Topping DX5II Balanced DAC and Headphone Amp Review

[rocksteady]

I don't know how anyone decides what Topping to buy. This unit looks like a complete Dac/Amp that will drive any headphone that's not an electrostatic (or maybe an Abyss) transparently with nearly unlimited power for $300. And it has full parametric EQ! We bitch, and Topping listens!

As always, thank you for the great review, Amir.

One particular feature that I think we should keep on bitching about to Topping is an affordable All-In-One such as this with an Analogue In! I for one would be glad to pay an extra $100 for it!

 

[Boredcarrot]

I received my DX5II a couple of days ago. I got it to replace my D50III, which I love but I wanted the PEQ function to be available for the coax in as well as USB input. Loving it so far, looks pretty and sounding supurb too. I couldn't get the firmware update to work as per following the instructions (dropping the "Topping File" into the created drive, but nothing happens from there and if I restart the DAC the file has dissapeared anyway). I will look back through this thread and see if anyone else had this issue, unless someone has a short-cut answer for me? I should mention, mine is v1.57 from memory (not at home atm to check), so I tried both available updated and neither worked. EDIT: problem fixed.

 

[jr41]

By any chance you are using Qobuz? Because that describes pretty much the problem i have/had exclusive with Qobuz. Some occasional jitter/stutter/lag/loss within the first 1-2 minutes of listening after a "cold start".

Sorry, just seen your post. No, I'm using Spotify.

 

[Interstellar]

Hey guys, just hooked mine up, comparing it to my aging Sagra DAC.

I'm finding this unit to be *incredibly* bright, and uncomfortably so on some of my test tracks. The more volume I add, the brighter and more uncomfortable it seems to get.

Is there anything I can do to realistically dampen the brightness or is this a return to sender? I love everything else about it (great features, great soundstage, BT built in, etc.) but boy the sibilance/excessive brightness are deal breakers for me.

If it matters I'm on a PC, using it purely as a DAC (connected to a Niimbus US5 Pro amp). My test headphones are the DCA Stealth's. This setup has never sounded bright or uncomfortable until this moment, with this unit.

 

[Boredcarrot]

Hey guys, just hooked mine up, comparing it to my aging Sagra DAC.

I'm finding this unit to be *incredibly* bright, and uncomfortably so on some of my test tracks. The more volume I add, the brighter and more uncomfortable it seems to get.

Is there anything I can do to realistically dampen the brightness or is this a return to sender? I love everything else about it (great features, great soundstage, BT built in, etc.) but boy the sibilance/excessive brightness are deal breakers for me.

If it matters I'm on a PC, using it purely as a DAC (connected to a Niimbus US5 Pro amp). My test headphones are the DCA Stealth's. This setup has never sounded bright or uncomfortable until this moment, with this unit.

Have you tried the EQ? I've used Topping Tune to slightly tweak the levels to make my system 'warmer'. Did you download Topping Tune?

 

[Mario1969]

Hey guys, just hooked mine up, comparing it to my aging Sagra DAC.

I'm finding this unit to be *incredibly* bright, and uncomfortably so on some of my test tracks. The more volume I add, the brighter and more uncomfortable it seems to get.

Is there anything I can do to realistically dampen the brightness or is this a return to sender? I love everything else about it (great features, great soundstage, BT built in, etc.) but boy the sibilance/excessive brightness are deal breakers for me.

I heard exactly the same thing: lots of transients, unpleasant timbre, but you can use the PCM FILTER option, you have 8 filters to choose from,
menu / output Settings / PCM FILTER.... ,
I chose the F-4.

 

[Mario1969]

Have you tried the EQ? I've used Topping Tune to slightly tweak the levels to make my system 'warmer'. Did you download Topping Tune?

Of course, you can use EQ... but EQ is not that precise. The PCM FILTER is simply a digital LOW-PASS FILTER. There are 8 of them and each cuts off high frequencies differently.

 

[somebodyelse]

The PCM FILTER is simply a digital HIGH-PASS FILTER. There are 8 of them and each cuts off high frequencies differently.

Obviously you meant to type HIGH-CUT or LOW-PASS

 

[Mario1969]

Obviously you meant to type HIGH-CUT or LOW-PASS

LOW PAS ... you could say it's the same... but the correct name is LOW PAS

 

[somebodyelse]

Assuming neither DAC is faulty and that there's no PEQ set there shouldn't be a significant difference in frequency response between the DACs. I'd first check that the Topping didn't get shipped with any PEQ set - it's unlikely but not impossible. If you have a suitable input device you could use REW to measure frequency response of both DACs and check for any significant deviation from flat. That should rule out either being faulty, and show whatever difference there is between them. Finally you can try using the PEQ to get something closer to the sound you want - sibilance is in the 3kHz-9kHz range.

 

[Interstellar]

Have you tried the EQ? I've used Topping Tune to slightly tweak the levels to make my system 'warmer'. Did you download Topping Tune?

I haven't yet. I gave it a look but didn't want to double-dip on EQ'ing, as I already have Peace installed and use that for everything.

I'll try tuning down the treble in Peace first. In my experience, that usually doesn't solve the problem but we'll see.

I heard exactly the same thing: lots of transients, unpleasant timbre, but you can use the PCM FILTER option, you have 8 filters to choose from,
menu / output Settings / PCM FILTER.... ,
I chose the F-4.

I did start swapping through them but didn't perceive a difference. I was actually unsure if it was working at all over USB? Maybe someone else can confirm, as I really didn't notice any changes when swapping between filters. Maybe it needs a specific bitrate? I'm not sure. The manual is sparse to say the least.

Assuming neither DAC is faulty and that there's no PEQ set there shouldn't be a significant difference in frequency response between the DACs. I'd first check that the Topping didn't get shipped with any PEQ set - it's unlikely but not impossible. If you have a suitable input device you could use REW to measure frequency response of both DACs and check for any significant deviation from flat. That should rule out either being faulty, and show whatever difference there is between them. Finally you can try using the PEQ to get something closer to the sound you want - sibilance is in the 3kHz-9kHz range.

Indeed PEQ was disabled when shipped, as expected. Plus everything reset when I updated the firmware. I don't believe I have a meaningful way to measure the DACs, unfortunately.

After watching a couple of reviews, I don't think the DAC is faulty. Feels like this is just the experience with it in some cases. This reviewer seemed to have the same experience overall.

 

[JIW]

Hey guys, just hooked mine up, comparing it to my aging Sagra DAC.

I'm finding this unit to be *incredibly* bright, and uncomfortably so on some of my test tracks. The more volume I add, the brighter and more uncomfortable it seems to get.

Is there anything I can do to realistically dampen the brightness or is this a return to sender? I love everything else about it (great features, great soundstage, BT built in, etc.) but boy the sibilance/excessive brightness are deal breakers for me.

If it matters I'm on a PC, using it purely as a DAC (connected to a Niimbus US5 Pro amp). My test headphones are the DCA Stealth's. This setup has never sounded bright or uncomfortable until this moment, with this unit.

The Sagra DAC is an R2R design. If that does not use oversampling, i.e. is NOS, there is a significant reduction in high frequencies.

 

[Spiral_Architect]

The Sagra DAC is an R2R design. If that does not use oversampling, i.e. is NOS, there is a significant reduction in high frequencies.

I did not find much quantitative measurements on this Sagra DAC. But if it is anything like other r2r dacs

'Review and Measurements of Totaldac d1-six DAC'

Jul 25, 2019

This is a review of the Totaldac d1-six DAC and headphone amplifier. It was kindly shipped from europe to me for testing by a member at a high shipping cost of over 200 euros. The d1-six costs 13,500 euros including VAT in Europe and $12,400 for export. The latter translates into US $13,816. This is the most expensive DAC to be reviewed as of this writing.

The d1-six is a two-box solution with the power supply in an external box:

The black plexiglass is meant to give it a touch of class but it is not very successful. I darkened the image above to get rid of the...

• amirm
• Replies: 1,808
• Forum: Digital To Analog (DAC) Reviews and Discussion

• 

It probably has significant high frequency rollof so they have built-in EQ

 

[somebodyelse]

I did not find much quantitative measurements on this Sagra DAC. But if it is anything like other r2r dacs

The measured performance of R2R DACs here has shown huge variations between implementations. You've linked one of the bad ones, but some do rather better, like the Holo May or Topping Centaurus. NOS options often (but not always) have some roll-off towards HF which might account for the difference, but we won't know until we find some decent measurements of the SagraDAC. If that is the cause then some EQ might help.

 

[Ahmonge]

Maybe someone else can confirm, as I really didn't notice any changes when swapping between filters

As these reconstruction filters affect frequencies close to 20 kHz, unless you have nearly perfect high frequency hearing and reach that high, it's normal not to find any noticeable differences.

 

[Interstellar]

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. I've been playing with Peace (Equalizer APO) trying to do some targeted peak reduction. Hopefully I'll find something. I love the price and performance generally of this unit. But my ears are really, really sensitive to highs. Maybe more than many. For me, "smoother" (rolled off) highs are the only way I can listen to music without fatigue.

Hopefully I'll find an EQ adjustment that addresses this issue I'm having so I can keep it with confidence.

Sorry I can't provide more meaningful details on the Sagra. I'm sure it's rolling off highs to some degree and I'm A-OK with that. I'd absolutely rather be losing some detail if the benefit is listening without fatigue for 8+ hours, which is what I'm used to being able to do. I guess I got comfortable with my setup and forgot sibilance / hot highs were a thing. Sigh.

Anyway, I'll keep thinkering with the EQ. If she goes back, she goes back.

 

[magor34]

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.

Yeah I had this issue as well. I have stopped using custom buttons now.

 

[staticV3]

Hey, i just got the topping DX5 II, and it's incredible! i really love the sound, quality and overall device. I have one problem though which i also had with my older UAD Apollo interface using my Audeze LCD-5 Planar headphones. There is a deep buzz in my headphones, and i believe its a grounding issue, because when i touch anything metal - like the dac, my macbook etc its grounding everything, and the buzz or hum disappears. What is going wrong in my setup, and how can i fix it? Thanks.

See my answer in your dedicated thread:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/grounding-hum-buzz-issue.66203

Also try to avoid double posting in the future. It just makes for unnecessarily convoluted discourse.

 

[Belgarathian]

I wonder what the VU meter looks like and how easy/hard it is to program the PEQ. The buttons slightly remind me of those on the RME ADI-2 DAC, as does the feature set, for one third of the price.

Can confirm that the PEQ programming is super easy. Reminds me of EqualizerAPO in simplicity.

 

[Belgarathian]

Just purchased one of the units because of this review....

Replaced a Chord Qutest and Bryston BHA-1 HP Amp.