Topping DX5 II review - High spec headphones amp, DAC & pre-amplifier for under $300

Some may have seen my recent review of the Luxsin X9, a high-end DAC/headphones amp and pre-amplifier from a new name under the Eversolo range of products overseen by Zidoo. Whilst the X9 comes in at a lofty price, those that are more budget conscious might find solace in the newly released Topping DX5 II, which comes in considerably cheaper and promises more output power for headphones by almost double, all contained within a more compact form factor.

With the way home audio technology is advancing nowadays, it is plausible that something this cheap can sound almost as good as something much more expensive, the point of dimishing returns has changed considerably over the years after all, but is that the case here?

Pockets of the audio community were wondering why Topping had not sent out any review samples of the new DX5 II, we caught glimpses of it online through promotional media, along with audio events hosted around the world for a short while, but nothing much more than that.

Rumour has it the release was delayed a bit, although there is no official word on that, nevertheless, on June 10th it was officially released with orders going live through the Topping and Shenzhen online retail pages.

I ended up ordering one having kept a keep eye on the discussions surrounding it, and its claimed power outputs for headphones, it looked to be a flagship spec headphones amp, DAC and pre-amp all in one, coming in at a very affordable £223 (currently £217 at the time of writing).

My recent poor experience with the Creek 4040 A needed to be washed away...

... Maybe the DX5 II could do the trick, and having owned Topping amps in the past, I somewhat knew what to expect, but as I have learnt from experience, things are not always as they once were, and usually not for the better, hopefully the DX5 II delivers.

All the music listened to whilst healing my mental state for this review can be found in my Hi-Fi curated playlist on Spotify.

First impressions

Even though this was a unit I bought myself with a view to keep it in service if it's good, I'll still be sharing my findings as I normally do for all my reviews, the good, the bad, the ugly, you will hear about it.

On paper, the DX5 II looks exceptional, massive amounts of power for headphones on tap (7600mW from a 16Ω load is almost comical), a 10-band parametric EQ and the rather nice Aurora UI inside the display.

A pair of ESS SABRE DAC chips are in use here, this chip originally released in 2023 boasting ultra-low noise and distortion figures with high output power. This is still in use today by various amplifier and DAC manufacturers. Topping has then tailored the architecture using its Hybrid-X system, along with a parametric EQ for tuning the sound exactly to your liking. These adjustments can then be stored on a per-output basis, though at the time of writing, there are a few issues with the PEQ system that need ironing out.

Topping did release two firmware updates within 48 hours this week, though some issues still remain for some folks.

The positive direction of Class D amplification has legitimately turned a lot of people away from the lower efficiency and heat-boxes that are Class A, and whilst Class A/B is still popular, there is no denying that Class D has made massive strides in recent years to the point that even big name brands have chosen it as their pedestal for new models. Quad recently released the 33 and 303 integrated/power amp duo, marking a revival of its iconic models of the same designation from 1967.

"Hi-fi amplifier classes (like Class A, AB, and D) describe the way an amplifier handles and amplifies an audio signal, impacting its efficiency, sound quality, and heat generation. Class A prioritises sound quality but is inefficient, Class AB balances sound quality and efficiency, and Class D prioritises efficiency and compact size"

Brands like FiiO still have old school hearts in mind, though, and it recently announced that it is thinking about working on a modern Class A headphones amplifier, not because it believes it can do justice to modern power and eco needs, but just because it feels nostalgic and wants to show that the brand can, so if the brand can, then the brand will... Maybe.

The DX5 II is built much like any other compact desktop DAC/amp on the market today, though the much cheaper models out there tend to have rougher aluminium finishes and sharper edges. In typical Topping fashion, this new DX is finely finished with a shallow texture all over, it is, however, this texture that leads to the finish easily catching finger smudges, even with my non-greasy digits.

The volume button is especially prone as you interact with the menu system and press it in. it is nice to operate, though, and has a dampened ratchet to each increment. I found adjusting volume to be precise and responsive in general, something which could not be said for the Creek 4040 A, an amp that costs nearly four times more.

Pressing in the volume knob requires a bit more pressure than I would have liked, it feels tactile and nice, but because the stock silicone anti-slip feet at the bottom aren't that great (they never are with Topping), the unit can often nudge a bit backwards on the right side as a result of that pressure being applied to activate the button.

To combat this, I stuck on four premium quality feet that I sourced through Amazon, probably one of the few things that are still made in the UK and retain quality (I look forward to your engry emails):

In fact, I have so many of these now that they get applied to everything, the added height gap also means better underside airflow or a space to tuck in headphones cabling, or just to clean from time to time.

Flipping it over to see the back, we have most of the connectivity anyone could want on a desktop DAC/amp like this. The only thing missing that some may be looking for is a HDMI Arc port since many people nowadays have a 42" OLED TV as a monitor, but a USB-C port features, so it's probably not a huge deal.

The balanced XLR sockets only cater to that connector, whilst Topping opted to use the dual-function XLR port that also takes TRS jacks. I'm not sure why topping chose to reduce the XLR port functionality with this release, maybe a cost-saving exercise, my Topping PA7 power amp features the dual-mode XLR ports at the back for reference.

I did try to get a look at the PCB to see if there any OpAmps that can be rolled, but the whole PCB would not slide out without fear of tearing something due to a snagging issue inside, though the small gap that I was able to peer through showed no indication of swappable OpAmps, just a generic looking PCB.

The remote is worth mentioning, it has some useful buttons, though missing are media controls, so connected Bluetooth/USB connected devices must control media directly. Previous remotes had media buttons. The custom buttons A and B can be tailored from within the display menu. Preset 1 and 2 refer to the parametric EQ stored profiles which can be customised via the Topping Tune desktop software, though this is buggy at present.

Here is a tour of the menu system with navigation being done using just the front panel. You can of course navigate using the remote control, but that seems lazy whilst sat at the desk, you can see how quick the display responds to dial inputs, as well as the wake from standby delay shown towards the end:

As a DAC

The DX5 II isn't just a headphones amplifier, it is also a DAC, and a pre-amplifier since it has volume control options for the outputs, or you can run it in pure DAC mode which sends a fixed signal out to the end device be they active speakers or a secondary amplifier driving passive speakers, or another source in your chain of separates.

My use-case is to have the main DAC connected to the PC, it then connects to a power amplifier (Topping PA7) for my passive speakers (TRIANGLE Comete 40th Anniversary).

If the DX5 II did not have a capable headphones amp built in, then I'd have a dedicated amp just to serve that purpose in my chain, but this is not the case, and essentially any headphones on the planet can be driven with this model, more on the headphones side of things shortly.

Since the DAC chips inside this are supposed to deliver what Topping says is high-end sound with low noise and distortion, it seems fitting to compare back to back against a DAC that has proven itself to be high-end, though at a more premium price. The Luxsin X9 offers a level of refined sound that is typically heard on DACs costing more than it, so even though it costs £1000, it is relatively good value for money considering its performance and features.

For me, the X9 is a reference point and benchmark to what other DACs and pre-amplifiers should be able to get close to, or be better than, depending on their cost.

Connecting the DX5 II to the PA7 power amplifier using the balanced XLR outputs showed no sign of any noise floor hiss, so far so good. I am able to turn the volume up to 0dB and still hear no audible hiss or any other anomaly with my ear right up to the speaker.

Cold War in the album BLOOD TYPE by Cautious Clay is a song that clearly demonstrates the capabilities of both DACs. With the X9 the vocals sound like as if the voices are surrounding in front of me with the way the track is presented.

A very wide soundstage with a very natural feeling timbre to voices. To use a cliched term, everything about this song with the X9 feels airy or open. If I close my eyes then I could easily imagine this sound coming from much bigger speakers in a much bigger environment, that is how it is presented and that makes the track extremely enjoyable, even on repeat.

The DX5 II now taking place of the X9 playing the same track presented a different flavour I was not expecting. Now the airiness felt less-so, like as if the soundstage was slightly compressed inwards, and the vocals didn't have the same timbre any more. It's not that the sound was bad, far from it, the sound was just different now, and if I had never heard the X9's version beforehand then I would have not known anything was different.

What is happening here is the DX5 II is presenting this song at a more personal level, like as if you have your own cubicle with the music in front of you. The stereo image is still excellent with instrument and vocal placement spaced apart enough to be able to hear directionality, but the presentation noted above might give some people the impression that the sound is a bit "digital", not in resolution, but in presentation. I'm not really sure how to better describe it!

On forums some said the DX5 II may be a great value baby X9, but I don't think this is close enough to the X9 to label it as such. the sound is excellent and Topping's hardware tuning is getting the best out of those SABRE DAC chips, but it's not the same type of sound coming out of the AKM powered Luxsin X9.

Note that both DACs are set to their respective bypass modes, so what I am hearing is purely down to individual hardware tuning by each manufacturer. The PCM filter was also set to the default which is said to be the most neutral.

I've talked a lot about observations in a single track, but this trend carried over to other genres of music, too. I focused on this track in particular as it's incredibly well produced with no noticeable hint of compression or bad quality mastering. It is a benchmark track for those listening on speakers and want to see how immersive their speakers air, and whilst the photos may show Spotify being used, the same applied to lossless variants of the same music on Tidal and local FLAC files.

Connected to a PC, I found no issues with Windows recognising the DAC. The XMOS USB chip inside is an accepted workhorse. No Windows driver is needed, and WASAPI Exclusive is built-in; available via your music player's output settings (MusicBee, Tidal, Foobar etc) as a first-party alternative to ASIO for bit-perfect transmission bypassing the Windows audio stack. Whether you hear a difference or not is a very different discussion, though. My personal take on this is that it doesn't matter that much, more focus needs to be on the quality of the music file's production (mastering) as not all CDs ripped to FLAC sound great due to poor production, versus a higher quality master used to provide streaming platforms with the exact same album.

Putting the DX5 II into standby mode keeps the Windows USB connection alive, so you don't have apps that suddenly moan because they can no longer see an audio device when the unit goes to sleep.

Annoyances? Only two that spring to mind, the remote control does not have buttons to control media playing on the PC, since I am connected via USB, I might be in another area of the room, so to skip tracks I would need to walk over to the PC. Previous Topping amps had remotes that had media controls that worked perfectly over USB connected to a PC.

The last annoyance is actually a big one that people need to be aware of, setting the DX5 II to DAC mode (fixed volume output) instead of pre-amp (adjustable volume) mode automatically enforces full volume on all outputs. So, for example, if you have a pair of active monitors connected to the RCA output, and a power amp with no volume control on it connected to the XLR output, then you can see the kind of hassle this could create when you are switching between both outputs and then remember to have to toggle DAC mode and pre-amp depending on the output you want to use in that moment. There does not seem to be a way to tell the unit to only apply DAC mode to a specific output.

This may be an option that needs to be added in a firmware update, or it may be a design choice by Topping. Unlike other brands, Topping does not share direct feedback to online communities that I have seen, so we will just have to wait for each firmware update to come out and read the changelogs to find out.

As a headphones amp

This is probably the main reason most people will be looking to get this, with up to 7600mW of power at 16Ω (using the balanced output of course) will have huge appeal for many people no doubt, but not every headphone is 16Ω, a tried and tested classic, the Sennheiser HD650, is 300Ω, which means it will be receiving 990mW of power assuming a balanced cable is used, less if using the stock single-ended cable. 990mW is still a lot, so there is nothing to worry about.

Using the Hifiman Arya Stealth (balanced connection) gave me a similar impression as what I heard using the DX5 II as a DAC through my speakers. This time round the specs say I should be getting 6400mW of power, since the Arya Stealth are 32Ω headphones, also, I wanted to try out different music this time, music that felt more immersive on headphones...

... Word Up in the Rewind, Vol 4 album by Willis is a song that I would like to think is deliberately produced to sound rough/etchy with some distortion in specific areas. This, in my opinion, gives the song a level of charm and makes the whole experience even better as the vocals and stereo imaging, especially the strings in my left ear have a tickling sensation on the strums.

I guess you could say that the imperfections in this production make it the perfect song to get this sort of enjoyment and immersion.

Observation: The DX5 II will not switch to headphones output upon connecting headphones. I find this really odd because Topping amps from years prior did this fine, so Topping choosing to not implement this is slightly annoying. I need to manually swap to the headphones output. The same process must be followed when going back to DAC/pre-amp mode to select the desired line output.

Compared to the Luxsin X9 with half of the power output, I found only a small difference in actual loudness when both were set to the same output dB volume level. This will largely be down to the fact that different brands apply different levels of gain. With the DX5 II in high gain mode and set to -28dB, it's almost too high for my idle comfort listening, meanwhile with the X9 set to medium gain (which is actually the auto calibrated gain based on what it detects), -28dB is a more comfortable level. Setting it manually to high gain doesn't put the loud to the same level as the DX5 Ii.

The X9's headphones output is clearly different, and what sounds better will vary from person to person. My preference leans on an open-air sound that is full of character, a reasonably wide soundstage and vocals that are not constrained centrally sounds the most organic to my ears, so for this the Luxsin wins. Does the X9 sound a bit over £700 better than the DX5 II? No, but the value in the X9 comes into its own when factoring in everything else it does exceptionally well and how easy it is to use on a daily basis with all the options it has, with more on the way via updates.

The DX5 by comparison has good soundstage and detail retrieval is excellent, especially how it places individual sounds in the stereo image it projects through headphones, but I still kept feeling that something was missing.

Discussing the headphones side of things with members of some forums and we came to the conclusion that the DX5 II favours headphones like the Sennheiser HD650/HD600 series. It seems the signature of those headphones works really well with this amp. So just like with speakers, getting good harmony with an amp is important for headphones, too. Perhaps the often bright upper mid range nature of Hifiman headphones doesn't lend well to amps that might lean on those a bit more than a smoother, warmer amp like the X9.

There is no good or bad here, just individual preferences that is ultimately born through the type of headphones that each person has become accustomed to the sound signature of. If I did not have the X9, then I could easily get used to the sound of the DX5 II and be fine with it.

Of course some of these differences could be resolved by making use of the 10-band parametric EQ, something which I have not touched yet due to the ongoing bugs with it. Once Topping has sussed it, I will pay this area a visit and see if it delivers.

Conclusion

Topping's new DX5 II has released at a much lower price than what I and many others expected, though perhaps that price reflects the launch bugs being seen by people. At least Topping is on the ball and releasing firmware updates to try to resolve most of them, though it does have to be said that some other Topping models, such as the D50 III, still have some issues being talked about online, the last firmware for that was back in December 2024, so this leaves current owners feeling left behind as Topping puts focus on the latest models.

Will the same happen with the DX5 II? It's impossible to say, but the affordable price tag may tempt people enough to give it a try, and if it doesn't satisfy, then buying through a retail outlet that has a no-nonsense returns policy is probably the safest option.

I am undecided if I will keep my unit or sell it on. It is cheap enough to keep in service and see what updates bring it down the line, but the sound signature with my preference of headphones and speakers is only fully realised on certain source hardware, I don't think the DX5 II is that hardware, although as said, it is something I could get used to if this was my only piece of equipment.

There are some visual bugs as well, such as the spectrum analyser graphics stuttering when adjusting volume quickly. It seems the display is sharing some of the processing power with volume attenuation. you can see this stutter in the video posted earlier in the review.

Lack of option to enable auto output selection when connecting/disconnecting headphones is silly, especially when older models have had this for years!

Maybe this is where costs were saved, release the product in a passable state, then fix what is possible through firmware updates based on user feedback. Is this how we now beta test new products and identify bugs for brands?

I refer back to where I mentioned that no review units were sent to anyone out there, which is why both of my reviews are probably the first you will see of this model online. I guess these findings highlight why no samples were sent out.

It's very clear that the DX5 II is a great piece of kit, it has a lot of potential, but is currently being held back by features that are missing and need adding via a firmware update, as well as supporting software to control and PEQ that isn't fully working as intended.

I am still going to recommend the DX5 II, though, because it's priced so well and looks and sounds very good. If the connectivity it carries matters to you, and you are on a budget, then this might be amongst the best available right now until FiiO's K13 R2R is released which is slated to offer higher quality R2R sound with more connectivity options that the K11 R2R lacked.

I am keeping my eyes peeled in anticipation.