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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a desktop DAC and headphone amp that can also serve as the hub of a wired speaker setup, choose Fanmusic Topping DX3; if you need over-ear headphones that cancel noise and run for days on a charge, choose Edifier ES850NB. These two products sit in completely different parts of the audio chain, and the honest answer is that most people shopping this matchup are really deciding what their setup is missing.
• Fanmusic Topping DX3 — biggest strength: A proper desktop converter and amplifier built around an ES9038Q2M DAC chip and the second-generation 8-core XMOS XU208 USB interface, with four switchable output modes and Bluetooth 5.0 LDAC input. It is a component, not a listening device.
• Fanmusic Topping DX3 — biggest trade-off: It makes no sound on its own. You need headphones, powered speakers or a power amplifier to hear anything, and it is a stationary metal box that lives on a desk.
• Edifier ES850NB — biggest strength: A self-contained pair of over-ear headphones with hybrid active noise cancellation rated up to -45dB, a claimed 92 hours of playback with ANC off, and Hi-Res Audio plus Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification.
• Edifier ES850NB — biggest trade-off: It is a finished consumer headphone. You cannot use it as a DAC, preamp or speaker source, and its wired option is limited to a 3.5mm jack.
• Who each pick is for: Buy the Topping DX3 if you already own good headphones or speakers and want a cleaner, more flexible source. Buy the Edifier ES850NB if you want one pair of headphones that handles commuting, flights and office calls with no other gear involved.
The DX3 Pro+ is a desktop converter and amplifier, and everything about it points at that job. The core of the design is an ES9038Q2M DAC fed by a second-generation 8-core XMOS XU208 USB interface that accepts up to PCM 32bit/768kHz and native DSD512. On the wireless side it uses the QCC5125 chipset for Bluetooth 5.0 with LDAC, AAC, SBC, aptX, aptX LL and aptX HD — and rather than letting the Bluetooth chip do its own conversion, Topping routes that digital signal into the ES9038Q2M instead. If you care about Bluetooth sound quality, that detail is the whole point of the design.
The second half of the story is the NFCA circuit, which Topping tuned specifically for this unit to keep noise and distortion low. The practical result is that the DX3 Pro+ is meant to drive both sensitive in-ear monitors and high-impedance, power-hungry headphones from the same box — a range that cheap desktop amps usually handle badly at one end or the other. There are four output modes to switch between: headphone amp, headphone amp plus line out, plain DAC, and preamplifier. In preamp mode the volume is adjusted digitally, which avoids the left/right channel imbalance you get from cheap analog volume pots. There is also a display that shows the current sampling rate.
Who should skip it: anyone who wants to listen on the move. The DX3 Pro+ has no battery, no noise cancelling and no drivers. It is a metal, surface-mount component that stays plugged in. If your listening happens on a train or in a noisy office, this is the wrong product entirely.
Edifier ES850NB: Who It's For
The ES850NB is a finished pair of over-ear headphones, and it is designed for people who want everything in one package. The drivers are 40mm titanium-coated dynamic units, and Edifier certifies the headphones for both Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless, with LDAC and SBC supported over Bluetooth 5.4. There are three sound modes — Music, Game and Spatial — so you can shift the presentation depending on whether you are listening to albums, playing something competitive, or watching a film.
Noise cancelling is the headline feature. Edifier describes it as upgraded hybrid active noise cancellation that blocks up to -45dB, with several modes: high, medium, wind reduction and ambient sound. That range matters more than the single number. High is for a plane or a train, medium is for a normal office, wind reduction is for walking outdoors on a breezy day, and ambient sound lets you hear announcements or a colleague without taking the headphones off. It is the kind of flexibility that makes a pair genuinely usable across a whole day rather than just in one situation.
Battery life is the other big number. Edifier claims up to 92 hours with ANC off, or 53 hours with ANC on, and a 15-minute fast charge gives up to 11.5 hours of playback with ANC off. Even allowing for the usual gap between rated and real-world figures, that is a headphones you charge weekly rather than nightly. Comfort details are sensible for long sessions too: skin-friendly leather ear cushions, an ergonomic steel headband and a 260g build, plus a fully foldable design and Touch-to-Chat, which lets you start a conversation without removing them. There is also a 3.5mm jack for wired listening, touch controls, multipoint connection, and support for app-based functions.
Who should buy it: commuters, travelers, remote workers and anyone who wants one pair of headphones for music, calls and noise blocking without buying a separate DAC or amp.
Who should skip it: anyone who already owns high-end wired headphones and is looking for a better source. The ES850NB gives you headphones, not a system, and its wired input is a plain 3.5mm jack rather than a balanced or coaxial connection.
• Best for a desk-based wired headphone setup → Fanmusic Topping DX3. The NFCA circuit and the ES9038Q2M conversion are built for driving headphones properly, including high-impedance models.
• Best for travel, commuting and noisy offices → Edifier ES850NB. Hybrid ANC rated up to -45dB with dedicated wind-reduction and ambient modes is the whole reason to pick it.
• Best for battery life → Edifier ES850NB. Up to 92 hours with ANC off, 53 hours with ANC on, and 11.5 hours from a 15-minute charge.
• Best for feeding speakers → Fanmusic Topping DX3. Preamplifier mode plus line out lets it act as the front end for powered speakers or a power amp such as the PA3s.
• Best for Bluetooth flexibility → it depends on the job. Both support LDAC, but the DX3 Pro+ uses it to feed a dedicated DAC, while the ES850NB uses it to feed its own drivers. One is a source; the other is the speaker.
• Best for calls and voice work → Edifier ES850NB. Clear calls and multipoint connection are built in. The DX3 Pro+ has no microphone.
• Best for someone starting from nothing → Edifier ES850NB. You unbox it, pair it and listen. The DX3 Pro+ needs headphones or speakers before it does anything at all.
• Best for upgrading an existing wired system → Fanmusic Topping DX3. If you already own good headphones, this is the piece that improves everything downstream.
In my opinion, the right pick depends entirely on what you already own, and that is not a dodge — these products simply do different jobs. If you have decent wired headphones or speakers and want a cleaner, more capable source with Bluetooth convenience, I would buy the Fanmusic Topping DX3. The ES9038Q2M conversion, the XMOS USB input, the low-noise NFCA circuit and the four output modes make it the more useful long-term purchase for a desk system. If you have nothing and want to start listening today — on a plane, on a train, at a desk in an open office — I would buy the Edifier ES850NB. It is complete out of the box, and the noise cancelling and battery life are the features you will actually notice every single day. Only buy both if you are deliberately building a two-part setup: the Edifier for everywhere, the Topping for the desk.
Neither. It is a DAC, headphone amplifier and preamplifier. It produces no sound by itself — you connect headphones, powered speakers or a power amplifier to its outputs.
Yes. It has a 3.5mm headphone jack for wired listening, alongside Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless use.
Only the Edifier ES850NB has noise cancelling at all, rated up to -45dB with high, medium, wind reduction and ambient modes. The Topping DX3 has no noise cancelling because it is not a headphone.
They are not really comparable on value because they do different jobs. Check the current price on Amazon for each and judge against what your setup is missing — a source upgrade, or a pair of headphones.
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