[MariusAB]

Please share when you will get it. Interesting what bonuses you will get compared to your dap only output.

Maybe I'm missing something or I'll regret the purchase due to unintended consequences, but anyway, looking forward to getting it and seeing what it'll do!

 

[BobSmith8901]

Please share when you will get it. Interesting what bonuses you will get compared to your dap only output.

Will do, should be in sometime next week.

 

[BobSmith8901]

Will do, should be in sometime next week.

Got the NX7 this week. Initial impressions from my limited perspective is this is definitely value added to my Shanling M6 Pro 21 DAP as this amp has LOTS of gain!

Took some quick impression notes:

Sound--AMPLIFIES! Note that all of my observations are on Hi-Gain (+14db) setting even though you could probably run the amp at Mid-Gain (+0db) and still enjoy it and get some more nuance and travel time out of the volume pot. Didn't test Low-Gain (-14db). Anyway, connected to the Shanling's line-out, it's like an X-ray into a musical production. Where the Shanling amp is fairly powerful and resolving, the 1.4W output of the NX7 leaves no prisoners. If a recording/production is well done (Jacob Collier Djesse Vol. 1 -"Ocean Wide, Canyon Deep"--astounding dynamic range and impact, very low noise floor... or A Winged Victory For The Sullen -"So That The City Can Begin To Exist"-powerful bass and moments of percussive high sound pressure level that the NX7 just eats up) you'll hear it. These latter both sound wow-amazing relative to what I've been used to portably which was already very good just out of the M6's balanced 4.4mm on Turbo Gain. Conclusion--NX7's Hi-Gain is STRONG amplification and is ideal in many situations but you can also go Mid-Gain and get a reasonably powerful output but a mellower experience.

Synergy--I have a limited array of cans/IEMs so here goes:

Drop/HiFiMan HE-X4: THIS is the answer I've been looking for for these cans. The Shanling was pretty good but the NX7 finally gives them what they need: Bass is now significantly more impactful and, for lack of a better word, these cans are now BALLZY with volume, like planars are supposed to be, and not lacking in impact with higher energy music-- Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Return to Forever and the like all had a new excitement. It reminded me of my earlier days listening to stuff just thrown on a turntable with a Pioneer receiver and cranked up into a set of JBLs, you know, the joy of music without regard for audiophile musings, etc. Yet even acoustic stuff is great and the bright light of higher current into these very current hungry cans makes everything better because they're getting what they need!

7Hz Timeless--Was surprised how much the power of the NX7 brought these fantastic IEMs out of their shell, so to speak. This combination of amp and IEM, for me, was the best of all the listening experiences in my limited array of headphones. All of the best aspects of the Timeless, the bass, soundstage, mids, highs, etc, just the wonderful sort of inexplicable goodness of the Timeless, is much more apparent. I just about could not take them out of my ears it was so great!

Senn HD-6XX w/Custom Cans mod-- Big improvement over the Shanling--you can tell the higher current into these 300 Ohm cans does them more justice. At this point though I have just not spent that much time with the Senns as with the HE-X4's and Timeless, but after I give them a good run through I'll probably edit this post with my findings.

SIVGA SV021--Although these headphones are very sensitive and don't technically need high current they really scale up with it and with the NX7 they do really well. Probably best suited to mid-gain but on hi-gain they sounded even better than ever. Due to their mid-bass bloom you have to cut the volume back but, again, they do the best on mid (+0db) gain with the Topping.

Charging Stuff--

1. From being totally discharged, the NX7 takes about 5 hours to fully charge (goes from blinking red to steady red light). The rating on the units charging input is 5V/1.2A and I was charging it with a standard 5V/2A brick. The consensus with charging portable stuff is that devices will only take as much charge as they need (in this case 1.2A) so there should not be an issue with any type of damage as long as your brick is 5V. This charging time is similar to my Topping NX4DSD (it takes a while) so maybe its charging circuit is also below 2A.

2. When fully charged and on the Hi-Gain setting my NX7 stayed on and charged for about 10-11 hours while playing music off and on intermittently. In a real world scenario for me, I usually have about a 1-2 hour session and shut off the music, so I'd probably get at least a few days of normal usage on it before needing to recharge. When it's within an hour of total discharge (on Hi-Gain setting) the green light blinks (this light looks more yellow to me) and you've got about an hour left. If you're on low or medium gain, the instructions say about 1-2 hours left.

Conclusion--For $200USD/+- this amp is a no brainer. I was looking for a relatively inexpensive way to enhance my DAP/portable experience, especially with planars and HD-6XX. If you're looking for a more high-energy, impactful and enjoyable listening session from your average DAP in line-out mode, I think it's a great choice. Overall the sound is clean, strong, uncolored, excellent bass and excellent highs. Soundstage is good; it seems to resolve whatever the original production warrants, nothing extra added. This amp is not, how do you put it? Refined...? And I don't mean that in a negative way--it just amplifies whatever the source is giving it, nothing added or removed. One observation, and not really a criticism per se but, as I said earlier, on high gain you can hear any sort of tape hiss or production artifact, amp hum, etc., more than on lower gain. Not a big deal but the NX7's resolution, lack of distortion and flat frequency response just doesn't hide anything, including any shortcomings of your sources, from recording production to your own DAP/source. Note: Just about all of my observations have been on the Hi-Gain setting so Mid-Gain is going to be a little different story. Regarding the volume when on Hi-Gain, I almost never wanted to put the volume pot much past 12 o'clock as I value my remaining hearing!

Playlist:

1. Steve Vai: "Juice" from Alien Love Secrets
2. Return To Forever "Majestic Dance" from The Anthology
3. Milton Nascimento "Don Quixote" from Miltons
4. Eric Johnson "Shape I'm In (Live)" from Eric Johnson & Alien Love Child, Live and Beyond
5. Mark Isham "And Miles To Go... Before He Sleeps" from Pure
6. Michael Hedges "The First Cutting" from Taproot
7. Keith Jarret Trio "You and the Night and the Music" from Still Live
8. Ralph Towner "Mevlana Etude" from Blue Sun
9. Chicago "Beginnings" from Chicago Transit Authority (2002 Remaster)
10. Jacob Collier "Ocean Wide, Canyon Deep" from Djesse Vol. 1
11. A Winged Victory For The Sullen "So That The City Can Begin To Exist" from Invisible Cities

 

[MariusAB]

Got the NX7 this week. Initial impressions from my limited perspective is this is definitely value added to my Shanling M6 Pro 21 DAP as this amp has LOTS of gain!

Took some quick impression notes:

Sound--AMPLIFIES! Note that all of my observations are on Hi-Gain (+14db) setting even though you could probably run the amp at Mid-Gain (+0db) and still enjoy it and get some more nuance and travel time out of the volume pot. Didn't test Low-Gain (-14db). Anyway, connected to the Shanling's line-out, it's like an X-ray into a musical production. Where the Shanling amp is fairly powerful and resolving, the 1.4W output of the NX7 leaves no prisoners. If a recording/production is well done (Jacob Collier Djesse Vol. 1 -"Ocean Wide, Canyon Deep"--astounding dynamic range and impact, very low noise floor... or A Winged Victory For The Sullen -"So That The City Can Begin To Exist"-powerful bass and moments of percussive high sound pressure level that the NX7 just eats up). These latter both sound wow-amazing relative to what I've been used to portably which was already very good just out of the M6's balanced 4.4mm on Turbo Gain. Conclusion--NX7's Hi-Gain is STRONG amplification and is ideal in many situations but you can also go Mid-Gain and get a reasonably powerful output but a mellower experience.

Synergy--I have a limited array of cans/IEMs so here goes:

Drop/HiFiMan HE-X4: THIS is the answer I've been looking for for these cans. The Shanling was pretty good but the NX7 finally gives them what they need: Bass is now significantly more impactful and, for lack of a better word, these cans are now BALLZY with volume, like planars are supposed to be, and not lacking in impact with higher energy music-- Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Return to Forever and the like all had a new excitement. It reminded me of my earlier days listening to stuff just thrown on a turntable with a Pioneer receiver and cranked up into a set of JBLs, you know, the joy of music without regard for audiophile musings, etc. Yet even acoustic stuff is great and the bright light of higher current into these very current hungry cans makes everything better because they're getting what they need!

7Hz Timeless--Was surprised how much the power of the NX7 brought these fantastic IEMs out of their shell, so to speak. This combination of amp and IEM, for me, was the best of all the listening experiences in my limited array of headphones. All of the best aspects of the Timeless, the bass, soundstage, mids, highs, etc, just the wonderful sort of inexplicable goodness of the Timeless, is much more apparent. I just about could not take them out of my ears it was so great!

Senn HD-6XX w/Custom Cans mod-- Big improvement over the Shanling--you can tell the higher current into these 300 Ohm cans does them more justice. At this point though I have just not spent that much time with the Senns as with the HE-X4's and Timeless, but after I give them a good run through I'll probably edit this post with my findings.

SIVGA SV021--Although these headphones are very sensitive and don't technically need high current they really scale up with it and with the NX7 they do really well. Probably best suited to mid-gain but on hi-gain they sounded even better than ever. Due to their mid-bass bloom you have to cut the volume back but, again, they do the best on mid (+0db) gain with the Topping.

Charging Stuff--

1. From being totally discharged, the NX7 takes about 5 hours to fully charge (goes from blinking red to steady red light). The rating on the units charging input is 5V/1.2A and I was charging it with a standard 5V/2A brick. The consensus with charging portable stuff is that devices will only take as much charge as they need (in this case 1.2A) so there should not be an issue with any type of damage as long as your brick is 5V. This charging time is similar to my Topping NX4DSD (it takes a while) so maybe its charging circuit is also below 2A.

2. When fully charged and on the Hi-Gain setting my NX7 stayed on and charged for about 10-11 hours while playing music off and on intermittently. In a real world scenario for me, I usually have about a 1-2 hour session and shut off the music, so I'd probably get at least a few days of normal usage on it before needing to recharge. When it's within an hour of total discharge (on Hi-Gain setting) the green light blinks (this light looks more yellow to me) and you've got about an hour left. If you're on low or medium gain, the instructions say about 1-2 hours left.

Conclusion--For $200USD/+- this amp is a no brainer. I was looking for a relatively inexpensive way to enhance my DAP/portable experience, especially with planars and HD-6XX. If you're looking for a more high-energy, impactful and enjoyable listening session from your average DAP in line-out mode, I think it's a great choice. Overall the sound is clean, strong, uncolored, excellent bass and excellent highs. Soundstage is good; it seems to resolve whatever the original production warrants, nothing extra added. This amp is not, how do you put it? Refined...? And I don't mean that in a negative way--it just amplifies whatever the source is giving it, nothing added or removed. One observation, and not really a criticism per se but, as I said earlier, on high gain you can hear any sort of tape hiss or production artifact, amp hum, etc., more than on lower gain. Not a big deal but the NX7's resolution, lack of distortion and flat frequency response just doesn't hide anything, including any shortcomings of your sources, from recording production to your own DAP/source. Note: Just about all of my observations have been on the Hi-Gain setting so Mid-Gain is going to be a little different story. Regarding the volume when on Hi-Gain, I almost never wanted to put the volume pot much past 12 o'clock as I value my remaining hearing!

Playlist:

1. Steve Vai: "Juice" from Alien Love Secrets
2. Return To Forever "Majestic Dance" from The Anthology
3. Milton Nascimento "Don Quixote" from Miltons
4. Eric Johnson "Shape I'm In (Live)" from Eric Johnson & Alien Love Child, Live and Beyond
5. Mark Isham "And Miles To Go... Before He Sleeps" from Pure
6. Michael Hedges "The First Cutting" from Taproot
7. Keith Jarret Trio "You and the Night and the Music" from Still Live
8. Ralph Towner "Mevlana Etude" from Blue Sun
9. Chicago "Beginnings" from Chicago Transit Authority (2002 Remaster)
10. Jacob Collier "Ocean Wide, Canyon Deep" from Djesse Vol. 1
11. A Winged Victory For The Sullen "So That The City Can Begin To Exist" from Invisible Cities

Thanks a lot for so informative and full review , it is really helpfull and that's why i will get this amp soon also. When you mentioned 7hz i was really happy as i have them and know what 7hz are capable. Strong neutrall amp is what they need to show their best side. Will try them first as they are my most beloved iem till now. Also other hifiman planars and basically any planar will benefit from this portable amp. So i expect the same what you got attaching it to your dap. Even poferfull daps still can't compete with good transparent, powerful separate amp such as nx7. I know it will be jump from any dap. Thanks

 

[povidlo]

Got the NX7 this week. Initial impressions from my limited perspective is this is definitely value added to my Shanling M6 Pro 21 DAP as this amp has LOTS of gain!

Took some quick impression notes:

Sound--AMPLIFIES! Note that all of my observations are on Hi-Gain (+14db) setting even though you could probably run the amp at Mid-Gain (+0db) and still enjoy it and get some more nuance and travel time out of the volume pot. Didn't test Low-Gain (-14db). Anyway, connected to the Shanling's line-out, it's like an X-ray into a musical production. Where the Shanling amp is fairly powerful and resolving, the 1.4W output of the NX7 leaves no prisoners. If a recording/production is well done (Jacob Collier Djesse Vol. 1 -"Ocean Wide, Canyon Deep"--astounding dynamic range and impact, very low noise floor... or A Winged Victory For The Sullen -"So That The City Can Begin To Exist"-powerful bass and moments of percussive high sound pressure level that the NX7 just eats up) you'll hear it. These latter both sound wow-amazing relative to what I've been used to portably which was already very good just out of the M6's balanced 4.4mm on Turbo Gain. Conclusion--NX7's Hi-Gain is STRONG amplification and is ideal in many situations but you can also go Mid-Gain and get a reasonably powerful output but a mellower experience.

Synergy--I have a limited array of cans/IEMs so here goes:

Drop/HiFiMan HE-X4: THIS is the answer I've been looking for for these cans. The Shanling was pretty good but the NX7 finally gives them what they need: Bass is now significantly more impactful and, for lack of a better word, these cans are now BALLZY with volume, like planars are supposed to be, and not lacking in impact with higher energy music-- Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Return to Forever and the like all had a new excitement. It reminded me of my earlier days listening to stuff just thrown on a turntable with a Pioneer receiver and cranked up into a set of JBLs, you know, the joy of music without regard for audiophile musings, etc. Yet even acoustic stuff is great and the bright light of higher current into these very current hungry cans makes everything better because they're getting what they need!

7Hz Timeless--Was surprised how much the power of the NX7 brought these fantastic IEMs out of their shell, so to speak. This combination of amp and IEM, for me, was the best of all the listening experiences in my limited array of headphones. All of the best aspects of the Timeless, the bass, soundstage, mids, highs, etc, just the wonderful sort of inexplicable goodness of the Timeless, is much more apparent. I just about could not take them out of my ears it was so great!

Senn HD-6XX w/Custom Cans mod-- Big improvement over the Shanling--you can tell the higher current into these 300 Ohm cans does them more justice. At this point though I have just not spent that much time with the Senns as with the HE-X4's and Timeless, but after I give them a good run through I'll probably edit this post with my findings.

SIVGA SV021--Although these headphones are very sensitive and don't technically need high current they really scale up with it and with the NX7 they do really well. Probably best suited to mid-gain but on hi-gain they sounded even better than ever. Due to their mid-bass bloom you have to cut the volume back but, again, they do the best on mid (+0db) gain with the Topping.

Charging Stuff--

1. From being totally discharged, the NX7 takes about 5 hours to fully charge (goes from blinking red to steady red light). The rating on the units charging input is 5V/1.2A and I was charging it with a standard 5V/2A brick. The consensus with charging portable stuff is that devices will only take as much charge as they need (in this case 1.2A) so there should not be an issue with any type of damage as long as your brick is 5V. This charging time is similar to my Topping NX4DSD (it takes a while) so maybe its charging circuit is also below 2A.

2. When fully charged and on the Hi-Gain setting my NX7 stayed on and charged for about 10-11 hours while playing music off and on intermittently. In a real world scenario for me, I usually have about a 1-2 hour session and shut off the music, so I'd probably get at least a few days of normal usage on it before needing to recharge. When it's within an hour of total discharge (on Hi-Gain setting) the green light blinks (this light looks more yellow to me) and you've got about an hour left. If you're on low or medium gain, the instructions say about 1-2 hours left.

Conclusion--For $200USD/+- this amp is a no brainer. I was looking for a relatively inexpensive way to enhance my DAP/portable experience, especially with planars and HD-6XX. If you're looking for a more high-energy, impactful and enjoyable listening session from your average DAP in line-out mode, I think it's a great choice. Overall the sound is clean, strong, uncolored, excellent bass and excellent highs. Soundstage is good; it seems to resolve whatever the original production warrants, nothing extra added. This amp is not, how do you put it? Refined...? And I don't mean that in a negative way--it just amplifies whatever the source is giving it, nothing added or removed. One observation, and not really a criticism per se but, as I said earlier, on high gain you can hear any sort of tape hiss or production artifact, amp hum, etc., more than on lower gain. Not a big deal but the NX7's resolution, lack of distortion and flat frequency response just doesn't hide anything, including any shortcomings of your sources, from recording production to your own DAP/source. Note: Just about all of my observations have been on the Hi-Gain setting so Mid-Gain is going to be a little different story. Regarding the volume when on Hi-Gain, I almost never wanted to put the volume pot much past 12 o'clock as I value my remaining hearing!

Playlist:

1. Steve Vai: "Juice" from Alien Love Secrets
2. Return To Forever "Majestic Dance" from The Anthology
3. Milton Nascimento "Don Quixote" from Miltons
4. Eric Johnson "Shape I'm In (Live)" from Eric Johnson & Alien Love Child, Live and Beyond
5. Mark Isham "And Miles To Go... Before He Sleeps" from Pure
6. Michael Hedges "The First Cutting" from Taproot
7. Keith Jarret Trio "You and the Night and the Music" from Still Live
8. Ralph Towner "Mevlana Etude" from Blue Sun
9. Chicago "Beginnings" from Chicago Transit Authority (2002 Remaster)
10. Jacob Collier "Ocean Wide, Canyon Deep" from Djesse Vol. 1
11. A Winged Victory For The Sullen "So That The City Can Begin To Exist" from Invisible Cities

Great impressions, thank you very much for sharing.

Does your NX7 support wireless charging by any chance? There have been reports online that some units have it, potentially only the first batch(es). This feature was not advertised by Topping. Mine doesn't have it.

Just to comment regarding gain, it is useful to have three different levels. Very impressive for a portable device of its cost. Gain switch is well implemented: while there's a click inside the amp upon switch, it is not audible to me inside headphones- there's no popping; headphones do not need to be removed from ears.

M gain, which is listed at 0db, sounds the best in my opinion. Awesome combination of neutrality, powerful macro-dynamics, and resolving micro-dynamics.

L gain (-14db) is very important for (non-planar) IEMs, otherwise I don't get enough play on the volume pot with M gain. It sounds a little more laid-back vs M gain in terms of macro-dynamics specifically, but still maintains other attributes.

H gain (+14db) is definitely needed for demanding headphones, however I find that it sounds a little bit over the top in terms of macro-dynamics. Because of that, some notes can come off sounding harsh. I try not to use H gain unless needed. Most of the headphones I'm using with NX7 do not require H gain.

 

[BobSmith8901]

Great impressions, thank you very much for sharing.

Does your NX7 support wireless charging by any chance? There have been reports online that some units have it, potentially only the first batch(es). This feature was not advertised by Topping. Mine doesn't have it.

Just to comment regarding gain, it is useful to have three different levels. Very impressive for a portable device of its cost. Gain switch is well implemented: while there's a click inside the amp upon switch, it is not audible to me inside headphones- there's no popping; headphones do not need to be removed from ears.

M gain, which is listed at 0db, sounds the best in my opinion. Awesome combination of neutrality, powerful macro-dynamics, and resolving micro-dynamics.

L gain (-14db) is very important for (non-planar) IEMs, otherwise I don't get enough play on the volume pot with M gain. It sounds a little more laid-back vs M gain in terms of macro-dynamics specifically, but still maintains other attributes.

H gain (+14db) is definitely needed for demanding headphones, however I find that it sounds a little bit over the top in terms of macro-dynamics. Because of that, some notes can come off sounding harsh. I try not to use H gain unless needed. Most of the headphones I'm using with NX7 do not require H gain.

Thank you! I totally agree with your take on the gain levels. The Hi-Gain is pretty intense and, even though I haven't used the Mid-Gain much yet, I very much liked its balance of neutrality and enough power for most purposes and I think I'll try some long sessions with it for a while.

Regarding the wireless charging: I have a wireless charger and I also tried it, but my NX7 does not appear to have the capability, as there's no indication that it's charging. It's strange that possibly some of the first batches might have had it. Would have been a nice convenience and a great selling point!

 

[povidlo]

Decent review of NX7, including relevant comparison to Helm DB12 and random comparison to Hip Dac 2.

https://headfonics.com/topping-nx7-review/

 

[povidlo]

Another review : https://www.headfonia.com/topping-nx7-review/

@Ultrainferno , in your review I noticed you mentioned stacking NX7 with G5. From my understanding, the amp section on G5 is basically the same as NX7 itself, albeit slightly reduced power output. Do you notice a significant improvement when stacking G5 with NX7 vs using G5 on its own?

 

[Ultrainferno]

Another review : https://www.headfonia.com/topping-nx7-review/

@Ultrainferno , in your review I noticed you mentioned stacking NX7 with G5. From my understanding, the amp section on G5 is basically the same as NX7 itself, albeit slightly reduced power output. Do you notice a significant improvement when stacking G5 with NX7 vs using G5 on its own?

Let's ask @Aerosphere who wrote the article

 

[YAGIZ]

@povidlo Hey there,
I stacked them to see if the NX7 affected the sound quality of the G5. There is not much point in doing this for the sake of more power unless you are using a HE6 or similar headphone which requires absurd amount of power.

You mentioned that the G5 and NX7 are the same, the G5 has a DAC module but the NX7 is just an amp. Just clarifying this for other readers.

Cheers!

 

[povidlo]

@povidlo Hey there,
I stacked them to see if the NX7 affected the sound quality of the G5. There is not much point in doing this for the sake of more power unless you are using a HE6 or similar headphone which requires absurd amount of power.

You mentioned that the G5 and NX7 are the same, the G5 has a DAC module but the NX7 is just an amp. Just clarifying this for other readers.

Cheers!

Thanks for reply.

I did state "amp section" is basically the same, not units themselves.

 

[funkymartyn]

Hi can I ask a question. If using say the Fiio M7 would you choose full line out ( max power , into this Nx7. Or normal headphone out and choose the M7 volume . Or would a cheaper audio unit with no line out and only headphone out be ok. Or is this nx7 to good. In other words do you really need players only with full Line Out. ? I don't use my phones for music , and then normally in Bluetooth. Etc . Thanks for any good info. Iv been looking at nx4 now about £130. Or this Nx7 £179. I'm still not convinced about the G5 ........ £299. ?

 

[gazzington]

can this be added to the topping g5 at act as amp for the others dac?

 

[funkymartyn]

Would have thought that's double amping, the G5 already is a dac / amp. ?

 

[povidlo]

With line-out, it's supposed to send a cleaner signal to the external amp, bypassing internal amp section (although line-outs could have op-amps as well). M7 has a pretty good line-out signal, I had it and used it as LDAC BT DAC receiver connected to portable external amps through line-out.

Regular headphone out will pass through amp section so on paper the signal is not as good. However, in practice double-amping usually increases harmonics which could actually make the music more appealing and inviting.

NX7 has very clean and transparent output regardless of what's being fed but, like most amps, it sounds better to me with higher Vrms input. I've fed it with 1Vrms from Apple USB-C dongle (turned up to max volume through UAPP) - affordable combo that works great for very sensitive IEM. With those, although NX7 has three proper gain levels, there might be not enough room available to move volume pot without large volume swings when fed full 2Vrms. But for majority of earphones and headphones I prefer to feed NX7 full 2Vrms (or even 2.5Vrms from my D90SE) from a proper line-out signal.

I wouldn't worry too much about double-amping. If line-out is available, try both.

Personally I have no interest in trying NX7 with G5. Sound tonality should remain the same. Based on specs NX7 is only a little more powerful than G5 through its headphone output which is not going to be noticeable in most cases.

NX7, the neutrality boss, is probably at its best when it comes to rescuing from obliteration slightly older DAPs (Sony, Hifiman, etc) that are still great sounding but might are underpowered by today's standards. Expect the final product to maintain the DAP's tonality while improving its headphone output in technical and power terms.