Topping DX5II Balanced DAC and Headphone Amp Review

[Rmjesty]

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?

miniDSP is much stronger than DX5II for loudspeaker system calibration. I bought them at the same time, but the reason was that the DX5II had a excellent headphone amplifier and PEQ for them.

 

[mackat]

It’s really too bad that this doesn’t have at least one analog input.

That completely takes it out of the running for my intended use case.

 

[ziggurcat]

It’s really too bad that this doesn’t have at least one analog input.

That completely takes it out of the running for my intended use case.

The XLR output is analog.

Sorry, my eyes saw "...put" and thought you meant output.

 

[staticV3]

The XLR output is analog.

Input≠output

 

[ziggurcat]

Input≠output

Sorry, I misread. You're absolutely right.

 

[ngs428]

The random waking up has always happened for me even before 1.62, and not just with the DX5 II (my E50 and D50 III were the same). I have my DX5 II set to Signal, so it is technically supposed to turn on when my computer wakes up.

When I reset my settings after the 1.62 install, I did forget to change the signal to off. Must have been it.

 

[oal]

miniDSP is much stronger than DX5II for loudspeaker system calibration. I bought them at the same time, but the reason was that the DX5II had a excellent headphone amplifier and PEQ for them.

Do you use a room correction tool, such as REW or Dirac Live, to create EQ filters? Or do you manually set the PEQ for the miniDSP and the DX5II?

 

[Rmjesty]

Do you use a room correction tool, such as REW or Dirac Live, to create EQ filters? Or do you manually set the PEQ for the miniDSP and the DX5II?

I use REW to measure and generate automatic filters. I usually only make adjustments for a total of 10 filters per measurement, and then use this adjusted setting to adjust the remaining available filters after repeating the measurement again. In general, the miniDSP can support more filters, channels, and filter variety, including the fact that subwoofer management can be done with it. The DX5II, on the other hand, put more thought into a headphone amplifier with excellent performance

 

[ngs428]

This pulling of the firmware is quite odd. I went back to 1.57 on my unit and asked them what is happening. Not sure I’ll get a reply, but asked at least.

 

[davmol]

I just ordered mine in silver for occasional headphone duty on my main system because I get quite a lot of background noise / distortion when using the Ultra's headphone jack with my HiFiMan planars (which I expected, as per Amir's review). I was going to go just for a nice headphone amp, but the DX5 II is such a great price that it seemed a no brainer, and I can run it as an external DAC and pass balanced output to the Fosi V3 Monoblocks, which I know isn't going to make an audible difference, but I feel better about the purchase knowing I can get extra value out of the device vs just using for occasional headphone use.

Another objective was to look for something that didn't look totally out of place when sitting on top of the WiiM Ultra (mine is in silver) and the DX5 II is 190mm wide, vs the 200mm width of the Ultra, so with them both in silver I think it should look reasonably coherent. I discovered during the research on what might look nice paired with a WiiM Ultra (again in silver) that for me the best match for looks and performance would be the Topping E70 DAC, L70 Headphone Amp and PA7 Plus Speaker Amp, with the WiiM sat on top. They are all 200mm wide and from the front they all have the thin silver top and bottom lip, with with the black gloss / plastic fronts, which matches the WiiM (albeit the WiiM has that curved edge to the left and right). I think it a small rack they would look really good together and who could want for more performance? Maybe one day, but I'm happy with my Fosi V3s for now.

Quick note for anyone ordering direct from Topping store, double check the basket price is USD because when you select a different currency it does not auto convert down. I'm in the UK, and had clicked through based on a $299 price tag ($284 after discount) but after paying (Paypal Express) I noticed the currency had auto switched to GBP but did not convert to the equivalent price, so I was charged £284 GBP (i.e. I overpaid by about £60). I contacted Topping straight after and they were very helpful and agreed to refund the difference, but lesson learned, pay attention to the currency symbol before confirming!

 

[ziggurcat]

This pulling of the firmware is quite odd. I went back to 1.57 on my unit and asked them what is happening. Not sure I’ll get a reply, but asked at least.

I would say that if your unit updated to 1.62 without any issues, then there's no need to roll back the FW. Mine updated fine, and it's working perfectly fine on v1.62.

 

[ngs428]

I would say that if your unit updated to 1.62 without any issues, then there's no need to roll back the FW. Mine updated fine, and it's working perfectly fine on v1.62.

The report on Reddit stated “Do not upgrade the DX5 II to firmware V1.62. After some time, the screen went blank and never turned back on.”

Not sure what “after some time” was referring to, but sounded like they upgraded and were using it, but at some point it then went black.

I had no issues with 1.57, so sticking with that is fine for me until they clarify what is going on.

 

[ziggurcat]

The report on Reddit stated “Do not upgrade the DX5 II to firmware V1.62. After some time, the screen went blank and never turned back on.”

Not sure what “after some time” was referring to, but sounded like they upgraded and were using it, but at some point it then went black.

I had no issues with 1.57, so sticking with that is fine for me until they clarify what is going on.

The only instance of that happening mentioned here was almost immediately after they had updated.

 

[ngs428]

The only instance of that happening mentioned here was almost immediately after they had updated.

Gotcha. I”d just like some clarification from Topping on this issue.

 

[Bleib]

I'll stick with 1.62, as it is now it works fine (I've yet to use PEQ though)

 

[aka]

Great review, as usual, Amir! My DX5 just today bricked after updating to FW v1.42, despite the firmware update going smoothly and getting the successful prompt. Unit powers on now with 'incorrect FF ver' and subsequent attempts to install/update fail. So, silver lining is I can order a DX5 II. Just say No to Topping FW updates! (BTW, DX5 sounded great COAXed to my WiiM Pro Plus!)

 

[AtticReclus3]

I got mine this week, needless to say.. I think I'm going to be a topping fan forever now, the experience on my Letshuoer E20's and S12's genuinely clear,airy,detailed.. for awhile I had 2nd thoughts but now that I have the unit its an amazing piece for $300.. would do it all over again maybe pay $450 for this little monster. Probably one of the most feature rich products ever to have come across at such an amazing bargain. I wish my JDS labs element 4 had a 4.4mm.. but no regrets there either.. can't recommend the Dx5ii enough.

I almost wanna buy another as a backup to stick on my hifi shelf.

 

[ziggurcat]

Great review, as usual, Amir! My DX5 just today bricked after updating to FW v1.42, despite the firmware update going smoothly and getting the successful prompt. Unit powers on now with 'incorrect FF ver' and subsequent attempts to install/update fail. So, silver lining is I can order a DX5 II. Just say No to Topping FW updates! (BTW, DX5 sounded great COAXed to my WiiM Pro Plus!)

Are you sure you installed the correct FW? DO you have the DX5 or the DX5 Lite? Because if it's giving you an "incorrect FF ver", it's doing that for a reason.

 

[aka]

Are you sure you installed the correct FW? DO you have the DX5 or the DX5 Lite? Because if it's giving you an "incorrect FF ver", it's doing that for a reason.

Yes, I installed the FW for the DX5 (not the DX5 Lite) on my DX5 (not DX5 Lite). The prompt from the DFU installer app read that the FW was installed successfully. I have a message in to Topping. Meanwhile, it's a brick.

 

[ziggurcat]

Yes, I installed the FW for the DX5 (not the DX5 Lite) on my DX5 (not DX5 Lite). The prompt from the DFU installer app read that the FW was installed successfully. I have a message in to Topping. Meanwhile, it's a brick.

Just making sure because there was someone who tried installing the wrong FW for their E30 II DAC, and it bricked (they installed the Lite version by accident). Hopefully Topping will get back to you ASAP on that.