276°
Posted 20 hours ago

TOPPING DX3 Pro+ ES9038Q2M DAC, USB/Optical/Coaxial/Bluetooth 5.0 to RCA DAC, 3.5mm Headohone Output DAC with 1800mW*2, DSD512 PCM32Bit/768kHz Hi-Res Audio DAC, Digital-Analog Converter (Black)

£9.9£99Clearance
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ZTS2023
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About this deal

I did experience a burn in time with the DX3 Pro where it started off real strong and then got a bit dull and flat for quite some hours. After which it opened up again. I never am a big believer for burning in DACs or headphone amps... (Headphones and speakers with mechanical parts I do believe need to burn it) but this thing did seem to need some time to settle.. In terms of output power, the headphone amp pushes 1800mW x2 @32Ω THD+N <0.1%, 900mW x2 @64Ω THD+N <0.1% and 250mW x2 @300Ω THD+N <0.1%. The line out delivers 2.1Vrms @0dBFS with an output impedance of 20Ω. Functionality & Bluetooth Performance On top of the device itself and the Bluetooth antenna, which you need to install manually, the SMSL C200’s box comes with a rather slim set of accessories which only includes the remote control, a USB to USB-C cable and the power cable. There are also a manual and a warranty card. Design & Build As indicated by measurements directly from TOPPING and third-party testers, you can expect the DX3 Pro+ to have a wonderfully neutral and distortion-free sonic presentation. And that’s exactly what I hear while listening to Aaron Copland’s “Quiet City”. The dynamics are powerful – the details and subtleties are all revealed. Pairing to the DX3 Pro+ via Bluetooth was super easy on my Sony NW ZX-300, iPhone and Pc. LDAC was selected automatically with my Sony DAP while I was restricted to AAC when using the iPhone (damn you Apple)! The Bluetooth Audio quality is fantastic, especially when using LDAC or aptX HD. Setup

Pro ESS vs Topping DX3 Pro+ - Head-Fi.org Fiio K5 Pro ESS vs Topping DX3 Pro+ - Head-Fi.org

Speeding things up a bit, when playing “Harridan” by Porcupine Tree, the DX3 Pro+ flexes its ability to drive rhythmically and react swiftly to pace changes. The electric guitars bite with a gritty power and distinct leading edges while the manic drums of Gavin Harrison beat with tidy precision. The advice to choose a more efficient headphone that can be easily powered (or driven) by the PS5 controller 3.5mm port has value, not least as this option = support for the PS5's 3D audio Tempest engine The DX3 Pro+ sounds cohesive and expressive whether you’re feeding it absurdly large DSD files or streaming from Spotify. Obviously, you need to use high-quality files to get the absolute best fidelity from a DAC like this. But at the same time, you’re not going to feel disappointed if you’re streaming files via Bluetooth. Either way, the DX3 Pro+ will impress. I'm leaning heavily towards the K5 Pro ESS, but if there is anyone here who has tried both, I would be interested in hearing your opinion. Or if there are any other glaring reasons why I should choose the DX3 instead of the K5 (or if my pros/cons list is inaccurate) I'm all ears.The SMSL C200 is based on the ESS Sabre ES9038Q2M DAC chip. It appears like just one DAC chip is used, which would make the C200 incapable of “true” balanced audio – which would require two DACs to process the signal in parallel. On the other hand, though, amplification is managed by four OPA1612A chips, which are able to output an overall 2.6 W of power – quite a large amount for a device this small. Sound In the heart of the device, there is a well-known Sabre DAC chip ES9038Q2M. That’s a change from the original model that was using AK sourced DAC chip. The amplification section is also revamped and now offers almost twice the power compared to the original. With 1800 mW into 32 Ohm and 250 mW into 300 Ohm loads, nobody should feel wanting for more. XMOS XU208 powered USB input supports up to 768 kHz PCM and DSD512 native. If you’re into wireless, Pro+ supports LDAC, AAC, SBC, APTX, APTX LL, and APTX HD protocols. Sound (Headphone Out) For my testing, I had the TOPPING DX3 Pro+ connected to my Windows 11 PC via USB. The KALI LP-8’s were hooked up via RCA to XLR cables. I played a variety of FLAC and DSD files with JRiver Media Center and Foobar2000, along with some playlists on Spotify Premium. For the majority of testing, I left the filter at its default setting of 3 (Fast roll-off). Sound

DAC - TOPPING DAC - TOPPING

Firing up The Pineapple Thief’s “Tightly Wound – Acoustic Version”, shows that along with its neutrality and transparency, the DX3 Pro+ is also a master of timing and timbre. The piano notes are crisp and resonate with a natural decay. The unit also comes with a remote controller. It is not necessary to control the SMSL C200, as you can do it using just the volume knob, but it does make things easier and more convenient. It’s made of plastic and it has the following buttons: power, up, down, left, right, enter, input, FN (used to switch outputs and, when long pressed, to set the screen to automatically switch off), mute, raise and reduce volume. Features & Specs Also I remember you come from Dragonfly Red right? Do you feel right at home with the switch to K5 Pro ESS? OHHHH I'm in the same boat here. To be honest I'm perfectly happy with Dragonfly Red running as desktop unit. But maybe just getting bored and want to try something new but also want to keep the same warm sound. Also curious to try something a bit more powerful than Dragonfly Red so I'm also looking at the DX3 Pro+ and the K5 Pro ESS. Some have said these are more warm than the DX3 but the comparisons were made on the older dac chips and not the ESS onesWith its low output impedance plus high and low gain settings, the headphone amp section of the DX3 Pro+ is a great match for a wide array of headphones and IEMs. Listening on the Hifiman Sundara, the DX3 Pro+ is dynamic yet subtle, detailed but smooth. There’s gobs of power available and I found myself listening at around -25dB in high gain mode. Levels on the DT990 Pro were about the same, maybe a couple of notches higher at -24dB to -23dB.

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