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I would prefer a higher range of volume but the tradeoff was that I got no floor noise from high gain on anything I used with the EX5. Don’t ask me why the most covered manufacturer I have around here is Topping Audio, but if you do…it wasn’t one of my goals.
Topping EX5 Review - DAC With a Powerful Head-Amp - iiWi reviews Topping EX5 Review - DAC With a Powerful Head-Amp - iiWi reviews
The review will be split into two sections, first as a standalone DAC with a fixed level output and then with the embedded headphone amplifier. The chassis is CNC precision milled as usual and I couldn’t find any milling defects or assembly issues. I do not detect that same level of base emphasis and that same level of mid-range being laid back and tamer and slightly darker when it comes to the line output it actually feels really balanced everything feels neutral and natural baseline is weighty is present as us as it should be. I have no regrets, as the most commented articles are for gear coming from Asia, but especially from…you guessed it: Topping Audio! With all due respect, it’s impossible creating a small and affordable combo that would sound good on everything and EX5 is exactly like that, scoring points in key areas and losing in others.The display has an almost retro amber lit simple number display with big numbers and easy to read words. It can feed every can in my inventory, including the R9 and the Deva planars, without breaking a sweat. You are confusing a discussion regarding balanced line outputs with one about balanced headphone outputs. The included remote makes it much easier to control the device and navigate between the available menus. Its treble seems to be extended in the top octave, there is some ringing and plenty of shimmering, without being gritty and itchy sounding.
Topping EX5 MQA Dual ES9038Q2M DAC Bluetooth 5.0 LDAC DSD512
On the merry side, it’s a transparent and noise-less sounding unit, always focusing on the leading edges and contours of the notes, in detriment of their texture and weight. By definition, nested feedback amplifiers like the EX5 are having excellent DC and AC characteristics, its feedback loop was created to improve DC accuracy, thus removing the noise within the circuit. The DX5 is an improved version of the EX5, a DAC and headphone amplifier combo benefiting from both an exceptional conception and a brand new modern design. Due to chip shortages around the globe and especially to the AKM factory fire, we’ll be seeing a lot of ESS-Sabre equipped units from now on, if you look closely that change is already happening. In addition, this Bluetooth chip supports the high-resolution codecs aptX, aptX HD, aptX LL and LDAC, allowing you to achieve a very good quality of sound reproduction in Bluetooth.This is not yet another DAC made to offer the best measurements at the expense of musicality, instead this time it seems that the engineers have done their homework into making it a real music playing machine. However, when it comes to scale, depth and sheer power, EX5 will be struggling with the hardest loads.
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I really liked the SH-8S amp which wasn’t truly balanced so I’ll give the EX5 a pass for not having a different power output for the XLR jack. This technology allows to enjoy high quality audio streams, as close as possible to the original studio recording.The remote control cycles through four output modes which selectively turns on the different outputs for both on. I personally enjoyed it with everything out there, with the exception of Hifiman headphones, but when it came to driving the hardest loads…it was running out of breath and was chocking down dynamics. I like the hip dac because it has a decent balanced power output but it struggles with properly powering full size headphones and the difference is noticeable when switching between the hip dac and the EX5. As always for the best possible performance you should use a cable but if wireless is what suits you better then the sound is so good that you shouldn't be worried. It uses a Bluetooth antenna that works as a signal booster, it’s the same one I’ve seen on all Topping units that were tested around here.
Topping DX5 Review - Headfonia Reviews Topping DX5 Review - Headfonia Reviews
It was clear that EX5 would be releasing on a short notice and without too much fanfare, some days later the little EX5 was brought to the surface. I also agree with you that a balanced output rarely adds anything to an endpoint speaker device, the only exception being the few IEMs (e. Adding a clean preamplifier, followed by a power amplifier known as transient response God (you’ve guessed it, it’s the Benchmark AHB2), finally EX5 makes me move and toe tap my feet. Fast decays are also present, so it pushes and pulls back those membranes in a split second, delivering an amazing pace, rhythm and timing. The Topping DX5 features a black and white OLED display that shows information about the active input type, conversion and sample rate, sample type, and volume info.You can use the EX5 as a digital preamp into a standalone amplifier, whatever it is, this is your volume control if you're only using digital inputs. To honor these points, a daily technological watch is carried out by our team composed of passionate and specialized people. All you have to do is go to Topping’s site, download and install the Topping software, then once it sees the DX5, install the new firmware.
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