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Topping E30 DAC Review

poimandres

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No pops through Spotify once an album is playing. There is a slight pop when you change albums, it is hardly noticeable.
By default the dac is at 0db, is that max volume?
 

poimandres

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Thanks. Absolutely love the orange led’s. Very retro for sure, reminds me of some of the heathkits my father and grandfather used to put together.
 

poimandres

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Very nice! As is this dac. No complaints and pairs very nice with my geshelli 2.5. Thinking of ordering a new set of cans, possibly the t50rp’s.
 

rs265

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Long time lurker, first-time poster.
I'm looking at either getting the Topping DX3 PRO or pairing the E30 DAC with my trusty 15 years old Meier Corda Aria Headphone amp.

I wonder if the Meier old school toroidal power design together with the E30 will best the one in the DX3, I couldn't really find much info or measurements apart from the spec sheet https://web.archive.org/web/20051103100410/http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/ and a thread on head-fi. I will be using it with a pair of HD58x.

Personally, the old amp still sounds good when compared to the headphone out of my Cambridge Audio Azur 851a but the onboard DAC is a bit outdated so I'm looking for an upgrade path but the all in one solution of the DX3 Pro is appealing as well.
 
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Veri

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Long time lurker, first-time poster.
I'm looking at either getting the Topping DX3 PRO or pairing the E30 DAC with my trusty 15 years old Meier Corda Aria Headphone amp.
For the HD58x, I would consider the DX3. Which is possible an upgrade both in DAC but also amp terms.
Only downside to DX3 is bad match with very low impedance headphones.
 

nyj585

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So does the E30 measure better than the D50s then? If you don't need bluetooth, what's the value of the D50s now?

As a side note, Topping is updating their product line right? So likely we'll see a replacement for the D50s at some point?
 

Toku

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So does the E30 measure better than the D50s then? If you don't need bluetooth, what's the value of the D50s now?

As a side note, Topping is updating their product line right? So likely we'll see a replacement for the D50s at some point?
E50 (AK4497) may be released as a product that competes with SMSL M500. The release of E70 (AK4498) is also conceivable.
Topping's HP categorizes DACs into three categories: DX series, E series, and D series. I feel like I can expect something.

I also use DX3Pro Ver1 and D50s, but now that I have purchased E30, the chances of using it are likely to decrease.
 

Jimmy

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The M500 theoretically competes with the DX7 Pro, both are AIO units, but at MSRP it's 200$ cheaper. Either you get lower output power for headphones (probably insufficient for some planars) and low output impedance with the SMSL or higher power but also higher output impedance with the Topping.

I guess that apart from more refined DAC implementations (probably meaningless from an audibility point of view), what we'll see in future products are better headphone output sections, that's mainly the achiles heel of current chinese AIO solutions apart from higher priced ones (Matrix, for example).
 

Prophet

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The M500 theoretically competes with the DX7 Pro, both are AIO units, but at MSRP it's 200$ cheaper. Either you get lower output power for headphones (probably insufficient for some planars) and low output impedance with the SMSL or higher power but also higher output impedance with the Topping.

I guess that apart from more refined DAC implementations (probably meaningless from an audibility point of view), what we'll see in future products are better headphone output sections, that's mainly the achiles heel of current chinese AIO solutions apart from higher priced ones (Matrix, for example).
Hi Jimmy and ASR forum. I have been lurking for a couple of months, and this is my first post here.

I too feel like M500 is a bargain in todays lineup, since the DAC component has balanced output and is audibly transparent.
And the fact that it puts out a higher voltage than 4V is a cherry on top.
 

Tyrius

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+9dB 0dB and -9dB for IEM as well as a very good volume pot.
E30+L30 stack may be very interesting to me, as I'm looking for a good price/performance without the need for bluetooth or balanced connections.
As far as I am aware, the A50 uses digital volume control, which I value. Does your above comment mean that the L30 will have a "traditional"/non-digital control?
 

JohnYang1997

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E30+L30 stack may be very interesting to me, as I'm looking for a good price/performance without the need for bluetooth or balanced connections.
As far as I am aware, the A50 uses digital volume control, which I value. Does your above comment mean that the L30 will have a "traditional"/non-digital control?
Both A50s and L30 will have regular potentiometer but good performing ones. If you don't need Bluetooth, E30 + L30 stack is your best bet.
 

Tyrius

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Both A50s and L30 will have regular potentiometer but good performing ones. If you don't need Bluetooth, E30 + L30 stack is your best bet.
Thanks, is there a technical reason for moving away from digital control for the next revision a50s?
 

Tyrius

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Performance. Namely distortion and noise.
Interesting, I was under the impression that digital controls performed well in the past, especially for long-term reliability (on the other hand, the potentiometers in the past may just have been done "wrong"/badly). I'll stay put for the new products, hope the stack will be completed soon :D
 

LeandroFlu

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Hello friends, this is my first post on the forum, I'm using a translation tool, so sorry for some errors ...

I do not intend to make many comments, this post is more for thanks, since I would like to thank everyone for the comments regarding the Chinese DACs, mainly @amirm for their technical reviews.

I am from Brazil, here we do not manufacture hi-end equipment, everything is imported and extremely expensive, so Chinese DACs seem quite attractive in terms of resources and values, even if my country tax (rob us 60%) at customs, still so it makes the Chinese devices attractive, but we hardly find anything in our language about reviews, our users here like to show their expensive equipment more and disdain others which makes reviews like these impossible ...

My equipment comes from a modest pair of Pionner SP-FS52 / Yamaha A-S301 Stereo integrated amplifier / Cd Player Teac PD H300mkIII

Yes, I listen to 99% of my music on CD, I have hundreds, I confess that I really like the Yamaha 301's DAC, but I would like to try something external to be able to better my auditions better.

I basically read everything on this forum, from reviews and comments on the various models from topping and Smsl, as they were the ones that fit my budget, one hour I leaned towards one, one hour to the other, in short, I ended up deciding for E30 via Aliexpress Shenzhenaudio Store, for everything I read it seems to be complete for me, I will use it via spdif connected to the cd player and playing for Yamaha, I really hope it has a nice and warm sound as you said, I renew the my thanks and wishes for everyone to have a great quarantine, that God can protect all of us countries and people so far and at the same time so close, I leave my estimations, sorry if I extended, the delivery china x brazil takes on average 40 calendar days , as soon as i arrive i go back and post my impressions.

Hugs and everyone
 

Toku

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Hello friends, this is my first post on the forum, I'm using a translation tool, so sorry for some errors ...

I do not intend to make many comments, this post is more for thanks, since I would like to thank everyone for the comments regarding the Chinese DACs, mainly @amirm for their technical reviews.

I am from Brazil, here we do not manufacture hi-end equipment, everything is imported and extremely expensive, so Chinese DACs seem quite attractive in terms of resources and values, even if my country tax (rob us 60%) at customs, still so it makes the Chinese devices attractive, but we hardly find anything in our language about reviews, our users here like to show their expensive equipment more and disdain others which makes reviews like these impossible ...

My equipment comes from a modest pair of Pionner SP-FS52 / Yamaha A-S301 Stereo integrated amplifier / Cd Player Teac PD H300mkIII

Yes, I listen to 99% of my music on CD, I have hundreds, I confess that I really like the Yamaha 301's DAC, but I would like to try something external to be able to better my auditions better.

I basically read everything on this forum, from reviews and comments on the various models from topping and Smsl, as they were the ones that fit my budget, one hour I leaned towards one, one hour to the other, in short, I ended up deciding for E30 via Aliexpress Shenzhenaudio Store, for everything I read it seems to be complete for me, I will use it via spdif connected to the cd player and playing for Yamaha, I really hope it has a nice and warm sound as you said, I renew the my thanks and wishes for everyone to have a great quarantine, that God can protect all of us countries and people so far and at the same time so close, I leave my estimations, sorry if I extended, the delivery china x brazil takes on average 40 calendar days , as soon as i arrive i go back and post my impressions.

Hugs and everyone
I am not an English-speaking citizen, so I have a hard time posting. However, there is no other forum like ASR, so it is difficult to write English text, but I participate.
The delivery from China to Brazil is very far. I hope your E30 arrives safely.
 
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