Topping E30 DAC Review

[Tiller]

Seriously?

1. The pop only occurs when switching bitrates (i.e., not in the middle of an album).
2. Depending on your setup, it ranges between barely audible and completely inaudible.
3. As far as I can tell, the only people harping on the "pop" issue are people who don't actually own an E30.

If this is really such a big deal for you, please just buy something else. No one is forcing you to buy a Topping E30.

Dear samsa,
I do not really get what you mean and why you try to talk me (anyone) out of buying E30.
It is good news that Topping is working on the problem.
In the past years I had about 10 different DACs including D10 and D90 from Topping and none of them had this pop sound "feature".
Out of the bunch, only 2 had this issue, and being a music lover I can say that it was very annoying in the long run.
The E30 is a great HW at the price and after eliminating the issue it will be unbeatable.

 

[conuss]

after eliminating the issue it will be unbeatable.

And who promised you to fix this problem? Okay, if the firmware, and if only at the hardware level, then send at your own expense for revision?...

 

[Pimmsley]

Ana-digi

 

[Cujobob]

Well, I think the people claiming "a more open soundstage" have fallen victim to placebo. Not sure how the other gear used could possibly affect that.

You don't need to switch between updates to compare the sound of correct and inverted polarity, you can simply just listen to the audio file I posted. If you're on the updated firmware, the first 4 bars is in correct polarity, and the second 4 bars is in inverted polarity. If you're on the old firmware, the first 4 bars is in inverted polarity, and the second 4 bars is in correct polarity. If you can hear any difference at all then it should be apparent, and anybody claiming to hear a difference can prove this by correctly identifying which is which in the next 10 repetitions. If not, then there's no need to worry about it.

Hi, please don’t challenge someone to a test that nobody can pass. The human brain can only recall sound accurately for something like 20-30 seconds. Just because we can remember sound for that period does not mean one can accurately identify bursts going back and forth - which would have to randomized to have any real meaning and long enough for someone to grasp the sound ‘qualities’ to remember it. Going back and forth quickly may be able to discern if there’s an obvious difference between two short clips, but that’s all you can find out from that.

Blind tests are incredibly important, but challenging people to blind tests they can’t pass is a bit ridiculous. I don’t mean to be abrasive here, but we do not want people assuming this test can tell them things it cannot. It’s like telling someone to take a pregnancy test with a 100% chance of a meaningless answer.

 

[ErikR]

My E30 has a very audible pop upon start up and turning off.start up pop is soft, but shut down pop is sharp and twice as loud. I didn't notice it with my Q150s, but when I hooked up my Buchardt S300s it became super apparent. I did the update and there hasn't been any change. My SN starts 1911.

 

[Cujobob]

My E30 has a very audible pop upon start up and turning off.start up pop is soft, but shut down pop is sharp and twice as loud. I didn't notice it with my Q150s, but when I hooked up my Buchardt S300s it became super apparent. I did the update and there hasn't been any change. My SN starts 1911.

Same here. I’ve only used it with my Polk LSIM 703 speakers and Purifi power amp, but the noise is quite audible both on start up and when shutting off the DAC.

 

[NgxHS7]

Same here. I’ve only used it with my Polk LSIM 703 speakers and Purifi power amp, but the noise is quite audible both on start up and when shutting off the DAC.

Just gets better and better.

 

[Cujobob]

Just gets better and better.

I’m not using a preamp in the chain, so I’m guessing doing so would attenuate the level of that noise. It’s not a huge concern, but that and the polarity being wrong does lessen my enjoyment of the new purchase.

 

[ModDIY]

Same here. I’ve only used it with my Polk LSIM 703 speakers and Purifi power amp, but the noise is quite audible both on start up and when shutting off the DAC.

I have a friend who owns the Topping DX3 Pro, and plugged directly into 2 amplifiers and almost no audible pop when closing. Okay you will say that the DX3 costs more ... but ...

 

[dpippel]

I have a friend who owns the Topping DX3 Pro, and plugged directly into 2 amplifiers and almost no audible pop when closing. Okay you will say that the DX3 costs more ... but ...

It costs more, in large part, because it has an onboard headphone amp and Bluetooth.

 

[ModDIY]

Yes

 

[Robbo99999]

Cool, my E30 DAC ordered 14th May has now shown to have arrived in London UK 2 days ago, and since then it's moved onto somekind of distribution hub today. Sounds like it could be arriving any day then!

Previously I was harping on about the fact that Optical port will have incorrect polarity, but I'll probably use the E30 connected to my laptop for music playing through my JBL 308 speakers. I had been looking to use it hooked up to the TV via optical, but my audio chain for TV & movies is probably good enough already for that purpose. The E30 DAC will be an upgrade over the Asus Xonar U7 I'm currently using for music playback on my JBL 308's, and the polarity is fixed for USB playback with latest firmware 1.08....so I probably don't need to obsess about polarity anymore. Still, DAC shouldn't have been launched with polarity issues.

 

[ds810]

Received my E30 today and it sounds excellent. I know this isn't a popular place for subjective thoughts but I think it's noticeably cleaner sounding than the modi multibit I had before.

 

[conuss]

In addition to everything now and clicks when on and off... But what exemplary parametric data! Everybody, hurry up and run to the store from a low start! If there is nowhere more than $130 to add.

 

[Thomas savage]

In addition to everything now and clicks when on and off... But what exemplary parametric data! Everybody, hurry up and run to the store from a low start! If there is nowhere more than $130 to add.

52 posts all in this thread kinda complaining about topping .

Do you have any interest in audio ?

 

[Robbo99999]

52 posts all in this thread kinda complaining about topping .

Do you have any interest in audio ?

It does seem like a bit of red flag!

 

[conuss]

52 posts all in this thread kinda complaining about topping .

Do you have any interest in audio ?

Because, unfortunately, there is something to complain about. It's a shame that I found unacceptable problems after I ordered the E30. If you read more carefully, you will find out that Audiophonics MPA-S 125 NC has also been ordered.
Do you think I have an interest in audio?!

 

[samsa]

Because, unfortunately, there is something to complain about. It's a shame that I found unacceptable problems after I ordered the E30. If you read more carefully, you will find out that Audiophonics MPA-S 125 NC has also been ordered.
Do you think I have an interest in audio?!

Maybe, just maybe, when those arrive, you'll have something useful to contribute to the conversation.

So far, nothing but noise.

 

[conuss]

Maybe, just maybe, when those arrive, you'll have something useful to contribute to the conversation.

So far, nothing but noise.

Do you not believe those who are hindered by these shortcomings? You can only disagree with them. I asked above - can these flaws be fixed by firmware? And what did you say? - nothing.
Therefore, "a lot of noise from nothing" here is quite inappropriate.

 

[Rick CH]

Chiming in with my experience with the E30 and now with the firmware update in the context of the reverse polarity issue. I've had the dac for a month now and love it, though I have to admit it's not a huge step up from my existing digital music (CD, SACD, and DVD-Audio) playing set up.
I applied the latest firmware update and I can't say there's a difference in the sound quality to my ears; what I loved about the E30 (improvements in detail, soundstaging, focus of individual instruments, sense of the space where the recording was made) doesn't seem different and is all there. But, interestingly, I now find that I don't like the sound of filter setting 6 as much as the others (and the differences are still quite subtle). Before the update, I couldn't say I had one preferred filter setting, or one that didn't sound as pleasing. Now I can identify setting 6 as the one I don't like as much in my system as it has a bit more edge to it than I prefer. Again, really subtle differences and only great sound before and after, but what I noticed.