Topping DX5II Balanced DAC and Headphone Amp Review

[TGar]

Did flashing the firmware enable the HRTF crossfeed?

No, it did not.

 

[Janfi67]

Has anybody experienced the issue of firmware 2.31 causing the SE unbalanced headphone output to be 15dB quieter?

I updated mine a few days ago from 2.10 to 2.31, no change to the headset level, SE or BAL.

 

[TGar]

I updated mine a few days ago from 2.10 to 2.31, no change to the headset level, SE or BAL.

I appreciate the response. I figured out this morning that it was a stupid audio device volume setting in Mac OS that was affecting even my DAW audio output (which I didn’t know could even happen), but everything is back to normal now.

 

[ziggurcat]

Has anybody experienced the issue of firmware 2.31 causing the SE unbalanced headphone output to be 15dB quieter?
I had my the SE headphone output on firmware 2.11 set to -21, and now I have to have it set to -6 to get the same volume output on the same headphones with the same audio set to the same digital volume level…

Going from the last FW to v2.31, nothing like that has happened on my unit. What are your settings?

Never mind, it seems you figured it out.

 

[ziggurcat]

I may have, but any way of it the Wiim is outputting the proper sample rate/bit depth and the DX5 seems to be seeing it.

At this point it's just more of an mildly interesting mystery. Sounds fantastic without the crossfeed, but I would play with it if it worked.

And you're sure you have Cross Feed enabled? Maybe there's a bug with one of the configurations again (I reported an issue a handful of FWs ago where one of the settings caused a factory reset when the unit came out of standby mode).

 

[AVKS]

And you're sure you have Cross Feed enabled? Maybe there's a bug with one of the configurations again (I reported an issue a handful of FWs ago where one of the settings caused a factory reset when the unit came out of standby mode).

That's the thing - I can't enable it. It's stuck on 'OFF' and no combination of buttons/arrows/etc changes it. That's what made me start playing with sources and bits/sample depth thinking it might be something signal related but doesn't seem to matter.

 

[ziggurcat]

That's the thing - I can't enable it. It's stuck on 'OFF' and no combination of buttons/arrows/etc changes it. That's what made me start playing with sources and bits/sample depth thinking it might be something signal related but doesn't seem to matter.

Very strange. Have you tried a factory reset? Is this only with the remote or using the dial to navigate the menu?

 

[AVKS]

Very strange. Have you tried a factory reset? Is this only with the remote or using the dial to navigate the menu?

Neither the remote nor the dial can turn it on, and a factory reset didn't change anything either. It is definitely strange and warrants some more in depth testing with a PC once I find a USB B cable.

 

[Hapo]

Godspeed, stalwarts !

 

[Wolfram98]

Do you need to do anything special to get the device ready for Topping home?
i have the latest FW 2.32?
the latest .apk 1.2.0
i can connect to bluetooth audio and play music
But the Topping home app cant find the device.

 

[staticV3]

Do you need to do anything special to get the device ready for Topping home?
i have the latest FW 2.32?
the latest .apk 1.2.0
i can connect to bluetooth audio and play music
But the Topping home app cant find the device.

On Android, Location (GPS) needs to be turned on, as Bluetooth device discovery is tied to that setting.

 

[ziggurcat]

Do you need to do anything special to get the device ready for Topping home?
i have the latest FW 2.32?
the latest .apk 1.2.0
i can connect to bluetooth audio and play music
But the Topping home app cant find the device.

I had to turn my DX5 II off/on again with the switch on the back in order to get the app to see it. Are you Android or iOS?

And make sure Bluetooth is ON in the settings (not the BT input, the actual Bluetooth setting -- Settings > Input Settings > Bluetooth > On. It should eb on by default, but check anyway)

 

[ziggurcat]

Neither the remote nor the dial can turn it on, and a factory reset didn't change anything either. It is definitely strange and warrants some more in depth testing with a PC once I find a USB B cable.

Are you willing to list the settings you have? I feel like something is blocking it somehow. You're (AFAIK) the only person to ever say they can't turn this function on.

 

[Wolfram98]

On Android, Location (GPS) needs to be turned on, as Bluetooth device discovery is tied to that setting.

That is always on.

I had to turn my DX5 II off/on again with the switch on the back in order to get the app to see it. Are you Android or iOS?

And make sure Bluetooth is ON in the settings (not the BT input, the actual Bluetooth setting -- Settings > Input Settings > Bluetooth > On. It should eb on by default, but check anyway)

Power cycled it
BT is on in the devices menu.
I can manually pair the phone(android) to dx5 via phone settings and it plays music.
But even when paired the app doesnt see the device.
i checked android permission settings and all of them are allowed.


Update, factory reset of dx5 helped immediately.

 

[ziggurcat]

That is always on.

Power cycled it
BT is on in the devices menu.
I can manually pair the phone(android) to dx5 via phone settings and it plays music.
But even when paired the app doesnt see the device.
i checked android permission settings and all of them are allowed.


Update, factory reset of dx5 helped immediately.

Good to hear it sorted itself out.

IIRC there was another user here who had to do a factory reset. Luckily for me, all it had taken was a power cycle. Not sure where the hiccup lies to cause the device to not show up in the app, but I hope once it's resolved, the issue doesn't come back.

I hate Bluetooth so much, FTR.

 

[AVKS]

Are you willing to list the settings you have? I feel like something is blocking it somehow. You're (AFAIK) the only person to ever say they can't turn this function on.

I updated the firmware (again) and it still didn't work, tried various bitrates and sample depths through PC but that didn't matter either. Opted for a factory reset...

... and now it works, even with the exact same settings as before. Convolution is really quiet and simple somewhat quiet compared to no crossfeed but they do indeed work. Now to see if it keeps working.

 

[ziggurcat]

I updated the firmware (again) and it still didn't work, tried various bitrates and sample depths through PC but that didn't matter either. Opted for a factory reset...

... and now it works, even with the exact same settings as before. Convolution is really quiet and simple somewhat quiet compared to no crossfeed but they do indeed work. Now to see if it keeps working.

Did you perform a second factory reset? Because you mentioned here that a factory reset didn't change anything:

Topping DX5II Balanced DAC and Headphone Amp Review

Did flashing the firmware enable the HRTF crossfeed? No, it did not.

www.audiosciencereview.com

The drop in SPL when Cross Feed is active is the expected behaviour. I do not know the technical reason why that is necessary, though.

 

[Bleib]

The drop in SPL when Cross Feed is active is the expected behaviour. I do not know the technical reason why that is necessary, though.

Well, since many records are mastered at highest possible volume bleeding in audio from channel to another obviously could cause clipping. To prevent this the volume has to be lowered.

 

[AVKS]

Did you perform a second factory reset? Because you mentioned here that a factory reset didn't change anything:

Topping DX5II Balanced DAC and Headphone Amp Review

Did flashing the firmware enable the HRTF crossfeed? No, it did not.

www.audiosciencereview.com

The drop in SPL when Cross Feed is active is the expected behaviour. I do not know the technical reason why that is necessary, though.

I did a second one, yes. Figured might as well since the first factory reset was on the original firmware (2.10) and I'd updated it twice. Lo and behold, it seems to have done the trick.

Good to know about the SPL.

 

[LiviuTM]

On a side note, I've noticed that, on the support page, Topping Tune is at V1.15, but on my computer, the app updated itself to V1.16. Has anyone else noticed this?