This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping DX5 balanced stereo DAC and (unbalanced) headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $449.
As you see the industrial design is all new. I like the large display and the feel of the volume control which is much improved. Note that the XLR headphone out is the same as 1/4 HP out and is there for convenience. Back panel shows the usual connections:
But also sports my favorite feature: built-in power supply. Let's start measurements with the DAC section.
Topping DX5 DAC Measurements
Let's start with XLR Output:
We expect superb performance and company delivers as expected, landing in our top 5 DACs ever tested:
RCA Output gives up just a tiny bit:
Noise performance is excellent:
Linearity is nailed:
General noise and distortion in IMD test is superb but we have our old "friend" the ESS IMD Hump back:
Performance is so good though that even with that hump it still performs.
Jitter over USB is excellent:
But there are odd spikes/jitter when using Toslink:
Fortunately at less than -120 dB, they are completely inaudible.
Multitone is superb:
Three reconstruction filters are provided:
THD+N versus frequency is extremely good:
Topping DX5 Headphone Amp Measurements
Let's measure how quiet the unit is:
This is very good but shy of state of the art:
Performance into both 300 ohm and 32 ohm loads is excellent with very low noise and distortion plus plenty of power:
Testing at various impedances we get:
Ignore the little glitches (measurement error). At 300 and 600 ohm there is no clipping so if you are hearing distortion it is your headphone! Below that naturally is current limiting. Unit is stable and capable of driving even 12 ohm load. Output impedance is essentially zero.
Topping DX5 Headphone Listening Tests
I started testing with my Sennheiser HD650 headphone. Performance was superb with incredible dynamics, detail and ability to rattle my skull if I let it! I then plugged in my everyday Dan Clark Stealth headphone which is both low impedance and difficult to drive. DX5 had no trouble driving it with no sign of distortion. I did not have as much headroom as with the HD650 but plenty of volume for safe listening.
Conclusions
We expect perfection from Topping and we almost get that in DX5. ESS IMD Hump and Toslink jitter are the only two areas of note but neither is an obstacle to superb performance. Delivering forth highest SINAD ever measured (out of nearly 400 DACs) is a major accomplishment.
I am going to recommend the Topping DX5.
Edit: video review posted:
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
As you see the industrial design is all new. I like the large display and the feel of the volume control which is much improved. Note that the XLR headphone out is the same as 1/4 HP out and is there for convenience. Back panel shows the usual connections:
But also sports my favorite feature: built-in power supply. Let's start measurements with the DAC section.
Topping DX5 DAC Measurements
Let's start with XLR Output:
We expect superb performance and company delivers as expected, landing in our top 5 DACs ever tested:
RCA Output gives up just a tiny bit:
Noise performance is excellent:
Linearity is nailed:
General noise and distortion in IMD test is superb but we have our old "friend" the ESS IMD Hump back:
Performance is so good though that even with that hump it still performs.
Jitter over USB is excellent:
But there are odd spikes/jitter when using Toslink:
Fortunately at less than -120 dB, they are completely inaudible.
Multitone is superb:
Three reconstruction filters are provided:
THD+N versus frequency is extremely good:
Topping DX5 Headphone Amp Measurements
Let's measure how quiet the unit is:
This is very good but shy of state of the art:
Performance into both 300 ohm and 32 ohm loads is excellent with very low noise and distortion plus plenty of power:
Testing at various impedances we get:
Ignore the little glitches (measurement error). At 300 and 600 ohm there is no clipping so if you are hearing distortion it is your headphone! Below that naturally is current limiting. Unit is stable and capable of driving even 12 ohm load. Output impedance is essentially zero.
Topping DX5 Headphone Listening Tests
I started testing with my Sennheiser HD650 headphone. Performance was superb with incredible dynamics, detail and ability to rattle my skull if I let it! I then plugged in my everyday Dan Clark Stealth headphone which is both low impedance and difficult to drive. DX5 had no trouble driving it with no sign of distortion. I did not have as much headroom as with the HD650 but plenty of volume for safe listening.
Conclusions
We expect perfection from Topping and we almost get that in DX5. ESS IMD Hump and Toslink jitter are the only two areas of note but neither is an obstacle to superb performance. Delivering forth highest SINAD ever measured (out of nearly 400 DACs) is a major accomplishment.
I am going to recommend the Topping DX5.
Edit: video review posted:
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
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