Review and Measurements of Topping DX3Pro DAC and Headphone Amp

[noel_fs]

Never use PayPal currency exchanger, when paying with card you can turn it off and use your bank's (credit card) rate which is much better.

its not a good idea not using paypal on small websites. Paypal covers everything.

 

[Veri]

its not a good idea not using paypal on small websites. Paypal covers everything.

Was only talking about their automatic currency exchange, you can simply turn it off if you look for it.

 

[ishmeister]

Thanks for the advice all. I noticed that with Amazon, some products sold from abroad have the import duty and tax added at checkout (like when I bought Tin Audio T2s) but this isn't the case with the DX3 it seems.

@Veri - good advice about the currency exchange - I wasn't aware of that and will check it out.

 

[W2S]

Hey, unfortunately it says "Dispatched from China", so basically it's the same as ordering from aliexpress.

OK but had a quick look at AliExpress

219 USD is about £173 plus customs of £18 in UK taxes

Amazon deal seems a better price and not having to deal with customs charges

On other point on the Topping DX3 Pro while on AliExpress they list the BT module as 5.0 is this correct?

I thought BT module was 4.2?

 

[noel_fs]

OK but had a quick look at AliExpress

219 USD is about £173 plus customs of £18 in UK taxes

Amazon deal seems a better price and not having to deal with customs charges

On other point on the Topping DX3 Pro while on AliExpress they list the BT module as 5.0 is this correct?

I thought BT module was 4.2?

Mentioning this comment to remind that aliexpress stores have a discount coupon that makes it 205usd more or less.

 

[VintageFlanker]

I thought BT module was 4.2?

It is 5.0 but this has no impact on sound quality. However, Aptx-HD codex should.

Never use PayPal currency exchanger, when paying with card you can turn it off and use your bank's (credit card) rate which is much better.

It depends of your bank. Mine has very high convert charges! I prefer to use PayPal rate (when I pay in USD, as far I'm concerned).

 

[W2S]

It is 5.0 but this has no impact on sound quality. However, Aptx-HD codex should.

Thanks

I have a HTC u11 plus goes upto LDac

 

[VintageFlanker]

I have a HTC u11 plus goes upto LDac

LDAC is not supported by DX3 Pro. However, I do think this could be upgraded by firmware but Topping would have to pay Sony for that.

LDAC and Aptx-HD are OK quality-wise but don't forget both still lossy codecs. Also, LDAC has a variable bitrate (from 330 to 990kb/s) that make it not so reliable...

 

[W2S]

LDAC is not supported by DX3 Pro. However, I do think this could be upgraded by firmware but Topping would have to pay Sony for that.

LDAC and Aptx-HD are OK quality-wise but don't forget both still lossy codecs. Also, LDAC has a variable bitrate (from 330 to 990kb/s) that make it not so reliable...

Thanks

Got aptX aptX HD and LDac on the phone was just saying

Bluetooth part I'll be using to mix in music with gaming audio

At the moment just using my old Turtle Beach XP500 base station which has optical in and out line in Cox digital and 3.5 wired out with dobly effects or direct with my oppo pm3 and an app on the Xbox one that let's my mix in my music from my Nas of usb sticks not to interested in the chat when playing

Did also see the Burson playmate and swing that look interesting swing for me as it has a few more connections

 

[bleachershane]

OK but had a quick look at AliExpress

219 USD is about £173 plus customs of £18 in UK taxes

Amazon deal seems a better price and not having to deal with customs charges

On other point on the Topping DX3 Pro while on AliExpress they list the BT module as 5.0 is this correct?

I thought BT module was 4.2?

I ordered through Amazon from Shenzen Audio (Shenzen Audio are the third-party seller selling on Amazon's UK webiste) and was charged £18 customs before my parcel would be released to be delivered to me.

 

[kukocz]

so i have this setup now and after a while i must say that it is performing much better with Topping as preamp, dac added more detailed sound (compared to dacmagic 100) and i can hear more from the same tracks. Preamp gave very balanced sound and overall i'm super happy with this trio (nad tannoys and topping).

Damn... good to hear your opinion I haven't bought new speakers yest but in my current setup I also noticed a little better soundstage and more detailed sound with DX3 Pro as a preamp.
What about comparison DX3 Pro to DAC Magic 100? It's a very popular dac and I have never possibility to test it. IS there a big difference between Cambridge Audio and Topping?

 

[kukocz]

No difference because his sample is same as all units you got.

About DAC mode, we are now discussing about it. But I'm afraid we are not able to change the situation of current DX3 Pro because this part is not able to update a firmware. If we decide to make changes, probably it will start from next DAC product.

I have already ordered a self-learning remote to mitigate risk that speakers accidentally burn my ears. It rather looks easy to (at least) disable possibility to enable fixed line-out via remote. Or maybe the menu section (and remote controller part) is hardcoded in other place than firmware - then indeed it wouldn't be possible wothout hardware changes (I still keep my fingers crossed it could be somehow changed with another firmware release)

What about filters bug? There are 6 options available via remote (F1-F6) and only 5 via settings menu (F1-F5). It hasn't changed after update to 1.04.

 

[bellyofthebizd]

Damn... good to hear your opinion I haven't bought new speakers yest but in my current setup I also noticed a little better soundstage and more detailed sound with DX3 Pro as a preamp.
What about comparison DX3 Pro to DAC Magic 100? It's a very popular dac and I have never possibility to test it. IS there a big difference between Cambridge Audio and Topping?

Dac Magic have a nice analog sound and build but no preamp sadly, it's so popular that i've sold it in 6 hours, so yeah... i would say that dx3 have more detailed upper mids and highs, it sounds more transparent as well. Overall Topping is a better sounding unit but no suprise here as it cost twice the price (used DacMagic vs. new Dx3) and it is way newer than DM100. I missed some funcionality in DM due to lack of preamp, dsd playback, no headphone amp but i must say that it worked without mayor problems well (i hope there will be measurments of it in the future )

 

[lardyl]

Just a heads up - this is being sold for $189 for the next couple of days at:
https://www.shenzhenaudio.com/toppi...bluetooth-dac-headphone-amplifier-dsd512.html

 

[Veri]

Dac Magic have a nice analog sound and build but no preamp sadly, it's so popular that i've sold it in 6 hours, so yeah... i would say that dx3 have more detailed upper mids and highs, it sounds more transparent as well. Overall Topping is a better sounding unit but no suprise here as it cost twice the price (used DacMagic vs. new Dx3) and it is way newer than DM100. I missed some funcionality in DM due to lack of preamp, dsd playback, no headphone amp but i must say that it worked without mayor problems well (i hope there will be measurments of it in the future )

Some measurements of the DacMagic here: https://kenrockwell.com/audio/cambridge/dacmagic-plus.htm#meas

THD at ~0,00078 – not bad at all just no longer state of the art. Considering the oldness of the chips/chipset it's still impressively low, though. I'd say this DAC should definitely be transparent. Also, great linearity and jitter rejection via coax, less so with optical/USB. For the time (2012) this device is great!

Lots of competition nowadays with the likes of Topping, SDAC, Khadas ... or the ENOG2/SU-8 if balanced is desired.

 

[bellyofthebizd]

Some measurements of the DacMagic here: https://kenrockwell.com/audio/cambridge/dacmagic-plus.htm#meas

THD at ~0,00078 – not bad at all just no longer state of the art. Considering the oldness of the chips/chipset it's still impressively low, though. I'd say this DAC should definitely be transparent. Also, great linearity and jitter rejection via coax, less so with optical/USB. For the time (2012) this device is great!

Lots of competition nowadays with the likes of Topping, SDAC, Khadas ... or the ENOG2/SU-8 if balanced is desired.

as i see it is dacmagic plus, more expensive and different chip / more features than DM 100 which is just a simple dac

 

[Veri]

as i see it is dacmagic plus, more expensive and different chip / more features than DM 100 which is just a simple dac

Ahh damn, I screwed up the Plus has dual chips (dual mono?) design so the standard dacmagic 100 might be a hair worse still.

 

[bellyofthebizd]

Ahh damn, I screwed up the Plus has dual chips (dual mono?) design so the standard dacmagic 100 might be a hair worse still.

yes, but looking on spec's there are big differences in hardware
plus
100

 

[mrfluffy]

Just a heads up - this is being sold for $189 for the next couple of days at:
https://www.shenzhenaudio.com/toppi...bluetooth-dac-headphone-amplifier-dsd512.html

I only see $197.99, when is price supposed to be active? Anyone find an LPS for it?

 

[Roen]

WASAPI is always recommended over ASIO when possible. WASAPI is a native windows solution to bitperfect playback, ASIO is not. From audibility perspective, it's probably the same (or very close to be the same), ASIO is just redundant.
As a side note, to my ears direct stream downsampled to 44.1kHz is audibly the same as high res bitperfect playback. I doubt there is many people who are capable of discerning between the two, and out of this entire golden ears group, majority are falling for placebo and would most likely fail controlled ABX test.

If you want to play DSD Natively or through DoP, you're forced to used ASIO anyway. So there's a use case.