Topping G5 Review (Portable DAC & HP Amp)

[Jean-Paul Petrosyan]

Hi
I just performed a quick measurement on mine
Set for 15.5 ohm load, USB source

11 o'clock on medium gain gives me approx 40 mVrms (1kHz)
That gives me a whopping 99dB SNR
(In line with what I measured for L30 II at 50mV)

For same 40mV output on Low gain, I get the exact same 99dB SNR.

This is to be expected, given G5 specs for preamp:

View attachment 378746

Noise level is given as identical for Low and Mid gain.
(L and M specs figures are identical for L30 II, by the way)
(those figures should translate into SNR > 100dB at 40mV - I measured 99dB)

So the answer to you question is "NO"

Oh, thank you very much!

Shoot, does that mean that I'm listening at loudness levels around 90 dB @ 1 kHz? That's... A bit scary. I hope it's just me misinterpreting the data due to a lack of understanding. I know I have some hearing loss, but I was hoping it's not that bad

Could you tell why one should look at the specs for preamp/LINE IN section instead of those from USB IN section?



No need to bother yourself if that requires lengthy explanation, you've already done so much to help!

Thank you.

 

[Rja4000]

thank you very much!

You're welcome.
You had a fair question.

Shoot, does that mean that I'm listening at loudness levels around 90 dB @ 1 kHz?

Well, that's a peak value approximation for "around 11 o'clock".
The music will average lower, of course.

Could you tell why one should look at the specs for preamp/LINE IN section instead of those from USB IN section?

That's a good question.
I don't have the answer.
I just measured.

The specs SNR figures for the DAC are 3.5dB appart.
Which is less than the difference between the 2 measurements methods for the preamp noise.

Let me think about this.

 

[Rja4000]

OK, so I gave it a second thought - and more measurements (all with 15.8 Ohm load)

1. Measured Noise is actually slightly better for 40mV in M gain than in L gain (attenuation through the volume knob)
We speak 0.5dB, so nothing significant. But that's the fact.


2. Dynamic range - Un-weighted - AES 17 method (so with a -60dB 997Hz signal 20Hz-20kHz, volume knob at max), we get

For Med and Low, that's noise at 1.44uVrms and 0.78uVrms respectively
So the <1.5uVrms and <1uVrms are correct (especially A-weighted, like in the specs, since my measurements are un-weighted)


3. Analysis

So, given measured Max level at 0dBFS, I can compute the at.tenuation for 40mV
If I deduct it from the measured DR figure, that gives us an expected SNR at that level.
The Low gain should have a better SNR than Medium gain. We speak several dBs.

I measured with digital attenuation (lowering the level from the measurement software, with volume knob at max) and I get SNR figures pretty close to expected (0.18dB lower, which is not relevant).

Then, that doesn't match with measured SNR when DAC is fed by a full scale signal and level is attenuated with the volume knob.
We see higher figures than with digital attenuation for both gains, and Medium gain actually outperforms slightly Low gain.

So the bottom line is:
The volume knob (analog) attenuation is more efficient than the digital attenuation by a margin of several dBs.
This better efficiency allows to keep more of the higher dynamic range of the Medium gain, which gives a small (but non significant) edge, in your use case, to Medium gain over Lower gain.
Even if the later, at same DAC-output level, has less noise.

That was fun .
Thanks.

 

[CedarX]

That was fun .

But for all practical purposes, these are probably irrelevant differences, correct?

 

[Rja4000]

But for all practical purposes, these are probably irrelevant differences, correct?

Well, @Jean-Paul Petrosyan 's question was :
"Is there any drawback to use Mid gain vs Low gain ?"
(and he specified he listened at a volume around 11 o'clock on Mid gain)

So this is answering his question.
And explaining why, while the specs say there should be a difference there is none.

10.6dB difference in noise between digital attenuation vs analog attenuation may do a difference, maybe.

 

[Jean-Paul Petrosyan]

Well, @Jean-Paul Petrosyan 's question was :
"Is there any drawback to use Mid gain vs Low gain ?"
(and he specified he listened at a volume around 11 o'clock on Mid gain)

So this is answering his question.
And explaining why, while the specs say there should be a difference there is none.

10.6dB difference in noise between digital attenuation vs analog attenuation may do a difference, maybe.

Huge thank you, that's very interesting information and much more that I could ever hope for!

Glad to know it was an interesting experience for you as well.

Indeed, that doesn't seem like something that I should ever be able to perceive in actual listening, even if doing so attentively and in a quiet environment.

Moreso, the thing about digital versus analog attention (while I'm not 100% I interpreted that correctly) reminded me that I do, in fact, listen with 4 dB negative gain applied to compensate for EQ and try to prevent clipping.

If I understand it right, that means that the actual difference in my case might be even smaller or in favor of Low Gain even.

And that I'm listening at around ~86 dB peak, which feels a tiny bit less scary than 90 dB. Though still concerning, especially with reviewers listening at around 77 dB and lower (68 dB in case of Crinacle, if memory serves me right?).

Thank you once again!

 

[Keauval]

If both the phone and USB accessory follow the USB-C specifications, then an OTG cable is no longer required. Any C->C cable will do the job.

Hi, sorry but are you sure of that ?
My Android (2022) with USB C seems not working with my SMSL DO100.. both gos an USB C port and I tried with multitple USB C cables

 

[Nutul]

Could you tell why one should look at the specs for preamp/LINE IN section instead of those from USB IN section?

Because the LINE IN is analog, therefore affected by voltage level; while USB is a data connection, most of the times used to go through a DAC, whick will, then, produce an analog signal, of which you might check the specs for using it through your LINE IN...

 

[staticV3]

Hi, sorry but are you sure of that ?
My Android (2022) with USB C seems not working with my SMSL DO100.. both gos an USB C port and I tried with multitple USB C cables

Likely an incomplete USB-C implementation on the DO100.

It happens a lot with Chinese Hi-Fi equipment.

One workaround is to use a USB-C OTG adapter along with a regular USB->A to C cable:


You can also find special OTG C-C cables online. These are usually directional, so often come with arrows painted on the USB plugs:

Type-C to Type-C charging data cable-FIIO---BORN FOR MUSIC

fiio.com

 

[Keauval]

Likely an incomplete USB-C implementation on the DO100.

It happens a lot with Chinese Hi-Fi equipment.

One workaround is to use a USB-C OTG adapter along with a regular USB->A to C cable:
View attachment 380143 View attachment 380142

You can also find special OTG C-C cables online. These are usually directional, so often come with arrows painted on the USB plugs:

Type-C to Type-C charging data cable-FIIO---BORN FOR MUSIC

fiio.com

OMG that explains everything... many thanks!

 

[Benesyed]

I have had this for about 9 months now and its been excellent. If anything I would not mind it being a little bigger to allow for a bigger battery.

 

[Benesyed]

Features I would love to have:

1. Volume lock feature
2. Battery life meter (25-50-75-100 would be fine)
3. Longer battery life per charge. I think at its current size making it a little thicker to add battery life would not effect its portability. Perhaps I am wrong to say this but it would not effect me. I usually carry this in my back pack and use it when seated somewhere.