Topping DX5II Balanced DAC and Headphone Amp Review

[Jeromeof]

One feature that I don't think gets enough attention is the assignment of the PEQ On/Off to a button on the remote. This makes it a great A/B tester for headphone PEQ IMO.

 

[Spiral_Architect]

One feature that I don't think gets enough attention is the assignment of the PEQ On/Off to a button on the remote. This makes it a great A/B tester for headphone PEQ IMO.

On paper, yes. In practice peq settings I usually play with have significant gain, hence significant negative preamp gain. So between on and off setting the volume mismatch is so high that it is difficult to compare. For A/B one should need fast switching between two presets, one of which has a flat gain to match loudness, as much as possible.

 

[ngs428]

Yes forgot to mention. Not only PEQ profiles were deleted - but that's obviously the most painful

Odd, those stayed when I updated. They were only saved locally on the device too.

I have all mine backed up in text files so I can do an easy import if that happens. Maybe look into that. I agree, not fun to reenter.

 

[Timbo2]

On paper, yes. In practice peq settings I usually play with have significant gain, hence significant negative preamp gain. So between on and off setting the volume mismatch is so high that it is difficult to compare. For A/B one should need fast switching between two presets, one of which has a flat gain to match loudness, as much as possible.

Same issue.

 

[Mario1969]

On paper, yes. In practice peq settings I usually play with have significant gain, hence significant negative preamp gain. So between on and off setting the volume mismatch is so high that it is difficult to compare. For A/B one should need fast switching between two presets, one of which has a flat gain to match loudness, as much as possible.

I don't see any problem! That's what this is for.

 

[Spiral_Architect]

I don't see any problem! That's what this is for.

Sure, but the quick switch button only allows to select between on/off not between two different settings. Or at least that didn't seem to be the case when I tried. The interface is nice but a bit confusing, I might be missing something.

 

[Dandelion]

On paper, yes. In practice peq settings I usually play with have significant gain, hence significant negative preamp gain. So between on and off setting the volume mismatch is so high that it is difficult to compare. For A/B one should need fast switching between two presets, one of which has a flat gain to match loudness, as much as possible.

you need to gain compensate to equal loudness, also make sure you always avoid clipping.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Make an empty eq profile with the same negstive gain as your desired profile and switch A\B
I always do it to compare different EQ profiles or even sometimes one band to check the outcome

 

[Spiral_Architect]

Is It normal that by pressing the C1 button on the remote It appears as if a set of saved "user settings" is retrieved but ...there is no reference to this functionality in the menu, no way to save anything. The end result of pressing either C1 or C2 forme is that I have to reset everything manually.
Is this the expected behaviour ? What is the purpose of C1 C2 ?

 

[Spiral_Architect]

you need to gain compensate to equal loudness, also make sure you always avoid clipping.

Of course I do, and this is precisely the reason why "no EQ" and "EQ on" will never have the same loudness. The only workaround,as suggested, is to dial in a flat EQ preset with negative gain to match. But the interface does not allow to quickly AB between two settings, just between setting A and "off".

 

[Berwhale]

Is It normal that by pressing the C1 button on the remote It appears as if a set of saved "user settings" is retrieved but ...there is no reference to this functionality in the menu, no way to save anything. The end result of pressing either C1 or C2 forme is that I have to reset everything manually.
Is this the expected behaviour ? What is the purpose of C1 C2 ?

Personally, I don't find this function useful because switching settings temporarily disconnects the DX5 II from my PC causing the music to stop playing.

 

[Berwhale]

Of course I do, and this is precisely the reason why "no EQ" and "EQ on" will never have the same loudness. The only workaround,as suggested, is to dial in a flat EQ preset with negative gain to match. But the interface does not allow to quickly AB between two settings, just between setting A and "off".

You can programme A or B button for 'PEQ' switch. If you only have 2 PEQ settings stored in User Config, then A/B will effectively switch between them.

At least, that's how it should work. I have the 5 default PEQ configs + configs for my iLoud MTMs and HD660S. Pressing A will only cycle through the 5 default settings. Another bug for Topping to squash?

 

[Mario1969]

I have 10 different presets programmed in Topping Tune, and they all have the same audible volume level... "A" button on the remote, PEQ on/off... "B" button PEQ select, simple and works very well,, I don't use the C1, C2 buttons

 

[Spiral_Architect]

View attachment 478035

Personally, I don't find this function useful because switching settings temporarily disconnects the DX5 II from my PC causing the music to stop playing.

Wow, so this functionality is accessible exclusively via the remote, there is no corresponding setting inside the UI. Not a great design idea. One of many...
I have better save my current configuration to both c1 and c2 so that accidentally pressing those buttons has no ill effects.

 

[Timbo2]

Wow, so this functionality is accessible exclusively via the remote, there is no corresponding setting inside the UI. Not a great design idea. One of many...
I have better save my current configuration to both c1 and c2 so that accidentally pressing those buttons has no ill effects.

I discovered that "feature" on the first day. I programmed all my settings and pressed the C1 button. As I hadn't saved anything to C1 it promptly overwrote all my settings.

BTW - long press to save the settings. In another UI "feature" if you short press you will overwrite the features you were trying to save.

 

[Berwhale]

Wow, so this functionality is accessible exclusively via the remote, there is no corresponding setting inside the UI. Not a great design idea. One of many...
I have better save my current configuration to both c1 and c2 so that accidentally pressing those buttons has no ill effects.

I don't see any issue with programming of remote control buttons only being done on the remote, it seems pretty logical to me. Perhaps an option in the UI to disable C1 and C2 would be useful to some, but as you say, pressing C1 for 3 seconds, then pressing C2 for 3 seconds effectively negates their effect for accidental presses.

 

[Berwhale]

I discovered that "feature" on the first day. I programmed all my settings and pressed the C1 button. As I hadn't saved anything to C1 it promptly overwrote all my settings.

BTW - long press to save the settings. In another UI "feature" if you short press you will overwrite the features you were trying to save.

It's all in the manual!

 

[Berwhale]

Talking about the remote; I wonder if Topping will bring out a premium model, like the RC-21/22, with the new buttons on it. I miss my RC-21, which is not getting much use now my Topping EX5 is at my bedside (the RC-21 is not compatible with the DX5 II, none of the buttons work. Presumably Topping are using a new range of IR codes for their newer generation of devices).

 

[Spiral_Architect]

It's all in the manual!

It's not an excuse for a bad design choice. Loading C1 and C2 should never overwrite settings, just temporarily override them. The "current" state should be saved automatically. So that the system effectively switches between three sets of settings. A reasonable implementation would not reset to default if nothing has been saved by the user. If I turn on the unit for the first time, adjust some setting then press C1 for the first time, no sane person would expect a reset to factory settings. I would expect to get a message like "no settings saved".

 

[Berwhale]

It's not an excuse for a bad design choice. Loading C1 and C2 should never overwrite settings, just temporarily override them. The "current" state should be saved automatically. So that the system effectively switches between three sets of settings. A reasonable implementation would not reset to default if nothing has been saved by the user. If I turn on the unit for the first time, adjust some setting then press C1 for the first time, no sane person would expect a reset to factory settings. I would expect to get a message like "no settings saved".

I don't think it's a design choice, it's more of an design omission. The Aurora UI is pretty new and is evolving and being refined with every new device and firmware version that Topping release. I agree that the current behaviour is not ideal, but I wouldn't put it very high up Topping's list of stuff to fix or improve.

At the end of the day it takes me less than 60 seconds to re-enter all my settings, and I'm only going to make a mistake with C1 or C2 once (or not at all if I've read the manual). The fact that Windows thinks the DAC has disconnected and reconnected when C1 or C2 is pressed is a much bigger problem for me (it stops the music playing).