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I ordered the E8x8 directly from Topping shop. The device arrived in just over a week. Unfortunately, the headphone outputs didn't work right from the start. I simply suspected that the connection cable lost contact during transportation, but because of the warranty I preferred to send the device back for a check instead of doing something myself as usual.
At this point, I would like to say that Topping handled the complaint flawlessly and was very accommodating! I was also correct in my assumption, only one cable connection came loose during transportation despite the proper packaging. After 2 weeks the unit was back and in working condition.
The E8x8 Pre had been on my wish list for some time, as I needed the 8 outputs for my setup and had previously been using several separate interfaces.
The 8 inputs are also occupied faster than you think. 2x Rode NT1, 1 measurement microphone, guitar, 2x aux and two inputs for impedance measurements.
And I like the dB meters as they are pretty good to read. The rack mount is sturdy with nicely screwed on rack ears.
The power consumption of the E8x8 Pre is around 8-10W. Sensitive Europeans find the optional automatic stand-by function of the topping very positive. If the computer goes to sleep, the interface follows after one minute. After wakening all software and apps running as they should, no irritations at least on my system.
For proper StandBy you have to make sure that the computer actually goes into sleep mode and not just switch off the screen. On the Mac, this can at least always be done manually by click or with the ‘Sleep Soon’ app if running background applications would otherwise prevent this.
Sound:
In practice, the sound leaves nothing to be desired, at least if you don't need or want very high studio output voltages. Thanks to the integrated power supply, you are not dependent on weak USB power and can be sure that 2V can be supplied to all outputs at the same time. Additional you can connect the interface via 8 channel ADAT in/out to existing studio gear, as you have the option of a variable 2 channel optical S/PDIF out and world clock BNC out with max. sample rate of 96 kHz.
The dynamics on offer are more than decent. Everything is already at a very good level, apart from minimal deviations in linearity when the microphone amplifiers are cranked to full level. However, this is only a very theoretical issue, if at all, with weak dynamic microphones. Don’t even want to spent time to make dedicated measurements for this topic.
I think the E8x8 easily stands up to any blind comparison to every other interface. There is absolutely no noise and the distortion values are beyond all human perception. I use a diy custom balanced to RCA cable (mono TS to RCA) and there’s nothing to complain about. Running into -6dB dampened amplifier input there’ still enough power to reach 0 dB while SNR is maximised.
All potentiometers feel stable. On the input, with a Rode NT1, the level is already quite good at around 12°°. I don't see any very late-response characteristics with the E8x8; an M-Audio 192/8 rises the pre-amplification definetly later.
It is true that the controls are not completely quiet during operation, but this is not really disturbing either, but is due to the analog design, which can achieves slightly better values than a digital controlled gain setting. Downside: You always have to use the physical knobs to level the input (except the digital gain in the app to raise the signal to monitor listening levels).
Ah yes, monitoring: You really have to be careful that no monitor signal is inadvertently sent to the output to cause a strong feedback. In the delivery state, accidentally pressing a monitor button is enough to cause this. It therefore makes sense to first save a bulletproof setup to the interface.
The configuration and permanent storage from the app to the interface works perfectly and is quickly done.
About the ‚glorious’ powerful and brillant headphone outs:
The two headphone outputs are permanently assigned to the line outputs 1/2 and 3/4. You won't find the headphone outputs in the DAW as separate outputs, but have to assign them appropriately via the topping app / mix routing. This is feasible but a bit of a shame. I would have liked to control the headphones directly via my preferred SoundDesk app, as I need to correct them via EQ. So I have to take the somewhat complicated detour. I guess this is a hardware based ‚feature‘. So if you want to have at direct headphone out fader with dedicated EQ correction in the DAW, you ‚loose‘ 2 line outs therefor or have to accept it the way it is.
The Topping app, SoundDesk and DAW software working together flawless. CPU usage is relative low with 48 kHz 256 Bit. With this setting it runs stable while using a couple of plugins and channels on my older 2020 iMac. RTL is around 10 ms, good enough for life music. You could bring it down to 5 ms if needed.
Conclusion: The interface is a good one. I don't know of any 8x8 in this price range that can even come close to keeping up. Software and usability is very good for the first series.
Thanks to the 8 inputs and outputs, there are many possibilities, you could even make a ‚miniDSP’ out of it. As an experiment, I tested crossover plugins, delay and EQ via the SoundDesk app. It works, but it's very special to use and unfortunately there aren't as many x-over plugins (VST, AU etc.) as there are EQs, gates, compressors and reverbs. At the moment I’m stuck with Apples 12dB AU filters and TBProAudio ISOL8 24/48 dB LR filter plugin. Is anybody out there who can write some nice filter plugins?
Imagine Topping adds a plugin function or specific software based tone controls with the next software revision of the Topping app ... this would generate a software-based 2x4 way DSP + 8 high-quality inputs. Next step could be implementation hardware wise of EQ, XOver for the output and limiter, gate, compressor for the inputs ... how much more could it be?
At this point, I would like to say that Topping handled the complaint flawlessly and was very accommodating! I was also correct in my assumption, only one cable connection came loose during transportation despite the proper packaging. After 2 weeks the unit was back and in working condition.
The E8x8 Pre had been on my wish list for some time, as I needed the 8 outputs for my setup and had previously been using several separate interfaces.
The 8 inputs are also occupied faster than you think. 2x Rode NT1, 1 measurement microphone, guitar, 2x aux and two inputs for impedance measurements.
And I like the dB meters as they are pretty good to read. The rack mount is sturdy with nicely screwed on rack ears.
The power consumption of the E8x8 Pre is around 8-10W. Sensitive Europeans find the optional automatic stand-by function of the topping very positive. If the computer goes to sleep, the interface follows after one minute. After wakening all software and apps running as they should, no irritations at least on my system.
For proper StandBy you have to make sure that the computer actually goes into sleep mode and not just switch off the screen. On the Mac, this can at least always be done manually by click or with the ‘Sleep Soon’ app if running background applications would otherwise prevent this.
Sound:
In practice, the sound leaves nothing to be desired, at least if you don't need or want very high studio output voltages. Thanks to the integrated power supply, you are not dependent on weak USB power and can be sure that 2V can be supplied to all outputs at the same time. Additional you can connect the interface via 8 channel ADAT in/out to existing studio gear, as you have the option of a variable 2 channel optical S/PDIF out and world clock BNC out with max. sample rate of 96 kHz.
The dynamics on offer are more than decent. Everything is already at a very good level, apart from minimal deviations in linearity when the microphone amplifiers are cranked to full level. However, this is only a very theoretical issue, if at all, with weak dynamic microphones. Don’t even want to spent time to make dedicated measurements for this topic.
I think the E8x8 easily stands up to any blind comparison to every other interface. There is absolutely no noise and the distortion values are beyond all human perception. I use a diy custom balanced to RCA cable (mono TS to RCA) and there’s nothing to complain about. Running into -6dB dampened amplifier input there’ still enough power to reach 0 dB while SNR is maximised.
All potentiometers feel stable. On the input, with a Rode NT1, the level is already quite good at around 12°°. I don't see any very late-response characteristics with the E8x8; an M-Audio 192/8 rises the pre-amplification definetly later.
It is true that the controls are not completely quiet during operation, but this is not really disturbing either, but is due to the analog design, which can achieves slightly better values than a digital controlled gain setting. Downside: You always have to use the physical knobs to level the input (except the digital gain in the app to raise the signal to monitor listening levels).
Ah yes, monitoring: You really have to be careful that no monitor signal is inadvertently sent to the output to cause a strong feedback. In the delivery state, accidentally pressing a monitor button is enough to cause this. It therefore makes sense to first save a bulletproof setup to the interface.
The configuration and permanent storage from the app to the interface works perfectly and is quickly done.
About the ‚glorious’ powerful and brillant headphone outs:
The two headphone outputs are permanently assigned to the line outputs 1/2 and 3/4. You won't find the headphone outputs in the DAW as separate outputs, but have to assign them appropriately via the topping app / mix routing. This is feasible but a bit of a shame. I would have liked to control the headphones directly via my preferred SoundDesk app, as I need to correct them via EQ. So I have to take the somewhat complicated detour. I guess this is a hardware based ‚feature‘. So if you want to have at direct headphone out fader with dedicated EQ correction in the DAW, you ‚loose‘ 2 line outs therefor or have to accept it the way it is.
The Topping app, SoundDesk and DAW software working together flawless. CPU usage is relative low with 48 kHz 256 Bit. With this setting it runs stable while using a couple of plugins and channels on my older 2020 iMac. RTL is around 10 ms, good enough for life music. You could bring it down to 5 ms if needed.
Conclusion: The interface is a good one. I don't know of any 8x8 in this price range that can even come close to keeping up. Software and usability is very good for the first series.
Thanks to the 8 inputs and outputs, there are many possibilities, you could even make a ‚miniDSP’ out of it. As an experiment, I tested crossover plugins, delay and EQ via the SoundDesk app. It works, but it's very special to use and unfortunately there aren't as many x-over plugins (VST, AU etc.) as there are EQs, gates, compressors and reverbs. At the moment I’m stuck with Apples 12dB AU filters and TBProAudio ISOL8 24/48 dB LR filter plugin. Is anybody out there who can write some nice filter plugins?
Imagine Topping adds a plugin function or specific software based tone controls with the next software revision of the Topping app ... this would generate a software-based 2x4 way DSP + 8 high-quality inputs. Next step could be implementation hardware wise of EQ, XOver for the output and limiter, gate, compressor for the inputs ... how much more could it be?
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