Topping DX5 Review (DAC & HP Amp)

[respice finem]

ADI-2 DAC has an IPS display.

Checked it now with the manual - you are right, IPS. So I needn't bother reg. burn-in.

 

[Atratusnex]

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 !

Not the point he is making. Point is: this inst audible, we want more features, not better performance at this point.

 

[odyo]

DAC portion: D10 Balanced or E50
AMP portion: L50 or A30pro. Good performance from most sensitive iem to current hungry planar to 600 ohm dynamics.
Chassis: DX5 or EX5 or DX7
PSU: Beefy and inside of the box.
Volume control: Digital and precise. I wanna see it on screen what is the volume, i don't wanna check out vague volume knob position.

I would consider this dac amp combo unit good if it was like this with a $399 price tag. With the actual specs and the $449 price tag, this isn't good. I like the design though. This is just fancy and overpriced version of DX3Pro+ in my eyes.

 

[Tachyon88]

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

DAC/AMP or stand alone amp ? I'd like a d90/a90 AIO with no screens to keep costs down.

 

[xaviescacs]

Very nice design, informative and tidy display, good volume control, built-in power supply with power switch...

 

[aj625]

Not the point he is making. Point is: this inst audible, we want more features, not better performance at this point.

More features won't come free.

 

[cheapmessiah]

Reading the thread and thinking a little bit more about this product, it does feel like a "hey guys, we are still here" type of thing.

Having these kind of devices that have BT makes it look like the lack of features is "bigger" than it is since there isnt a phone app where you could apply EQ or other things and upload it to the device, in the end having a remote control is nice and a physical interface, but since like 99,99% of us have smart phones on us all the time not taking advantage of that to put more features on a device like this while keeping costs subdued seems shortsighted.

 

[Atratusnex]

More features won't come free.

If we don't push performance even higher again and again, far over audibility, it might come to the same price eventually.

 

[HiFidFan]

More features won't come free.

Typically, like most tech hardware, they become much much less expensive over time. Look at the performance/features//price ratio of DACs over just the last 5 years. . .



It is obvious and clear that Topping can design a great performing (SINAD) DAC with boring regularity. At this stage I'm looking for innovation over a few more SINAD points every 30-60 days.

 

[bkdc]

I'm not sure about sound quality but the rest of Amper's post I agree with. I don't care about a SINAD race to inaudible superiority. The usability, compatibility with other devices especially in the coax, toslink inputs and quality of the remote controls are what Topping needs to work on.

 

[jam]

Thanks for another wonderful review Amir. Now I know why they chose the name Topping for their company. They keep on topping their achievements (pun intended).

 

[Xyrium]

Love the look, wish the hump was gone at the time of testing. There's no reason for it.

Brand name is still holding me back...LOL...just shows how shallow I am. I'm digging their direction right now, DAC performance is easy out of the box, time to focus on features and aesthetics.

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

have anyone here bought a DX5? does the amplifier section still sound identical to previous topping amplifiers in your listening experience?
I really like the look of DX5

 

[Hxx]

i wish they could focus more on the software/firmware side of things. they already make some excellent sounding devices even in the lower tier. the remote is below average imo, some functionality is exclusive to the remote which ill probably never understand, and the menu is not very intuitive needs to be better organized. I dont own this unit though so not sure if the software side has been upgraded.

 

[SHENZHENAUDIO]

I have already used E30, E50, DX3 Pro +, etc., but this DX5 has something that I am very attracted to.
A concern with the purchase is that the front and rear panels look plastic. I observe it carefully, but I have such a suspicion from the processing form. I would be disappointed if the item I received for $ 450 was made of plastic. Does anyone have any information about the DX5 case material?

The outer shell is made of CNC aluminum.

 

[JSmith]

@SHENZHENAUDIO could you advise if this new unit has an active DPLL setting for the optical input please? Thanks.


JSmith

 

[S34MH1]

DAC/AMP or stand alone amp ? I'd like a d90/a90 AIO with no screens to keep costs down.

AMP

 

[GWolfman]

Why are people complaining about the hump? If it were at -200dB they'd still be complaining. 'Cmon guys, the peak of the hump is still equal to the best cases performance of the other DACs.

 

[aj625]

If we don't push performance even higher again and again, far over audibility, it might come to the same price eventually.

Where are the limits of inaudibility defined actually ? Imo human brain is much more sensitive than these analysers. Recently chord mojo 2 was released. It has 104bit dsp which is transparent upto -301db as per designer rob watts. When you use EQ you realise that the affect of EQ is Ike the original music.

 

[Observer]

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.

They don't do soundstage here, maybe because it can't be evaluated by SINAD .
I was testing with friends, about a year ago a group of mid priced dacs, SMSL and Topping are not shown as the best regarding soundstage. I don't know why, maybe components&topology they use in output stage. Anyway... properly setup planar speakers (Magnepan, MartinLogan) are useful tool for soundstage, easy to spot a difference .... less sidewalls reflections by default.