Topping E30 II DAC Review

[JohnYang1997]

There are some discrepancies with Amir's measurements and the ones here - e.g. dynamic range 123dB vs Amir's 119dB.

The listed measurements are a weighted usually giving 3 dB benefit over non-weighted.

 

[vert]

Some studies of Quercetin
(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21625024
(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21606866
(3) http://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/hn-1015003
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18187018
Also, people are not all 100% the same, what works for some, doesn't work for others.
That is where EMPERICAL knowledge (EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE (Psychology Dictionary) EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE By N., Sam M.S. - 279 1. Philosophy. Knowledge gained from experience. 2. Sciences. Knowledge gained from experiment and observation.) comes in.

In other words: as a sceptic (I am, too [even when I have read positive/negative things about something] {which is why I like this site, it gives me the information I need to decide whether I will likely like something or not, at which point I can decide whether I will try it or not, if it is has a feature that I want in my system that I am not already happy with}) : You must try it for yourself and see if it works for you.

I thought the initial post about there not being double-bind, randomized studies was in jest, but apparently not. For instance, sodium bicarbonate works a like a charm for a sore throat, while the typical pill at the pharmacy does nothing. It works fast enough that the germs don't have time to go down into the lungs, so 1) the soreness is cured in a day or two; 2) a potential more serious cold gets nipped in the bud. Have there been double-bind randomized studies on sodium bicarbonate for sore throats? If not, is anybody going to report me ?

 

[DarrylG]

I’d go with the SMSL D6 at this point. It uses the same 4493s chip and offers XLR and RCA inputs. The prices are similar as are the specs, so I’d prefer the D6’s versatility.

Does it have a companion headphone power amp?

 

[respice finem]

I thought the initial post about there not being double-bind, randomized studies was in jest, but apparently not. For instance, sodium bicarbonate works a like a charm for a sore throat, while the typical pill at the pharmacy does nothing. It works fast enough that the germs don't have time to go down into the lungs, so 1) the soreness is cured in a day or two; 2) a potential more serious cold gets nipped in the bud. Have there been double-bind randomized studies on sodium bicarbonate for sore throats? If not, is anybody going to report me ?

Sodium bicarbonate is for cakes only KCN will flatten any disease, instantly
/scnr
/disclaimer: don't try it. Any study of it is unsurvivable.
/disclaimer: Just a joke (except KCN being deadly).

 

[Overseas]

really? I suspect he wanted to get something out for his readers here. It's not like he gets paid by ad revenue or sales

To suggest anything other than he wanted to help readers is disgusting

Probably you know Amir better, for sure. I am just analyzing facts in the current real context. To consider a(ny) forum owner a saint is rather naive.

 

[usersky]

Great! I voted GREAT, cross my heart. Now can we pretty please move on from measuring dumb (DSP-less) DACs?

 

[newaudioguy77]

Very Nice device. Performs better thant the Chord for a fraction of the price.

Over 100 times less money!!

The designer of the Chord DAVE seemed to make a lot of excuses about design implementation...and the challenges he faced while designing it. Thank God he doesn't work at Topping lol.

 

[respice finem]

Great! I voted GREAT, cross my heart. Now can we pretty please move on from measuring dumb (DSP-less) DACs?

How, with voting not enabled yet?
But you're kind of right, the measurements of recent (non-voodoo) DACs are above and beyond any chance for audible impact, so yes, boring, kind of...

 

[Bleib]

I’d go with the SMSL D6 at this point. It uses the same 4493s chip and offers XLR and RCA inputs. The prices are similar as are the specs, so I’d prefer the D6’s versatility.

And unless Topping has improved on the remote then the SMSL remote should be more responsive, so another voice for SMSL from me

 

[respice finem]

I guess/hope, just missing the /s tag.

 

[Trell]

I guess/hope, just missing the /s tag.

I'm getting more cynical and disillusioned in my dotage.

 

[thin bLue]

@amirm I hope you'll be well.


About measurements.
It smells like another great performance from @JohnYang1997.
How exciting!

 

[respice finem]

A cynic is (sometimes) a mature idealist

 

[RandomEar]

I used to be here all the time. But I'm really busy nowadays.
There's a weird issue I felt:
For some small issues I don't feel the need to comment. I felt the service email can handle that pretty easily.
For larger issues (thankfully not many) things like PA5's issue it's really difficult to reply. Because unless we figure it all out we can't say anything for certain. And we did the best thing(at least I thought) we could, extending the warranty. So for whatever reason it's broken you don get a replacement.
I will try to come here more often than past half to a year. It's difficult to hire technical guys just for the forum. Our customer service person will get more involved. So let's see how it goes. But even now she has been bugging me multiple times a day for our customers' questions and issues that faced.
And recently there has been issues and suggestions with A90 Discrete and we released a couple of firmwares as soon as we could. Not just from the reports here but also from users in China. We are trying our best to bring out best experience for you all.
And thank you for your reply.

Well, I'm not invested in this, but followed the discussion around the PA5 issues out of interest. My take on this:

• It's fair for you not to be around the forum too much. You're not a support employee but an engineer. But the general impression was that you do post on new Topping product reviews but went totally silent on the PA5 issues. A simple "We are looking into it, please give us a couple of weeks", followed by a "We are now long-term testing 20 PA5 units and will report back in a month" later on would have been nice. Just occasional updates on what's happening to resolve the issues.
• Many people took issue with the fact that Topping continued to market and sell the PA5, although some units were known to randomly fail. I think it would have been better communication to go "We stop selling the PA5 until we figure out this issue" and then, later on, bring it back to market when fixed. It would also be nice to offer free replacements for all PA5 users with defective amps, but I guess your new warranty covers that.
• Many people have bought their Topping products from chinese sellers like ShenzenAudio, HiFiGo and others. And some of them seem to have appaling customer service. That isn't directly your fault as a manufacturer. But sellers of Topping devices giving bad service definitely "rubs off" on your brand, too. Good service is very important for many markets including the US and Europe, where people are used to things like "30 days no questions asked money back guarantee" and/or 2 years of legally required exchanges for defective products. I suppose people around here expect Topping to put some pressure on these resellers to get their customer service running better.
• Creating @TOPPING-Service here seemed like a good idea. However, many postings up until now were a bit vague and not too helpful for individual people who had problems with Topping products. Maybe this is more of a language barrier thing.

That's what I've gathered from the discussion here. As I've said, I have no money in this - don't own any Topping product (yet) and haven't had any issues in the past.

 

[Kevinfc]

Does it have a companion headphone power amp?

There’s this (https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/...input-6-35mm-mini-desktop-headphone-amplifier), not sure if it qualifies as a companion or even what that means other than it’s housed in a case of the same width. I have no interest in headphone amps so I couldn’t tell you.

 

[Kevinfc]

And unless Topping has improved on the remote then the SMSL remote should be more responsive, so another voice for SMSL from me

Looks like the identical product to the SMSL D6 less the balanced inputs. At $20 more I’d chose the SMSL because it has both output options.
(I should have stated it offers balanced outputs (TRS) rather than XLR)

 

[Labjr]

Good review so far. Would've been nice to use two DACs for balanced out instead of a couple db of improved SINAD. Or maybe could've done both. But need the ratings for marketing.

 

[Madlop26]

A DAC with an expected life time of only one year is a very shoddy product indeed. You might not care but I do, for economic as well as environmental reasons. Then there is the hassle and time waste to buy a new one or send it in for warranty.

You obviously are far less price sensitive than most so this device is not for you. Perhaps a Chord DAVE is more to your liking? After all what is $14,000 but the price of a beaten up piece of junk car?

I get your point, and probably I would not buy any Audio product that last less than 1 year regardless the cost. But again how much QC a company can offer when sells a device with state of the art measurements but at only $150???, what is the margin profit for the company, and can you really offer a good QC level at that low prices??.
I really would prefer Topping would price their devices to a level they can offer a great QC level. If that means 3x or 4x higher it would be quite reasonable for me.

 

[Labjr]

Is AKM fully up and running?

I don't know but my DAC has a fire smell?

 

[anmpr1]

So you compare the price of the DAC to a few meals of something you don’t even like?

That was a take-off on Amir's review of the L30 headphone amp. Based on price alone.

Of course, based on performance, the Topping is probably more along the lines of a place like Berns Steakhouse. Not as Gaudy. Or, if you get to Shenzhen, the 360 dinner buffet (at the top of the Shangri La Hotel) might be a better analogy. It spins around (slowly) so you can get a nice view of the city while you stuff.

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360o Bar, Restaurant and Lounge Shangri-La Hotel Shenzhen, Shenzhen: See 157 unbiased reviews of 360o Bar, Restaurant and Lounge Shangri-La Hotel Shenzhen, rated 4.5 of 5 on Tripadvisor and ranked #23 of 4,571 restaurants in Shenzhen.

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