Topping DX9 Discrete
Topping has built much of its reputation on DACs and headphone amplifiers that combine ambitious engineering with unusually strong measured performance. The DX9 Discrete takes that formula into a more premium and more distinctive direction. It is a fully balanced DAC, preamplifier and headphone amplifier in one compact chassis, but its main point of interest is not the number of functions it combines. The real story is the conversion architecture. Instead of relying on an off-the-shelf DAC chip, Topping has used its own discrete 1-bit PSRM technology, bringing one of the company's most advanced digital designs into an all-in-one component for headphones, active speakers and conventional hi-fi systems.