Topping A50 III Headphone Amp Review

[totti1965]

Well it measures great. What does it bring to the table vs other similar Topping products? Is it offering greater output for less price? I mean it measures as well as some of Toppings other past products.

Well it triples/doubles the balanced power output @300 Ohm/32 Ohm in comparison to the A 50s
-with a tiny disadvantage in S/N ratio.
I also have absolutely no clue, what is to prefer for my Sennheiser HD 58x Jubilee!
I guess: absolutely no difference in practical use.

Look at 1 mikrowatt output: 65 dB (A 50III) vs 80 dB (A 50s)! -
But: Much more power capabilities for the A 50III!
And if you don’t need the ultra high power: Just switch back to medium gain, which is
more or less the performance of the
A 50s in high gain (A 50III: 76 dB @ 1 mikrowatt output - 200 milliwatts maximum).

But surely I hate it, to do all these kind of comparisons with all the 10 or so pre amps / headphone amps
in their lineup. To much to choose?

 

[pablolie]

And still zero features added that make it more usable other than as yet another great measuring DAC and HPA. We seem to have a hundred of semi identical such products now.

Wake me up when these companies add configurable sub outs and easy interoperability with room correction etc.

There should be a "Great but yawn" survey response.

 

[IgorD]

And still zero features added that make it more usable other than as yet another great measuring DAC and HPA. We seem to have a hundred of semi identical such products now.

Topping A50 III Headphone Amp Review

Sorry to say it every time, why don't S.M.S.L., Topping, Fosi listen??????? Slow down on piling up 2 channel devices, think subwoofers, launch 3,4,5 channel devices, sell them at higher enough prices and make more profits, please!! Yes we all know you guys can made great DACs that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

We’ll it triples/doubles the balanced power output @300 Ohm/32 Ohm in comparison to the A 50s

So do L30II/L50

I've been studying this for a bit - do feel free to tell me to get a life..........

OMG, I've been thinking about preparing such a spreadsheet for a while already. Could you please share it with us in Excel format?

Just like DAC's, headphone amps are now a "solved problem", and can be had for <$200.

Generally agree.
But then there is the R2R relay volume control, which fixes possible channel balance imperfections. Which for me is a big deal since I change volume quite frequently.
The L70 ($279) is the cheapest Topping amp that has it.

 

[IgorD]

@amirm
Great review.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?attachments/best-headphone-amplifier-review-measurement-png.480987/

That’s gorgeous TOP 20

Just one thing. Since the chart includes the best score among different input/output combinations, then the L70 deserves a 121 dB score in that chart, as it scored 120.9xx dB (XLR input, 1/4″ output) here :
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...amplifier-unbalanced-measurements-png.247913/

 

[Robbo99999]

I see all of the people asking why this device exists when there are a lot of other Topping headphone amps. As someone who has a D50 III DAC, I appreciate that they released this as it matches the form factor from a stacking perspective. The A50s or other amps may have almost exactly the same performance, but they are slightly different shapes.

View attachment 481196

They do look good don't they.

 

[Robbo99999]

We’ll it triples/doubles the balanced power output @300 Ohm/32 Ohm in comparison to the A 50s
-with a tiny disadvantage in S/N ratio.
I also have absolutely no clue, what is to prefer for my Sennheiser HD 58x Jubilee!
I guess: absolutely no difference in practical use.

Look at 1 mikrowatt output: 65 dB (A 50III) vs 80 dB (A 50s)! -
But: Much more power capabilities for the A 50III!
And if you don’t need the ultra high power: Just switch back to medium gain, which is
more or less the performance of the
A 50s in high gain (A 50III: 76 dB @ 1 mikrowatt output - 200 milliwatts maximum).

But surely I hate it, to do all these kind of comparisons with all the 10 or so pre amps / headphone amps
in their lineup. To much to choose?


View attachment 481255




View attachment 481256

It would be quite cool if a table could be created highlighting the main differences in terms of performance & features/connectivity & price of their various products so you could go down the table and quickly compare them to see where they've improved (or not) and which one fits your requirements & budget the best. I mean I'm not gonna buy a new DAC/amp anyway as I'm fine with SoundblasterX G6 & JDS Labs Atom headphone amp, but it would be interesting (& useful for purchasers) to see a table that encapsulated the essence of the different products for a pretty easy comparison. (I've just realised that someone did a similar table on Page 2, but that's too much info.)

 

[welwynnick]

OMG, I've been thinking about preparing such a spreadsheet for a while already. Could you please share it with us in Excel format?

Here it is - on the preamp tab.

But then there is the R2R relay volume control, which fixes possible channel balance imperfections. Which for me is a big deal since I change volume quite frequently.
The L70 ($279) is the cheapest Topping amp that has it.

Personally I think the L70 rocks. It can generate 18V on the line output, and scored the highest ever SNR in any independent measurement. R2R volume controls used to be the preserve of uncompromised, cost-no-object, megabucks amps, yet now it's only $237.

 

[welwynnick]

It would be quite cool if a table could be created highlighting the main differences in terms of performance & features/connectivity & price of their various products so you could go down the table and quickly compare them to see where they've improved (or not) and which one fits your requirements & budget the best. I mean I'm not gonna buy a new DAC/amp anyway as I'm fine with SoundblasterX G6 & JDS Labs Atom headphone amp, but it would be interesting (& useful for purchasers) to see a table that encapsulated the essence of the different products for a pretty easy comparison. (I've just realised that someone did a similar table on Page 2, but that's too much info.)

That question has obviously been raised before, as Topping have produced these charts to explain the differences - see their website product pages:

 

[totti1965]

That question has obviously been raised before, as Topping have produced these charts to explain the differences - see their website product pages:

View attachment 481353 View attachment 481356 View attachment 481361

Nice chart! And a big THANK YOU - it helps!

But where is the A70 Pro, where is the A50 III - and where the A 900???
We are talking about 17 + Amps!
Who knows, what Topping has forgotten in this comparison???

Topping Amps?
Too many, too good amps...
But no complete package
-it´s that simple.

 

[welwynnick]

But where is the A70 Pro, where is the A50 III - and where the A 900???

You'll have to make do with this:

 

[totti1965]

You'll have to make do with this:

View attachment 481391

That‘s more like it. Here we talking!

 

[Whiskey the Cat]

I voted "fine" rather than "great", because it is basically just another basic HPA that far exceeds my hearing. As long as it is better than my hearing, and produces enough power to drive my headphones, I start looking to features, reliability, and appearance. It scores pretty low on those.

 

[Kevinfc]

No surprise here, I’d be shocked if it wasn’t this good. Topping has the formula for putting out high quality pieces at an affordable price.

 

[DantonIzzo]

I have the Topping A50/D50III with Topping P50 linear power supply. It's a great unit!

 

[totti1965]

I think that test was wrong and I took it out of the ranking for that reason.

Hallo Amir,
Can you tell us in which regard the test may have been wrong?
Was it confusion between weighted and non weighted?
Was it the wrong resistance (1200 Ohm or something like that instead of 600 Ohm)?
Or was it something else?

Would a retest be possible one day?

You did that before for e.g. the benchmark AHB 2 power amp and it was quite informative and told us that
Speakon Connection between Speakers and Power amps are superior.

Sometimes I which this kind of retest also for e.g. the WiiM Pro Plus, given
a) the importance of the item
b) there was a slight modification during the production time after 4 months or so
(hence, I think, you have testet the already modified version)
c) it works now with roon!
d) in general: it would be so interesting to find out, if companies can hold an extremely high
standard even during very long production times (same problem in Photography:
Is Leica Canada as good as Leica, build in Wetzlar?
Is a Nikon produced in China as good as an item build in Japan etc.

Sometimes the answer is not as nice as the consumer would wish it is……

 

[Mherwolf]

I had one of these for a little over a year, along with the matching D50III DAC, and it is beautifully built and was reliable for the time I had it. I recently sold it to replace with the DX5II, purely because I wanted an all-in-one device. For those wondering, the A50s/D50 combo and the A50III/D50III combo are different sizes, with the latter combo being wider. Similarly, their P50 power supply only matches in size with the smaller A50s/D50 combo. Other than that they are both great amps.

I'd love to know if there are any sonic differences between the D50III/A50III combo and the DX5II? If one already has the D/A50 combo and is totally happy with the form factor, any reason to get the DX5II? I'm speaking purely on sound quality (extra power, bells and whistles excluded)...

 

[honn]

I'd love to know if there are any sonic differences between the D50III/A50III combo and the DX5II? If one already has the D/A50 combo and is totally happy with the form factor, any reason to get the DX5II? I'm speaking purely on sound quality (extra power, bells and whistles excluded)...

My sense is that the general consensus in this forum as well as the double-blind studies seem to suggest that properly designed and perceptibly transparent DACs and amps (pretty much almost all of Toppings' offerings) won't be distinguishable from each other for most people under proper testing condition (volume-matched, blinded, etc).

 

[Hifihedgehog]

Nothing can satisfy you

In 10 years with the top A50 XIII... distortion is -200 dB. Amir: Pssh. Amateurs.

Top of the "roost" for 199$

It is crazy how good this price point is these days. I remember Walt Disney World used to have a high-end headphones binaural listening area at the Animal Kingdom park, oh, about 20 years ago. It was equipped with Beyerdynamics at the time (yes, the infamous treble peaks of death) and an undisclosed black box amplification and DAC system. I don't know if they would bring back such a listening station but this should definitely be on the short list of "insanity level transparency" amplification systems.

 

[amirm]

Can you tell us in which regard the test may have been wrong?

My memory is hazy but I seem to recall I used a higher output voltage than 50 mv.

 

[respice finem]

...the infamous treble peaks of death...

BTW: I still use two Beyerdynamic headphones (with PEQ)