• INT80 FORUM LTD EDITION INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER - now available
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New Toys?

Slinger said:
Errrrrrrrr. Yes, please then.
(rofl)


Sure enough, it's back at the full price of $299/£220.32 or, with my 10% discount, £198.29.

Honestly, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, as the saying goes. Maybe I just don't know enough about today's mid-fi (?) DACs, but - and this is a genuine request - can somebody take a look at the specs (yes, I know it's all about "implementation" but that aside...) and tell me I've got it right, and that this is a stupidly low price for what's inside this little box.

www.toppingaudio.com/product-item/dx5-ii

I'm genuinely starting to doubt myself and my eye for a bargain, because it seems TOO cheap.
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With Chinese hi-fi you can 'benefit' from very low costs - labour, premises, energy, taxes - in the asking price. The Chinese are also hard-wired to use the cheapest suitable part for the job, usually ones that have been around a long time and are mass produced for economy of scale, and there's not necessarily anything wrong with that.

Topping are designed to perform well in the ASR lab test results, whether that translates into musical enjoyment in your own system...only you can say. They also pander to the 'pro market must be better' fad by fitting things like XLRs (a gimmick for those that are influenced by forum BS). On the other hand, they can have features that are useful to many customers...DSP/PEQ, native DSD.

Out of curiosity...is there a trial period? Can you return it if you don't like it? Do you have to pay the shipping back to China if you want to return it, or if it is faulty / develops a fault?
 
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Antonio said:
@Slinger Do you need the headphone amp? I'm sure it's a decent dac, Topping are not everyone's cup of tea.
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I don't actually "need" a headphone amp, but to be honest, the DAC itself looked so well featured that it wasn't really a consideration. TBH, I haven't even investigated how it might connect to my (B&W Px7 S2) BT cans.
 
savvypaul said:
With Chinese hi-fi you can 'benefit' from very low costs - labour, premises, energy, taxes - in the asking price. The Chinese are also hard-wired to use the cheapest suitable part for the job, usually ones that have been around a long time and are mass produced for economy of scale, and there's not necessarily anything wrong with that.

Topping are designed to perform well in the ASR lab test results, whether that translates into musical enjoyment in your own system...only you can say. They also pander to the 'pro market must be better' fad by fitting things like XLRs (a gimmick for those that are influenced by forum BS). On the other hand, they can have features that are useful to many customers...DSP/PEQ, native DSD.

Out of curiosity...is there a trial period? Can you return it if you don't like it? Do you have to pay the shipping back to China if you want to return it, or if it is faulty / develops a fault?
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They have a 7-day DOA guarantee and a 30-day, no-reason return policy. As far as return shipping goes, they state, "To return your product, you should contact Shenzhenaudio Support to get the details"

I've had a fair amount of Chi-fi over the years, and most of it has been DACs, and, to be honest, I've never been disappointed. SMSL were my preferred brand for a long time, but other brands (such as Topping) have caught up. Topping has a decent reputation for DACs these days, and I know several people who have owned and enjoyed Topping DACs. I take zero notice of ANYTHING ASR say.

Another thing to remember is, I'm NOT the "pro" market, and my second system isn't anything resembling high-end. This DAC is "mid-fi" at best, rather than the true definition of hi-fi. In fact, at the price I'm paying, it's probably not even considered mid-fi, although the specs seem to belie that, which is confusing.

And that brings me back to my question: can somebody who knows a lot more than I (most people) about DACs read the specs, and see if it seems like more than a two-hundred-quid DAC tis being described to them too?

A possibility I've been contemplating is that this DAC is a sort of "test bed" for several new technologies and improvements, and to that end, may very quickly disappear from the market once the initial supply dwindles, and a much more expensive substitute will take its place if it's deemed successful enough.

Who knows? I can't get past the feeling that the specs (by which I mean what's inside, not claims of how it performs) are too good to be true.
 
Antonio said:
Well it's cheap enough for a cd player, I will be interested in what you think. I'm sure the Topping will be ok, but it will certainly be a bugger if you prefer the sound of the cd player without the additional dac. :unsure:

Just for interest this is a dac on my Watchlist: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...-8b80-8a48ceed8d17&algo_exp_id=ee07d670-2366-
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The chip is not original. Other components may be copies, too. There are lots of fakes / copies on AliExpress. At best, it will just sound a bit meh, at worst it will be unsafe. If it looks too good to be true...

Hidden away behind two drop downs is the statement:

Certification = none
 
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savvypaul said:
The chip is not original. Other components may be copies, too. There are lots of fakes / copies on AliExpress. At best, it will just sound a bit meh, at worst it will be unsafe. If it looks too good to be true...

Hidden away behind two drop downs is the statement:

Certification = none
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Under "Specifications" it states "Certification: CE,FCC,KC". But as you've already made your mind up that everything coming out of China is fake crap, I won't argue the point, or any other, with you.
 
@savvypaul You may be right or wrong, here's a dac, similar to the one I linked to, please read the review. I've always been happy with all the stuff I've purchased via AliExpress, whether fake or not. If it sounds good it is good. :)

www.aliexpress.com

L1543dac 16x parallel tda1543hifi Fieber decoder, reproduziert tda1541 analogen Geschmack - AliExpress 15

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.com www.aliexpress.com

Edit: I've just remembered, Lite made a couple of very highly regarded dac's many years ago, they were both more costly than the one I linked to, they then seemed to become a maker of cheaper dac's.
 
Slinger said:
Under "Specifications" it states "Certification: CE,FCC,KC". But as you've already made your mind up that everything coming out of China is fake crap, I won't argue the point, or any other, with you.
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That's nonsense. I own stuff that's made in China, and I've praised some items that are made in China, here and at other forums; most recently Wharfedale Lintons and some Fosi pieces.

I'm talking about the DAC that Antonio posted, not the Topping:

Specifications​

  • Package
    Yes
    Channels
    2 (2.0)
  • Model Number
    R2R AD1865
    Maximum Power Per Channel
    NO POWER
  • Brand Name
    GZLOZONE
    Origin
    Mainland China
  • Certification
    None
 
Antonio said:
@savvypaul I'll be bringing my baseball bat with me on Sunday. 😂
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I'll save a curve ball for you, then ;)

There's a lot of attractive kit coming out of China at very attractive prices. But, sometimes, the price is not just because the Chinese have lower costs. The Chinese can manufacture components at very low cost, but they cannot install genuine 'Western' parts at that same low cost. There are all sorts of fakes and copies around...that's long been known.
 
savvypaul said:
That's nonsense. I own stuff that's made in China, and I've praised some items that are made in China, here and at other forums; most recently Wharfedale Lintons and some Fosi pieces.

I'm talking about the DAC that Antonio posted, not the Topping:

Specifications​

  • Package
    Yes
    Channels
    2 (2.0)
  • Model Number
    R2R AD1865
    Maximum Power Per Channel
    NO POWER
  • Brand Name
    GZLOZONE
    Origin
    Mainland China
  • Certification
    None
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My apologies. In my defence, it's too fkn hot, and that makes me too fkn grumpy. I don't know what it's like up your way, but I'm sitting here with a fan directly on me, and it's still like trying to breathe soup here. Sorry, I "leapt".
 
Slinger said:
My apologies. In my defence, it's too fkn hot, and that makes me too fkn grumpy. I don't know what it's like up your way, but I'm sitting here with a fan directly on me, and it's still like trying to breathe soup here. Sorry, I "leapt".
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No worries. We've had a cloudy day at around 20 degrees and just a little, but welcome, breeze.

However, its forecast 30 degrees and not a cloud for the North West Audio Show this weekend. Thankfully, our room is one of the ones with aircon.
 
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