topping for years now for my "final" headamp/dac purchase, but the right product has not come along. Happily using my Motu M4 in the mean time.