Topping DX5II Balanced DAC and Headphone Amp Review

[ziggurcat]

I am looking for a room correction solution. Roon has a MUSE Convolution feature, but since I play sources other than Roon from my Mac, it would be best if I could use room correction with a USB DAC, such as the Topping DX5II.

Besides Topping DX5II and Topping Tune, miniDSP Flex and Dirac Live are my other candidates, though the latter is considerably more expensive.

I don't know about the future, but right now, I don't plan on using a subwoofer. For now, I need only 2ch room correction (not 2.1 or 4ch).

Do you have any comments on the room correction performance for 2ch of these two candidates? Or any other options?

It all depends on how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go (btw, you don't need Dirac if you decide on the miniDSP Flex).

 

[Berwhale]

Hmmm, I deleted all the built-in PEQ configs using Topping.Tune, however, two of them have magically re-appeared, has anyone else noticed this?

I will delete them and see if they come back again.

*edit* It also overwrote filters 2 & 3 (but not #1) without changing the name, I had to send the filters to the DX5 again. I thought the filters had been fixed in the latest firmware?

 

[ziggurcat]

Hmmm, I deleted all the built-in PEQ configs using Topping.Tune, however, two of them have magically re-appeared, has anyone else noticed this?

View attachment 468798

I will delete them and see if they come back again.

*edit* It also overwrote filters 2 & 3 (but not #1) without changing the name, I had to send the filters to the DX5 again. I thought the filters had been fixed in the latest firmware?

What version of Topping Tune do you have?

 

[zonk]

Just bought a silver version on Amazon from toppinaudio seller on 8/5. Shipping directly from China to USA. Looking forward to try it out w Sennheiser hd660s2.

Shipped from China means in case of a defect returning to China

 

[Berwhale]

What version of Topping Tune do you have?

 

[ziggurcat]

View attachment 468918

Ok, was just ruling out that the TT version wasn't up to date.

I haven't used TT yet (waiting on the app/Mac OS version), but I seem to recall there being something about having to wait for a few seconds before the changes stick, but I could have very easily misread that.

 

[Berwhale]

Ok, was just ruling out that the TT version wasn't up to date.

I haven't used TT yet (waiting on the app/Mac OS version), but I seem to recall there being something about having to wait for a few seconds before the changes stick, but I could have very easily misread that.

The default PEQ were definitely all deleted before I added all my own PEQ settings, first locally on the PC and then sent to the DX5 II.

All the default configs are gone now...

However, turning the DX5 II off and on (using the switch on the back) has made the issue re-occur...

Weirdly...

EQ1 in unchanged and has correct name and filters.
EQ2 has correct name but the filters have been replaced with some sort of default (presumably the defaults for EQ2)
EQ3 has correct name but the filters have been replaced with some sort of default (presumably the defaults for EQ3)
EQ4 has been changed to the the default name but the filters are unchanged (still correct for 7Hz x Crinacle Zero 2)
EQ5 has been changed to the the default name but the filters are unchanged (still correct for AKG K731)
EQ6,7&8 also appear unaffected.

But there was no EQ 7&8 before the power cycle, so entries must be being inserted and pushing the others down (it's too late for me to work this out now, i'll take another look tomorrow).

 

[DazST]

Apologies if this has already been asked, but does this auto detect and output to headphones when connected, or does the output always need to be manually selected? The ideal solution I'm looking for at the moment is a dac/headphone amp I can integrate into my main system, between a wiim ultra and integrated amp, that can act as a dac/line out into the amp for 2.1 listening, but automatically switch to headphone out when headphones are connected. Reason is I have other people in the house using the system for stereo listening and I'm ideally looking for something that can switch between the two (2.1 stereo to headphones) with no/minimal button pushing!

 

[staticV3]

Apologies if this has already been asked, but does this auto detect and output to headphones when connected, or does the output always need to be manually selected? The ideal solution I'm looking for at the moment is a dac/headphone amp I can integrate into my main system, between a wiim ultra and integrated amp, that can act as a dac/line out into the amp for 2.1 listening, but automatically switch to headphone out when headphones are connected. Reason is I have other people in the house using the system for stereo listening and I'm ideally looking for something that can switch between the two (2.1 stereo to headphones) with no/minimal button pushing!

The JDS Atom Amp 2 will do that, not sure about the DX5II

But be aware that the WiiM Ultra cannot know if a headphone is connected to the external Headphone Amp. It'll output sound to the Subwoofer regardless.

Edit:
A better option IMO would be to use a USB DAC+Amp, so WiiM->USB->DACamp->Headphones and WiiM->RCA Line out->2.1

Yes you'd have to switch outputs manually, but
A: switching to USB (Headphone out) will turn off both Line and Sub out and
B: you can set different EQ for USB out and Line out. The WiiM will automatically switch EQ depending on which output is currently active

 

[DazST]

That's a good point about the sub. I could potentially connect the sub to my amp instead to get around that

 

[Timbo2]

My unit is still on order so no first hand experience.

Manual notes the following:

4-2 PEQ select


Five default preset configurations are provided for users to choose from.


Please note that these default preset configurations are not modifiable.


Additionally, you can save five custom configurations to the DX5 II using the


Topping Tune software. The DX5 II can then use these configurations offline.

It says modifiable. I wonder if that is the same as deletable or not.

 

[staticV3]

That's a good point about the sub. I could potentially connect the sub to my amp instead to get around that

Then you'd lose the WiiM's awesome Sub integration features

 

[ngs428]

The default PEQ were definitely all deleted before I added all my own PEQ settings, first locally on the PC and then sent to the DX5 II.

All the default configs are gone now...

View attachment 468954

However, turning the DX5 II off and on (using the switch on the back) has made the issue re-occur...

View attachment 468955

Weirdly...

EQ1 in unchanged and has correct name and filters.
EQ2 has correct name but the filters have been replaced with some sort of default (presumably the defaults for EQ2)
EQ3 has correct name but the filters have been replaced with some sort of default (presumably the defaults for EQ3)
EQ4 has been changed to the the default name but the filters are unchanged (still correct for 7Hz x Crinacle Zero 2)
EQ5 has been changed to the the default name but the filters are unchanged (still correct for AKG K731)
EQ6,7&8 also appear unaffected.

But there was no EQ 7&8 before the power cycle, so entries must be being inserted and pushing the others down (it's too late for me to work this out now, i'll take another look tomorrow).

Good detail. Sounds like a report to Topping will be needed.

 

[ziggurcat]

The default PEQ were definitely all deleted before I added all my own PEQ settings, first locally on the PC and then sent to the DX5 II.

All the default configs are gone now...

View attachment 468954

However, turning the DX5 II off and on (using the switch on the back) has made the issue re-occur...

View attachment 468955

Weirdly...

EQ1 in unchanged and has correct name and filters.
EQ2 has correct name but the filters have been replaced with some sort of default (presumably the defaults for EQ2)
EQ3 has correct name but the filters have been replaced with some sort of default (presumably the defaults for EQ3)
EQ4 has been changed to the the default name but the filters are unchanged (still correct for 7Hz x Crinacle Zero 2)
EQ5 has been changed to the the default name but the filters are unchanged (still correct for AKG K731)
EQ6,7&8 also appear unaffected.

But there was no EQ 7&8 before the power cycle, so entries must be being inserted and pushing the others down (it's too late for me to work this out now, i'll take another look tomorrow).

I think this would definitely be worth contacting Topping about! Maybe someone else can confirm this issue as well, which would eliminate it from being an isolated incident.

 

[DazST]

Then you'd lose the WiiM's awesome Sub integration features

True, but my sub also has all the customisation features I really need in-built (high pass, low pass, phase, EQ etc).

 

[DazST]

The JDS Atom Amp 2 will do that, not sure about the DX5II

But be aware that the WiiM Ultra cannot know if a headphone is connected to the external Headphone Amp. It'll output sound to the Subwoofer regardless.

Edit:
A better option IMO would be to use a USB DAC+Amp, so WiiM->USB->DACamp->Headphones and WiiM->RCA Line out->2.1

Yes you'd have to switch outputs manually, but
A: switching to USB (Headphone out) will turn off both Line and Sub out and
B: you can set different EQ for USB out and Line out. The WiiM will automatically switch EQ depending on which output is currently active

A: Activating usb out doesn't doesn't automatically turn off sub out though I don't think?
B: Also isn't the different eq settings for sources, not outputs?
Edit: or perhaps you mean to use the presets to achieve the 2 different output modes?

 

[yorkieaudio]

The default PEQ were definitely all deleted before I added all my own PEQ settings, first locally on the PC and then sent to the DX5 II.

....

But there was no EQ 7&8 before the power cycle, so entries must be being inserted and pushing the others down (it's too late for me to work this out now, i'll take another look tomorrow).

Just to echo contact Topping / who you bought it from. Your units seems faulty, most likely EEPROM isn't properly saving the values over the old which is why it loses the values after power down.

 

[malaire]

Apologies if this has already been asked, but does this auto detect and output to headphones when connected, or does the output always need to be manually selected?

DX5II can't auto-detect output, only input. Output must be selected manually, either by pressing volume wheel or with button on remote.

 

[staticV3]

A: Activating usb out doesn't doesn't automatically turn off sub out though I don't think?

Ah, it used to be the case that switching to USB out disabled sub out:

Sub out question

I have an external USB DAC with a Sub coming from the Ultra and also have the sub slider to YES. What happens? Does the DAC only get the frequencies above the crossover? Or does the DAC get the full 20-20k? And I have the line out wired to an external headphones. And if I switch...

forum.wiimhome.com

B: Also isn't the different eq settings for sources, not outputs?

That feature should exist at some point:

Ongoing Beta - Beta Testing: Wireless Dolby 5.1 for WiiM Ultra

I think the question was if the RC will be associated with the output settings ad it should be. Isn't that already accomplished with smart presets?

forum.wiimhome.com

 

[PepegaSimulator]

Been following this thread for a while while all the software issues are getting ironed out. I got my unit coming in a week. Is there any consensus on what the best filter is for this? For all my previous Topping DACs, I'd just consult the ASR thread on it, set it and forget it.