Topping DX5II Balanced DAC and Headphone Amp Review

[aka]

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.

Quick Update on FW bricked DX5:
I did a hard reset: Unplug power and USB, hold down (front) ON button for 20 seconds.
Plugged in power cable and attached USB.
Powered on Unit. Display still reads: incorrect FW ver
Opened the Topping USB DFU app
Device recognized
Browse to FW1.42
Clicked Start
App reads ‘FW upgrade finished successfully’ and shows updated version

*this time* DX5 cycles though a mini-reboot and is ALIVE!

The hard reset business was (or at least seems to have been) the ticket.

 

[IgorD]

I was planning to buy a new DAC, so I created a table of Amir's Top 20 DACs along with their respective prices. Interestingly only four of them are priced under $300 and I think that's the sweet spot for price-to-performance. In my humble opinion in 99% of cases there's no need to go higher.

Having just switched from a D50 III + L50 stack to the DX5 II, there's really no audible difference to me between the two HPAs ...

Thank you.
I’m really glad to hear that. I also have the L50 (stacked with the E50), and it’s pure joy to use. If the DX5 II offers the same level of transparency, then it’s definitely on my list but before buying it myself in some future or recommending it to any of my friends, I’m waiting for more feedback to confirm solid QC and firmware fixes.

The reason I asked is that while Amir’s objective measurements are trustworthy, QC is a different matter.

 

[magor34]

Have you tried the 6,35mm output?

It finally hit me. The outer casing on my 4.4mm cable is just very large and the DX5 II has a small cutout around the 4.4mm output. It just won't fit in there, making the contact poor.

And yes, the 6.3mm single ended output is just fine.

 

[Rmjesty]

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

But, If there is no need for so many filters （＞10）to precisely calibrate the speakers and manage the subwoofer, the dac performance of the dx5ii will be significantly better than that of the minidsp 2x4HD

 

[Berwhale]

It finally hit me. The outer casing on my 4.4mm cable is just very large and the DX5 II has a small cutout around the 4.4mm output. It just won't fit in there, making the contact poor.

And yes, the 6.3mm single ended output is just fine.

The 4.4mm plug on the stock cable with my HD660S fits perfectly in the cut-out and i'd forgotten it was there

It seems like a needless cut-out. I'm guessing it's there just to balance things out visually with the 1/4" socket below.

 

[Berwhale]

In my humble opinion in 99% of cases there's no need to go higher.

You can go considerably lower and you still won't be able to hear any difference (see where the green lines fall on the charts): https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-thresholds-of-amp-and-dac-measurements.5734/

 

[Timbo2]

It seems like a needless cut-out. I'm guessing it's there just to balance things out visually with the 1/4" socket below.

It sits in line flush with 1/4 inch below. If they didn’t route it out the edge of the plug would be recessed and you’d likely have plug issues.

I feel like it was done as a solution after the board was done and they realized there was going to be an issue. Of course I never considered it until it got discussed here.

@magor34

I use 4.4mm and needed an extension. XLR cable is much cheaper and used this adapter.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FDGCZ6F7

Quality is surprisingly nice.

 

[Berwhale]

It sits in line flush with 1/4 inch below. If they didn’t route it out the edge of the plug would be recessed and you’d likely have plug issues.

The 4.4mm socket sits on a dedicated daughterboard above the 6.35mm socket, so it would not have been difficult to make the 4.4mm socket flush with the front of the unit. My bet is still on an aesthetic explanation.

 

[Timbo2]

The 4.4mm socket sits on a dedicated daughterboard above the 6.35mm socket, so it would not have been difficult to make the 4.4mm socket flush with the front of the unit. My bet is still on an aesthetic explanation.

View attachment 473319

Yeah, revise that board and you are good. Unless that jack itself won’t fit flush and they couldn’t find one that did.

Seems like a lot of work for a “feature” that will actually cause an issue for some cables.

 

[magor34]

It sits in line flush with 1/4 inch below. If they didn’t route it out the edge of the plug would be recessed and you’d likely have plug issues.

I feel like it was done as a solution after the board was done and they realized there was going to be an issue. Of course I never considered it until it got discussed here.

@magor34

I use 4.4mm and needed an extension. XLR cable is much cheaper and used this adapter.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FDGCZ6F7

Quality is surprisingly nice.

Yeah I got the ddHiFi XLR adapter. It's pretty similar to the one you linked, perhaps they are even made in the same factory.

I needed an adapter for my old amp since it only had XLR and 6.3mm (1/4 inch).

 

[magor34]

Firmware 1.66 is now available:​

https://dl.topping.audio/usermanual/DX5_II_FW1.66.zip​

​

6. What's updated​

• Fixed: System crash caused by switching C1/C2.

• Fixed: The problem that the Bluetooth version is misjudged with a certain probability, resulting in the device failing to boot up normally.

• Fixed: an issue that the transient being cut off when going from zero output to large signal.

• Fixed: Several other known issues.


Courtesy of Timbo2 first mentioned in the https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-dx5-ii.60996/page-95 -thread.

 

[ngs428]

Any trick to getting the correct PEQ to be selected when you use the C1 or C2 buttons?

I have PEQ Memory set to "Output". C1 is for HPA BAL and C2 is LO SE, all other settings are the same: I have a FLAT EQ set as EQ#5, various headphones are #1 to #4. When I am on C2 and the FLAT EQ is set, if I then press C1 it will set my EQ to EQ #1 (not EQ #5). If I hit C1 again it properly sets it as EQ #5.

Topping Tune is loaded an running. It almost looks like it does not respond fast enough and it thinks EQ #1 is the only one present and it loads it, instead of EQ #5.

Anyone see this.

I am on the latest 1.66, but I think it did it before the update.

 

[Raymond lin]

I will wait a few days before installing this one !

 

[dst]

Any trick to getting the correct PEQ to be selected when you use the C1 or C2 buttons?

I have PEQ Memory set to "Output". C1 is for HPA BAL and C2 is LO SE, all other settings are the same: I have a FLAT EQ set as EQ#5, various headphones are #1 to #4. When I am on C2 and the FLAT EQ is set, if I then press C1 it will set my EQ to EQ #1 (not EQ #5). If I hit C1 again it properly sets it as EQ #5.

Topping Tune is loaded an running. It almost looks like it does not respond fast enough and it thinks EQ #1 is the only one present and it loads it, instead of EQ #5.

Anyone see this.

I am on the latest 1.66, but I think it did it before the update.

Yeah the user settings seem very finicky, like there's an off by one error somewhere. I ended up deleting the pre-existing presets, then saving one blank present to #1, and _then_ adding my actual peqs at #2–#5. On the device they show up as #1–#4.

 

[ngs428]

Yeah the user settings seem very finicky, like there's an off by one error somewhere. I ended up deleting the pre-existing presets, then saving one blank present to #1, and _then_ adding my actual peqs at #2–#5. On the device they show up as #1–#4.

Huh, mine show the right number, it just seems like some are not recognize quick enough and the wrong one gets selected when I hit C1 or C2 preset.

I'm going to send my issue to Topping.

 

[Raymond lin]

So I accidentally deleted on of the Presets in Topping Tune, is there anyway to get them back?

 

[Raymond lin]

Also, this is strange, the graph on the PEQ changes when I got different headphones plugged in?

 

[Cincyret]

I just updated to V1.66.
SPDIF Mode = 2 (for TV)
I use PEQ presets 6, 7, 8 for my filters - Settings follow Output (Vol mem & PEQ mem) - (LO BAL, HPA SE, HPA BAL)
I 'm using PCM filter #3
Other than the SPDIF mode, I haven't noticed any changet to 1.66.

 

[ziggurcat]

Well, I think I can say that with 1.62 they fixed the issue I was having where the DAC would switch to USB input any time things went to sleep, and my computer woke up the DAC for whatever reason, but with 1.66 that seems to be broken again. Sometimes it will stay on Optical, sometimes not.

 

[Timbo2]

So I accidentally deleted on of the Presets in Topping Tune, is there anyway to get them back?

Have you tried “Factory Reset”?