topping a30/d30 pro stack vs a50s/d50s stack

[whirlwynds]

looking for guidance on the Topping D30 pro vs d50s DAC

I am kind of in between the two. I have an a50s and d50s DAC and just got an a30 pro amp. will there be any benefit to moving to a full d30 pro DAC to complete the stack? I would lose bluetooth but gain balanced connection and also two more DAC chips. output voltage looks the same @ 2v, specs seem maybe even a little better on the a50s/d50s stack with the exception of power. I guess you'd also lose some DAC capabilty 384khz vs 768khz

headphones:
fiio fh7 iem
Beyer dt880 600ohm
audeze lcd-2.3 fazor 2014 70 ohm

thoughts?

 

[TurtlePaul]

A benefit that you would actually be able to hear with human ears? No.

Pretty much Topping's entire product line is transparent, you are just paying for better numbers on the high end and features like MQA, sample rates or balanced connections (which themselves don't improve the listening experience).

 

[whirlwynds]

gotcha. so aside from the more power with the a30 pro vs a50s, may as well leave the DAC component alone.

 

[TurtlePaul]

gotcha. so aside from the more power with the a30 pro vs a50s, may as well leave the DAC component alone.

The A30 pro is a single-ended amplifier internally, so you won't even get more power if you went full balanced.

 

[whirlwynds]

interesting. didn't realize the output was single ended on the a30pro. any benefit to having full balanced out on the a50s or the a90? a50s is only SE-in bal-out

 

[aandres_gm]

interesting. didn't realize the output was single ended on the a30pro. any benefit to having full balanced out on the a50s or the a90? a50s is only SE-in bal-out

Balanced gives you more power than single ended, as you can see on both the A50s and A90. However, the A30 Pro has tons of SE power, so chances are you won’t be missing anything from sticking to it vs going to the A90, for example.

 

[Lupin]

Balanced gives you more power than single ended, as you can see on both the A50s and A90. However, the A30 Pro has tons of SE power, so chances are you won’t be missing anything from sticking to it vs going to the A90, for example.

A30Pro has quite a bit more power on SE output than the A50s on BAL.
That being said both provide more then enough power to drive 99% of the headphones properly.

 

[TurtlePaul]

There are theoretical grounding advantages perhaps for balanced but this doesn’t have to be an issue for a well designed single-ended device. If you hear no 60 hz/120 hz ground loop hum then I would stick with the A30 pro which is a great amp.

 

[Wuzel]

There are theoretical grounding advantages perhaps for balanced but this doesn’t have to be an issue for a well designed single-ended device. If you hear no 60 hz/120 hz ground loop hum then I would stick with the A30 pro which is a great amp.

The A30pro has balanced inputs and its highly recommended to feed him with them

 

[whirlwynds]

The A30pro has balanced inputs and its highly recommended to feed him with them

Yup. But it’s a little misleading. Single ended out!

 

[usern]

I have an a50s and d50s DAC and just got an a30 pro amp. will there be any benefit to moving to a full d30 pro DAC to complete the stack?

Yes, there is big benefit in that you will be able to get full power from the stack. Feeding RCA to the A30pro you will get much less power / volume out of DT 880 pro 600 ohm. I have D30pro / A30pro stack, DT 880 pros and JDS Atom AMP. When I use RCA inputs on A30pro, I will get around same volume as with JDS Atom AMP from 880 600 ohm, but much more volume with XLR inputs.

Actually, it doesn't have to be D30pro, any DAC that will output 4V balanced signal will do (E50 will be cheaper and just as good sound quality for example).

 

[Human Bass]

I had the 50 stack and had issues with a local radio station interference. The balanced 30 stack solved the issue.

 

[Lupin]

There are theoretical grounding advantages perhaps for balanced but this doesn’t have to be an issue for a well designed single-ended device. If you hear no 60 hz/120 hz ground loop hum then I would stick with the A30 pro which is a great amp.

A30Pro has balanced input to help against ground loops.
Balanced HP out doesn't do anything against ground loop issues.

ps.
A30Pro has a ground lift switch on the back that might also help against ground loops in an SE input setup.

 

[Wuzel]

Yup. But it’s a little misleading. Single ended out!

Has nothing to do with 'ground loop' issues

And there is no misleading for me with that.

 

[usern]

The A30 pro is a single-ended amplifier internally, so you won't even get more power if you went full balanced.

This is wrong assuming by 'full balanced' you mean XLR amp + XLR DAC instead of RCA DAC + RCA A30pro. Generally, RCA is 2V and XLR is 4Vso you are going to get more power from headphone out (any connector) if you use XLR A30pro inputs instead of RCA because input voltage to the A30pro is higher.

 

[TurtlePaul]

This is wrong assuming by 'full balanced' you mean XLR amp + XLR DAC instead of RCA DAC + RCA A30pro. Generally, RCA is 2V and XLR is 4Vso you are going to get more power from headphone out (any connector) if you use XLR instead of RCA because input voltage to the A30pro is higher.

No, 2V vs 4V you get more gain, not power with the A30 pro because it is single ended internally.

 

[Wuzel]

No, 2V vs 4V you get more gain, not power with the A30 pro because it is single ended internally.

Jep, but it's hard to find hot SE Outputs around 3V (at high gain clipping begin above 2,7V and max Power near 2,8V)

Or as i say - we need a pre-amp before the head-amp

 

[usern]

No, 2V vs 4V you get more gain, not power with the A30 pro because it is single ended internally.

Are you saying that A30pro + DT 880 pro 600 ohm sound the same loudness with A50s (RCA) vs D30pro (XLR) (high gain switch on A30 pro, volume knob on max)? My experience is with RCA DAC, the volume will not reach as high as with XLR DAC.

 

[TurtlePaul]

How loud it sounds at a given volume is a function of gain, not power.

 

[usern]

Sorry, I meant D50s instead of A50s.
A30pro + D50s - less power output from headphone out at max volume position.
A30pro + D30pro (or any other dac to connect with XLR) - more power output (and louder) from headphone out at max volume.