Topping A30Pro Review (Balanced Headphone Amp)

[platimn]

My A30 Pro went dead today with the relay clicking. It's unfortunate because by all appearances this is a solid, well-finished unit. At least the relay protection means it didn't cause any kind of harm while I was out of the house when it must have failed. Now I kind of wish JDS Labs made a higher power unit.

Edit: BTW this was on a power strip connected to a battery backup and there have been no power failures. I can only presume there is a component in the A30 Pro responsible for its demise.

 

[enricoclaudio]

My A30 Pro went dead today with the relay clicking. It's unfortunate because by all appearances this is a solid, well-finished unit. At least the relay protection means it didn't cause any kind of harm while I was out of the house when it must have failed. Now I kind of wish JDS Labs made a higher power unit.

Edit: BTW this was on a power strip connected to a battery backup and there have been no power failures. I can only presume there is a component in the A30 Pro responsible for its demise.

Did you check the fuse?

 

[platimn]

Did you check the fuse?

No, I have not. I actually don't see one with easy access. I just received the unit so I think I'll just give it back.

 

[enricoclaudio]

Makes sense to send it back if it's a recently purchased unit.

 

[enricoclaudio]

I posted this on the A90 thread but wanted to share it over here as well.

I have an A30Pro but the "what if" hit me so I ordered an A90 to compare with the A30Pro. To be honest, I can't decide between the two so I'm keeping both The A30Pro will get balanced signal from the MA mini-i Pro 3 and the A90 balanced signal from the MA X-SABRE 3. Not to mention that they look badass stacked

 

[roshok]

I am really in love with the A30 Pro / D30 Stack connected to Beyerdynamic DT 1990. I tried the SMSL SP200 + DAC last year but somehow it wasn't such a big upgrade compared to my internal Asus Xonar Essence STX Soundcard. The Topping stack however is insane. I am addicted to the clarity and crispness of sound.

I don't want to go back and this is why it makes me sad that this product already broke after 2 months of usage. It died with a "plop" noise on the headphones. Now when I try to turn it back on it's just clicking wildy, making sounds of relais switching. Luckily Amazon is ready to help me out on this one. Sounds a lot like platimn's issue.

I really hope this is just bad luck because I want the (replacement) product to be something I can use the next xx years!

 

[elole]

Hi, I use a topping d30pro connected to my jds atom. My listening volume with iems is when d30pro is at -25db and jds atom low gain at 10 o clock. Does that mean if I were to use an A30pro(lowest gain) with d30pro(-11db preamp), then I would likely be at 10 o clock volume on A30pro? I'm trying to see if the - 14db on A30pro low gain is beneficial enough for sensitive iems.

 

[Noodles]

Hi, I use a topping d30pro connected to my jds atom. My listening volume with iems is when d30pro is at -25db and jds atom low gain at 10 o clock. Does that mean if I were to use an A30pro(lowest gain) with d30pro(-11db preamp), then I would likely be at 10 o clock volume on A30pro? I'm trying to see if the - 14db on A30pro low gain is beneficial enough for sensitive iems.

Someone bring out a calculator ... or ... you can just try it yourself ?

 

[elole]

Someone bring out a calculator ... or ... you can just try it yourself ?

I don't know the formula to calculate XD. I'm actually just using -25db + 14db = -11db lol, it's probably wrong though

 

[sergiob]

Hello everyone, I've just got the A30pro and noticed I can hear music playing even if the pot is all the way down to 0: is anyone else experiencing this?

 

[Noodles]

Hello everyone, I've just got the A30pro and noticed I can hear music playing even if the pot is all the way down to 0: is anyone else experiencing this?

Balanced or RCA in ? … and what gain and what do you use to hear it playin at 0 ?

Bal in, Bal out, medium gain - mine at 0 cannot hear anything

 

[sergiob]

Balanced or RCA in ? … and what gain and what do you use to hear it playin at 0 ?

Bal in, Bal out, medium gain - mine at 0 cannot hear anything

Unbalanced RCA from my D50s and into my IEM at medium gain. Can't hear anything if I switch to low gain though.

 

[Noodles]

Unbalanced RCA from my D50s and into my IEM at medium gain. Can't hear anything if I switch to low gain though.

Tried that, balanced as well and yeah, with my ikko oh10 i can hear it very slightly on medium gain and audible on high gain.
Well .... that's fun. Doesn't really make it a bad amp, it just makes it not ... amazing.

 

[raif71]

I posted this on the A90 thread but wanted to share it over here as well.

I have an A30Pro but the "what if" hit me so I ordered an A90 to compare with the A30Pro. To be honest, I can't decide between the two so I'm keeping both The A30Pro will get balanced signal from the MA mini-i Pro 3 and the A90 balanced signal from the MA X-SABRE 3. Not to mention that they look badass stacked

View attachment 158638

I take it A90 doesn't get as warm as A30pro ?

 

[sergiob]

Tried that, balanced as well and yeah, with my ikko oh10 i can hear it very slightly on medium gain and audible on high gain.
Well .... that's fun. Doesn't really make it a bad amp, it just makes it not ... amazing.

Sorry, didn't mean to ruin it for you :/ It's still an amazing amp otherwise, just not sure if that's an issue at all.

 

[Noodles]

Sorry, didn't mean to ruin it for you :/ It's still an amazing amp otherwise, just not sure if that's an issue at all.

I don't listen to IEM's on my desktop, so it does not really affect me... but i had been offered an amazing deal on a V280 recently...
And this just pushes another button to go for it

 

[enricoclaudio]

I take it A90 doesn't get as warm as A30pro ?

That is correct.

 

[jdan1457]

Hi can someone please let me know how much power the a30 pro outputs with RCA in and single ended out at 50 ohms?

 

[Veri]

Hi can someone please let me know how much power the a30 pro outputs with RCA in and single ended out at 50 ohms?

I would guesstimate around 1.5-1.7W maxed in high gain. In other words, should be plenty

 

[saich]

@JohnYang1997

Hi John I just bought the a30pro and d10 balanced, then I realised that converting d10 balanced to single-ended input would result in high thd+n penalty (as archimago documented in his review). Since the xlr input of a30pro is only for convenience and not in itself balanced (edit: my confusion on this part, the a30pro xlr input is balanced), would that mean using d10 balanced to feed xlr to a30pro will inevitably result in the same thd+n penalty? Thanks.