Topping DX5II Balanced DAC and Headphone Amp Review

[Berwhale]

How can I automatically wake up my device when I turn it on on a PC or MAC?

Set On/Off trigger to 'signal' in Advanced settings in the DX5 II menu. In fact, I think that is probably the default, I don't recall changing it myself.

 

[Bauhaus]

Set On/Off trigger to 'signal' in Advanced settings in the DX5 II menu. In fact, I think that is probably the default, I don't recall changing it myself.

Oh!! I will look at it when I will be home. Thank you.
Does it work when the PC/Mac goes to sleep mode?

 

[KokoCollie]

Set On/Off trigger to 'signal' in Advanced settings in the DX5 II menu. In fact, I think that is probably the default, I don't recall changing it myself.

It is the default.

I only found this out after factory resetting during my testing and discovering my DX5 II would automatically sleep and wake. I manually set the on/off trigger to 12V, as I have a speaker amplifier connected to it and I thought I had to do this to get it to work, I thought signal was some different 12V trigger standard!

Factory resetting kept my 12V trigger working while the mode was set to signal, and now my DX5 II automatically sleeps and wakes. Even if my PEQ is currently not storing properly, at least I found this out, thank you!

 

[Mario1969]

TOPPING TUNE

 

[Berwhale]

Oh!! I will look at it when I will be home. Thank you.
Does it work when the PC/Mac goes to sleep mode?

Yes, the DX5 II goes to sleep 30 seconds after my PC does.

 

[Bauhaus]

Set On/Off trigger to 'signal' in Advanced settings in the DX5 II menu. In fact, I think that is probably the default, I don't recall changing it myself.

Okay, I just checked the option, and it was turned off for me. When I turned it on, it worked perfectly. Fantastic!
Thank you so much for this! I never would have guessed it.

 

[KokoCollie]

@KokoCollie - I never turn my DX5 II off (unless testing), it just goes to sleep with my PC. I've turned off autostart for TT and only run it to check if there's a new version in the vain hope that it's been fixed!

I also have the Distill web monitor add-in setup in my browser to inform me when Topping have updated their download page...

View attachment 491312

I should also mention that when I say “power cycle”, I mean turning the unit off using the power button on the remote which does the same thing as letting it sleep / wake with my PC.

Powering it off this way allows windows to still think it’s connected, which is very helpful for applications that can’t change audio devices on the fly, but regardless of whether or not I power it off with the remote, or if it goes to sleep with my PC, or if I use the switch on the back, my profiles will consistently be forgotten, change names or change EQ parameters (though with the new TT only the latter two issues happen).

 

[ziggurcat]

How can I automatically wake up my device when I turn it on on a PC or MAC?

In the settings, go to Advanced > On/Off Trigger then change it to Signal (which should be the default setting).

NVM, this has been addressed...

 

[Bauhaus]

One issue I’ve encountered is with the Gain setting. When I use my Meze Alba in SE mode, I’ve set the gain to Low. Everything works as intended. However, when I switch to Balance mode and listen with the Sundara, the Gain is set to High ( I've got the GAIN written under dB on the LCD screen), but it’s not actually High. I have to manually adjust the gain again to set it properly. Do you experience the same problem?

 

[ziggurcat]

Topping Tune gave me a notification that there's a new version, V1.14 (previously 1.09).

I updated to it, and while my EQ profiles still change on power cycle, it isn't as inconsistent as it used to be; moreover, TT is now behaving much more expectedly!

I set up my profiles, all sounded well and then I closed TT and power cycled the DX5 II. A couple of my EQs reverted their names to "DevConfig1" and "DevConfig2" and the sound was definitely changed, but the number of EQ profiles I saved was 3, and the amount on the device was 3, which was an improvement as before it would almost always remove my third profile.

Upon opening TT with the DX5 II, it read the device's 3 on board profiles and then somewhat fixed the EQ configuration? The names were still out of sync (TT thought the names were what I set them to, but the DX5 II thought they were named DevConfig), but the moment I opened TT it 'fixed' the EQ profiles I saved back to the way I intended.

Restarting TT a second time (without re-power cycling the DX5 II) shows this too. Everything is in sync between TT and my DX5 II, though power cycling the DX5 II still causes issues, such as EQ profile names reverting, and EQ configuration (frequencies, gain values, filters) altering.

The first email they sent me did outright say "we will push the fix to you via firmware update as soon as possible", so it's possible that they're making changes / fixes to both the TT software *and* the DX5 II's firmware to help them properly communicate to one another. Fingers crossed!

I'll continue to post my findings / conversations with Topping here, I just send them a follow-up email detailing how my DX5 II interacts with the new TT V1.14 update.

There's no v1.14 for me, and there's nothing on the website, either. I'm on Mac, though.

 

[LSDionysus]

I just loaded TT and was asked to update to v1.14, so it is live for me.

Also, confirmed Topping website still has v1.09 and has not been updated yet.

 

[ngs428]

I just loaded TT and was asked to update to v1.14, so it is live for me.

Also, confirmed Topping website still has v1.09 and has not been updated yet.

Just change the URL from 09 to 14 and the new file will download.

 

[Berwhale]

I should also mention that when I say “power cycle”, I mean turning the unit off using the power button on the remote which does the same thing as letting it sleep / wake with my PC.

Powering it off this way allows windows to still think it’s connected, which is very helpful for applications that can’t change audio devices on the fly, but regardless of whether or not I power it off with the remote, or if it goes to sleep with my PC, or if I use the switch on the back, my profiles will consistently be forgotten, change names or change EQ parameters (though with the new TT only the latter two issues happen).

Pressing the 'power' button on the remote puts the DX5 II to sleep, pressing and holding the volume button does the same thing. This is not the same as powering the unit off and on using the rear switch.

In my experience, letting the device sleep by removing the input signal leads to the same result as putting it to sleep with the remote or volume button. TT will usually remember my custom EQ through several PC/DX5 II sleep cycles, but it invariably 'forgets' the custom EQ after a power cycle with the rear switch.

 

[ziggurcat]

I just loaded TT and was asked to update to v1.14, so it is live for me.

Also, confirmed Topping website still has v1.09 and has not been updated yet.

PC or Mac?

Just change the URL from 09 to 14 and the new file will download.

Nope.

 

[ngs428]

PC or Mac?



Nope.

Must be no MAC update then. Worked for windows when I did it this AM.

 

[ziggurcat]

Must be no MAC update then. Worked for windows when I did it this AM.

That is apparently the case. Wondering if the issue is specific to PC -- anyone on Mac that is having that issue? I'm certainly not having anything like that happen with my unit.

 

[texaspledge]

I should also mention that when I say “power cycle”, I mean turning the unit off using the power button on the remote which does the same thing as letting it sleep / wake with my PC.

Powering it off this way allows windows to still think it’s connected, which is very helpful for applications that can’t change audio devices on the fly, but regardless of whether or not I power it off with the remote, or if it goes to sleep with my PC, or if I use the switch on the back, my profiles will consistently be forgotten, change names or change EQ parameters (though with the new TT only the latter two issues happen).

KokoCollie I just want to say thanks for all the work to document the EQ issues to Topping. I'm having same problems but not sure I would have had the patience to go through that much work to explain them, the behavior is so unpredictable...

 

[Bauhaus]

That is apparently the case. Wondering if the issue is specific to PC -- anyone on Mac that is having that issue? I'm certainly not having anything like that happen with my unit.

I use a Mac Studio and do not have this problem.

 

[KokoCollie]

KokoCollie I just want to say thanks for all the work to document the EQ issues to Topping. I'm having same problems but not sure I would have had the patience to go through that much work to explain them, the behavior is so unpredictable...

It’s no problem. I just received another response confirming that there will be a future firmware update coming for the DX5 II, and that they’re expediting the process.

I assured them to not rush, I’d rather they properly squash the issue than rush out a firmware version that doesn’t solve the issue properly.

They’ll let me know when it’s ready.

 

[KokoCollie]

Topping released new firmware for 4 of their devices all today on the 19th. I believe this is the first time we've seen an update roll out to multiple devices from different product tiers from topping; which made me believe that they may be addressing some common issues they found that the devices share in common.

Two of these devices were the L70 and the D900. The former made no mention as to any updates reagrding fixes to PEQ (obviosuly, it's a headphone amplifier), but neither did the D900.

The other two devices however, the D90 III Discrete and the Centaurus, both include PEQ and Topping Tune support, and the changelog for both includes fixes regarding PEQ abnormalities.

For the Centaurus:
*Fixed: Error occurred when uploading the device's preset EQ parameters to the host computer.

And for the D90 III Discrete (had to download the firmware and open the "Changelog_EN" file:
Fix: Abnormal display of PEQ configuration
Fix: Local configuration modification of filtering not taking effect
Fix: When EQ is turned off but still connected to the computer via USB, noise during adjustment can still be heard when opening Tune for adjustment
Fix: Preset EQ1 and EQ5 have issues; the combined filter gain exceeds 0dB, causing distortion during playback
Fix: The preamp gain of preset EQ5 exceeds 0dB when connected to the host computer
Fix: After restoring the device to factory settings, opening PEQ to download 5 configurations, waiting for a while, then closing PEQ and using the remote control to switch configurations to the left results in no sound from the device

My first email was a not super detailed summary of my issues, and they told me they're aware of the bug and are rolling out an update this week, whether this was referring to TT 1.14 or a future firmware update isn't obvious, or perhaps they were referring to both. My second email evolved into an entire conversation where I'd provide my findings, and managed to get them to recreate the issue and start working on a fix; though while I was told they're expediting the process, I wasn't given any sort of potential timeframe.

Regardless, hopefully these firmware updates for other devices in their lineup, some of which include fixes to PEQ and the way the device communicates with the software, are a sign that a fix is just around the corner! Topping support have genuinely been wonderful to work with, it's been really refreshing having my voice heard compared to other times where I'd reach out to a manufacturer regarding a product I'm having issues with, only for them to shrug me off and presume that *I'm* the one doing something wrong.