Topping E30 DAC Review

[Kanethered]

My Zen Can and E30 arrived yesterday, and I set E30 to DAC mode and installed the driver, as I saw on the Internet.

But the first impression of this duo was quite disappointing, to be honest. The sounds became much vivid for sure, but it was very unpleasant to listen to, unlike my previous AMP/DAC(FiiO K3). By way of comparison, the sound of the FiiO K3 was like a warm blanket completely covering ears, while the new system felt like a convex bulge pounding eardrums painfully.

So, to fix this, I kept revising my preset on EQ APO or changing the Windows sample rate like crazy, but nothing ever worked.

I thought I wasted my money and even thought of reselling these shits, but after some research, I fortuitously saw someone's post that the ideal plug for E30 is a 5V 2.5A adapter. All I had was a 2A charger at that point, so I swapped E30's power supply to Zen Can's bundled 2.5A adapter, and fuck me, now Zen Can wasn't working. :q

Reluctantly, I went to the mall and search for a 2.5A adapter, and found a better one, 5V 3A fast charger with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology. So I took it home and plugged it into my E30, and WOW, the sounds got super stronger than before! I was like, 'Holy shit, this is too much' and swapped 3A for Zen Can and 2.5A for E30, and now, all the flaws and drawbacks I felt have been eliminated like a miracle. Now, the sounds these shits create are very clean and pleasant to hear at the same time.

TIL, the power supply greatly affects the audio than you may think.

 

[voodooless]

Uhuh..

.. funny how the mind works sometimes!

 

[dza]

Is there any reason not to get a stack E30/L30 of these nowadays against DX3 Pro?

I saw someone noticed the caps were replaced to a cheaper and some people complained about USB issues where you swap ports to fix it, and 2 guys mentioned something about their outputs didn't work equally or stopped outputting.

Another guy mentioned a new revision of DX3 Pro had less power output than the old one. Anyhow DX3 Pro Plus is not in stock before November, so I'm considering.. the stack should drive higher resistance, correct?

 

[Megaken]

My Zen Can and E30 arrived yesterday, and I set E30 to DAC mode and installed the driver, as I saw on the Internet.

But the first impression of this duo was quite disappointing, to be honest. The sounds became much vivid for sure, but it was very unpleasant to listen to, unlike my previous AMP/DAC(FiiO K3). By way of comparison, the sound of the FiiO K3 was like a warm blanket completely covering ears, while the new system felt like a convex bulge pounding eardrums painfully.

So, to fix this, I kept revising my preset on EQ APO or changing the Windows sample rate like crazy, but nothing ever worked.

I thought I wasted my money and even thought of reselling these shits, but after some research, I fortuitously saw someone's post that the ideal plug for E30 is a 5V 2.5A adapter. All I had was a 2A charger at that point, so I swapped E30's power supply to Zen Can's bundled 2.5A adapter, and fuck me, now Zen Can wasn't working. :q

Reluctantly, I went to the mall and search for a 2.5A adapter, and found a better one, 5V 3A fast charger with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology. So I took it home and plugged it into my E30, and WOW, the sounds got super stronger than before! I was like, 'Holy shit, this is too much' and swapped 3A for Zen Can and 2.5A for E30, and now, all the flaws and drawbacks I felt have been eliminated like a miracle. Now, the sounds these shits create are very clean and pleasant to hear at the same time.

TIL, the power supply greatly affects the audio than you may think.

Are you also religious?

 

[Megaken]

Can someone help me with the firmware update please.. Website says there's firmware for 1910-2003. What's mine? Is that the serial on the sticker on the box?

If so, is there no update for mine?

And how can I tell what firmware version mine already has? This is the driver app..

Thanks

 

[Toku]

Can someone help me with the firmware update please.. Website says there's firmware for 1910-2003. What's mine? Is that the serial on the sticker on the box? View attachment 163736

If so, is there no update for mine?

And how can I tell what firmware version mine already has? This is the driver app..

View attachment 163737

Thanks

The first 4 digits of the serial number indicate the year and month.
For your E30, 2105 represents production in May 2021.
So your E30 firmware is up to date with V2.10.

 

[dandreye]

Hi All,

While reading E30 review at AVForums I've come across this: "The Topping was run for a few days on the instructions of the distributor ElectroMod". May I ask if any particular run-in procedure is advised for E30 for the best listening experience? Not that I'm unhappy with the sound of mine, just wondering if it can sound even better if some particular procedure is followed.

Thanks in advance!

 

[voodooless]

Nope, it works out of the box at maximum possible performance.

If you don’t like the sound, get different speakers.

 

[Rottmannash]

On sale at Linsoul.

 

[Killingbeans]

Hi All,

While reading E30 review at AVForums I've come across this: "The Topping was run for a few days on the instructions of the distributor ElectroMod". May I ask if any particular run-in procedure is advised for E30 for the best listening experience? Not that I'm unhappy with the sound of mine, just wondering if it can sound even better if some particular procedure is followed.

Thanks in advance!

Looks like ElectroMod are just clever enough to encourage some mental "break-in". I bet it's effective in eliminating a lot of the product returns they'd normally get from customers who set themselves up for a disappointment.

 

[Megaken]

Looks like ElectroMod are just clever enough to encourage some mental "break-in". I bet it's effective in eliminating a lot of the product returns they'd normally get from customers who set themselves up for a disappointment.

I've seen especially clever retailers suggest burn-in times longer than the return window

 

[dandreye]

And one more if I may. Should I bother upgrading my E30 FW (serial # starting with 2012, hence AK4118) that is currently running FW v1.08? If so whereabouts do I get a newer FW? Sorry just started catching up on this long thread and can't see any E30 FW at the maker's website at a glance.

 

[Megaken]

And one more if I may. Should I bother upgrading my E30 FW (serial # starting with 2012, hence AK4118) that is currently running FW v1.08? If so whereabouts do I get a newer FW? Sorry just started catching up on this long thread and can't see any E30 FW at the maker's website at a glance.

looks like anything above 2003 doesn't have any updates

 

[Schlippwhip68]

I was accidentally using filter 4 for some time and wasn't able to figure out what was "off." Once I noticed and switched back to filter 1, the air frequencies returned. Could be placebo, but just my two cents

It does that...just tested it and yes more 'air' or clearer and precise highs and vocals improved too using my Cambridge Audio Topaz AM10 integrated amp streaming via optical at 24/48hz did. No placebo there mate.

 

[Schlippwhip68]

hello all E30 users, shame on my lazy ass to backread. i am planning to use the E30 to do full time preamp/DAC duties for my main speaker system. source is minipc, usb input into E30 connected to the amplifier powering revel M16s. it will be playing a mixed bag of FLAC and DSD files. Q&A below:

1. is a DAC like the E30 with volume control even worthy of using as a preamp in a (not desktop) stereo system? this makes for one less gear (preamp) in the chain which makes it attractive.

2. is the digital volume control on the E30 bit perfect? no loss of material in low volumes? is the volume control resolving enough to perform preamp duties?

3. in preamp mode, does the E30 display show volume dB level only during playback? or does it momentarily indicate sampling rate changes when it happens, then revert to volume dB level afterwards?

4. in preamp mode does the DAC functionality remain unaffected? again as it will receive a selection of FLAC and DSD files from the pc source.

user inputs are much appreciated! cheers and be safe!

I can at least answer one of those question via experience and that is the E30 is no good as a pre amp but very good as a dac.

 

[half_dog]

1. is a DAC like the E30 with volume control even worthy of using as a preamp in a (not desktop) stereo system? this makes for one less gear (preamp) in the chain which makes it attractive.

I've used it for a while at my TV system and I had no problems but you are limited to manipulate it via remote control. If you prefer a knob go for a Topping D30 PRO, EX5 or Loxjie D30 (my current one for this setup). My E30 is being used on my desktop setup.

2. is the digital volume control on the E30 bit perfect? no loss of material in low volumes? is the volume control resolving enough to perform preamp duties?

I can't tell that's it is bit perfect but I'm not able to hear any artifacts related to missing bits. I mean, if my S9 is its minimum volume it is possible to hear some cracking noise with a enough sensitive IEM.

3. in preamp mode, does the E30 display show volume dB level only during playback? or does it momentarily indicate sampling rate changes when it happens, then revert to volume dB level afterwards?

Second case.

 

[yodog]

I can at least answer one of those question via experience and that is the E30 is no good as a pre amp but very good as a dac.

What preamp are you using?

What preamp is everyone else reading this thread using?

Is it safe to leave the E30 on all the time, unmuted with auto hibernate disabled?

 

[PyramidElectric]

I can at least answer one of those question via experience and that is the E30 is no good as a pre amp but very good as a dac.

I'd love to see some measurements to back this up... I'm using the volume control in an E30 to feed Genelecs, and it seems totally fine to me, and also sounds exactly the same as doing the volume control in software (Audirvana / iTunes). From what I understand the E30 volume is controlled at 32bit via the AKM chip, I'd be really surprised if AKM messed this fairly standard DAC feature up...

I'm not sure if @amirm has tackled this already, but it'd be great to see some sort of 'Volume' test, pitching DACs with AKM/ESS/Cirrus chips vs something like a Topping Pre90, settle this once and for all!

 

[voodooless]

I'm not sure if @amirm has tackled this already, but it'd be great to see some sort of 'Volume' test, pitching DACs with AKM/ESS/Cirrus chips vs something like a Topping Pre90, settle this once and for all!

It's not really that hard. I've tried to explain it here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-e30-dac-review.12119/post-817105

 

[PyramidElectric]

It's not really that hard. I've tried to explain it here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-e30-dac-review.12119/post-817105

Yep, that's exactly how i understood it. But... people still talk about 'loss of bit depth' when using digital volume, and also about channel inbalance (and other stuff that may or may not influence the signal resolution) when using analogue pre-amps, so it'd be nice to see real world test to put this to bed. I suspect as long as either is implemented well the answer would be "you don't need to worry about this".