Topping G5 Review (Portable DAC & HP Amp)

[Jimster480]

My G5 is broken now

I think he might've got too many volts while in headphone amp mode (ie. not USB or Bluetooth)

Now everything's very quiet... distorted...

PC > Preamp was the source - I went to adjust the volume in Windows, and,... y'know that sound Windows makes when you adjust the volume? That little 0.173 second chime? That... That did it... All it took!
When it was made, it was over.
Everything was over!
G5, is dead.



:'''(

It happened REALLY quickly...
Careful!!

,What was your output device? I mean, an on-board sound card shouldn't put out enough voltage to kill the G5.

 

[mike7877]

,What was your output device? I mean, an on-board sound card shouldn't put out enough voltage to kill the G5.

Topping L70 - I have an RCA to 1/8" female adapter cable I was using. I lost my headphone splitter and needed two running at once. One is 40 ohms, the other 250,

 

[mike7877]

Reach out to Topping support, they might be willing to fix it, might end up being cheaper than buying new even if you have to send it to China for repairs.

I"ll see what the situation is

 

[Jimster480]

Topping L70 - I have an RCA to 1/8" female adapter cable I was using. I lost my headphone splitter and needed two running at once. One is 40 ohms, the other 250,

So it was just the output from RCA on another Topping DAC

 

[thatnorthernsound]

Just got the G5, no luck connecting to my iPhone 14 Pro. It's a bummer because it sounds great through other devices. Returning to Apos.

 

[gvl]

Just got the G5, no luck connecting to my iPhone 14 Pro. It's a bummer because it sounds great through other devices. Returning to Apos.

I’m using it with the 12 w/out any issues at all. Are you using a camera adapter?

 

[thatnorthernsound]

I’m using it with the 12 w/out any issues at all. Are you using a camera adapter?

Nope, USB-C to Lightning, I've tried a few cables with no luck.

 

[gvl]

Nope, USB-C to Lightning, I've tried a few cables with no luck.

You need to use a lightning to USB camera adapter. There may be special lightning to USB cables with the equivalent circuitry built in, I think FiiiO makes one. I’m using my G5 through a camera adapter/USB-A to C cable and it works great.

 

[staticV3]

Nope, USB-C to Lightning, I've tried a few cables with no luck.

You need special "OTG" cables to connect a DAC to your Lightning iPhone. Or the Apple camera adapter.

Regular cables like those from Apple, Belkin, Anker etc. won't work.

That's not the G5's fault. Just Apple doing Apple things.

 

[gvl]

That's not the G5's fault. It's Apple doing Apple things.

Android was this way too, at least with the micro-USB. Do USB-C Android devices need an OTG adapter to work with external DACs?

 

[staticV3]

Android was this way too, at least with the micro-USB. Do USB-C Android devices need an OTG adapter?

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.

 

[Ste_S]

You need special "OTG" cables to connect a DAC to your Lightning iPhone. Or the Apple camera adapter.

Regular cables like those from Apple, Belkin, Anker etc. won't work.

That's not the G5's fault. Just Apple doing Apple things.

I've been through this recently and feel the pain. Looking forward to replacing my iPhone 12 with a 16 later this year, where with USB C, hopefully this is no longer an issue.

In the meantime, I've been running Apple Music through a cheap old android phone to a dac, as it's actually better than through an iPhone. Not only can I use any old USB C cable, but also the Android Apple Music app has manually adjustable eq sliders, missing from the iPhone app

 

[thatnorthernsound]

You need special "OTG" cables to connect a DAC to your Lightning iPhone. Or the Apple camera adapter.

Regular cables like those from Apple, Belkin, Anker etc. won't work.

That's not the G5's fault. Just Apple doing Apple things.

Yeah, I'm not going to do that, way too clunky. It's a G5 issue, sounds like they didn't get it Apple certified.

 

[staticV3]

It's a G5 issue, sounds like they didn't get it Apple certified.

 

[Jimster480]

Android was this way too, at least with the micro-USB. Do USB-C Android devices need an OTG adapter to work with external DACs?

That was 8 years ago +, nothing needs a OTG anything since before 2016.

 

[Ste_S]

Yeah, I'm not going to do that, way too clunky. It's a G5 issue, sounds like they didn't get it Apple certified.

Not a G5 issue. I have the same cable issue with Fiio Q11 and K11. It's Apple by design.

Edit: I can plug in the above dacs with any old USB C cable to my M2 Macbook Air without issue. I'm glad Apple is moving away from the lightning connecter.

 

[staticV3]

 

[gvl]

Yeah, I'm not going to do that, way too clunky. It's a G5 issue, sounds like they didn't get it Apple certified.

Any other USB DAC will be the same. Just get an iPhone 15 or later, $800+ is worth it to eliminate a small inline adapter (sarcasm).

 

[gvl]

Anyone knows if this cable works with the G5?

Amazon.com

 

[thatnorthernsound]

Any other USB DAC will be the same. Just get an iPhone 15 or later, $800+ is worth it to eliminate a small inline adapter (sarcasm).

I have an old Onkyo DAC-HA200 that has no problem connecting to my iPhone 14 Pro, it just doesn't have quite enough juice for Dan Clark Aeon 2s.

It's on Topping for advertising this as iPhone compatible when it obviously isn't. I love my D90LE and will continue to consider Topping products in the future, but I shouldn't have to dangle a bunch of dongles when it's supposed to be portable.