Topping A30Pro Review (Balanced Headphone Amp)

[Pepper81]

@Noodles

I've a question:if I purchase a headphone amplifier with high voltage capability and with Output Power 400/500 mW on 3oo ohm in SE
I don’t need a DAC with balanced and unbalanced outputs.
The connection via RCA between DAC and Ampli would guarantee me the same performance?

 

[Noodles]

IF your source (USB/Coax/Fiber) is clean and stable, it does not matter that much what dac you use - pick your poison out of the cheap top dacs and that is that.
The amp on the other hand - yeah if you got 4-500mW in 300ohm - you will get stuff plenty loud.

The only problem there would be how early in the volume the amp will clip/distort.
Sooo hypothetically lets say your headphone needs 1500mW to get to 80dB and your amp distorts past 730mW (This is not a realistic scenario, its just for illustration !):
Borrowing amir's chart:

--See inflection delta

Then your headphones in this scenario will not be sufficiently powered and you will get severe distortion.

So again, this is hypothetical, thus when you are looking at the measurements for the amp, you should be aware of this graph in particular for the headphone you are suggesting.
Just check measurements so you know you got sufficient headroom, other than that - hp amps should be transparent unless you are looking at very specific "coloration" and it really does not matter that much what you get these days as even very cheap amps *see schiit magni/heresy or jds atom* are very very capable.

 

[Pepper81]

I am seriously considering buying the Sennhesier HD600.
Max power rating of the HD600 is 200mW continuous so 500mW.

According to many users, An amp I designed specifically for driving high imp. headphones has 14V output voltage (700mW/300 ohm)
There are various models that I am considering as Lake People G100/G111 and Topping A30 pro
The prince range is 300/400 euro
I have no problem buying an ampli with XLR/RCA input But i've doubt about DAC
I'd use Ampli only in unbalanced connection and not XLR

 

[Noodles]

I think you should look at the L30/D30 if that’s your only driver.

 

[Veri]

I think you should look at the L30/D30 if that’s your only driver.

Or DX3 Pro+ really (or EX5).

 

[Noodles]

Or DX3 Pro+ really (or EX5).

I forgot about the EX5. It is a very good buy.

 

[UltraPro]

I am seriously considering buying the Sennhesier HD600.
Max power rating of the HD600 is 200mW continuous so 500mW.

According to many users, An amp I designed specifically for driving high imp. headphones has 14V output voltage (700mW/300 ohm)
There are various models that I am considering as Lake People G100/G111 and Topping A30 pro
The prince range is 300/400 euro
I have no problem buying an ampli with XLR/RCA input But i've doubt about DAC
I'd use Ampli only in unbalanced connection and not XLR

If you can go fully balanced (meaning buying balanced headphone cable for your phones) then I would suggest Gustard H16. I don't know the market really well, but overall I think Gustard H16 is the better product, given that it offers over 1 W power at 300 ohm, which might benefit your HD600s. I have to say though I don't understand what Topping specifications mean when they list their power output being "2x" (as listed here). I take that the true output is the value without doubling it. Maybe someone could tell?

EDIT. I guess you are saying you won't use balanced, but your post is not completely clear. Balanced system is good though, consider it.

 

[Noodles]

2x just means for both channels… Which is technically correct and I think it’s there to trick people looking at numbers (more=better?? I guess).
But I have to disagree for the rest … all headphones gain better drivability with more power but it only pertains up to a point of distortion.
Since we are talking about the 600’s which have an average impedance of about 300 ohm (it varies in the fr) - you will only ever need about 200mW into 300 ohm at which point you might literally die from ear drum explosion and blood loss.
There is nothing to gain from a more powerful amp for the 600’s.
I also had both the H16 and the A30 pro until a few days ago and I can say they sound identical ( as they should ). There is a significant drawback on the Gustard because of the volume control (check the review - most of them have the problem). There is also a significant benefit to the H16 - remote control.
In terms of balanced or unbalanced - there is no difference in sound quality (feelings can’t be measured). Balanced just solves problems, provides more power and gives you options. If that’s what you need - go for it. Otherwise with modern amps - it’s pointless.
I would love if there was a difference in sound quality for balanced as that would justify my obsession to have everything balanced for no reason but that I like the connectors more

 

[Lupin]

I agree with @Noodles here.
That the Gustard H16 has more power than the A30Pro doesn't automatically make it "the better product". Especially since the A30Pro already has more than enough power to drive the HD600 properly, even with some EQ.

Actually when you look at the reviews the A30Pro SE output objectively measures better than the Gustard H16 balanced output, think that already says enough about the quality of SE output these days and that you don't need balanced just for the sake of balanced.
Yes the H16 has a bit more raw power but at the cost of more noise. Personally I prefer 800mW of clean(er) power which already never going to need than 1W of more noisier power.

The low gain mode doesn't seem to be that great. It has slightly lower noise but distorts much earlier. Medium gain seems to be a good everyday setting with high gain reserved for less efficient headphones. Max power while more than enough, loses out to competing products which go as high as 1 watt or twice as much.


In high gain mode, we have decidedly higher noise than competing products. Max power is a bit short again but balanced mode is available for more power.

I'm not saying that the H16 is a bad product. But saying that the H16 is the better product only based on that has a bit more of raw power is short sighted imho.

 

[UltraPro]

I'm totally not saying that Topping A30 Pro would not be sufficient, it is way more than that, but sometimes the overall package of the competing product is more compelling, like the R2R volume control of the Gustard H16. Again, this feature will likely never make an audible difference, but it's more of an assurance of quality. Also extra headroom for future headphones you might buy is a decent idea, since if you get a demanding 300 or even 600 ohm headphone, you may regret your decision. With amps it's better to buy a little bit more than you need so you don't have to sell old and buy new in the future, which will get expensive. Perspective is the thing here.

By the way the mentioned issue about Gustard H16 is hardly anything to talk about, it is much more important to have that little bit of extra power than let things like the following bother you, though it's good they get spotted and reported:

"I did notice a minor issue though: at some increment levels of volume control there is a faint tick. I think this happened between levels 31 and 32 and then in 70s. It is a bit annoying but again, it is faint"

 

[phoenixsong]

Stepped relay volume control is highly desirable, especially for sensitive IEMs. I was really tempted to get a Sabaj A10H because of this reason. If only it had balanced inputs and gain control! Also not sure about its output impedance

 

[Lupin]

Also extra headroom for future headphones you might buy is a decent idea, since if you get a demanding 300 or even 600 ohm headphone, you may regret your decision

First of all the impedance of headphones alone doesn't tell how hard it is to drive, there are other important parameters that decides how hard it is to drive. Just saying 600 ohm doesn't automatically make that headphones hard(er) to drive.

Secondly it will will be an extreme edge case where 800mW isn't enough to drive a headphone and 1W is, very unlikely to happen often if at all.

You seem to be a fan of the H16 which is totally fine, as I said before the H16 is not a bad product at all.
I just want to bring in the nuance that more isn't automatically better especially when less is already enough.

 

[Noodles]

I'm totally not saying that Topping A30 Pro would not be sufficient, it is way more than that, but sometimes the overall package of the competing product is more compelling, like the R2R volume control of the Gustard H16. Again, this feature will likely never make an audible difference, but it's more of an assurance of quality. Also extra headroom for future headphones you might buy is a decent idea, since if you get a demanding 300 or even 600 ohm headphone, you may regret your decision. With amps it's better to buy a little bit more than you need so you don't have to sell old and buy new in the future, which will get expensive. Perspective is the thing here.

By the way the mentioned issue about Gustard H16 is hardly anything to talk about, it is much more important to have that little bit of extra power than let things like the following bother you, though it's good they get spotted and reported:

"I did notice a minor issue though: at some increment levels of volume control there is a faint tick. I think this happened between levels 31 and 32 and then in 70s. It is a bit annoying but again, it is faint"

Interesting … I thought that the other problem also got mentioned… past 69 ( yeah yeah get it out of your system ) on the gustard - the volume is not very linear anymore. Each step further seems to be increasing the volume more exponentially rather than linearly - meaning each increase puts out more volume per tick than between 0-69. I don’t know if it was a design decision or it’s unintentional but sometimes you can’t stay on medium gain and you have to switch to high gain to get 0-69 proper volume adjustment.
It is not a dealbreaker of course but I thought it was a known factor.
I don’t have a strong preference for volume controls these days - digital is always really good, but I do like the clicks on the gustard too.
Also the chassis does not seem to be properly grounded or galvanically isolated - at least on my unit. I have a few all metal adapters for 3.5 to 6.35 that when made contact with the chassis - one or both channels would cut out.
I did sell my H16 because it was more bulky than the A30 pro - not because of issues or anything, and I also wanted to step in Schiit (yuck)

 

[Pepper81]

@Lupin

You made me think about something I didn’t care about
If you have an Ampli overpowered, the risk is to introduce noise in excess
If I need,m let's say 700mW/at 300 ohm and 1/14 Volt in order to Drive at Full Potential HD600, WHY I should Buy An amp
with more powerful capable of generating more current (ex 1000mw)?
The risk is to introduce noise in the signal?
I understand well?
Thanks

 

[Noodles]

@Lupin

You made me think about something I didn’t care about
If you have an Ampli overpowered, the risk is to introduce noise in excess
If I need,m let's say 700mW/at 300 ohm and 1/14 Volt in order to Drive at Full Potential HD600, WHY I should Buy An amp
with more powerful capable of generating more current (ex 1000mw)?
The risk is to introduce noise in the signal?
I understand well?
Thanks

It all comes down to what point the amp starts distorting and if your headphone resistance load is constant ( most aren’t ) so you do need some headroom. What we are trying to say is that very very few headphones will ever need more than a few hundred mW into 300 ohm (or whatever load) to actually get unbearably loud.
Amps these days have waaay more power than anyone actually needs.

 

[Pepper81]

By checking the specifications both Topping A30 pro and Lake People G100/103 has about 800/900 Mw
Even the price is similar,Can we say that they are equivalent in terms of performance?

 

[Lupin]

By checking the specifications both Topping A30 pro and Lake People G100/103 has about 800/900 Mw
Even the price is similar,Can we say that they are equivalent in terms of performance?

We can't.. perhaps if you just look at raw power output.
As far as I know Amir has not reviewed the G103 yet so we don't know anything about it. Without those measurements that power output doesn't mean that much imho. We don't know how high the noise floor is or how high the distortion is to get to this power output for example.
So many questions about the performance that a simple x watt at x ohms number can't answer.

Based on Amir's review of the G109 I don't think the chance is very high the objective measured performance will be better, or even equal, to the A30Pro.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Stepped relay volume control is highly desirable, especially for sensitive IEMs. I was really tempted to get a Sabaj A10H because of this reason. If only it had balanced inputs and gain control! Also not sure about its output impedance

It is true that stepped relay volume control is more desirable. The low gain setting pretty much makes it a non issue for sensitive IEMs.

 

[JohnYang1997]

By checking the specifications both Topping A30 pro and Lake People G100/103 has about 800/900 Mw
Even the price is similar,Can we say that they are equivalent in terms of performance?

A30pro outputs 840mW at 300Ohm. Amir showed a bit less because of the more course step used and the point of clipping chosen.

 

[enricoclaudio]

A30pro outputs 840mW at 300Ohm. Amir showed a bit less because of the more course step used and the point of clipping chosen.

@JohnYang1997 I got the A30Pro last week and I'm really impressed. Very powerful amp that drives all my headphones effortless. However, there is always the "What If" itch. So today I ordered the A90 to compare both. I got the A90 to get more headroom when listening with my DCA AEON 2 Noire which are 13 ohms and 92dB. The A30Pro gets a bit warm when listening for more than 1 hour. Do you think the A90 would work cooler than the A30Pro when driving the AEON 2 Noires? BTW, I have balanced cables for all my headphones (4.4mm and 4 pin XLR adapters wit Hart Audio cables)