Topping DX5II Balanced DAC and Headphone Amp Review

[somebodyelse]

But this issue appears to affect Mac users much more than Windows users. The pop was very subtle when I thought i'd reproduced the issue on Windows at the week-end, but i'm struggling to replicate the issue again now.

I have streaming set to 'On when needed' in Topping Control Panel (so the streamed zero 'fix' is turned off) and I'm using WASAPI (Exclusive) in MusicBee. I can start and stop music without any pops, I can switch between albums with different bit depths and sample rates without any pops and I can randomly play test tones from Control Panel (when MusicBee is stopped) without any pops. I'm wondering if I really heard any pops at the week-end!

I don't think anyone's quantified it yet on either OS (or on linux for that matter - may be important for streamers with USB output to DACs as well as those knowingly using a minority OS) - if they have then I've missed it. That means we don't know whether the difference is because of the OS, because of the different gain in different systems, because people are bothered by pops to differing degrees, because there's unit to unit variation in pop level, or some combination of these and/or other reason(s).

 

[Berwhale]

What happens if you play music through Bandcamp online, and not through MusicBee (and is it possible to play anything on Windows without WASAPI)?

I think part of the reason some people don't encounter it is because they're running applications that effectively prevent the DAC streaming from going to sleep.

If that's the case, then opening Bandcamp on a web page would immediately start sending a stream of zeros to the DX5 II, which I can test. BRB.

 

[ziggurcat]

If that's the case, then opening Bandcamp on a web page would immediately start sending a stream of zeros to the DX5 II, which I can test. BRB.

I don't think it does because I get popping with Bandcamp online.

 

[Berwhale]

Bandcamp starts sending USB packets when I press play. After I press pause, it continues to send packets for approximately 12 seconds, then it stops.

The Spotify Windows app shows the same behaviour, but stops sending packets after 4 seconds. It's the same for the Spotify web client.

MusicBee (using WASAPI Shared or Exclusive) sends packets for 5 seconds after I press stop.

If I play the test tones from Windows Control Panel, the packets stop after 4 seconds.

PlexAmp = 8 seconds.

MusicBee also has the option to pad the start of playback with silence for 'hardware synchronization'. It didn't seem to make and difference when I played with the setting a couple of days ago.

Still no pops for me tonight!

 

[ziggurcat]

Bandcamp starts sending USB packets when I press play. It continues to send packets for approximately 12 seconds when I press pause, then it stops.

The Spotify Windows app shows the same behaviour, but stops sending packets after 4 seconds. It's the same for the Spotify web client.

And do you hear any popping in either of those cases?

 

[CuriousAli]

Still no pops for me tonight!

Can you please try not playing anything for a full minute then trying again? And if there are no pops, does it play immediately or skips the very start of that audio file you play?

 

[Mutex]

Just got my DX5 II and tested it on Linux.

I don't hear a pop, but I hear a small delay/silence at the beginning (similar to the ZH3). Seems like the unit gets suspended after a couple of seconds and wakes up again once a signal is sent.

I will see if I can change that later today. ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) allows for heavy customization of devices. I'm pretty sure I can create a device specific ALSA UCM profile that prevents the unit from being suspended when inactive.

 

[Mutex]

Problem solved on Linux.
No more wake-up delay or initial audio cutoff when starting a new audio playback.

I just created a WirePlumber config file (which controls PipeWire) to disable the suspend timeout on this specific device.

Folder: ~/.config/wireplumber/wireplumber.conf.d/
Filename: 10-dx5-II-no-suspend.conf

monitor.alsa.rules = [
    matches = [
      {
        alsa.components = "USB152a:8750",
      }
    ]

    actions = {
      update-props = {
         session.suspend-timeout-seconds = 0,
      }
    }
  }
]

Filter for this rule is device 152a:8750, which is the USB Vendor : DeviceId, basically Topping : DX5 II.

Device now goes from RUNNING to IDLE instead of SUSPENDED.

~ > pactl list short sinks
60 alsa_output.usb-Topping_DX5_II-00.HiFi__Headphones__sink PipeWire s32le 2ch 48000Hz RUNNING
66 alsa_output.usb-Roland_QUAD-CAPTURE_00001FD67F58FF6122399D2B2B8A81F8-00.HiFi__Line2__sink PipeWire float32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
70 alsa_output.usb-Roland_QUAD-CAPTURE_00001FD67F58FF6122399D2B2B8A81F8-00.HiFi__Line1__sink PipeWire float32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED

~ > pactl list short sinks
60 alsa_output.usb-Topping_DX5_II-00.HiFi__Headphones__sink PipeWire s32le 2ch 48000Hz IDLE
66 alsa_output.usb-Roland_QUAD-CAPTURE_00001FD67F58FF6122399D2B2B8A81F8-00.HiFi__Line2__sink PipeWire float32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
70 alsa_output.usb-Roland_QUAD-CAPTURE_00001FD67F58FF6122399D2B2B8A81F8-00.HiFi__Line1__sink PipeWire float32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED

 

[wavetrade]

And do you hear any popping in either of those cases?

I was a previous poster that none of my dacs was popping, even when trying bandcamp, etc. Well, just wanted to update that I am getting some really soft pops with the DX5 II. Been listening to it about 4 days now and have heard at least eight pops. But they are really soft and not likely to deter me from keeping the new dac. I am love/hate on topping tune but the dac is working pretty well. I like that when I import a peq and am listening, I can disable a filter band to hear what it is doing. It has allowed me to refine my peq filters to a really nice sound.

 

[ziggurcat]

I was a previous poster that none of my dacs was popping, even when trying bandcamp, etc. Well, just wanted to update that I am getting some really soft pops with the DX5 II. Been listening to it about 4 days now and have heard at least eight pops. But they are really soft and not likely to deter me from keeping the new dac. I am love/hate on topping tune but the dac is working pretty well. I like that when I import a peq and am listening, I can disable a filter band to hear what it is doing. It has allowed me to refine my peq filters to a really nice sound.

Yeah, it is a very subtle pop, which is why I mentioned that perhaps some closer attention was required (and why it's easier to hear with headphones vs. speakers). It's also a very difficult thing to pick up on a phone mic, too, so the pops in the videos I have are very difficult to hear.

 

[Angel II]

I’m really enjoying the D50 III with Topping Tune. It would be a big step forward to get an update that expands the equalizer to 12 bands. Topping has done an amazing job with this PEQ, and it’s absolutely fantastic to fine-tune my JBL L82 MKII.

 

[Mario1969]

DX5 II version V1.91 firmware update

6. What's updated​

*Adjustment: Extended the long-press duration for the C1/C2 buttons on the remote control to 3 seconds before triggering the save function.

*Fixed: Resolved the occasional failure to wake up the device via button press when in standby mode.

*Fixed: The occasional unintended wake-up of the device when in standby mode.

*Fixed: Several other known issues.

‍

 

[Mutex]

DX5 II version V1.91 firmware update

Although their communication only mentions Windows and MacOS, the DX5 II is fully Linux compatible and I just finished the firmware upgrade directly from Linux (their method of using a universally compatible USB drive for the upgrade is just genius).

 

[Mario1969]

Although their communication only mentions Windows and MacOS, the DX5 II is fully Linux compatible and I just finished the firmware upgrade directly from Linux (their method of using a universally compatible USB drive for the upgrade is just genius).

Can you run Topping Tune on Linux?

 

[ziggurcat]

Anyone installing v1.91, can you please verify this potential issue:

Topping DX5 II

Have you done any long listening sessions on that FW? I'm asking because I'm on a test version of v1.88, and there's an issue that maybe you can verify for me since we're both not on official FWs (it would also help if you encountered the same thing to mention it to them as well). You can PM...

www.audiosciencereview.com

It is something I have encountered on the test FWs I've been using the last few weeks, and I doubt they have addressed it in this update. I personally think it's a bug, but if more people can check to see if they also experience this, it would help to confirm it as a bug.

@Mario1969 -- the other thread was inexplicably locked, so I will continue the follow-up here: If you heard a split-second pause/hiccup during playback after you have selected your presets, then that is the issue. Let things play for another 10 minutes afterwards to be sure.

Edit:

And I can confirm that the hiccup thing happens with v1.91 for me. To everyone else, please see the post link above for the details, and please verify whether it also happens on your end.

 

[ngs428]

DX5 II version V1.91 firmware update

6. What's updated​

*Adjustment: Extended the long-press duration for the C1/C2 buttons on the remote control to 3 seconds before triggering the save function.

*Fixed: Resolved the occasional failure to wake up the device via button press when in standby mode.

*Fixed: The occasional unintended wake-up of the device when in standby mode.

*Fixed: Several other known issues.

‍

Note this does reset all your settings.

 

[Mutex]

Can you run Topping Tune on Linux?

Unfortunately not. For that I do have a windows VM where I run Topping Tune in. Used it after the update to import my EQ settings that I had previously saved.

 

[Bauhaus]

Note this does reset all your settings.

It did not reset settings for me

 

[ziggurcat]

It did not reset settings for me

I think that's because we were both on v1.88/v1.90 beta FW.

 

[JIW]

I think that's because we were both on v1.88/v1.90 beta FW.

Going to FW 1.88 reset settings for me. Going from it to 1.91 did not.