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Topping MX5, A new device?

gr-e

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Jan 5, 2019
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Did you fix that by lowering the 4 plastic shims around the screws ? or by adding thermal pad ?
Nah, I just added more thermal paste haha. But that's not a proper fix, the gap is too big for proper heat transfer. I might shorten the plastic standoffs in future, but I'm honestly more bothered with the noise issue rather that this.
 

Ykar

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Nah, I just added more thermal paste haha. But that's not a proper fix, the gap is too big for proper heat transfer. I might shorten the plastic standoffs in future, but I'm honestly more bothered with the noise issue rather that this.
Ok. How did you gain access to the 2 screws that are holding the front panel to the body ?
 

gr-e

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Ok. How did you gain access to the 2 screws that are holding the front panel to the body ?
I didn't remove the front panel.

To open the unit you need to unscrew 2 screws on the back panel and 2 screws on the bottom. The main board is connected to the front panel with a flex cable, so you need to carefully slide out the board a bit, disconnect the flex, and only then remove it completely.

The hardest part is plugging that flex cable back in, so make sure you have the right tweezers for that before disassembling your mx5.
 

Ykar

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I didn't remove the front panel.

To open the unit you need to unscrew 2 screws on the back panel and 2 screws on the bottom. The main board is connected to the front panel with a flex cable, so you need to carefully slide out the board a bit, disconnect the flex, and only then remove it completely.

The hardest part is plugging that flex cable back in, so make sure you have the right tweezers for that before disassembling your mx5.
Ok understood thanks. I need access to the back of the boards of the front panel, I guess they use specific tool such as giant hex screwdriver to reach those 2 f***** screws...
 

gr-e

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Ok understood thanks. I need access to the back of the boards of the front panel, I guess they use specific tool such as giant hex screwdriver to reach those 2 f***** screws...
Yeah, those screws are also very close to the side walls, you're gonna need a long-ass allen key for that. A thick screwdriver might not fit.
 

Ykar

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Yeah, those screws are also very close to the side walls, you're gonna need a long-ass allen key for that. A thick screwdriver might not fit.
Exactly, for sure they access it through the holes of the 2 screws on the back panel, with a 20 cm long allen key
 

gr-e

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So... I got really sick of that noise and ended up adding a relay to the speaker output :D
It does look messy, but it works perfectly fine. The 2A relay kinda undersized for the speaker output, but I already ordered a 5A version which should be enough.

01.jpg 02.jpg 03.jpg
 

Hydraglow

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Sep 13, 2021
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Greetings everyone,

I received my MX5 today and have also been having issues with noise, but in more ways than what's been mentioned here. When connected with Bluetooth, after pausing music for a few seconds, the display will go from volume to "44.1" for a few seconds while emitting a very high pitch squeal. After this it displays the volume again. This is very repeatable.

I also get a unique squeal that occurs each time the unit is powered on that sounds like a frequency sweep in reverse for a second or two. These noises are coming through the speakers and the unit is up-to-date with v1.04 firmware.

Lastly, after the unit has been powered off (standby) having been connected to Bluetooth, I'll get a random squeal from the speakers after a minute or two. This was the most loud and sudden of the three and really scared me the first time not expecting noise while it was off!

Most disappointing considering I bought this to replace the DX3 Pro+/PA3s combo which was dead silent and had zero issues. Yeah, I'm dumb, but mainly wanted the convenience and bass/treble controls.

If they ever make an MX7, I hope it fares better.
 
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Murkas

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Jan 18, 2022
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Greetings everyone,

I received my MX5 today and have also been having issues with noise, but in more ways than what's been mentioned here. When connected with Bluetooth, after pausing music for a few seconds, the display will go from volume to "44.1" for a few seconds while emitting a very high pitch squeal. After this it displays the volume again. This is very repeatable.

I also get a unique squeal that occurs each time the unit is powered on that sounds like a frequency sweep in reverse for a second or two. These noises are coming through the speakers and the unit is up-to-date with v1.04 firmware.

Lastly, after the unit has been powered off (standby) having been connected to Bluetooth, I'll get a random squeal from the speakers after a minute or two. This was the most loud and sudden of the three and really scared me the first time not expecting noise while it was off!

Most disappointing considering I bought this to replace the DX3 Pro+/PA3s combo which was dead silent and had zero issues. Yeah, I'm dumb, but mainly wanted the convenience and bass/treble controls.

If they ever make an MX7, I hope it fares better.

It is really a shame that Amir hasn't got his hands on it yet and had it honestly reviewed. At its current state it is a faulty product.
Hope people don't buy it...
 

Witterings

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Feb 19, 2022
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It is really a shame that Amir hasn't got his hands on it yet and had it honestly reviewed. At its current state it is a faulty product.
Hope people don't buy it...

It’s such as shame, I really wanted one of these but because of the reported issues people are having bought an SMSL AO200 instead which is brilliant although I would have preferred to have some of the really useful features these offer over the SMSL like:

Optical in / Built in DAC
Headphone Socket / Amplifier
APTX Bluetooth – I watch quite a few music videos and APTX is much better for Lip Sync.
Auto Input Switching and Auto On/Off

At the of the day the choice came down to it’s main use being a stereo amplifier and thought the issues would outweigh the non-essential but nice to have benefits.

As I said it’s such a shame as it’s potentially a superb product let down by Quality Control issues, imagine they sorted it but released the next version with 70w PC in 8 Ohms … even if it was a bit bigger or even incorporated some of the extra features into the PA5.
 

armaster

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Apr 11, 2022
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Well, it’s been 6 days since I’ve heard from and then replied to Topping customer service with the info they requested, so it looks like I’ll be returning my defective unit to Amazon. It’s a shame because the amp section works just fine. I could work around the mostly useless DAC, but why keep something that only partly works?

Perhaps someone else will develop a class D DAC/speaker amp that actually functions as it‘s supposed to?

***EDIT*** Topping got back to me twice overnight. First, they wrote to ask what brand of cables I was using. A few hours later they wrote back to say “I think you may be experiencing compatibility issue. Contacting the seller for a return and refund might be a good choice.”
I had dropping issues on my MX3 on coax input too. After changing coax cable it works ok.
 

terryforsythe

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I received my MX5 last week. I am using the MX5 to power Focal ceiling speakers on my patio and, so far, I am pleased. I have used both the Toslink and Bluetooth inputs, and I have not had any issues with noise, squealing, etc.

The back side of the ceiling speakers are open to the attic and they have cover plates over the front, so there are some challenges with bass roll off and high frequency response. I played with the MX5's bass and treble settings while testing the frequency response using ARTA and an old AudioControl SA-3050 RTSA. Adjusting the bass helped quite a bit, and the treble helped a little. Parametric E.Q. functionality would be a nice feature to have, though.

My chief complaint is the remote control's range. It only seems to work if I am within about 15 ft. of the unit. From where I sit on the patio, which is a straight line 25-30 ft. to the MX5, the remote does not work.

Nonetheless, for $269.10 (the price I paid on Amazon), the MX5 seems to be a tremendous value if you get one that works properly. Amazon Prime has a good return policy, though, if you order there and happen to receive a lemon.
 
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armaster

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Got my MX5 today. It's a nice unit, but unfortunately it has a small issue: there is a high pitch noise on the speaker output when the speakers are muted, i.e. when you are using the headphone output, when the unit is powering on/off or when you simply use the mute button on the remote. It's not too loud, but I can hear it from 1m distance in a quiet room.
The phone mic didn't pick it up very well, but you can still hear it:
Sorry for the video being out of focus. I had to tape over the infrared AF module on my phone because it stopped the topping remote from working :D
I can hear noise.
I also hear two kind of pops. First one is remote button, the second one is pops from speakers when switching unit ON and input selection switching?
I have MX3 which also have the same pops from speakers when switching unit ON and input selection switching, but if input is seleted to AUX and switching unit ON, the pop is very loud.
 

gr-e

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I can hear noise.
I also hear two kind of pops. First one is remote button, the second one is pops from speakers when switching unit ON and input selection switching?
I have MX3 which also have the same pops from speakers when switching unit ON and input selection switching, but if input is seleted to AUX and switching unit ON, the pop is very loud.
Well, the speaker pops are very exaggerated in the recording, they are barely audible in person, so not an issue at all. The white noise is just a bad recording, the amp itself has a very low noise floor. The actual issue is the switching noise when the amp is muted, which is hard to hear on the video.

I made another recording back when I was contacting topping support, you can hear the switching noise better here:
 

armaster

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Well, the speaker pops are very exaggerated in the recording, they are barely audible in person, so not an issue at all. The white noise is just a bad recording, the amp itself has a very low noise floor. The actual issue is the switching noise when the amp is muted, which is hard to hear on the video.

I made another recording back when I was contacting topping support, you can hear the switching noise better here:
Thank you for the explanation.
 

Corrado

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Jul 26, 2022
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Hi there! I am very curious if anyone had a chance to compare previous Topping MX3 with ne MX5? Currently I own both and I am surprised that older one is louder despite MX5 is more powerful on paper! 70W vs 40W at 4 Ohm. In reality to equal sound pressure level of MX3 at volume 40 I have to set volume on MX5 to 60!
Yes, MX5 sound a bit fuller but sound upgrade isn't as big as price difference. Low power is very disappointing.
I am thinking about returning MX5 and keeping MX3, seriously.
 

Niels007

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Aug 3, 2022
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I received my MX5 today and had some issues and managed to fix it, which might perhaps point somebody into hopefully the right direction.

There was no speaker output, just occasional 'pops', not loud, of some medium frequency. This occurred with analog and digital input. Headphone output was fine.
I upgraded the firmware, which was 1.02, to 1.04 and the problem remained, but the frequency of the pops grew to about 1 per second.
These pops seem to be in line with some issues I've been reading online.

On a different pair of speakers everything seemed fine!

So I started looking at my speaker filter and dug up some old forum thread. My woofer has a small capacitor over the main woofer inductor, which helps for higher frequency cone breakup. It had no resistor in series with this capacitor. I've read this could tax the amplifier in a way it might not like. Other crossovers of the same manufacturer DO have a resistor in series with the capacitor!

I had a few 6.8 Ohm 10 W resistors laying around so I soldered them in series with the little capacitor, and now everything seems fine.
There are no pops, no hisses, and I can't detect any noise when the speakers are muted.

Since my other two amplifiers, all simple class D or T type jobbies, worked fine with these speakers, maybe the MX5 is sensitive to inductive loading or whatever happens when this resistor was missing.

Of course each speaker is different, but it might point into the direction of some form of sensitivity that this amp has to certain speakers and filters.
 

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armaster

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Has anyone tried Bluetooth on MX5? I had MX3 and I faced with poor range (worse than 10 years old Belkin BT music receiver) and connect/reconnect issues (sometimes had to connect my phone to MX3 few times to connect successfully).

1. Does anyone noticed connection issue with MX5?
2. Does phone automatically connect to MX5 when it's in range?
3. Does MX5 produce sound (single tone) when phone connect/disconnect from MX5?

Thanks for answers
 

gr-e

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Has anyone tried Bluetooth on MX5? I had MX3 and I faced with poor range (worse than 10 years old Belkin BT music receiver) and connect/reconnect issues (sometimes had to connect my phone to MX3 few times to connect successfully).

1. Does anyone noticed connection issue with MX5?
2. Does phone automatically connect to MX5 when it's in range?
3. Does MX5 produce sound (single tone) when phone connect/disconnect from MX5?

Thanks for answers
1. No issues with connection/range, works fine through a couple of brick walls
2. That depends on your phone's settings
3. No

You can connect to MX5 even when it's in standby mode. If the auto on/off feature is enabled, it will automatically wake, switch to BT input and start playing.
 
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