The DX5 II is a new DAC, headphone amplifier and pre-amplifier from Topping. Three hard-wired digital inputs (USB, coaxial and TOSLINK) on the back panel – plus Bluetooth – feed three headphone sockets (balanced XLR, balanced 4.4mm and 1/4″ single-ended) on the front; or two pre-amplifier outputs (balanced XLR and single-ended RCA) on the back. The DX5 II can be hooked up to a power amplifier or a pair of powered loudspeakers.
Here’s how Topping rates the balanced headphone sockets’ output power:
“7600mW x 2 @16Ω THD+N<1%
6400mW x2 @32Ω THD+N<1%
4300mW x2 @64Ω THD+N<1%
990mW x 2 @300Ω THD+N<1%
490mW x 2 @600Ω THD+N<1%”
Those are some big numbers coming from the Chinese manufacturer’s new ‘X-Hybrid’ amplifier circuit, which we’re told is fully balanced by a ‘quad channel’ arrangement. There’s no outboard power brick running the show: the DX5 II’s back panel clearly shows an IEC mains socket.
Handling the D/A conversion is a circuit built around a pair of ESS Labs’ ES9039Q2M chips – one per channel – and an in-house developed IV conversion module. The USB input supports PCM up to 768kHz and DSD to DSD512, but we’re told nothing about the TOSLINK and coaxial inputs’ sample rate ceilings. The Bluetooth input supports aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, SBC, AAC and LDAC.
But wait. There’s more.
The DX5 II puts a 2″ full colour screen on the front panel to show a) input signal and volume level, b) a spectrum analyser or c) a VU meter. The internal menu system provides access to a 10-band parametric EQ with the associated desktop software supporting the import of target curves and execution of target curve correction. And yes, we can put one PEQ correction on each output channel.
A full suite of measurements can be found here. Available in black or silver.
Price? US$299. That’s a lot of functional bang for our buck.
Further information: Topping