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Quick power consumption measurements of Topping E30 and E30 II Lite

salmo

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I had a possibility to play some time with both Topping E30 and E30 II Lite. I like to play with power efficient stuff or optimize power consumption of PCs or my servers, so I made some simple measurements of power consumption:

DAC mode with A-O setting (so with active auto ON/OFF mode) when in usage:
E30 - 2,3 W
E 30 II Lite - 2,6 W

DAC mode with A-O setting in standby:

E30 - 1,4 W
E30 II Lite - 1,6 W

Now the most important one - DAC mode with A-C setting (so with inactive auto ON/OFF mode) in standby:
E30 - 1,2 W
E30 II Lite - 0,0 W - below the measuring range, it's literally minimal! Even if I unplug power brick, orange dot continues to glow for about 3 seconds.

Looks like second generation on E30 made some improvements here. Sadly with L30 II we still have that huge AC-AC brick - yeah, it's easy and do exactly what it should, but it sucks 2-3 W doing virtually nothing. :confused:
 
Sadly with L30 II we still have that huge AC-AC brick - yeah, it's easy and do exactly what it should, but it sucks 2-3 W doing virtually nothing. :confused:
Same for the AC supply that comes with an Atom Amp+ (almost 3 W doing nothing). Not the last word in efficiency even for a transformer job, but I guess there's not an infinite choice in factories still making these and their stuff is a bit rustic. It's not like this issue is trivial to fix either while keeping the benefits of a linear transformer.
 
So in operation they become 0.47 amps, while in stand by they are 0.28 amps. Right?
 
Question on E30II lite power requirements...

I just got a Topping E30II lite. I hooked it up to my Raspberry Pi 4 and was surprised to find that the DAC wouldn't power up with the simple USB-only connection. I had to connect a 5V phone charger (Anker 5V 2.1A rated) to its DC input jack, which did light it up and get it working.

1.6W/5V = 0.32A (320mA)

The RPi4 is being powered from a Canakit 5.1V 5A switching power supply. 5 ampere rated. I figure that should allow the RPi4 to deliver another 320mA through its USB ports.

I have an external powered USB hub connected to one of the RPi's USB ports. That hub has two external USB hard drives connected to it. Theoretically, the RPi4 should not be powering those hard drives because they're connected to a USB hub with its own 5V power adapter. Right?

The RPi4 has SS USB ports, which should provide enough current capability to light up the E30II lite. But apparently something in the E30II lite's firmware is saying, "Uh uh, don't power up, not enough juice on tap."

Does that sound right? I wonder if the E30II lite DAC I got is a dud. Any ideas on a good test for this?
 
Does that sound right? I wonder if the E30II lite DAC I got is a dud. Any ideas on a good test for this?
Try plugging the E30II Lite into the powered USB hub with its known good power supply capability.

Also, a USB power meter is very useful in situations like this.
 
Try plugging the E30II Lite into the powered USB hub with its known good power supply capability.
Yes, I did that, early on. Suprisingly, it didn't power up that way either. Weird, right?

a USB power meter is very useful in situations like this.
I do need to get one of those inline USB meter things. Have you found a particularly good one? Or are they all good enough?
 
I do need to get one of those inline USB meter things. Have you found a particularly good one? Or are they all good enough?
For basic USB-A current sensing, they all should do the job just fine.

I like my FNB48, but you can safely spend less.
 
I happened to have a new-in-the-box Sabrent powered USB hub, waiting to be experimented with.
I noticed that its transformer is rated 5V DC 2.5A.

I figure the E30II lite might need 1A to light up.

With two hard drives connected to the hub, connecting the DAC to the hub directly (without its own DC power supply) resulted in the DAC not powering on (no standby LED; dark in front).

Plugging the USB from the DAC to the RPi4, without the external PSU connected to the DAC, resulted in the same situation (DAC no power).

Connecting the DC power supply to the DAC's DC input (barrel connector) makes it power up, no problem.

I disconnected the two external hard drives from the powered USB hub.
I connected the DAC USB-only to the powered USB hub.
I booted up the RPi4, with the DAC connected by USB only. Nope. The DAC still did not power up.

This USB hub has power switches for each of its 4 USB ports. If I turn off the USB port the DAC is connected to, but connect the DC power supply to the DAC, the DAC powers up.

The one and only way to get this DAC to power up is to connect a PSU to its DC input (barrel connector).

That ain't right, is it?
 
I think I've figured it out.
I'm pretty sure the power hookup requirements for the E30II lite are the same as for the E30II, and those are the same as for the E30.

In Amir's review of the E30, he wrote:
It is a similar setup as Topping D50 with external USB power (mandatory for all inputs). For my testing, I hooked up the power input using the supplied cable from my USB display hub (next to its data port).

"mandatory for all inputs"
 
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