Quick Review: Topping E2X2 OTG

[BadAudioAdvice]

I recently upgraded the microphone that my wife uses for her video conferencing, so I inherited her old microphone, and wanted to use it for myself - and needed an audio interface for it.

I purchased the Topping E2X2 OTG, but ended up returning it very soon after opening it - so I can't speak to too much beyond my initial first impressions.

The good:
- Looks fairly nice, I had the white version.

The bad:
- Uses a red light to indicate that phantom power is ON. Green would make more sense.
- Software installs a persistent background app without explaining what it is for.
- Software doesn't show the gain level for the input. The movement of the physical knob and software knob are linked, but I didn't see anywhere where it showed what the actual gain setting was.

The ugly:
- Software crashed when I clicked on the 'Settings' icon. Repeatedly. Tried many times, reboots, etc. This was a show-stopper for me, hence the packing it up and returning it. Since so much of this interface is controlled by software, having it crash is a deal-breaker.

Side note: Unrelated to the Topping, as many interfaces in this price range are similar, but I wasn't expecting to notice the absence of locking XLR connectors, but this was my first experience without locking connectors, and I certainly missed the reassurance you get when you hear the connecting 'click'.

 

[boxerfan88]

- Software crashed when I clicked on the 'Settings' icon. Repeatedly. Tried many times, reboots, etc. This was a show-stopper for me,

That’s interesting. What were the reported crash reason in Windows Application Log? <I assume you’re running Windows)

BTW, the ToppingPro crash never happened to me. I’m kinda curios about the cause.

 

[boxerfan88]

Side note: Unrelated to the Topping, as many interfaces in this price range are similar, but I wasn't expecting to notice the absence of locking XLR connectors, but this was my first experience without locking connectors, and I certainly missed the reassurance you get when you hear the connecting 'click'.

Yeah… missed opportunity.

 

[BadAudioAdvice]

That’s interesting. What were the reported crash reason in Windows Application Log? <I assume you’re running Windows)

BTW, the ToppingPro crash never happened to me. I’m kinda curios about the cause.

Running macOS 15.2. When it crashes it brings up the crash log - which doesn’t show a reason, interesting feature in Windows for it to be able to provide a reason.

 

[jdjung]

Running macOS 15.2. When it crashes it brings up the crash log - which doesn’t show a reason, interesting feature in Windows for it to be able to provide a reason.

On my Windows 11 device it's been solid now for the last few days. I use the OTG to combine to my PC and now I can pick up phone calls and route people that call me to my mobile phone to be able to hear and speak in Microsoft meetings. I am using a Samsung Fold 5 with Android 14, so your mileage may vary.

 

[jdjung]

So, yeah I'm back to give an update. I started having jitter issues.

So I've been sitting here trying to figure out why I started having jitter issues with the E2x2 OTG. Now the jitter started happening when I switched to OTG mode with optical going to the Topping E50 and I updated both firmware and the latest drivers, and also when I tested the Mobile phone, while everything was hooked up to the PC. Strangely enough had NO issues when I didn't update anything.

I also noticed TWO Topping background apps running in the background and could be viewed in my Windows 11 task bar popups, next to where your clock and audio controls are on the taskbar (the little arrow pointing up). I should have taken a screen shot, but I completely had to reinstall Windows 11 to get rid of the jitter and not installing any Topping drivers, as reinstalling Windows 11 is a pain, as I always do a CLEAN reinstall and have over a TB of audio plugins for my DAW, I really dislike reinstalling Windows 11.

I think it has to do with the drivers and clock assignments. There are FOUR clocks in my chain, the E2x2 OTG, Topping E50, Mobile Phone USB Clock, PC USB Clock. I think the Topping Drivers may have messed up which device is the Master Clock. I really don't know, or it could be something completely different.

Is anyone else having issues after firmware and software updates? For now, I'm just going to plug in my RME UCX II to the PC, use the Topping E2x2 OTG in OTG mode only, attached to the RME with TRS cables, and use the E50 only as a convertor for the RME UCX II with optical or coaxial interconnects.

I just bought the RME UCX II as it has a crazy deal where you get Sonarworks SoundID Reference software and SoundID Reference mic for free.