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NEOHIPO ET30 VU Meter Speaker Switcher Review

Rate this VU meter/Selector

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 5 2.1%

  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 10 4.2%

  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 55 23.3%

  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 166 70.3%
  • Total voters
    236
Just received mine, it's beautifully made and I love the retro look. Unfortunately, it's behaving strangely connected to my SMSL DA9 amp. The main issue is that the needles are responsive even when the volume output on the DA9 is set to zero and there is no source material playing. It doesn't make a difference if the volume is at 70 with no source, the needles still flick erratically sometimes halfway across the range. Output from speakers is silence, as expected.

One important thing I did notice is that by muting the amp this behaviour doesn't occur which leads me to think there is some kind of current leakage from the DA9 even when there is no signal being fed to it from the DAC.

The manual suggests this might be due to a poor quality USB PS but I've tried three including a powerbank and the behaviour is the same. Reducing the swing range as an alternative solution improves things but then when playing music the needles are largely unresponsive. Setting Swing Range to the 12 o'clock position and listening to the opening track of DSOTM I would expect increasing deflection with the ever louder heartbeat but this is not the case. Rather than respond to changes in sound intensity the meters seem to have a mind of their own! I've just paused The Great Gig in the Sky on the PC and the needles are still dancing away despite the silence!

Another peculiarity is the Sensitivity dial seems to have no discernible effect whether set to min or max. Hmm.

I'm not using this as a switching device and I've tried using both speaker outputs A and B and Inputs 1 and 2. I've also ensured the MIC is off and I've swapped between M and D modes and even changed out the DA9 for another DA9. Nothing makes any difference.

So either I have a faulty ET30, two faulty or poorly designed DA9s (I hope not) or this piece of kit just doesn't work well with the DA9. I have a hefty Exposure integrated which I may try later if I can be bothered to unhook it all .... but in the meantime does anyone have any suggestions?
 
mikeedanz said:
Just received mine, it's beautifully made and I love the retro look. Unfortunately, it's behaving strangely connected to my SMSL DA9 amp. The main issue is that the needles are responsive even when the volume output on the DA9 is set to zero and there is no source material playing. It doesn't make a difference if the volume is at 70 with no source, the needles still flick erratically sometimes halfway across the range. Output from speakers is silence, as expected.

One important thing I did notice is that by muting the amp this behaviour doesn't occur which leads me to think there is some kind of current leakage from the DA9 even when there is no signal being fed to it from the DAC.

The manual suggests this might be due to a poor quality USB PS but I've tried three including a powerbank and the behaviour is the same. Reducing the swing range as an alternative solution improves things but then when playing music the needles are largely unresponsive. Setting Swing Range to the 12 o'clock position and listening to the opening track of DSOTM I would expect increasing deflection with the ever louder heartbeat but this is not the case. Rather than respond to changes in sound intensity the meters seem to have a mind of their own! I've just paused The Great Gig in the Sky on the PC and the needles are still dancing away despite the silence!

Another peculiarity is the Sensitivity dial seems to have no discernible effect whether set to min or max. Hmm.

I'm not using this as a switching device and I've tried using both speaker outputs A and B and Inputs 1 and 2. I've also ensured the MIC is off and I've swapped between M and D modes and even changed out the DA9 for another DA9. Nothing makes any difference.

So either I have a faulty ET30, two faulty or poorly designed DA9s (I hope not) or this piece of kit just doesn't work well with the DA9. I have a hefty Exposure integrated which I may try later if I can be bothered to unhook it all .... but in the meantime does anyone have any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Hello, I'm very sorry for any inconvenience caused. May I ask where you purchased it from? You can contact our after-sales personnel to see what the problem is, and we will help you solve it as soon as possible.
 
amirm said:
This is a review and detailed measurements of the NEOHIPO ET30 VU meter and 2 in, 2 out speaker selector. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $160 but is on sale for 20% less on Amazon.
View attachment 334398
Let me tell you: you are not a hifi nerd if your heart did not melt as mine did the moment I saw the gorgeous, large VU meters!!! :D What's more, they are lit via very uniform lighting RGB LEDs. Above is set to yellow-green but you can change them to almost any color with the middle knob. Each color was stunning in how intense and beautiful the shades were.

The good story doesn't end there. There is acceleration with damped return. You set the range for the VU meters with the left knob. The right knob programs how fast they act, from very slow on far left to quite nimble (for their size).

The case is made out of solid metal giving the unit a nice feel and ability to hold on to speaker wires without getting pulled. Switches feel very good as well. A microphone is also provided if you want to use that as the pick up instead of wires:
View attachment 334399

A USB-C cable is provided which I connected to my PC for testing. You can of course use any USB-C adapter.

For my testing, I used the unit parallel to my amplifier. In other words, I did not test it as a switcher but VU meter. Speaking of "VU," I tested it for accuracy. As you would guess, it is not very accurate. -3 dB for example would show -2 dB. So this is really for fun and visualization that there is a signal there, not as an instrument.

I did find one minor limitation. If you push more than 30 volts RMS (225 watts into 4 ohm), the meter pegs to max but may not always return to zero if you remove the signal. Power cycling fixes this. Something is saturating and latching.

Neohipo ET30 Measurements
For testing, I fired up the Purifi reference design amplifier so that we have a high-performance instrument to measure the impact of VU meter. This is how it performs by itself (one channel is a bit distorted due to loose speaker connection which I fixed for later tests):
View attachment 334400

Now the same but with both channels wired in parallel with speaker wires to ET30 (and rather long cables at that):
View attachment 334401

As you see, there is no impact at all. Same story is true for both frequency response and crosstalk:
View attachment 334402
View attachment 334404

To make sure it can handle high power, here is our sweep to clipping:
View attachment 334403

We can be sure that there is no impact on the amplifier.

Conclusions
We finally found it: a near perfect VU meter to warm our hearts and feed our eyes as we listen to our music! It has no impact on the connected device which is as it should be but has not in other VU meters we have tested. The build quality is excellent and looks are exquisite. Controls for such things as bandwidth are a great icing on the cake. Go ahead and order one for your holiday present. You will be happier for it!

I am happy to recommend the Neohipo ET30 VU meter.

----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Click to expand...
1) How did I miss this review until today? :rolleyes:
2) This product has zero chance of diminishing the resale value of cheezy plastic Radio Shack "power" meters from the mid-1970s. :facepalm: ;)

1727718084818.png

source: https://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/flipbook/1977_radioshack_catalog.html pg. 25
 
Todd k said:
It sure would be nice if a member who has the know how and equipment to test this as an amp switcher. I would love to be able to switch between my older monster boat anchor amps (Bryston, adcom, pass lab) and some of my newer class d amps to see how much difference if any I could detect. Also test this for switching between speakers. I have some nice ones and would not want to take a chance on damaging anything, speakers or amps. Still my old nostalgic hippie in me loves dancing needles.
Click to expand...
I'm using it to switch between a McIntosh MC2105 and Schiit Vidar 2. Amir doesn't recommend this, but I've had no problems so far. However, with Amir's caution in mind I think I'll do the switching prior to powering on either amp. I really don't need to do any live A/B switching. I just want to be able to enjoy either amp when it suits me.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2024-10-17 at 9.00.38 AM.png
    Screenshot 2024-10-17 at 9.00.38 AM.png
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mhardy6647 said:
Full disclosure -- I would love to have a proper vintage color organ! Their cost as vintage ephemera, however, is prohibitive (and, to date, I've never found one at the dump).
Click to expand...
I enjoyed looking at that Radio Shack catalog archive. Earlier on they sold many different brands including McIntosh and Dynaco to name a few. Interesting to see them progress to RS branded components in the 70’s and onward.
 
amirm said:
This is a review and detailed measurements of the NEOHIPO ET30 VU meter and 2 in, 2 out speaker selector. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $160 but is on sale for 20% less on Amazon.
View attachment 334398
Let me tell you: you are not a hifi nerd if your heart did not melt as mine did the moment I saw the gorgeous, large VU meters!!! :D What's more, they are lit via very uniform lighting RGB LEDs. Above is set to yellow-green but you can change them to almost any color with the middle knob. Each color was stunning in how intense and beautiful the shades were.

The good story doesn't end there. There is acceleration with damped return. You set the range for the VU meters with the left knob. The right knob programs how fast they act, from very slow on far left to quite nimble (for their size).

The case is made out of solid metal giving the unit a nice feel and ability to hold on to speaker wires without getting pulled. Switches feel very good as well. A microphone is also provided if you want to use that as the pick up instead of wires:
View attachment 334399

A USB-C cable is provided which I connected to my PC for testing. You can of course use any USB-C adapter.

For my testing, I used the unit parallel to my amplifier. In other words, I did not test it as a switcher but VU meter. Speaking of "VU," I tested it for accuracy. As you would guess, it is not very accurate. -3 dB for example would show -2 dB. So this is really for fun and visualization that there is a signal there, not as an instrument.

I did find one minor limitation. If you push more than 30 volts RMS (225 watts into 4 ohm), the meter pegs to max but may not always return to zero if you remove the signal. Power cycling fixes this. Something is saturating and latching.

Neohipo ET30 Measurements
For testing, I fired up the Purifi reference design amplifier so that we have a high-performance instrument to measure the impact of VU meter. This is how it performs by itself (one channel is a bit distorted due to loose speaker connection which I fixed for later tests):
View attachment 334400

Now the same but with both channels wired in parallel with speaker wires to ET30 (and rather long cables at that):
View attachment 334401

As you see, there is no impact at all. Same story is true for both frequency response and crosstalk:
View attachment 334402
View attachment 334404

To make sure it can handle high power, here is our sweep to clipping:
View attachment 334403

We can be sure that there is no impact on the amplifier.

Conclusions
We finally found it: a near perfect VU meter to warm our hearts and feed our eyes as we listen to our music! It has no impact on the connected device which is as it should be but has not in other VU meters we have tested. The build quality is excellent and looks are exquisite. Controls for such things as bandwidth are a great icing on the cake. Go ahead and order one for your holiday present. You will be happier for it!

I am happy to recommend the Neohipo ET30 VU meter.

----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Click to expand...
Wondering if this will handle my Rogue Audio DragoN (500wpc/4ohms) as one if the amp sources?
 
Just for your possible interest and reference...

I recently shared six new dancing video clips of my DIY-built 12-VU-Meter Array (IEC60268-17 compatible) together with all the on-screen Peak Meters of audio software tools while playing reference/sampler music tracks by JRiver MC, ADOBE Audition 3.0.1 and MusicScope 2.1.0;

New video clips of dancing 12-VU-Meter Array (IEC60268-17 compatible) together with all the on-screen Peak Meters of audio software tools while playing reference/sampler music tracks by JRiver MC, ADOBE Audition 3.0.1 and MusicScope 2.1.0:
____Part-1: using a typical reference/sampler music track suitable for high-Fq (treble) transient music sound
post #974 on my project thread
____Part-2: using a typical reference/sampler music track suitable for mainly checking and tuning of low Fq (bass) transient music sound as well as total tonality Fq-SPL balance all over 15 Hz to 22 kHz
post #975 on my project thread
WS003747.JPG


WS003746.JPG
 
Last edited:
Older thread, so my apologies if this has been answered already.

If I don't need the amp/speaker switching capability or if I prefer to not add this into the signal path, is there a way to send a signal to this unit not using my main speaker cables? I just want those beautiful vintage-looking VU meters. (Not interested in the mic input, by the way.)

If so, what gauge hookup wire should I use? Would this cause any issues doing it this way?

Thanks!
 
Cal_Cobra said:
It'll be interesting to test out all three models, but I may already be biased towards the Neohipo ET30 with it's adjustable RGB LED colored VU meters, McIntosh blue will look great!
Click to expand...
Please could I enquire if you ever did this testing, and what were the results ?
 
I did not find it in this rather long thread, but is there some kind of impedance matching during switching so the amps do not die? any information on that?
Thanks in advance
 
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