Topping L50 Review (Headphone Amp)

[usern]

Since you're looking for max power I'd skip all of Topping amps. Their amps power ratings are pulled from the nether or just made up by the marketing department. I'd go with the Magnius since is offers a ton of verified power, top of the line measurements and great sound quality for $200.

?
Amir has measured the power output of Topping amps.

Topping L50 Review (Headphone Amp)

I know, I am looking for maximum power actually (without going top of the line). I think it is the A30 Pro and D10 from them if I am not mistaken, but their lineup seems to have numbers and letters all over the place at a glance. I am used to GPU numbers (bigger is better or at least newer)...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Veri]

Since you're looking for max power I'd skip all of Topping amps. Their amps power ratings are pulled from the nether or just made up by the marketing department. I'd go with the Magnius since is offers a ton of verified power, top of the line measurements and great sound quality for $200.

Magnius is really not that good in SE out, it's only (really quite) good from balanced output so not the batch match for every headphone I'm sure.

 

[Atanasi]

Would there be a problem connecting L50's headphone output to another device, in effect using L50 as a pre-amp?

 

[Veri]

Would there be a problem connecting L50's headphone output to another device, in effect using L50 as a pre-amp?

Grounding-wise it's never really ideal to connect a headphone output to an upstream device. Potential for noise issues since it's not made for it and cables can pick up interference along the way. You can try it of course. It might work okay if you have a valid use case for it. I know I've seen someone use both pre-outs and head-outs on a device before, to use the latter one as an extra output for a sub.

 

[Dmitriy]

Does the L50 use a linear power supply? if so, I do not understand why the topping engineers did not make a conclusion to connect the E50 to it, it would not increase the load much and would not greatly increase the cost of the final product, since these two devices position themselves as shared, it would be very convenient, I am still waiting for the arrival of my L50, but I have not seen any mention of such a connection, I apologize if it is there

 

[Veri]

Does the L50 use a linear power supply? if so, I do not understand why the topping engineers did not make a conclusion to connect the E50 to it

L30 and L50 use a 15VAC power supply. You can't possibly connect it to E30/E50 which are DC.

 

[Dmitriy]

L30 and L50 use a 15VAC power supply. You can't possibly connect it to E30/E50 which are DC.

thank you for drawing my attention to this very important parameter, I actually thought that there was a constant voltage, but even in this case, adding a little more components would not greatly increase the cost, a rectifier bridge, a pair of capacitors, a voltage reduction chip, perhaps in E70+L70 there will be such an option right away

 

[half_dog]

thank you for drawing my attention to this very important parameter, I actually thought that there was a constant voltage, but even in this case, adding a little more components would not greatly increase the cost, a rectifier bridge, a pair of capacitors, a voltage reduction chip, perhaps in E70+L70 there will be such an option right away

I like this idea. In this current combo I think this could be implemented using the USB C connection as a power output when not used for FW update. If E50 were designed with a USB C connection this would be marvelous

 

[Guacamolly]

I was looking for a unit to connect my turntable on a headphone amplifier.
So i could use my hd650 and hd800s.

The passthrough output is the key here.
I would just add the L50 in the chain without compromising my Yamaha amplifier for the passive speaker.
TT -> Tube Phono Preamp -> L50 // -> Yamaha

Very nice opportunity for TT user.

 

[Securitiesfraud]

How much power would this deliver at 14 ohms? Amir has measured it to be 3.2 watts at 32 ohms? Based on that how much would it be at 14 ohms?

 

[tential]

What's best spot to buy this? I normally use linsoul but they don't have it in stock.

Unless I'm mistaken, this is the best se/balanced amp to use. A90 was better, but seems like a lot more for more balanced, but not as good se, unless I screwed up, and for the cost, l50 seems like it will drive every headphone I want for awhile. I only want the hifiman se2 which could be an issue, but it looked like from amir test, it needs 1W and this looks like it can do more than enough for that.

 

[bill poster]

Confused as to the 'true balanced' part. If using XLR from pecan pi to L50 and long run XLR to power amp, wd that be acceptable?

 

[Veri]

Confused as to the 'true balanced' part. If using XLR from pecan pi to L50 and long run XLR to power amp, wd that be acceptable?

Err the XLR is just passthrough so same output as PecanPi.

The headphone port has same power over 6.3mm and XLR/4.4mm. The inputs are true balanced, the outputs aren't. But due to the high power SE output that isn't really a problem. For balanced amp you need A90.

 

[flAked]

Passthrough means it's fixed only.
In order to use SE passthrough, you need to also connect SE input with the DAC output. So both RCA and TRS are needed to be connected between the dac and the L50.

So the passthrough is passive through the connectors? Meaning the L50 can be on or off for the passthrough to work?

If I wanted to connect balanced input to L50 and use the SE RCA output as passthrough, I guess that won't work then?

I have the Tone2Pro, which can either have RCA output in SE or balanced (via their connectors/cables), so connecting both is not an option.

 

[bravomail]

thank you for drawing my attention to this very important parameter, I actually thought that there was a constant voltage, but even in this case, adding a little more components would not greatly increase the cost, a rectifier bridge, a pair of capacitors, a voltage reduction chip, perhaps in E70+L70 there will be such an option right away

check out Topping EX5 - it is all-in-one DAC and Headphone Amp.

 

[Dmitriy]

check out Topping EX5 - it is all-in-one DAC and Headphone Amp.

I have already bought a L50+E50, I think it's pointless for me to consider buying an ex5

 

[Itamarz]

Im buying the L50 or A30 pro, can't decide. Did anyone compare?
Im using hd58x and hd560s but think if to buy more power, for possible future needs and the extra juice for sound and transients.
My friend is also buying and has dt1990 and hd6xx.

 

[tential]

Im buying the L50 or A30 pro, can't decide. Did anyone compare?
Im using hd58x and hd560s but think if to buy more power, for possible future needs and the extra juice for sound and transients.
My friend is also buying and has dt1990 and hd6xx.

Compare how? They're clean amps... If you hear a difference between them you're lying. Even the subjective crowd recognized topping is clean and there's no difference between them (at least that's what it felt like from Porta.fi). The only way you could be able to reliably tell the difference between two amps is if 1 amp is distorted(to an audible level) while the other is clean

 

[Noodles]

Im buying the L50 or A30 pro, can't decide. Did anyone compare?
Im using hd58x and hd560s but think if to buy more power, for possible future needs and the extra juice for sound and transients.
My friend is also buying and has dt1990 and hd6xx.

They are the same amp. A30 pro has more power, better build(subjectively) and internal power supply. That’s the difference

 

[Itamarz]

Some reviewers say the A30 has more dynamic punch, better bass, maybe a bit warmer on top.. Can some of it be?
Maybe just with harder to drive headphones?