Topping E2x2 Audio Interface Review

[LIΟN]

Also, I want QC to be supplemented during a little manufacturing process. (Once again, I'm happy with the e2x2. It's just what I want.)

At first glance, it doesn't make much difference.

But you can see that some of the knobs are stuck in a tilted state. Of course, there's no problem with turning the knob. It works very smoothly like ice cream and has good performance.
But it would be better if these things were supplemented and produced.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

No, they'll generally work OK with condensers, too (and as mentioned, some wallflowers will even give better results), and since you need a boost converter anyway, phantom power also tends to be the real deal with around 48 V rather than say 15 as found on some mixers. It's just that a $30 dynamic will be more appealing to rookie podcasters or budding singer-songwriters both in terms of price in relation to a $50 interface (although condensers seem to have come down a bit in the US lately, you never used to see sub-$50 options or anything close even) as well as placement / speaking distance in the face of generally untreated rooms. One thing to watch out for with these cheapies is that they like to start distorting / clipping well short of 0 dBFS.

Well, nowadays I don't own any dynamic mics, so I guess I'm (relatively) OK -- although I do sort of miss my old E-V 660 (the poor man's RE-15). Now you've got me wondering if my Behringer's "CLIP" warning LEDs are accurate -- supposedly, its mic preamp circuitry is cribbed from Midas, which Behringer acquired many years ago, but who knows what corners were cut to hit such a crazy-low price point -- thanks a lot, Steph!

 

[jerryfreak]

This chart makes no sense.

Comparing at "Maximum gain" without knowing the gain is just useless and misleading, sorry to say.

You can't compare EIN on preamps without aligning the preamp gain first.
A microphone has a given output voltage for a certain SPL (given comparable preamp impedance). You need to align all preamps to have the same level (dBFS) on the ADC before comparing.

funny i just watched julian's video and that was the first question i asked. "min" and "max" gain are used in the two charts and dont tell us much

 

[jerryfreak]

View attachment 323035
Here are some measurements at and around that "reference gain" for some professional mic preamps/interfaces (150 ohm load).

About the reference level, I explained in this thread post why I choose this one.
The idea was to set a gain realistic for a singer using a Shure SM58.

The goal of this reference is to align all interfaces (and analog mic preamps) at the same level.
Of course, you may still look at the gain figure corresponding more to your use.
Podcasting, which means spoken words and not loud singing, would probably need a gain 20dB higher. But you'll still be able to compare interfaces at that level by looking at this plot. Just use values for X=+20dB.

By the way, Audiofanzine.fr (1.1Mio visits/month) is also using 100mV for their interface measurements now.

Maybe we should start another thread to discuss that topic if there is an interest ?

im interested, i replied in the new thread Amir made

 

[JohnYang1997]

e2x2 is good!
but software need to be optimize or somethin fix when install.

Topping E2X2 firmware issue, juse me?

I just got the delivery, opened the box and connected it to the computer right away. Of course, I installed drivers and programs. However, from the first loading screen, these firmware-related notifications pop up. And I pressed Update on that, but it's an infinite iteration. Only that screen...

www.audiosciencereview.com

As soon as I received this product yesterday, I installed drivers and software and suffered from endless firmware updates.
But the interesting thing was that I deleted and rebooted and reinstalled the program, and I deleted and rebooted it a few times and it worked. There was not even a firmware update notification.
It's fortunate and strange that nothing has changed, and it's been fixed by repeated installations, uninstallations, and reboots.

Of course, I'm satisfied with the product e2x2. It's very suitable for my purpose.

View attachment 323107

It's neat and well-made.

The message you encounter means the driver is not installed properly/not working. Usually there's no issue. But sometimes it doesn't want to install properly, this is related to Windows. Another reason people encounter this issue is when the driver got blocked/deleted by some antivirus software like 360(a Chinese free security software).

A procedure to reduce things like this happening is to unplug/turn off the device while installing the software and driver.

 

[LIΟN]

The message you encounter means the driver is not installed properly/not working. Usually there's no issue. But sometimes it doesn't want to install properly, this is related to Windows. Another reason people encounter this issue is when the driver got blocked/deleted by some antivirus software like 360(a Chinese free security software).

A procedure to reduce things like this happening is to unplug/turn off the device while installing the software and driver.

Hmm... Not really..
I already has installed driver latest 5.58? and software (unpluged E2x2). Also I don't have any AntiVirus(include Window defender always off)
Of course, it doesn't matter now that you can use it through a few deletes and reboots.... =)

At first glance, it doesn't make much difference.

But you can see that some of the knobs are stuck in a tilted state. Of course, there's no problem with turning the knob. It works very smoothly like ice cream and has good performance.
But it would be better if these things were supplemented and produced.

How do you think about this? Does this meet the general standard of product Q/C? As expected, there is no problem with using the knob, but it is the first time I have seen the knob in such a twisted state...

 

[ocinn]

I don´t know if whether the software is good or bad. I just pointed out that software ought to be a part of the evaluation of these kind of product. If you don´t get why this is important I suggest you read @ocinn post #56 above.

@Robbo99999 ”software” (ex: the GUI that Amir screenshotted) is separate from drivers.

In pro audio interfaces, the drivers can cause massive issues with certain DAWs (hard crashes, clock issues, straight up not being detected, and many others). These issues can also be unpredictable and can pop up at the most inconvenient times

Poor driver design can also induce huge latency which makes “tracking” (recording audio with live monitoring) essentially impossible. (Which is why I suggested round-trip latency tests for future interface reviews in my previous comment)

There was actually a prank application that was popular awhile back that would slightly delay the microphone of your phone and then play it back thru the headphone jack (best with high isolation headphones). It would effectively completely prevent someone from being able to speak. Now imagine someone needing to sing or play an instrument in time.

Latency is such a high priority in the pro audio world. Not only in hardware processing but also in driver design. Thus why you see lots of high end active monitors with a “low latency” mode which sacrifices measured performance for situations you cannot have audible latency.

Even DIRAC which corrects my desktop system induces too much latency for me (imo) to be able to accurately record instruments into my daw for example. I switch it off for tracking.

^^ super important for these devices these days, would be great to see that included for all ADCs

To be fair, most people on this forum use ADCs for either measurement purposes or digitization of analog media where latency is irrelevant but considering reviews from this site show up on Google for those who are using them as the intended recording device it would be a very much needed addition.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Hmm... Not really..
I already has installed driver latest 5.58? and software (unpluged E2x2). Also I don't have any AntiVirus(include Window defender always off)
Of course, it doesn't matter now that you can use it through a few deletes and reboots.... =)


How do you think about this? Does this meet the general standard of product Q/C? As expected, there is no problem with using the knob, but it is the first time I have seen the knob in such a twisted state...

Yes and no? This topic is very complicated. Firstly this will pass our QC. But are we satisfied? No. However we have always have similar issues with other products. I am not sure how others do it, there are many things can contribute to this. None flat PCB mounting, none flat pot mounting, not straight plastic insert in the knob. Even though we changed manufacturer that sources our knobs for audio interfaces. Supposedly even though they don't look as good they are off the shelf parts and are metal. These use different plastic inserts than our regular ones. These should actually be better in this regard.
We do accept swapping for a new one if you ask. That's probably the current solution to this. We have tighter budget constraint than regular hifi products. So cosmetic is second after functionality.
I don't really have a good answer for this. So please forgive me.

 

[LIΟN]

Yes and no? This topic is very complicated. Firstly this will pass our QC. But are we satisfied? No. However we have always have similar issues with other products. I am not sure how others do it, there are many things can contribute to this. None flat PCB mounting, none flat pot mounting, not straight plastic insert in the knob. Even though we changed manufacturer that sources our knobs for audio interfaces. Supposedly even though they don't look as good they are off the shelf parts and are metal. These use different plastic inserts than our regular ones. These should actually be better in this regard.
We do accept swapping for a new one if you ask. That's probably the current solution to this. We have tighter budget constraint than regular hifi products. So cosmetic is second after functionality.

Thank you for your honest answer. I was curious about that. And as I've already said, I use topping everything from multiple dac, amp and to audio interfaces. The new e2x2 is also very pleased with its performance.
But everyone think... A little bit more...A little bit more.. A little bit more.......Buyers often think that.
So, it was a fan's feedback that if we supplement those little things a little more, the toppings can go up without limits among many brands.
Thanks for reply again.

 

[Robbo99999]

@Robbo99999 ”software” (ex: the GUI that Amir screenshotted) is separate from drivers.

In pro audio interfaces, the drivers can cause massive issues with certain DAWs (hard crashes, clock issues, straight up not being detected, and many others). These issues can also be unpredictable and can pop up at the most inconvenient times

Poor driver design can also induce huge latency which makes “tracking” (recording audio with live monitoring) essentially impossible. (Which is why I suggested round-trip latency tests for future interface reviews in my previous comment)

There was actually a prank application that was popular awhile back that would slightly delay the microphone of your phone and then play it back thru the headphone jack (best with high isolation headphones). It would effectively completely prevent someone from being able to speak. Now imagine someone needing to sing or play an instrument in time.

Latency is such a high priority in the pro audio world. Not only in hardware processing but also in driver design. Thus why you see lots of high end active monitors with a “low latency” mode which sacrifices measured performance for situations you cannot have audible latency.

Even DIRAC which corrects my desktop system induces too much latency for me (imo) to be able to accurately record instruments into my daw for example. I switch it off for tracking.


To be fair, most people on this forum use ADCs for either measurement purposes or digitization of analog media where latency is irrelevant but considering reviews from this site show up on Google for those who are using them as the intended recording device it would be a very much needed addition.

Based on what you're saying I can understand why a latency test would be useful. I saw in an earlier post that @JohnYang1997 said that the mics had a 0.1ms latency at 192khz, so I don't know if that describes all the latencies that you'd be concerned about, but I'm thinking 0.1ms latency would be fine for your usage, or not?

 

[Robbo99999]

Also, I want QC to be supplemented during a little manufacturing process. (Once again, I'm happy with the e2x2. It's just what I want.)

View attachment 323108

At first glance, it doesn't make much difference.

View attachment 323109

But you can see that some of the knobs are stuck in a tilted state. Of course, there's no problem with turning the knob. It works very smoothly like ice cream and has good performance.
But it would be better if these things were supplemented and produced.

Yes and no? This topic is very complicated. Firstly this will pass our QC. But are we satisfied? No. However we have always have similar issues with other products. I am not sure how others do it, there are many things can contribute to this. None flat PCB mounting, none flat pot mounting, not straight plastic insert in the knob. Even though we changed manufacturer that sources our knobs for audio interfaces. Supposedly even though they don't look as good they are off the shelf parts and are metal. These use different plastic inserts than our regular ones. These should actually be better in this regard.
We do accept swapping for a new one if you ask. That's probably the current solution to this. We have tighter budget constraint than regular hifi products. So cosmetic is second after functionality.
I don't really have a good answer for this. So please forgive me.

In my opinion I don't think this is a massive big deal for a $160 product that offers good performance and increased functionality. It would bother me for a more expensive product that was selling itself on the audio jewellery side, which would not be my personal taste anyway (I wouldn't spend much extra for audio jewellery).

 

[LIΟN]

In my opinion I don't think this is a massive big deal for a $160 product that offers good performance and increased functionality. It would bother me for a more expensive product that was selling itself on the audio jewellery side, which would not be my personal taste anyway (I wouldn't spend much extra for audio jewellery).

Yes. That's why I was just asking.

 

[mash]

Looks like a nice value for its intended use cases. I'm not in that market but would LOVE to see the ADC function move over to some of the main stream DAC products. I use my D90 basically as my pre-amp and would love to see a high quality ADC added so that I could directly plug in a phono pre-amp. Add some DSP functionality and you could have a very worthy competitor to RME.

 

[AudioKC]

Wow, great performance and functionality for the price. Great package. Topping now is also a software company?!.

 

[asdf]

Please be careful what you wish for!

In the last 30 years I have seen several previously thriving industries in the western world, decimated by competition from countries with different economic systems.

In the case of hi-fi, many of those companies got what they richly deserved, no doubt about that.

I would submit that the home recording amateur musician market is different. US and European companies such as Motu and Focusrite have worked hard to:
-define what their customers need,
-supply them with dependable products at reasonable prices, and
-support them as they need it.
These companies have embraced overseas manufacturing to keep down the costs, but the business critical functions have stayed at home.

Anyone that enters the market now by reverse engineering these products is getting the benefit of years of know-how, at little to no cost to themselves.

I would be very sorry to see the afore-mentioned companies disappear due to aggressive price undercutting.

 

[staticV3]

Anyone that enters the market now by reverse engineering these products is getting the benefit of years of know-how, at little to no cost to themselves.

The headphone Amp built into Focusrite's brand new 2i2 4th Gen comes with a 50Ω output impedance. 30 years ago, that may have been acceptable.

If there's a brand that should maybe do some reverse engineering, it's them.

 

[Robbo99999]

The headphone Amp built into Focusrite's brand new 2i2 4th Gen comes with a 50Ω output impedance. 30 years ago, that may have been acceptable.

If there's a brand that should maybe do some reverse engineering, it's them.

Ha!

 

[amirm]

Anyone that enters the market now by reverse engineering these products is getting the benefit of years of know-how, at little to no cost to themselves.

What reverse engineering? The topping is their own design with unique performance characteristics.

 

[lkanies]

The headphone Amp built into Focusrite's brand new 2i2 4th Gen comes with a 50Ω output impedance. 30 years ago, that may have been acceptable.

If there's a brand that should maybe do some reverse engineering, it's them.

The performance of the headphone amp is the exact reason I’m replacing my Motu M2 with this (assuming it ever reappears in the tracking system ). So, yeah.

i’d happily pay 5x this for a single device that could amplify two mics and had a powerful headphone amp (with physical controls for easy changing between mics). I’ve agonized over all the RME stuff, but nothing quite fits. So I’m very glad this option now exists. Even a couple of weeks with an outboard headphone amp was super annoying.

And hey, way below my budget.

 

[Mulder]

What reverse engineering? The topping is their own design with unique performance characteristics.

How do you mean? In what way are the performance characteristics unique?