E30 vs Zen Dac, Sonic Observations

[pogballistics]

My observations between the New E30 which I recently bought and the existing Zen Dac:

E30 sounds more cleaner and let's the sound come in as it is.
Zen dac has a preference signature which maybe be good or bad depending on the listener.
E30 is a bit forward sounding and the Zen dac is laid back.
At same volume level, source, listening position and room the e30 is louder.
Zen dac has mqa support whereas the e30 doesn't have that.
Both are good options for the budget.
E30 has a better genre versatility.

 

[Veri]

At same volume level, source, listening position and room the e30 is louder.

Well I'm afraid that invalidates some of your anecdotal experiences since loudness can easily explain away most of the difference.
In any case, on paper I would definitely think that e30 has quite some advantages over the Zen Dac with its old DSD1793 DAC chip.

 

[pogballistics]

I prefer the E30 as well. Much cleaner and natural sounding.
What would be a decent upgrade from this if I ever wanna move up the ladder?

 

[Veri]

What would be a decent upgrade from this if I ever wanna move up the ladder?

Good question. I like DACs that feature a wild array of I/O like balanced output, AES input, BNC input etc. It all depends on the feature you want. SMSL m500 is a pretty awesome all-in-one kit. RME ADI-2 if you want hardware EQ and crossfeed etc... SMSL m400/Topping D90 are DACs that perform extraordinarily well. But if you just need RCA output it's honestly, hard to beat the Topping E30. You'd be hard pressed to notice any difference when upgrading from it...

 

[raif71]

My observations between the New E30 which I recently bought and the existing Zen Dac:

E30 sounds more cleaner and let's the sound come in as it is.
Zen dac has a preference signature which maybe be good or bad depending on the listener.
E30 is a bit forward sounding and the Zen dac is laid back.
At same volume level, source, listening position and room the e30 is louder.
Zen dac has mqa support whereas the e30 doesn't have that.
Both are good options for the budget.
E30 has a better genre versatility.

I don't have the Zen Dac but I have the Hip Dac which is similar to the Zen if I'm not mistaken. I like both DAC's sound.

 

[pogballistics]

Good question. I like DACs that feature a wild array of I/O like balanced output, AES input, BNC input etc. It all depends on the feature you want. SMSL m500 is a pretty awesome all-in-one kit. RME ADI-2 if you want hardware EQ and crossfeed etc... SMSL m400/Topping D90 are DACs that perform extraordinarily well. But if you just need RCA output it's honestly, hard to beat the Topping E30. You'd be hard pressed to notice any difference when upgrading from it...

Wow. Looks like I made a good choice then.
Thanks to ASR forum for this choice and especially Amir for the measurements on this.

I am more of an RCA output and USB input guy since I'm not sure if I can use balanced connections with my system.

I am having the Q Acoustics 3050i and Rega Brio 2017 latest version.

 

[pogballistics]

I don't have the Zen Dac but I have the Hip Dac which is similar to the Zen if I'm not mistaken. I like both DAC's sound.

Yes they are similar and have the same BB chip too if I'm correct.

What sonic differences do you observe when comparing it with E30?

 

[raif71]

Yes they are similar and have the same BB chip too if I'm correct.

What sonic differences do you observe when comparing it with E30?

Your findings reflect mine so we are both in agreement even though I listened the dac using different amps. I paired the e30 with l30 amp and the ifi hipdac is already a combo dac/amp.

 

[pogballistics]

Your findings reflect mine so we are both in agreement even though I listened the dac using different amps. I paired the e30 with l30 amp and the ifi hipdac is already a combo dac/amp.

I like the mid range on E30. It really brings the sound much closer to me

MQA doesn't improve anything. Qobuz Hires does the job for me tbh.

I've noticed using a Power Bank / Battery pack provides more cleaner output. Obvious a good LPS would be the best option but then again it would cost as much as the E30 or even more.

 

[Strato007]

My recommendation: go for E30. MQA sounds great with the specific equipment. If you use the first MQA unfold from the Apps, it is good enough for you to listen to good quality although redbook 44.1 is fair great for quality with these kind of DACs in terms of noise the less the better.