Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
OK, fine. A month later I registered a new account and posted a Topping EX5 review, and got banned immediately after posting, with zero reason given. Thanks to Shenzhen Audio for hooking me up with both review units. While I always appreciate stuff being sent in to test and review, It never affects the rating of my review. After running the EX5 as a DAC/Amp, I tried upgrading the amp section by connecting the balanced outputs of the EX5 into my Burson Soloist 3X. This resulted in a mostly similar tonal balance. However, there are some marked improvements brought about by replacing the EX5’s amplifier section.
Topping DX5 Review - Headfonia Reviews Topping DX5 Review - Headfonia Reviews
Giving the DX5 all the chance it needs, I tried connecting it via USB to an iFi Audio Zen Stream with instant success. Now, the MQA text and fully unfolded sample rate is displayed on the screen of the DX5.
It uses the newest Qualcomm QCC5125 chipset to support LDAC/AAC/SBC/aptX/aptX LL/aptX HD protocols. I now have trust issues when trying to deduce how much power a headphone amp can put out into a 16 Ω load. When it comes to the front of the EX5, there is a lot to talk about. There is a 4-pin balanced XLR output, a single-ended ¼” headphone output, an MQA indicator LED, a screen, and a multifunction volume knob. Top measurements and functionality at a fair price point. That's what the market needs: competition.
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A couple years ago I tried the Topping D50 and I didn't like that one at all. It was just too anemic sounding. Then I bought the RME ADI-2 (V1) DAC and although it sounded a lot better than the D50, I thought the treble had an overpowering nature to it. Both devices also have an orange LCD screen, however, the XA-10’s display is more informative since the display utilizes pixels that allow it to show letters, instead of a group of 7-segment displays. Functionality is better for the DX5 because of the handy LCD screen where all information is displayed, the configuration menu and the remote control. The last disappointment is from the Jitter performance. In my measurement jitter is quite poor. I wonder why topping was not applying their D10B into this product.Finally, the headphone amplifier section on the EX5 uses Topping’s NFCA headphone amplifier architecture. It boasts of having a diminishingly low THD of 0.0001% for the single-ended output and 0.0003% for balanced 4-pin XLR. The little EX5 is a detail-oriented unit and will be showing the smallest nuances hiding in your tunes without any intervention from my part. Its dead-neutral approach to music reproduction works as magic with warm and dark sounding headphones. For example, the Apos Caspian, Kennerton, Meze Audio, Audeze and most Sennheiser headphones (with the exception of HD800 and all its variants) worked really nice and I was able to disconnect from the outside world for a little bit. While it doesn’t focus on the emotional side of music listening, how their D30 PRO and D70S did for me, you can still counterbalance that linear tonality with a correct system matching. To get even better sound quality from Bluetooth, the built-in DAC of the QCC5125 is disabled and digital conversion is done through the main DAC circuit. As you can see, this is a combination DAC and headphone amplifier. Note that the XLR style headphone out is for convenience and does not produce more power.
TOPPING EX5 Dual ES9038Q2M Digital to Analog Convertor (DAC)
Gear usedS.M.S.L. SU/SH-8S, Lotto PAW S1, Moondrop Blessing 2, THIEAUDIO Clairvoyance, Moondrop Variations, Dethonray Tender 1, Sennheiser HD560S. It also pairs well with planar magnetic headphones like the Audeze LCD-X or the Hifiman Ananda with no real perceived loss in dynamic range from either. Having done some research, it seems my best two options are either the Topping EX5 or the DX5 models. Depending on where you live, the time it may take for your exchanged product to reach you, may vary. Please allow 3-5 business days for mail-in exchanges to be processed.Technicalities are strong and up with the best of the category, the DX5 is offering high conversion fidelity, great transparency, crystalline clarity, excellent extension at both ends of the spectrum, it is detailed and resolving but without sounding analytical. As said above the headphone amplifier is not balanced so you are effectively listening to one phase of the signal. If we’re talking about line-outs, as previously mentioned, EX5 is roughly in line with what E30 and D50s offer. This means that it can not reach the levels of dynamics and sound separation that D30 pro can, or SMSL SU-8s for example. These dedicated DACs are better at their job, but by choosing them you’d be forgoing a very capable headphone out that EX5 offers. Conclusion The unit offers a fully balanced line level output plus single ended line level and headphone outputs. This DAC is done absolutely right and is here to please both measurement freaks and timbre enthusiasts.
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