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Bought Topping L30, Now Fiio Q5s or Topping E30?

Scouky

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Oct 12, 2020
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Hi guys.

Currently, I'm using my Q5 as the USB DAC to pair with my Topping L30. Considering an upgrade for my old Q5.

I seldomly bring my Q5 out, so desktop usage is the priority. But still, sometimes I need a portable device with some power, like when going to a HiFi expo, or some offline product show.

Is it better to buy the new-gen Q5s as an All-in-one, or to buy E30 and use the rest ~220 USD to buy a DAP simply for outdoors? As most DAP performs only 48KHz/32bit in USB DAC mode I don't want to invest too much outdoors-only.

Both use dual AK4493 afaik, can someone tell me about the difference between these two? I'm just curious what aspects does the 220 USD price delta seat in for the Fiio Q5s, is it only about all the functionality like Bluetooth, balanced output, portability, etc? Or the sound is also better than E30?

Thx for any advice :)
 

AnalogSteph

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Nov 6, 2018
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Released early 2018 = "old"?

The Q5s measures a bit... quirky. I guess it wouldn't be a FiiO if they didn't mess something up. The signal path may be full of (crummy) ceramic capacitors.

I guess I would get an E30 or just a D10s (depending on the feature set you need) and just keep the neolithic Q5 for portable use. There is little point in upgrading from dual AK4490s to dual AK4493s if device performance is falling way short of either. These devices need TOTL DACs for bragging riights only.
 
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