Topping E30 DAC Review

[Tiller]

Once again about polarity inversion:
For those who use Foobar2000 (recomended) there is a 3rd party plugin that can inverse polarity:
https://skipyrich.com/w/index.php/Foobar2000:Matrix_Mixer
For channels (in our case FL and FR) "1" should be changed to "-1".

 

[samsa]

Once again about polarity inversion:
For those who use Foobar2000 (recomended) there is a 3rd party pugin that can inverse polarity:
https://skipyrich.com/w/index.php/Foobar2000:Matrix_Mixer
For channels (in our case FL and FR) "1" should be changed to "-1".

As previously posted, Roon lets you invert the polarity with the click of a mouse. JRiver also has a "Reverse Polarity" filter, as does Audirvana and many other programs.

 

[hwy61]

i ordered the e30 on may 23 from amazon (USA). .......emailed Shenzen about what serial# it would have (they got back to me the same day) said "don't worry will have serial # 2004.......................great service!

 

[Toku]

i ordered the e30 on may 23 from amazon (USA). .......emailed Shenzen about what serial# it would have (they got back to me the same day) said "don't worry will have serial # 2004.......................great service!

It was nice to be able to order the latest lot number, E30. I hope the E30 will reach you safely.
The SMSL I ordered from Shenzhen Audio hasn't arrived yet after 3 months. The goods disappeared without leaving China. Shenzhen Audio said on this matter. "We are not responsible!"

 

[hwy61]

sorry to hear that Toku.....looks to be two sides to this coin......i'm not out of the woods yet....wonder why no local distributers for different regions?

 

[Toku]

sorry to hear that Toku.....looks to be two sides to this coin......i'm not out of the woods yet....wonder why no local distributers for different regions?

I order SMSL and Topping products from Amazon.jp, but most of the shops I open are from China. If the item you ordered is an inventory item from Amzon.jp, don't worry when Amazon.jp ships it.
However, nowadays many items are shipped from China. Items not handled by Amazon.jp will be purchased from AliExpress or ebay.
In Japan, taxes and customs fees are not charged for mail order products from China. I don't know why. I used to buy from Masdrop before but it was not so cheap after all as I was charged customs fees and taxes.

 

[odyo]

@JohnYang1997 Is there a reason you guys not making a product like E30+L30 combined in one package ? Is it hard to make them measure this good when combined in same case ? I would like to buy a wider E30 with L30 amp inside and maybe included psu. Something like Asgard 3 but with Topping goodies (screen, remote, top notch measurements)

 

[Pulkass]

My e 30 arrived 2 days ago has serial number 2003731221, I listen mostly from Toslink, which my PC mainboard has. I found it better to USB, i run the cable 5 metres to my hi fi system and it worked better.

 

[JohnYang1997]

@JohnYang1997 Is there a reason you guys not making a product like E30+L30 combined in one package ? Is it hard to make them measure this good when combined in same case ? I would like to buy a wider E30 with L30 amp inside and maybe included psu. Something like Asgard 3 but with Topping goodies (screen, remote, top notch measurements)

L30 will have the actual top notch performance. I would expect a lot of people upgrade there existing amp to L30 paring with their existing dac. It's just so happens that the L30 and E30 have a match in the size and price range so it's decided that we can make it a better match than they were. You have a perfect amp that can pair with any dac you want. I don't want it to be locked in in one box.
In terms of internal supply. It requires larger chassis hence more cost. It can be a product but way over the price range that you are looking at. The stack is much much more than an upgrade of dx3pro.

 

[hwy61]

looking forward to the L30.....

 

[PeteL]

@JohnYang1997 Is there a reason you guys not making a product like E30+L30 combined in one package ? Is it hard to make them measure this good when combined in same case ? I would like to buy a wider E30 with L30 amp inside and maybe included psu. Something like Asgard 3 but with Topping goodies (screen, remote, top notch measurements)

Isn't what the dx3 pro is?

 

[tower2010]

Is there any measurement about jitter on Toslink or coaxial? I could only see USB, because I would like to know if it will suppress jitter noise from a Chromecast audio?

 

[Tup3x]

L30 will have the actual top notch performance. I would expect a lot of people upgrade there existing amp to L30 paring with their existing dac. It's just so happens that the L30 and E30 have a match in the size and price range so it's decided that we can make it a better match than they were. You have a perfect amp that can pair with any dac you want. I don't want it to be locked in in one box.
In terms of internal supply. It requires larger chassis hence more cost. It can be a product but way over the price range that you are looking at. The stack is much much more than an upgrade of dx3pro.

If it would be 249€ to 349€ then It would be worth it... just for the sake of convenience (also if it had volpot and digital volume control for even finer volume control then that would be even better - unless there is <1x gain option).

 

[jevenator]

Can someone show screenshot proof about the whole 2004 serial number?

I reached out to APOS from where I purchased my E30 (serial with starting 2003).

Me: I just wanted to clarify this since there might be miscommunication on whoever is getting there information. The Silver E30 DAC I received, I saw that it was the latest firmware and from my understanding the USB polarity is correct How about for the COAX or Optical input for example?

Him: Rest assured that the Silver TOPPING E30 DAC you received is already incorporated with all the latest production revision. So you do not need to worry about that.

 

[Robbo99999]

Can someone show screenshot proof about the whole 2004 serial number?

I reached out to APOS from where I purchased my E30 (serial with starting 2003).

Me: I just wanted to clarify this since there might be miscommunication on whoever is getting there information. The Silver E30 DAC I received, I saw that it was the latest firmware and from my understanding the USB polarity is correct How about for the COAX or Optical input for example?

Him: Rest assured that the Silver TOPPING E30 DAC you received is already incorporated with all the latest production revision. So you do not need to worry about that.

His reply was vague, so didn't answer your question....maybe he worded it like that on purpose. I would think if you have 2003 serial number that it's Optical with wrong polarity. If you want a proper answer from him I think you're gonna have to ask him to actually specifically tell you if the optical is inverse polarity or not for your serial number.

 

[dpippel]

Apos told me that they wouldn't have corrected E30s available until June 10th.

 

[toukolou]

So I received my E30 today, excitedly hooked it up, downloaded the drivers from TPDZ.net and...nothing. Front panel is showing 44.1PCM but I'm getting no sound at all. I've restarted my computer (my source) and checked all the connections. The 1st gen Modi DAC it was replacing was working fine today. Connecting via USB input and rca out.

Any ideas?

 

[toukolou]

Oh well, looks like I have been overly enthusiast about this... On the Topping site there isn't any vendors for Canada. I reached out to Apos (usa), which were suggested in this forum, and they don't ship to Canada, unfortunate because I really liked the look and feature set of this little Dac. Any fellow Canucks here that knows a way to have access to topping gear?

I ordered through Amazon (DILVSHI was the vendor) on May 24, arrived today. My original arrival date was late July-mid Aug.

 

[Yuno]

L30 will have the actual top notch performance. I would expect a lot of people upgrade there existing amp to L30 paring with their existing dac. It's just so happens that the L30 and E30 have a match in the size and price range so it's decided that we can make it a better match than they were. You have a perfect amp that can pair with any dac you want. I don't want it to be locked in in one box.
In terms of internal supply. It requires larger chassis hence more cost. It can be a product but way over the price range that you are looking at. The stack is much much more than an upgrade of dx3pro.

I'm going to chime in that I actually appreciate L30 being released as a standalone amp. Similar to what you mentioned, I already have competently designed dac, which only falls short on it's amp performance, so it's preferable to me to just add amp in the chain rather than replace whole unit with another 2 in 1. That said - I think if L30 turns out to be a hit then maybe topping can consider releasing it as a 2 in 1 later on with increased price tag. dac+amp units are quite popular with a lot of people. As dx3 pro proved, although dx3 pro was also quite cheap.

 

[Robbo99999]

So I received my E30 today, excitedly hooked it up, downloaded the drivers from TPDZ.net and...nothing. Front panel is showing 44.1PCM but I'm getting no sound at all. I've restarted my computer (my source) and checked all the connections. The 1st gen Modi DAC it was replacing was working fine today. Connecting via USB input and rca out.

Any ideas?

Check that your Windows sound level is not muted or at zero or something, shift slider to 100% for example...well that's super obvious, but why not list it!

I'd also check in Device Manager that you can see your DAC there and that there are no yellow exclamation marks showing equipment that is not installed properly.

You also need to power the E30 using the dedicated power USB cable (barrel power connector), you can't just run it from one USB port (the USB input for music doesn't power the device at all, is my understanding).

I'd also try uninstalling the Topping drivers, restart the PC, and test with just the Windows drivers....windows will automatically install the correct drivers on startup. If that doesn't work, then I'd have another go with installing the Topping drivers.

Oh yeah, and if your DAC is in pre amp mode then make sure you're at 0.00dB, which is max volume - just to rule out it being accidentally set at minimum volume or something.