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Topping L70 Headphone Amp Review

Rate this headphone amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 14 4.4%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 2 0.6%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 29 9.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 272 85.8%

  • Total voters
    317

bearcatsandor

Member
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Nov 11, 2020
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Ok, so I've been playing with My L70 and E70 for an hour trying to get sound out. I have the USB hooked up and my computer (linux) sees it. The pre-amp display tells me its getting a signal. The XLR cables are hooked up. The E70 is set for XLR output and the L70 is set for XLR input. However, the display does not change when I plug my 6.35mm headphones in and I get no sound.

Does it auto-recognise the headphone jack having headphones in them? What step have I not done?

Edit: The step i hadn't done was turning the volume *way* up. I had it at -90. I had to turn it up to -30 to get decent volume for my Sony MDR-7506 headphones
 
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bearcatsandor

Member
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Nov 11, 2020
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Just to put that into perspective:
-90dB is 0.2% of the full volume.
-30dB is 12.5% of the full volume.
Thank you, as I'm mathmatically challenged, would you mind giving the equation for that?
Also, is there an advantage to running the E70 as a dac and attinuating via the L70 (as I'm doing), vs running the E70 as a pre-amp and running the L70 in full?
 

staticV3

Master Contributor
Joined
Aug 29, 2019
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Thank you, as I'm mathmatically challenged, would you mind giving the equation for that?
Here's a handy online calculator with all the equations: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-levelchange.htm

Also, is there an advantage to running the E70 as a dac and attinuating via the L70 (as I'm doing), vs running the E70 as a pre-amp and running the L70 in full?
Running the DAC at full output and the Amp at minimum gain will give you the cleanest signal.
 

ThatGuyYouKnow

Active Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2023
Messages
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133
Love this amp. It is such a suspiciously good value that I almost expect something really bad to happen with it.

By the way, I once got that "r3" error. Topping support claimed that the 12v trigger must have glitched on that one occasion. I have not had any problems since.
 

bearcatsandor

Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2020
Messages
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98
Is there any harm in leaving them on all the time? I feed by computer and play music throughout the day. I don't suppose the displays will burnout (on low). A 12v trigger? Why would they ever be shut off? :")
 

rarewolf

Active Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2022
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85
May I ask why the Velvet?

[…]

For those interested in the Velvet, after having both the E70 & E70V, Andrew Ballew has posted his auditioning and measurements as comparative reviews at his weblog…

 

renaudrenaud

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 20, 2019
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For those interested in the Velvet, after having both the E70 & E70V, Andrew Ballew has posted his auditioning and measurements as comparative reviews at his weblog…

Sorry but it sounds like usual bs in the world of the Golden ear. The more expansive the better bla bla bla.
 

bearcatsandor

Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2020
Messages
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98
Ok, so I've had my E/L 70s for 2 weeks now, so it's about time I contributed my impressions even though I really haven't wanted to, due to embarrasment.
I'm a recovering audiophile. I used to want expensive cables, $50k amps, $100k speakers etc. Over the last decade I've researched acoustics, joined forums like this one and hydrogen audio (they're cut-throat over there!) and it's help me recover from some silly beliefs. Well, I feel silly again. I think.

My stack is: Gentoo Linux computer mpv -> pipewire -> usb -> E70 -> L70 -> Sony MDR-7506

So, yeah my headphones are meh (I'll upgrade to DCA Stealth next), but the Topping units replaced a Focusrite Scarlet Solo which will be doing mic input duty now if needed.

What am I hearing and experiancing? I'm a fan of 菅野よう子 (Yoko Kanno). I have 866 of her tracks, a lot of favorites. "Favorites" not as in I really like them, but that I feel in love with the music. They feel like my own mind written out as musical notation. Even though I've listened to some of them hundreds of times, they make me weep every time. The first thing I played over them was her track "Medley" from Toko Sora. I didn't weep. I bawled. It felt like I was really hearing into it for the first time. It wasn't the usual "I've never heard that there was x instument there" this was actually hard to describe. I didn't hear a string section, I heard each string instrument as a separate entity all it's own.

This experiance is repeated with every track I've played since. Not the bawling, but the presense of individual instruments and voices. This combo takes things apart. The beach boys sound like separate people singing. It's still harmony, but it's not as ... melded? I don't hear "chiors" through these, I hear individual people. I hear the tremlo and of a sax solo that I've never noticed, and I swear I can hear the player's mouth movements. Kick drums don't go *thump* anymore, they have an envelope now and they produce notes.

One of my reference tracks is "Smile that Explodes" by Joseph Arthur. In the chorus a female singer appears to sing in both of your ears at once, while Joseph is in the middle. I'd wondered how they did that, and now I can hear that there's a delay in her voice in one ear.

All of these things I'm hearing are just there. I'm not listening for them. There so damned obvious now, as though someone changed the color of my walls from gold to bright yellow. These are definately awesome at the end of my studio chain.

So, different DACs should sound the same, amps of a type should sound the same. I haven't changed my software settings or anything and my hearing hasn't become better. What the hell am I hearing?

Addendum: There are some tracks that sound so different, that I'd swear they're not the same mixes. They are, but they don't sound like it.
 
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BobSmith

New Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2022
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Question regarding the balanced inputs on the L70:

I've got very little experience with balanced XLR inputs and their associated cables, etc. and was wondering:

If I wanted to use the L70 connected to my Shanling DAP that does balanced out of its 4.4mm output, would any of the standard balanced 4.4mm to XLR cables work?

Like this one:

Any links to cables that have worked for anyone here much appreciated. Thanks for any info!
 
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rarewolf

Active Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2022
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85
Question regarding the balanced inputs on the L70:

I've got very little experience with balanced XLR inputs and their associated cables, etc. and was wondering:

If I wanted to use the L70 connected to my Shanling DAP that does balanced out of its 4.4mm output, would any of the standard balanced 4.4mm to XLR cables work?

Like this one:

Any links to cables that have worked for anyone here much appreciated. Thanks for any info!

That should work… i.e., any XLR 3-pin should be standard XLR 3-pin. Just double check the poles against the cable versus the L70, and make sure the XLR’s gender is correct, and you should be good to go.

The XLR gender for this cable could be incorrect if it were intended for an output, but then, I would think the 4.4mm would be female…
 

nagster

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2021
Messages
361
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593
Question regarding the balanced inputs on the L70:

I've got very little experience with balanced XLR inputs and their associated cables, etc. and was wondering:

If I wanted to use the L70 connected to my Shanling DAP that does balanced out of its 4.4mm output, would any of the standard balanced 4.4mm to XLR cables work?

Like this one:

Any links to cables that have worked for anyone here much appreciated. Thanks for any info!
The linked thread may help you.
 

RosalieTheDog

Active Member
Joined
May 3, 2021
Messages
195
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205
Hi, I have four questions on the functionality and use of this device as a pre-amp. Apologies if they are somewhat basic. Hopefully someone with technical expertise wants to chime in.

1) Is it possible to use both RCA-out and XLR-out simultaneously? (RCA to powered sub, XLR to power amplifier)

2) I wish to use it between a Topping D70s and a AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S125NC (=Hypex Ncore NC122MP). Is compatibility assured, which values (output and input impedance etc.) should I check?

3) Probably related to the previous question: should I connect the Topping D70s to the L70 through RCA or through XLR? Does this matter?

4) I don't plan to use these for headphone listening often, and if I do, my headphones are not hard to drive. Am I correct that in this use scenario, there are no advantages of the more pricy Topping A90D to the L70?
 

Bleib

Major Contributor
Joined
May 13, 2021
Messages
1,254
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2,252
Location
Sweden
Hi, I have four questions on the functionality and use of this device as a pre-amp. Apologies if they are somewhat basic. Hopefully someone with technical expertise wants to chime in.

1) Is it possible to use both RCA-out and XLR-out simultaneously? (RCA to powered sub, XLR to power amplifier)

2) I wish to use it between a Topping D70s and a AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S125NC (=Hypex Ncore NC122MP). Is compatibility assured, which values (output and input impedance etc.) should I check?

3) Probably related to the previous question: should I connect the Topping D70s to the L70 through RCA or through XLR? Does this matter?

4) I don't plan to use these for headphone listening often, and if I do, my headphones are not hard to drive. Am I correct that in this use scenario, there are no advantages of the more pricy Topping A90D to the L70?
3) XLR. Slightly better
4) You probably don't need the A90D nope (neither do I)
 
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