Topping A30Pro Review (Balanced Headphone Amp)

[Raex]

I will, you mean the sound the circuity it generates itself right?

Yep, not the coil whine but actual music coming out of the circuitry itself (faint according to the_brunx).

 

[Leiker535]

Yep, not the coil whine but actual music coming out of the circuitry itself (faint according to the_brunx).

... Featuring the all new Moving Magnet DACnology, the D30Pro will play the bits just like vinyl, providing a warm, texture and ultimately euphonic feeling.

 

[Cidious]

Got the A30 Pro in too today. Had to make some new cables to cater to the TRS passthroughs on the back and some short XLR interconnects.

Used some Gotham GAC-2 Pro that I still had laying around with my own RCAs on it that I didn't use anymore. Bit over the top but I bought some 10 meter a couple of years ago. Connectors used are from Neutrik. Industry-standard stuff. Solid price/quality ratio. Amphenol is ok too. I am an audio lover.. Not a wallet sadist... Looking at some of the boutique stuff.. just makes me giggle.

A few hours later and a hole in my leg because the soldering iron fell off the desk right into my leg through my pants and all.. unexpected BBQ..

A short pair of XLRs and a longer pair of XLR->TRS to my ADAM T5V active monitors.

Then after a short check if the AMP worked correctly, it was time to change the feet just like I did for my D30 Pro.

And there we have it my new desktop stack ready for battle.

Haven't heard any noticeable difference with my A50s, just the OCD is satisfied with having 2 matching devices now ready for the next house and desk I'll be moving into next week.

 

[Cidious]

Yep, not the coil whine but actual music coming out of the circuitry itself (faint according to the_brunx).

Dead silent for me...

 

[Lupin]

@Cidious
Cables look very nice! I'm sure with the right marketing you can sell them to audiophiles for big bucks

Totally agree that this matching spread (Zeos calls it spread when you put it next to each other) looks waaaaaay better and certainly way less OCD inducing. Some nice heavy duty feet under under the D30Pro and A30Pro, I'm sure the difference in SQ between with and without feet is night and day!

 

[Cidious]

@Cidious
Cables look very nice! I'm sure with the right marketing you can sell them to audiophiles for big bucks

Totally agree that this matching spread (Zeos calls it spread when you put it next to each other) looks waaaaaay better and certainly way less OCD inducing. Some nice heavy duty feet under under the D30Pro and A30Pro, I'm sure the difference in SQ between with and without feet is night and day!

Yeah the spread is lovely. and it's interesting but somehow suddenly it got very warm. But I wasn't really putting any load on it. But when running my Beyer 600ohms it's just luke warm. not sure what's causing the temps to rise.. a bit counter intuitive..

As for the power. OMG. This thing does drive my Beyers 600 ohm really well. At medium gain no distortion and then from about 65-70% volume the fun begins. They just suddenly wake up and start swinging... A bit more headroom than the A50s (balanced headphone out) had. I had to max out the A50s and it wasn't quite there yet. For these specific cans that is.

 

[Lupin]

Yeah the spread is lovely. and it's interesting but somehow suddenly it got very warm. But I wasn't really putting any load on it. But when running my Beyer 600ohms it's just luke warm. not sure what's causing the temps to rise.. a bit counter intuitive..

According to the Topping website the AMP runs in full Class A with headphones >250 ohms.
Perhaps that is what you're experiencing.

 

[Cidious]

According to the Topping website the AMP runs in full Class A with headphones >250 ohms.
Perhaps that is what you're experiencing.

View attachment 144283

I had read that and yes that's probably it. There is this sudden shift. It's amazing.

 

[sanakimpro]

Yeah the spread is lovely. and it's interesting but somehow suddenly it got very warm. But I wasn't really putting any load on it. But when running my Beyer 600ohms it's just luke warm. not sure what's causing the temps to rise.. a bit counter intuitive..

As for the power. OMG. This thing does drive my Beyers 600 ohm really well. At medium gain no distortion and then from about 65-70% volume the fun begins. They just suddenly wake up and start swinging... A bit more headroom than the A50s (balanced headphone out) had. I had to max out the A50s and it wasn't quite there yet. For these specific cans that is.

Hi Cidious,
I am looking for an amp for my Beyerdynamic T1 (first gen), DT 990/600 and HD600. I am currently using O2+ODAC or Chord Mojo but thought it's time to upgrade. I will probably be using the ODAC to drive an amp. Can you recommend the A30 Pro or can you recommend anything else?

Amps on my radar: A30 Pro, A90, iFi Zen Can, Magni 3+. Other recommendations welcome

Thanks!

 

[Veri]

Hi Cidious,
I am looking for an amp for my Beyerdynamic T1 (first gen), DT 990/600 and HD600. I am currently using O2+ODAC or Chord Mojo but thought it's time to upgrade. I will probably be using the ODAC to drive an amp. Can you recommend the A30 Pro or can you recommend anything else?

Amps on my radar: A30 Pro, A90, iFi Zen Can, Magni 3+. Other recommendations welcome

Thanks!

I would definitely recommend A30 Pro for those Beyers. And in the long run, maybe replace the ODAC with a cheap balanced DAC like the Topping D10B.

 

[Cidious]

Hi Cidious,
I am looking for an amp for my Beyerdynamic T1 (first gen), DT 990/600 and HD600. I am currently using O2+ODAC or Chord Mojo but thought it's time to upgrade. I will probably be using the ODAC to drive an amp. Can you recommend the A30 Pro or can you recommend anything else?

Amps on my radar: A30 Pro, A90, iFi Zen Can, Magni 3+. Other recommendations welcome

Thanks!

I can definitely recommend the amp for the your cans. I've got a pretty similar lineup of cans and i also have a pair of very power hungry planars. The A30 Pro drives them all on medium gain to maximum levels. I had the A50s and although it was very good it was on the edge for the 600 ohm Beyers and the Planars.

The A90 has a preamp function for if your ODAC doesn't have this for a set of active speakers. I don't own the ODAC or O2 amp so I don't know.

That said the A90 only has that and balanced headphone outputs. Which would be useful for more power but since the A30 Pro has literally plenty of power single ended it's not really a pro for the A90 over the A30 Pro in that way.

I personally haven't heard the other amps you mention so I can't judge from my own experience but I heard they are all pretty fine. Although from what I read the A30 Pro is a step above that in terms of cleanliness and power.

What I can say about the A30 Pro is that it's SUPER transparent and clean. There is practically no coloring going on and the sound in = amplified sound out. So is the A50s but less powerful than the A30 Pro.

If you're looking for an amp to give you a certain tonal change, this ain't it. Its the most neutral amp I've listened to. And I say that as a plus.

I also want to mention that the A30 Pro really works well together with the D30 Pro. Although it should work fine with your DAC too.

Do you really want to listen to the tonal character of your headphones without coloring of the sound and tons of power in a compact well built housing then A30 Pro could be for you.

 

[Sharur]

I haven't noticed any differences worth noting when comparing A30Pro to NAD C372 headphone out in sighted tests lol. I got the A30Pro because I wanted infinite headroom for my 600 Ω beyers in a small package. Build quality is superb, especially love the smoothness of the volume knob. Only minor annoyance is how close the 1/4 inch output is to the volume control.

 

[JohnYang1997]

I had read that and yes that's probably it. There is this sudden shift. It's amazing.

There's no sudden switch per se. For normal listening level it's probably always class A. It's just run longer hence warmer. Or you stacked with something or you put somewhere without air flow. A30pro just normally runs a bit hot.

 

[Sharur]

This amp is a joy to use. Can't wait for D10 Balanced

 

[Cidious]

There's no sudden switch per se. For normal listening level it's probably always class A. It's just run longer hence warmer. Or you stacked with something or you put somewhere without air flow. A30pro just normally runs a bit hot.

The shift was about the headphones coming alive. Not the temps.

I have not concern about the temperatures. Other than that I couldn't understand why sometimes it's warmer than other times.

Again it doesn't seem a concern to me. Its not that hot. But thanks for your reply.

 

[JohnYang1997]

The shift was about the headphones coming alive. Not the temps.

I have not concern about the temperatures. Other than that I couldn't understand why sometimes it's warmer than other times.

Again it doesn't seem a concern to me. Its not that hot. But thanks for your reply.

Oh ok.

 

[Cidious]

I would definitely recommend A30 Pro for those Beyers. And in the long run, maybe replace the ODAC with a cheap balanced DAC like the Topping D10B.

The Topping D10b is already available here and I almost bought it for my TV and then I saw it only has optical and coax OUT.. not IN.. I think this is the Achilles heel of the product. Not having an optical IN makes it a PC/PHONE only DAC. Else it could have been the ultimate go to DAC for TV setups too for 2.1 active speakers. I'm unclear if TVs do USB OTG with DACs like Android phones do.

 

[Sharur]

I haven't noticed any differences worth noting when comparing A30Pro to NAD C372 headphone out in sighted tests lol.

Further elaborating on this, I began to think there were some differences after listening to the A30Pro for a while, but didn't want to fall into the subjective trap again. Did a level matched blind test and couldn't tell the difference.

 

[Cidious]

Further elaborating on this, I began to think there were some differences after listening to the A30Pro for a while, but didn't want to fall into the subjective trap again. Did a level matched blind test and couldn't tell the difference.

Well I haven't heard the NAD C372 headphone output but if this is a transparent amp too then this makes absolute sense. It should just amplify the sound and not add any coloration and thus sound the same. The difference for the A30 Pro is that it highly likely has a ton more power at rediculous low noise levels.

This is the reason I like Topping amps. They have a ton of power nowadays but sound neutral and transparent so I can add my own flavor with the different headphones that I use that have their own characteristics.

 

[Sharur]

"Cidious, post: 862741, member: 5707"}The difference for the A30 Pro is that it highly likely has a ton more power at rediculous low noise levels.

Yup one of the reasons I got it. The NAD has an audible buzzing noise a bit beyond comfortable listening levels. But if I want the sound to be incredibly loud it's in noise floor territory.