I consider them some of the most ethical companies that I have worked with. I concur,unlike Ifi With that defective Hip Dac that drain power even when shut off,Ifi won't answer that question,just put a byline in the manual 12hr down to 8 hr,doesn't even last for 5 hours,at least Topping acknowledged their fault,I have much respect for John Yang and company.
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Topping A30Pro Review (Balanced Headphone Amp)
- Thread starter amirm
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Not to mention their measurements are generally confirmed by you and other third parties
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Nango
Major Contributor
All items @amirm tested so far bear the CE logo that is supposed to be the confirmation such a failure won't happen. Indeed, Topping and others simply print the label, that's it.
Did Topping pay to a 3rd party for supervising the manufacturing process so Topping is allowed to bear the CE logo? I guess they did not. As 99% of the other Mfr don't.
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I see what you're saying. But their reaction is much better than other companies that found issues in their products. I've seen other companies deny the issue and then issue a silent/soft revision, so to get the fix you have to buy another unit.
Wow, 10 of them! That's pretty cool. I still don't see how it can make 16Vrms with the maximum +/-18V supplies when the amp is said to be a SE design.
EDIT: I went back to the original measurements to make sure I didn't read it wrong and Amir gets more power with the balanced output than the single ended output which suggests this is a balanced design but you said it isn't. How could the different connections have different power outputs?
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You misunderstand me. I'm agreeing with Restorer John that maybe it's time reviewers start validating key protections are in place and operating. Not specifically Topping products, all of them. Especially with some of the power levels we are dealing with.
Possibly not realistic, but in an ideal world.
I wasn't disagreeing with that. I was just stating the topping had handled this probably better than any other company I have seen.
Of course, I would love for there to be a test for esd, dc protections, etc.
If it was possible, I think checking for roll-off on xlr and rca is important too. Probably is amir is only one person. The only other person I know that does tests with an AP is wolf...
Yeah, that seems to be the truth. Here in Canada, we can't get away with such things and always have to pay the $40k+ fees for FCC/CE certification and then on top of that, depending on application (industrial), we have to get UL/CSA certification. It's one of those reasons no one can truly compete on pricing with Chinese (or many eastern country) products. Some Chinese (to pick on that one country) companies probably do their best to make sure their products would comply and I think Topping would be one of those, but it's still not guaranteed. Who's to say if they do the necessary hi-pot testing to make sure everything doesn't blow up with high voltage discharge. Maybe the L30 proved that they didn't?
EDIT: Also, why would Topping pay a 3rd party to supervise the manufacturing process? That doesn't make any sense. You just provide a production sample for certification testing and they run the tests on it. They don't care how you got it made.
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phoenixsong
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Yep, and pinned if possible
respice finem
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If it was that easy to significantly "tune" a fixed, largely chip-based design, we would see many "stellar" AVR reviews now, but somehow we don't. And, as I've already mentioned, Amir is not hesitating to call "horse and knight", even if the stuff is sold via his company. I have yet to see another such example. Any serious manufacturer will not do "golden samples" in the Internet era, if this would get discovered...Not to mention their measurements are generally confirmed by you and other third parties
BTW, somewhere in this forum there was a "warning" review of a DAC, identical to Topping on the outside, but "el cheapo" counterfeit / found it: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/aimpire-ad10-fake-topping-d10-dac.11244/ Even that could be "spoiled" only by using inferior chips. Tested, communicated transparently. These things can happen sometimes, sic mundus creatus est... We must beware from whom we buy (at least that one is off Amazon now, in Germany).
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It's amazing that you can see CE logo in this review.
Flying supply. You'll be able to find information on the web.
The difference in power is probably due to the steps aren't fine enough. I usually use linear steps as it gets faster in noisy part and gets much more steps where it needs. From our measurements we definitely get the same power from either output port.
Nango
Major Contributor
This was a prototype. Bad enough this site tested it with no certifications from any one. Bet on it, once they launch the mass production the CE label will be there, no matter if they paid or not.
We do have 3rd party certification on our products. The Nango guy just never does his research. In many occasions even from Amir have mentioned this.
The case with L30 is that if no input connected it will pass all the tests as it's essentially fully isolated. When plugged in there is a path for the charge to flow as a voltage differential is created, the charge will find its way to get dissipated. The input opamp being in the path that's why it failed.
It's on the bottom.
I bought another DAC reviewed here. I don't see CE logo on it neither. I don't think the companies claims they are CE compatible. Use it on your own risk.
Nango
Major Contributor
They can't sell it in the EU without this logo, without the CE it can't even be imported into Germany.
OK. We are talking about different regions. I guess the logo is critical for local dealers.
restorer-john
Grand Contributor
My comments are for headphone amplifiers in general. This Topping is a tipping point IMO. A mainstream, low cost, ultra high performance headphone amplifier that can deliver a serious amount of current (and consequent power) into headphones (or short circuits).
It has been obvious for a number of years there is a headphone "power race" in the marketplace and protection for connected 'phones, the device itself and attached human ears is an important consideration. Luckily, the 3 basic tests I proposed only take a few seconds of reviewing time and could summarized into pass/fail for each.
I am most pleased @JohnYang1997 has taken protection seriously, unlike a lot of other products out there. People will be connecting ultra expensive headphones to these little units and the last thing Topping needs, is to be dealing with consequential loss claims.
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