Topping DX1 II

HiFi, DAC
Topping DX1 II — Compact DAC, Uncommonly Capable

Topping has a habit of turning up in a price bracket and quietly resetting what’s expected there, and the DX1 II — landing in the UK this summer at £119 via Electromod — is the latest example. No power brick, no fuss, just a small aluminium box that pulls everything it needs from USB-C and still finds over a watt of balanced output on the other end.

Build & Design

A compact CNC-machined aluminium chassis available in black, white or silver, with the 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced jacks up front and optical in/out, RCA line out and USB-C round the back. The whole thing runs bus-powered — no external brick — which is a genuinely useful trick at this size and price. It’s UAC 1.0/2.0 compatible, so it works as readily off a Nintendo Switch or PlayStation as it does a laptop, and UK buyers get a two-year warranty through Topping’s local distributor.

Sound

Character

An ESS ES9039Q2M DAC paired with an XMOS XU316 USB controller gives it 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256 via DoP, and the tuning reviewers describe is “comfortable rather than clinical” — genuinely neutral and transparent without ever sounding cold or thin. There’s a slight softening in the upper treble that takes the edge off already-bright headphones, and bass reads as punchier than it measures, which keeps long sessions fatigue-free rather than analytical.

Power & Versatility

1000mW into 32Ω from the 4.4mm balanced output and 800mW into 16Ω single-ended is serious power for a bus-powered box this size, and the fully balanced four-channel amp architecture behind it is a proper upgrade over the original DX1’s 280mW. The standout feature, though, is the 10-band parametric EQ with adjustable frequency, gain and Q per channel, and three storable on-device profiles — a genuine tuning tool most rivals at this price don’t offer at all.

Comparisons

Sitting right next to the FiiO K11 in this batch, the DX1 II is the more clever of the two rather than the more powerful: it gives up 400mW of balanced headroom but adds PEQ, console compatibility and the convenience of doing without a power brick altogether. Against separates like a Schiit Modi/Magni stack it folds two boxes into one for less money and throws in features neither of those touch. What Hi-Fi and Forbes both flagged it on release as unusually capable for the asking price, and having read through the wider review consensus, that holds up — this is a lot of desktop DAC/amp for £119.

Verdict

Pros

  • Bus-powered — no separate power brick needed
  • 10-band PEQ with three on-device profiles
  • Comfortable, fatigue-free tuning that suits bright headphones
  • Genuinely versatile I/O including console compatibility

Cons

  • Gives up outright power to pricier and even some similarly priced rivals
  • Slight upper-treble softening won’t suit already-warm headphones
  • Controls and profile switching are less intuitive than the feature list suggests
  • Not a substitute for a proper desktop amp on genuinely difficult loads

Ratings:

  • Build & Design: 7.5 / 10
  • Sound: 8 / 10
  • Features: 9 / 10
  • Value: 9 / 10

The DX1 II proves you no longer need a power brick or a big budget to get a genuinely tunable desktop rig — £119 has rarely bought this much.