The ENDGAME.....for Source | Topping DX9 15th Anniversary Limited Edition DAC/AMP All in One Unit

[@megalugia8]

Just copped one of these myself for some a b testing between my atom 2 stack and this.

[@kunalshrivastava6398]

I have mine running XLR out to a Cayin HA-3A. The pair immediately attracts the attention of everyone I've invited to have a listen. Most people can't even tell the stuff is a DAC/AMP stack until they spot the cable running out of it.

[@rnarexperience]

Oh very nice! Yeah a lot of people typically oooh and aahhh over the components inside but then they make the same sound again when I let them hear music through this beauty

[@mathieuremillard5029]

Hey thank you for that review!! It's well done and organized. Do you think an HD800S would be a good choice for the DX9? I only have this headphone right now and I love it.

[@jtor9538]

Great review and congratulations it looks amazing! I hope one day I can get one before they are all gone.

[@rnarexperience]

Thank you! I think it'll be there for a while considering that it's not a cheap item and you really have to fall in love with the looks and potentially want this as your final stop in source searching

[@fabianoberlim9636]

Yes!!! Finally someone is reviewing this beauty ❤

[@billmcginley]

Z Reviews reviewed it in early 2024

[@taidee]

Nice looking monster, congrats and thank you for the review.

[@rnarexperience]

Thank you very much for watching and for your support

[@fabianoberlim9636]

I own the Topping DX9 and DX3 Pro+ The sound of DX9 is so much better that it sounds like you’re changing a headphone The DX3 sounds compressed with sharp treble I can hear more frequencies in the DX9 that gets lost in the DX3 It’s spacious and smooth experience without losing detail

[@rnarexperience]

Thanks for sharing your experience! Glad to hear I'm not the only one hearing some differences, this is one of those units that proves that sources make a difference to sound, even though small, it's noticeable. The looks are another HUGE plus. Loving the DX9

[@CoffeeXmusic]

Great review, this unit is gorgeous. You are super underrated man, deserve many more subs. Love your reviews ❤

[@rnarexperience]

Thanks so much for your support as always, appreciate your kind words

[@annebokma4637]

Ok, all I want is a pre-amp or dac with 4 HDMI in and one out. Don't have space for surround but the tv doesn't have enough usable HDMI ports. The rest of this is perfect connection wise.

[@wric01]

Those r2r dacs still remain the champ in my rig, then again the only edge with delta sigma dacs are electronic rap rock bass heavy music.

[@rnarexperience]

Thanks for sharing, what's your current setup?

[@fwiater]

Good review !! What streamer would you pair with this? I've got hundreds of DSD and PCM files, currently using a dedicated PC thru I2S.

[@rnarexperience]

Unfortunately I haven't dove into the world of streamers (yet) sorry i can't help there but once i do venture into that territory I'd be happy to share my thoughts on a video I'm sure

[@KainSwiss]

HiFi Rose RS130 but cough!!! not cheap

[@jordanng5428]

Wow.. congrats on the purchase. 🎉❤❤

[@rnarexperience]

Thanks man! Come join me in the club~ hahaha

[@jordanng5428]

@rnarexperience haha.. no headphone.. dont think porta pro gonna gain a lot benefit there. 🤣😅🤣

[@rnarexperience]

Time to venture into this space ;)

[@jordanng5428]

@rnarexperience Married guy not eligible to use headphone at home 🤣

[@Luckiestmanalive-bb1mi]

It's a Preamp/DAC - the title suggests it might be an integrated amplifier... It looks great, though!

[@zorankalina4399]

From my experiante/ Nuprime dac 9 and dac 10H, Rega Dac, Teac udh-1, etc/ Realy good package. Maybe not perfect in enething....but realy good in ewerithing. Exeptionale valeu for money.......extraordinary conectivity..... Recomandeble....about perfect allrounder. 👌🕊🙂💯🏖🎶👋

[@rnarexperience]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Hope to be able to check it out someday myself

[@Shozimus]

Nice reveiew. Pondering one myslef, just for varaity. since I have a quite big desk setup, but the Questyle CMA Fiffteen is really tempting, less features, but a line in :)

[@rnarexperience]

Ooooh I don't blame ya, it's a nice choice but the DX9 tho~ That illumination~ ;D Thanks for watching!

[@ptg01]

Loved my Topping D50S when it worked... but they do not stand by their product. Have issues with Coax input not being able to synch (lots of online complaints). Reached out to Topping and they were not helpful. Never again.

[@donaldwolff]

Yep I got mine about 2 months ago, and have loved it everyday!

[@rnarexperience]

Same here, gorgeous unit AND it sounds amazing

[@yttean98]

compare it to other DACs that are within a similar price range. Then you would know how it stacks up. Many reviewers believe China DACs or Chi-Fi DACs sound very similar and rather blend and not that musical. What do you think?

[@rnarexperience]

Hmmm that depends, unfortunately I've only tried Chi-Fi DACs for comparison and Topping is typically know for a more analytical, clean sounding presentations and another Chi-Fi comparison would be Hifiman series and I've tried the EF600 which sounds a lot warmer and has more soundstage width which already proves that not all Chi-Fi DACs are bland but it's just a matter of preference really, at the end of the day your headphones will carry most of the sound because of their tuning and if they sound analytical to begin with, the DAC can only influence that much

[@yttean98]

@@rnarexperience Reach out to other DAC suppliers other than Chi-Fi they may allow you to loan their DACs, tell them you have a YT channel reviewing DAC, basically free advert for them, most will comply if you are genuine.

[@rnarexperience]

Thanks for the tip, might reach out to some of them to see if they will give me a chance to test their stuff

[@seankillar123]

any reccomendation that has similar performance but smaller (to put on a mount under the desk yagee to be exact) im currently using k9 pro ess

[@mrt6349]

Being treble sensetive will this dac be a good choice?

[@rnarexperience]

Hmmm depends on the gear you use. Typically Topping source sounds clean and clear, making an already bright headphone sound a little bit brighter so if you're using a smooth and warm sounding headphone then this will give it a bit of edge but it doesn't cross too much on the other side. It's not going to significantly change the sound of your gear, just minor additions

[@scanspeak00]

Famous last words.

[@andyliao1086]

😊might be a stupid question, I am new to this, can I use DX9 as a DAC and connect to a portabe AMP? am I able to ajust the output power on DX9?

[@rnarexperience]

Don't worry man just ask away and I'll try to help however I can, as we all go through the same thought at some point. As for your question, it depends on the input of your portable amp i believe. I've hooked up my ifi audio zen can to the DX9 using RCA cables.

[@andyliao1086]

@rnarexperience thanks for the reply. I'm planning on using dx9 as a dac and will be using a XLR to 4.4 interconnect to ibasso pb5. Would it cause any harm to either device? I use PB5 to pair up with DAP, and I can adjust the output voltage on the DAP. Not sure if I can do that on a desktop.

[@rnarexperience]

@@andyliao1086 Hmmm I personally haven't ventured that kind of setup yet but no harm raising it to Topping or iBasso just to check. Sorry couldn't be of much help there but if I do own a portable amp in the future I might try it out

[@billmcginley]

@@rnarexperience I run two Fosi ZA-3 mono amps using the xlr pre outputs on the DX-9. Can I connect a sub to the RCA pre outputs and select "All" outputs? I'm asking because I might replace the Fosi amps with something that doesn't have a sub out...

[@shaunhw]

So, putting lots of red LED lights on the PCB and a glass window to look down at them dramatically improves the performance of the device?

[@steviejandjoseline776]

no but it makes it look nice. have a little bit of fun you old geezer

[@lazyreuvin]

Wow that is beautiful! Congratulations on owning one man. Don't know why I've not heard of this DAC/ AMP edition, definitely end game!

[@rnarexperience]

Thank you! Yeah definitely feel really happy with this one, even though I know there are a lot of higher tiered ones but this one just looks and sounds the part. Thanks for watching!

[@ernestporee3697]

DAC of the week club ! Disposable tech !

[@rnarexperience]

So what's the DAC of the day today?

[@philipw7058]

Not impressed with jewelry in this hobby, how it sounds is my only concern,I have tried two of there dacs and they both sounded the same very sterile and sharp sounding I’m not willing to fall for there limited edition scenario and there jewelry

[@rnarexperience]

I think warmer sounding sources ie R2R or Burr Brown chipsets may sound a bit better for your preference compared to ESS? Topping is typically known for having that analytical sound so if paired against warmer sounding headphones then it just adds a bit more clarity or detail to it but if paired with another analytical or linear headphone like Hifiman's or Sennheiser then it's getting really cold and sharp

[@zorankalina4399]

Have it for some 10 monthes.../ with some others; nuprime dac 9 and dac 10, Rega dac. Teac udh -01, etc/ For sure...it gives full bodied, rich sound.

[@zorankalina4399]

This one sounds prity warm & fullboyed......allmost/ near.... to be even to much. Luckely...it have realy good dynamics, space, depht.......which keep it in audiofille range. Recomandeble.... Prity good for money.... Allrounder .....

[@mikeg2491]

I have some Topping products and it does have a unique sound I like when I’m in a certain mood or genre. That said I find it hard to believe that sterile sound is what the studio engineers “intended” regardless how it measures.

[@philipw7058]

@ if they liked the way it sounds they would not have so many different models like they do,they keep throwing a different one every year sometimes every 6 months there low-fi at best I tried two of them because they were priced very cheap I got what I paid for,sorry not in my system no matter how they make it look

[@timothywimala3979]

Have you tried completely shutting down the amber LEDs in the display window? Doesn't work on some units. Wiring fault.

[@rnarexperience]

Yeap I've showed that in the functions and features section where the amber lights were turned off completely, at least for my unit. Unfortunate to hear if it's happening on other units

[@mr.niceguy2524]

Why AC not DC, cannot use in car 😔

[@chrisharris1522]

you can get dc to ac inverters, I have no idea why you would want to do that though

[@wric01]

Only use the car stereo as a amp, i just use a cheap android phone with usb out to a cayin ru6 r2r dongle. USB audio player bit perfect playback is top tier hifi, wish there was a simpler way to replace amps in a car. keeping it affordable and top performance: Wish they make one multi channel tpa TPA3255 just throw a bunch of fosi za3 into a car amp / reciever.

[@chrisharris1522]

@@wric01 Ah I see, you can do that with an inverter the only thing is I suspect what you gain by using this gear you will lose through vibrations road noise bad speaker positioning etc. But if you want to do this more power to you brother and I would love to hear how you get on. My personal solution is a good set of in ears from a dragonfly dongle iphone and Qobuz, I actually want to get another set of in ears that are less detailed as mine are a bit fatiguing to listen to for a long shift.

[@icantwait]

I'm not into Hifi or anything. Randomly saw a pic of this and thought it would look good under my 42 inch OLED monitor. So I got one :-)

[@icantwait]

Any suggestion for the PCM/DSD mode & advanced settings? Would they change the sound quality?

[@Bill-ps2wt]

@@icantwait Yes, it does. The PCM filters are difficult to hear if you can hear them at all. However, for not being into Hifi, you have the equipment to be into hifi. What headphones are you using? If you want to try out the DSD I would recommend downloading a trial of Audirvana. It will let you connect to Tidal or Qobuz and listen to any of their selections in DSD as the program will convert the music to DSD for you. Not only will the regular pcm files sound significantly better (I don't know how they do it), but Audirvana allows conversion to DSD on the fly so you can try it to see if you like it. Higher dsd rates do not mean better sound, its really just different sound... lower noise floor and cleaner music to my old ears. I don't have a DX9 I have a Hifiman ef600 r2r dac which isn't as detailed as your unit but its hard to give up that r2r sound. I would rather have the DX9 so its on my list. To get better than your all in one you'll have to upgrade to separates next as you already have "as good as its gonna get" for an all in one dac amp, but honestly you have no reason to upgrade. Audirvana is a game changer though and not expensive for what it offers. I believe Roon offers DSD conversion also. Watch youtube videos on those to get familiar. I hope you enjoy your unit, its awesome!

[@rnarexperience]

Beautiful~

[@roa5359]

Endgame? 🤣 How can a DAC be endgame these days when they release a new one every week?

[@rnarexperience]

That's why at the end of the day, it falls on you to decide. Though sources dont get released as often as IEMs though, which is weekly for sure XD

[@VM9999-x2k]

Every time I see a photo or video of Focals, it seems to me that their owner is a little hard of hearing. A joke with a grain of humor.

[@rnarexperience]

But the doctor said I have 20/20 hearing~

[@rnarexperience]

@@steven2809 Yes steven... I'm aware of that... 😮‍💨

[@CheekyFest]

what a cheap USB cable!

[@davadmillar1582]

No analog inputs, so useless as an amplifier. I don't understand why this is so rare with these all-in-ones, which fail in the "all" category by denying the use of any other dac. Only Audio GD and Hifiman seem to include this with their dac amps. Frustrating.

[@zounds13]

1. There ARE analog inputs. Look at the back panel. 2. It's not an amplifier, it's a preamp. Amps have terminals for speaker wires.