Topping DX7 Pro

[maxxevv]

gee.. it would be awesome to have a 9038pro based tone board or similar. we could take an MCU board like the VIM3 or that ESS MCU unit that was linked in the tone board thread to explore the pro options..

If you look at the physical Q2M and Pro chips, you'll see that they are quite different in size and interconnect setup. Not an apple to apples comparable thing. Not to mention the cost differences, a Pro chip is quite a few times the cost of the Q2M variant.

 

[mkawa]

yah, I think it would need to be priced closer to the 200-250 mark, but having heard implementations of both, I think the pro is the way to go for a high end diy application

 

[skipost-it]

D90 has been announced from Topping.
Wow, DAC is the latest AK4499! ! ! I can expect it.
But like DX7 Pro, it doesn't support MQA.

http://www.tpdz.net/news_detail/newsId=95.html

Topping show it next week in CANJAM SHANGHAI
Maybe in 6 weeks we can buy it...

 

[maxxevv]

Topping show it next week in CANJAM SHANGHAI
Maybe in 6 weeks we can buy it...

Dx7 Pro was shown end of March.

What month is it now again??

 

[skipost-it]

Dx7 Pro was shown end of March.

What month is it now again??

OK, 6 month

 

[Category 5]

OK, 6 month

Presumably, some of the bugs worked out on the DX7 pro could offer solutions to the same issues with the D90, and therefore it may not be subject to the same kind of delays. Perhaps the new headphone design posed a challenge. The AD8397 is known to be highly temperamental, and can behave poorly depending on layout, proximity to large ground planes, etc. I imagine that's where the issues lied, because the rest of the design still looks pretty straightforward, and similar to previous DACs in the lineup. The D90 would actually interest me more than the DX7 pro, since the AK4499 is the highest performing package available (theoretically) now, and I do like the way AKM Verite DACs perform.

 

[Labjr]

Presumably, some of the bugs worked out on the DX7 pro could offer solutions to the same issues with the D90, and therefore it may not be subject to the same kind of delays. Perhaps the new headphone design posed a challenge. The AD8397 is known to be highly temperamental, and can behave poorly depending on layout, proximity to large ground planes, etc. I imagine that's where the issues lied, because the rest of the design still looks pretty straightforward, and similar to previous DACs in the lineup. The D90 would actually interest me more than the DX7 pro, since the AK4499 is the highest performing package available (theoretically) now, and I do like the way AKM Verite DACs perform.

Looks like the performance of the AK4499 is about the same as the ES9038PRO. However, would be interesting to compare the two products if they have similar circuits besides the DAC chip.

 

[mmicko]

Presumably, some of the bugs worked out on the DX7 pro could offer solutions to the same issues with the D90, and therefore it may not be subject to the same kind of delays. Perhaps the new headphone design posed a challenge. The AD8397 is known to be highly temperamental, and can behave poorly depending on layout, proximity to large ground planes, etc. I imagine that's where the issues lied, because the rest of the design still looks pretty straightforward, and similar to previous DACs in the lineup. The D90 would actually interest me more than the DX7 pro, since the AK4499 is the highest performing package available (theoretically) now, and I do like the way AKM Verite DACs perform.

Based on info from Topping, they are using LME49720 for headphobe output and not AD8397...

 

[Veri]

Based on info from Topping, they are using LME49720 for headphobe output and not AD8397...

It is AD8397+LME49720 with the latter on a socket. Since the AD8397 is soldered one can't easily 'break' performance with op-amp rolling (which is pointless anyway). It makes kinda sense this way.

 

[777]

AD8397 most probably will has a heatsink over it. We can see holes on both sides of AD8397

 

[mmicko]

@Veri
You are right - I didn't noticed them. Looks like same combo (8397+49720) is used for line output too.

 

[777]

AD8397 is a high speed op-amp with a large amount of output current. So, for the headphone amplifier they use it after LME49720, maybe even inside of the LM49720 global negative feedback, like a current buffer. For line output, there is another logic. Because AD8397 is high speed, high slew-rate and high output current with small open loop output impedance versus frequency, it could be very good for I/V convertor stage, before a LPF stage(LME49720).

 

[maty]

Now you're hard to please.

It might be really interesting to be able to choose your own "sound flavor" based on different harmonics profile: normal, tube-like, warm a.s.o. It's somehow similar with picking up the digital filters. I wonder if that would actually be possible...perhaps with relays that choose different NFB resistors or different Class-A biasing resistors?

https://www.stereophile.com/content/pass-labs-hpa-1-headphone-amplifier-measurements

The main distortion component was the second harmonic (fig.6), which is subjectively innocuous even when much higher in level than the –83dB (0.007%) at which it lies in this graph. Though some third harmonic is also present, this lies close to –120dB (0.0001%), and will therefore be irrelevant to sound quality. Similarly, though AC supply components can be seen at 120, 180, 240Hz, etc., unmasked by the very low level of random noise, these are all way too low to be anywhere close to audibility...

H2 at -83/-84 dB seems a good compromise to listen to ALL kind of music, at least to Nelson Pass.

 

[RickSanchez]

The Topping DX7 Pro is up on Drop:
https://drop.com/buy/topping-dx7-pro-dac-amp

From Drop: "Estimated ship date is Nov 8, 2019."

 

[Category 5]

The Topping DX7 Pro is up on Drop:
https://drop.com/buy/topping-dx7-pro-dac-amp

From Drop: "Estimated ship date is Nov 8, 2019."

$560 doesn't seem like that significant of a price break. What tier does the price drop again?

 

[Fregly]

4.7 headphone out. This only matters if your phones are under 32ohm? Otherwise could you just add a resistor to your headphones to negate the effect of the higher than ideal impedance?

 

[RickSanchez]

$560 doesn't seem like that significant of a proce break. What tier does the price drop again?

I could be wrong but I don’t believe there are additional tiers for this drop. I think it’s just $560 USD. So agreed, not a huge financial incentive IMO. Plus the 11/11 sale and Black Friday / Cyber Monday are coming up soon, there may be bigger discounts then.

 

[maxxevv]

You can get it at US$579.99 after applying discounts with DHL delivery from Aliexpress.
Why bother with the extended Drop wait??

And probably cheaper yet with 11.11 sales round the corner.

 

[mi-fu]

You can get it at US$579.99 after applying discounts with DHL delivery from Aliexpress.
Why bother with the extended Drop wait??

And probably cheaper yet with 11.11 sales round the corner.

perhaps the only good thing of drop.com is that in case the unit is defective, it is easier to return (drop will send a UPS label).

 

[gvl]

A used RME ADI-2 seems like a beter value than this, even if more expensive.