Topping A30Pro Review (Balanced Headphone Amp)

[AnalogSteph]

This sounds more like a power supply fault to me. It seems unable to support the relay current long-term, resulting in a reboot (a very typical "tired electrolytic" kind of issue, so possibly a bad part or bad solder joint that made in through QC). Either that, or the protection circuitry is not latching, so the output should be checked for a briefly appearing DC voltage as well.

 

[BenF]

Anyone have experience with faulty A30Pro, my unit suddenly stopped working and instead generates a clicking noise when powered on. I was hoping Topping products were durable but it turns out they're not, not sure what to do with this brick now, any suggestions will be appreciated.

You can use it as a metronome now...

 

[Rayman30]

Fingers crossed, my A30Pro D30Pro is going strong, could someone link to replacement fuses? I may still opt to have them around.

 

[Magnifico]

ONE guy jumps into conclusions and now everyone is happy his own unit is still alive?
BAD luck....thats all (for now). If there was a serious problem you would find it on the net.

Samsungs S22 Ultra ear piece problems....Goggle Pixel 7 (pro) camera glas problems....for example....WELL known problems.
Though my Pixel 7 does not suffer from this.
There is one guy with a A30 pro having something like this defekt.....but seems clear he really plugged cables while on full power.
Well that is as stupid as it gets seeing A30 pro is THIS POWERFUL.

 

[Magnifico]

I just bought one....finally pulled the trigger. After discussing with myself...if the money is justyfied.
Bought the A30 pro for 249€.

I have/had a SMSL SP200 for something like two years now. This is a fantastic and strong Amp. But together with my DT1990 pro it may be an "unlucky" combination.

I´m listening the first hours with A30 pro now....but already have the opinion it was right to somehow "side-grade" to the A30 pro.
DT1990 pro was pretty "challenging" on longer listening runs with the SP200 since its very strong on the highs and SP200 seemes to support this matter.
I have the Filter from "Solderguy" installed and still its...."challenging" And I´m from 1976.

With A30 pro its more laid back, less stressing. But still the same authority...the same punch.
Details seem to be a very little on the plus with the SP200, but this can be because its sounds brighter....false recognition on my side.....beford final conclusion I´d want to have 20-50 hourse on the Topping. The A30 pro seems to have even blacker background wich blows my mind. SP200 was a new universe to me back then and everyone ever head my combination is shocked how clear music can sound
A30 pro tops SP200 in this regard.

 

[Magnifico]

Scratch that remark the SP200 having more details. Maybe in the highs (again maybe just me thinking because it´s brighter sounding),
but in the midrange I´d even give the edge to the A30 pro.
Plus....I think the soundstange is a little bit bigger with the Topping one. Actually without A-B Testing I think it´s noticeable.

But guys as said from soo many guys....those are minor differences between superb devices.
Those devices have such good performance that if you don´t have master class ears it´s more preference than performance what should lead to your decision.

With a Sennheiser HP I surely wouldn´t have considered to switch. If you buy a device that good the first time...well...I´d personally would say
- with very bright headphones stay away from SP200
- with very warm headphones stay away from A30 pro

Since I´ve read so many times....the SP200 just sounds what a THX driven device should sound....you should stay away from any THX driven device alltother in this regard.

 

[usern]

But guys as said from soo many guys....those are minor differences between superb devices.
Those devices have such good performance that if you don´t have master class ears it´s more preference than performance what should lead to your decision.

Those differences are likely just imagination. And I agree, you should not decide which neutral amp to buy based on how they sound, but rather if they output enough power for your needs and what features they have (inputs, outputs, remote, etc). At moderate volume any amplifier recommended on this site is good to go and does not color the sound, is transparent.

 

[Magnifico]

Well that´s what is to discuss....NEUTRAL.

I say SP200 is more aggressive in the highs, possibly more details there
I say A30 pro tames the DT1990 pro a little more, tiny bit more details in the mids and a wider soundstage.

If someone would say....I hear more punch with any of the devices I´d be puzzled.
Both drive my DT1990s like a champ.

But yes...it´s not day and night but noticeable.


BTW: My dac is the wonderful SMSL SU-9

 

[PoisonRoses]

Anyone have experience with faulty A30Pro, my unit suddenly stopped working and instead generates a clicking noise when powered on. I was hoping Topping products were durable but it turns out they're not, not sure what to do with this brick now, any suggestions will be appreciated.

My unit also had same fate. Now it's just lying on my desk. Quite sad as i seldom used it over period of 2 years, probably total use time is about 48-72 hours i think. I've got instruction from Topping how to open it, but I don't have the tools and I'm not a repairman.

 

[raif71]

My unit also had same fate. Now it's just lying on my desk. Quite sad as i seldom used it over period of 2 years, probably total use time is about 48-72 hours i think. I've got instruction from Topping how to open it, but I don't have the tools and I'm not a repairman.

Hmmm, my A30pro and D30pro too have been lying in their boxes for quite sometime...The last I used them were close to 1 year now. Hopefully there're still ok.

 

[Jimster480]

My unit also had same fate. Now it's just lying on my desk. Quite sad as i seldom used it over period of 2 years, probably total use time is about 48-72 hours i think. I've got instruction from Topping how to open it, but I don't have the tools and I'm not a repairman.

That is a shame, there must be an issue with the design here.

 

[Lupin]

That is a shame, there must be an issue with the design here.

Why is there an issue with the design?

How many issues are there and how many units have been sold?
We don't know the answer to the second question as Topping doesn't share that information. So, your conclusion that there must be something wrong with the design is... assumptive at best.

 

[enricoclaudio]

I don't think design is the cause for some of Topping's amps to failure. I think is more related to QC than anything else. I have owned a few Topping devices, including D90SE, E50, A30Pro, A90 and A90D. None of them had a failure on me, at least for the time I owned them which in all cases was no more than 6 months. Personally, I have decided to not purchase any Topping product until they improve their QC and CS.

 

[Jimster480]

Why is there an issue with the design?

How many issues are there and how many units have been sold?
We don't know the answer to the second question as Topping doesn't share that information. So, your conclusion that there must be something wrong with the design is... assumptive at best.

Well these units honestly haven't been out for very long considering how many people have reported that they have issues with the units failing even with a low number of hours used. That means there is some kind of issue with the design that is exceeding the tolerances of one or more of the components in the design. And as such it Cooks the units regardless.
If you go back and look in a thread like the topping D50 from back in the day there are basically zero reports of people claiming that it broke and it's been many more years. While the volume may not have been as high when there are no reports of failures then it basically means the design doesn't fail.
I personally have a topping DX7 first generation that still works fine other than me breaking the USB interface and it probably has 10,000 hours of use on it if not more. Since I used it basically all day every day during my biggest years of software development.

So I don't think it's unreasonable to point out a potential defect in a product that most of the posts over the last year have just been people complaining about failures.

 

[Jimster480]

Why is there an issue with the design?

How many issues are there and how many units have been sold?
We don't know the answer to the second question as Topping doesn't share that information. So, your conclusion that there must be something wrong with the design is... assumptive at best.

Well these units honestly haven't been out for very long considering how many people have reported that they have issues with the units failing even with a low number of hours used. That means there is some kind of issue with the design that is exceeding the tolerances of one or more of the components in the design. And as such it Cooks the units regardless.
If you go back and look in a thread like the topping D50 from back in the day there are basically zero reports of people claiming that it broke and it's been many more years. While the volume may not have been as high when there are no reports of failures then it basically means the design doesn't fail.
I personally have a topping DX7 first generation that still works fine other than me breaking the USB interface and it probably has 10,000 hours of use on it if not more. Since I used it basically all day every day during my biggest years of software development.

So I don't think it's unreasonable to point out a potential defect in a product that most of the posts over the last year have just been people complaining about

 

[Ahmonge]

That means there is some kind of issue with the design that is exceeding the tolerances of one or more of the components in the design

This cannot be stated without reliable numerical data, including a) the number of units sold, b) the number of units suffering a particular failure and c) the percentage of failures considered "normal" for the design and components used. Only Topping and its distribution network has access to this data and -to my knowledge- has not published it.

 

[Jimster480]

This cannot be stated without reliable numerical data, including a) the number of units sold, b) the number of units suffering a particular failure and c) the percentage of failures considered "normal" for the design and components used. Only Topping and its distribution network has access to this data and -to my knowledge- has not published it.

You can make a educated guess about such things especially when they are obvious that this unit has more failures than other units. I also suspect it wasn't the most popular thing to purchase considering its pricing in the market, competitors and the fact that Topping didn't spend much time talking about it and it isn't even regularly stocked in most places. You can also see from the site Drop that there weren't many requests for it. So even if the data isnt published by Drop it is still possible to make a semi reasonable determination.

 

[Dunring]

I've bought and sold seven of them, and been scanning all of the secondary market since I buy $5k a month in audio equipment. I've never seen an A30Pro being sold in non working condition. Compared to the Drop THX789, where you could go on eBay right now and buy five in protection mode with the red light stuck on. Also, if it was a big problem, Reddit would be lit up with messages like that problem, but it's not. Sounds like an isolated problem because outside this thread I've never heard of it. It's really nice amp as long as you don't have a cat, who will make it their new cat-warmer-upper.

 

[Jimster480]

I've bought and sold seven of them, and been scanning all of the secondary market since I buy $5k a month in audio equipment. I've never seen an A30Pro being sold in non working condition. Compared to the Drop THX789, where you could go on eBay right now and buy five in protection mode with the red light stuck on. Also, if it was a big problem, Reddit would be lit up with messages like that problem, but it's not. Sounds like an isolated problem because outside this thread I've never heard of it. It's really nice amp as long as you don't have a cat, who will make it their new cat-warmer-upper.

Makes no sense that it is only this thread. Reddit is a failsite, I wouldn't compare it to anything. Possibly people on there didn't buy it? You don't see many around in general.

Also why would you buy 7 of them?

 

[raif71]

I've bought and sold seven of them, and been scanning all of the secondary market since I buy $5k a month in audio equipment. I've never seen an A30Pro being sold in non working condition. Compared to the Drop THX789, where you could go on eBay right now and buy five in protection mode with the red light stuck on. Also, if it was a big problem, Reddit would be lit up with messages like that problem, but it's not. Sounds like an isolated problem because outside this thread I've never heard of it. It's really nice amp as long as you don't have a cat, who will make it their new cat-warmer-upper.

That would be catastrophic