[JohnR]

I thought I should perhaps start a new thread about the NX4 DSD so as to not detract from wushuliu's excellent More Amazing DACs for Peanuts which is more about the Sabaj DA3.

This little guy is battery powered and has the mobile ES9038 DAC chip in it. Separate USB ports for power (charging) and USB audio, which you can see in this pic:



The manufacturer's (English) webpage doesn't show up easily in google, but here it is: http://en.tpdz.net/products_detail/productId=25.html

I really like the way it sounds! This could be reverse expectation bias or honeymoon period or whatever.

However despite being shown on the webpage linked above with an iPad and iPhone, it doesn't work with them over USB. I have tried both the USB2 and USB3 CCK. At this point it seems the only option is analog in (which I haven't tried yet). [My bad, it works great. See below.]

It does work great from my Macbook and a Raspberry Pi. I just got an OTG cable so will try that later on with Android. (I'm not sure if Android still resamples everything to 48k tho).

Not working with iOS is a disappointment, but that's not really my main use case, mostly I intended to use it as a secondary headphone listening station and the RPi will be fine for that. So while I'm a bit undecided I think I'm going to keep it anyway (heck, for the price....). I put in a query to Topping and will post if they respond.

I got mine here, also available here and here. Massdrop dropped one a little while ago and they might come up again there.

[JohnR]

Works with Android (Nexus 7). According to Roon, Android is not resampling, unless you send it > 96k. (I can't check for sure what sample rate is coming out the Nexus USB for sure as for some reason my ADI-2 Pro does not work with Android  )

[JohnR]

Actually, it works perfectly fine with iOS. I didn't realize that iOS resets its volume to basically nothing when you plug an external USB device in... 

[wushuliu]

Actually, it works perfectly fine with iOS. I didn't realize that iOS resets its volume to basically nothing when you plug an external USB device in... 

Yay!

[JohnR]

Yay!

This is really good for the price. (I'm scared to say more than that just yet.) Thank you for your efforts in keeping us lot up to date on developments in this area 

[wushuliu]

For anyone interested that sort of thing there are now measurements run by Amir on the NX4. He is very impressed. Hope that's ok John:

https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-topping-nx4-dsd-dac-and-portable-headphone-amplifier.3507/

[JohnR]

Sure, no problem, thanks for the link I was meaning to run some measurements but too many things demanding attention... The channel imbalance at low levels he mentions is an issue I noticed as well when trying it with IEMs. Thinking about it, it now seems obvious that the volume is analog (presumably a pot) and not done in the DAC chip, as the unit can be used just as a straight headphone amp.


The other small downside is that for iPhone you do need to have the USB adapter which is a bit cumbersome.

[JDUBS]

JohnR, how did you get the NX4 working with an iPhone?  Camera connection kit?  Lightning to micro-usb?

Got mine today.

Thanks,
Jim

[JohnR]

Hi Jim, assuming you mean the NX4 DSD, the CCK is needed.

[JDUBS]

Hi Jim, assuming you mean the NX4 DSD, the CCK is needed.

Cool, thank you, sir!  Wish they would have shipped it with a micro usb to lightning cable....

-Jim

[JohnR]

I think that there's more to it than just the cable. For a direct lightning to usb connection the device has to be MFi certified by Apple, which of course the company has to pay Apple for - 10% according to this article:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MFi_Program

Also, when I had an MFi device (Marantz HD-DAC1) I believe the MFi connection was limited to 48 kHz max sample rate. So this may have changed in the last few years, but at any rate, while the USB dongle/CCK is cumbersome it's probably a better solution in terms of audio capabiities