KGUSS Topping G5 Portable NFCA Headphone Amplifier DAC – USB Type C/Bluetooth/AUX Input, 6.35mm Line Out 3.5mm/4.4mm Headphone Out LDAC Hi-Res Audio (Sliver)

This is the one
This is the 4th “portable” DAC I’ve tried. I had the Qudelix 5k, one from iBasso I’m forgetting the model now, the Cayin RU7, and the Apple dongle. Within the first few seconds of using this one from Topping I said “Yup this is the one.”What it provides that is different from the others is clarity. The RU7 was making a pretty significant change to the sound, where it was quite a bit warmer but also kind of muddy in the lows. The G5 is very balanced, providing what I would describe as a more “uncolored” sound. In some way similar to the Apple Dongle which is also pretty neutral, but the Apple Dongle just didn’t have any oomph behind it. It felt like the sound was constricted a bit. Which makes sense, it’s just a little cable, and may not be able to fully support higher end headphones in the best way although it’s really impressive for what it is! The iBasso was great, my 2nd favorite, but had some build quality issues and quirks that I wasn’t happy with.I like the accuracy of the sound, and the fact that it doesn’t color the sound. I will say that I’ve heard more “exciting” DACs and amps before, ones that are designed to color the sound a bit. The G5 isn’t quite as exciting, but it’s clean. For genres like classical and jazz where clarity and being able to hear all the instruments accurately is more important than emphasized bass or sparkly trebles, it’s really nice.I do wish it was a bit smaller, this thing is about as big as an iPhone 15 Pro, and nearly twice as thick. I hope that maybe they make a version of this without a battery. It’s great for using around the house or at a desk, but I wouldn’t really want to take it on a walk with me. So portability does suffer a bit. But listening at home / at a desk is where I’ll be using it most of the time anyways. It’s not so bad if you have a decent sized bag with you too.Some people complained about feedback when the phone is sitting on top of the G5, I personally didn’t have any issues like that with mine. Maybe very briefly when it was sitting on top of my wool deskmat actually, so maybe it’s situational?Lastly I’ll just say, I can’t believe this thing was only $280. The Cayin RU7 is a little dinky plastic thing and that’s $260. This thing is a beast, fully machined anodized aluminum chase with a nice volume knob, battery, and really solid construction filled with high end audio components, it’s quite impressive for the price. I guess I do wish that it had a display, that’s what the black bar on the top looked like it was from the pictures, but it’s not, it’s just a little tinted window to see the circuits inside. Even just a little display to show the volume or the currently selected mode would be nice, but not a requirement,

Excellent sound, but
This is an amazing device when it comes to sound quality., built, power, etc. I really enjoyed it. I’ll try to summarize it, while at home, when relaxing and having my extended music listening sessions, it was super pleasant overall.The only issues I had were its weight and it gets very hot. I used it outside for about 8 hours using my Sony wh-1000xm4 at the parks, but together with my iPhone 13 Pro, Max it became too heavy, and at points, I had to turn it off for a while to let it cool down.I suppose that if you have a smaller, lighter source and you are able to keep it in a backpack somewhat cool these issues wouldn’t be such a problem. The unit it’s definitely a keeper for most people looking for a portable powerful excellent sounding device. However, these issues were a dealbreaker for me.Now I’m looking for other portable options that would drive my new FiiO FT3 headphones (350 Ω). I have a FiiO BTR7, but it’s definitely not enough.

Solid and powerful
Sounds nice, probably better to just get the variations and dongle instead but they work nicely with stubborn planers like DCA stealth or expanse

qualita’ molto buona, ma difficilmente noterete la differenza da un dac gia’ molto buono quindi ho reso perche’ 250-299 euro sono troppi per quel 1-2% di aumento della qualita’ sonora…

Pues, como indique el titulo de la reseña. Mientras funciona es un amplificador bastante bueno. De repente, la calidad de los productos Topping es regular. Había pesado que por casi 300e, todo estará bien. Pero nada. dentro un par de días se ha aparecido un problema. Dentro del equipo hay alguna cosa que hace click cuando lo pones en BT. Mientras no molesta, algo se había roto y quedaba dentro vibrando al apagar el amplificador. Una búsqueda en el internet daba muchos resultados de personas con los mismos problemas. Si tienes suerte y recibes un G5 sin problemas, es un amplificador estupendo. Si no, pues hay que cambiarlo por otro o devolverlo. Personalmente, he tenido demasiados problemas con productos de Topping, así lo devolví y no voy a volver de comprar ningun producto mas de este marca.