Topping A50s Headphone Amplifier Review

[kkeretic]

I have balanced headphone cables for my cans but if the balancing part can't be done from the DAC out to the Line in on the A50s then how will this give any benefit?

More power (if required).

 

[Cidious]

More power (if required).

Hmmm I'll put that to the test.

 

[Cidious]

So far very happy with the unit. It's quite a smooth sounding amp but details and clarity are great. I have little complaints. Nice pairing with the D50s and my active speakers.

 

[Pdxwayne]

If I am going to use preamp mode 50% of time, does it matter I get A50s vs L30? Thanks!

 

[kkeretic]

If I am going to use preamp mode 50% of time, does it matter I get A50s vs L30? Thanks!

If you want to constantly plug in and out the headphones, take the A50s. If you want to reach the preamp function via the switch, take the L30. I suggest the L30 in your case (of course if you don’t need a balanced headphone output).

 

[Pdxwayne]

If you want to constantly plug in and out the headphones, take the A50s. If you want to reach the preamp function via the switch, take the L30. I suggest the L30 in your case (of course if you don’t need a balanced headphone output).

Thanks! I guess audio quality wise, preamp from either should be the same?

 

[Cidious]

After some more listening the best thing I can give it is that it's so buttery smooth no matter at which volume. It's simply the most pleasing amp I've ever listened to. It's better than the Lehman. Smoother but more detail and attack. So precise.

The only gripe I have with it is that the single ended output needs max gain and volume to max my beyerdymamics 600ohm drivers and the planar magnetics from Fostex out. But I'll make a 4.4mm balanced cable for it this week and see how that flies.

That moment when you want to keep playing music is the moment when you know you got it right.

This amp is heavily recommended for desk audio lovers.

 

[David_kl]

Got my A50s/D50s/P50 about a ~week ago, ordered from audiophonics.fr (wasn't really sold on the "warranty" from china, I was on the shenzhenaudio site and didn't really understand their "take" on warranty , or if it offered one at all, shipping took alot more time then it should,
shipping to Israel should've been 6-8 days but it took more than 14 days to get here, not sure if pandemic related or what, what's more infuriating is that they didn't write my phone number on the shipping label so they couldn't sent me the bill for the taxes I've had to pay (not sure how its in your county, but I've had to call the post office and wait for 1/2 hour until they answered and told me I need to call the EMS department (international mail), a phone number that isn't even listed on the post's site.), so 120$ in taxes later I could finally drive to the local post warehouse and pickup my package. (sorry for the rent, but I've wasted a hour of my time for something simple that shouldn't happen in the first place.. )

Back to the Topping stack, As I said earlier, it replaced my NFB-11.28 that served me well (expect the the USB, it was definitely a miss, never worked properly, but that probably has more to-do with the model than my specific unit from what I read, which is funny as it supposedly uses a "decent" of the shelf amanero usb interface).

I got the P50 for convenience/looks, what really struck me at first how small the D50s/A50s are, and the volume knob is just tiny, I would admit I liked the bigger knob on the NBF when it comes to usability/ease of use. I like that the USB actually works as intended and there is no noise from the pc on my JBL LSR305 if I game which is impressive(little wins). with the NFB I was using optical exclusively (as the USB would at best work for 20 10 minutes before it decided I'm not worthy and just cut off/skip and so on) and a 3 way optical switch to switch between the TV(PS4), PC and aptX BT receiver, now I can use the USB to the PC, optical for the TV and the BT is integrated to the dac.

the volume knob is usually at 12 to 3 (low gain and depends on the content) with my Beyerdynamic T1.2, but I use oratory1990 eq which has a -5.3db preamp settings so that doesn't help, without the eq the volume knob is significantly lower.
And I've ordered a 4.4mm balanced cable from hart audio, its a custom order for the beyers with 3.5mm connectors so it might take sometime to get here, but the stock cable is too long for desk use anyway (3m braided cable...).
The remote that comes with the d50s is nice and doesn't have the generic Chinese plastic feeling that gives you an itch, I honestly found the 3 "not relevant" buttons (OK, Line Out, M) really useful as I just mapped them on the Flirc to pause\play, previous and next, and I like the option to increase the volume on the amp and use the pre-amp on the DAC to control the volume when I want the get farther away from the desk.
The only downside I have with the A50s is the lack of pre-amp switch, I don't know why (and obviously its totally my mistake) but I was sure that I've read on the specs that the A50s would be in pre-amp mode when its in "stand-by", I really don't know why and how I've got that idea in my head, but I've came to my senses only after ordering the full stack, It something I'm really used to from the NFB (and one of the reasons I've got it in the first place) but I'll have to deal and live with it, I don't use the speakers much anyway, but when I do - I miss the simple switch.

I did order the TOPPING TCR1-25 RCA cables, they are 25cm and very thick/stiff so the only way they made sense was with the P50 in the middle of the stack, the p50 gets somewhat hot so I didn't find it very ideal, and more over I've noticed that the connection the cables made was somewhat poor and even the smallest touch would make the audio cutoff (even trough the plug was very firm in the RCA plug), I've grabbed the most generic and thin RCA cables from the box and they don't have such issues, so I guess the cables are a pass, I would look at shorter and thinner non braided cables for the stack, here is a picture of the before (top picture is the current state):

SQ: can't complain here, I do think it sounds better than the NFB but I didn't even try to A/B between the 2, why bother? on one side the NFB-11.28 wasn't measured here before, and I'm sure that it would measure better than the NFB-28 and R2R as its a "simpler" design still its audio-gd so expectation is low.. but objectively - the D50s is a great DAC for the price, and the A50s is on of the best measured headphones amps here.

 

[Cidious]

Anyone here tried the difference between the 6.35 single ended output and the 4.4 balanced one? I ordered the parts to make balanced 4.4 cable for my cans and will replace the mini xlr in them from 3p to 4p to get it sorted. Why? Because single ended is not having any headroom in power pushing my cans. I'll have to max gain and volume out and then still the cans have more headroom. I'll keep you guys posted if it's worth to go balanced or just use single ended with more thirsty cans.

 

[raif71]

Anyone here tried the difference between the 6.35 single ended output and the 4.4 balanced one? I ordered the parts to make balanced 4.4 cable for my cans and will replace the mini xlr in them from 3p to 4p to get it sorted. Why? Because single ended is not having any headroom in power pushing my cans. I'll have to max gain and volume out and then still the cans have more headroom. I'll keep you guys posted if it's worth to go balanced or just use single ended with more thirsty cans.

I use balanced as all my cans have balanced cables (my sundara and Senns 6 series). Once in awhile if I want to use iems, I use the SE connection, otherwise just the balanced jack of A50s with the cans.

 

[MkgandKembaFan]

Will the A50s pair well with the D10s or is something with 4 volt RCA output recommended?

 

[flyzipper]

This makes the stack A50s+D50s+P50 a real good stack.
... With P50 solved the L30+E30 can't be powered from single source "problem". It's neat in every way... A50s is still plenty powerful for almost all headphones, no one complained lack of power in noisy HIFI show.

I really like the single source power provided by the P50, but can't seem to overlook A50s max balanced output power being less when used with the P50.

Even though 2.4W x 2 may be fine in practical terms, the P50 feels like expensive cable management that actually lowers system potential.

Will a P50s be released which addresses this?

 

[JohnYang1997]

I really like the single source power provided by the P50, but can't seem to overlook A50s max balanced output power being less when used with the P50.

Even though 2.4W x 2 may be fine in practical terms, the P50 feels like expensive cable management that actually lowers system potential.

Will a P50s be released which addresses this?

View attachment 90872

no

 

[Veri]

Will the A50s pair well with the D10s or is something with 4 volt RCA output recommended?

Of course 2.0V input is the normal so it should work well. Higher voltage DAC will only help if you have truly demanding and inefficient headphones.

 

[LuckyLuke575]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping A50s. It was kindly sent to me by the company for testing. The A50s is already available in limited quantities and costs US $199.99.

Despite being small the A50 is rather heavy and sturdy which bodes well for staying on the desk:

View attachment 85126

There is a standard 1/4 headphone socket and a balanced 4.4 mm. Two gain settings are provided: 0 dB (pass through) and 6 dB. The power button cycles through the gain settings.

Even though there are "balanced" outputs, input is limited to RCA unbalanced input:

View attachment 85127

Power is provided by an external 15 volt, 1 amp switching power supply as you see in the picture above.

Headphone Amplifier Measurements
As always we start with our dashboard feeding the unit 2 volts and asking for 2 volts out:

View attachment 85128

Distortion is stunningly low at -145 dB, approaching the limit of the analog generator in my Audio Precision analyzer. SINAD which takes into account noise is limited by noise of the amplifier and analyzer and clocks at a wonderful 121 dB:
View attachment 85130

We can examine signal to noise ratio by itself:

View attachment 85131

Even at highly reduced output level of 50 millivolt, noise is very well controlled, providing 16 bits of dynamic range:

View attachment 85129

Frequency response is flat of course to beyond 100 kHz:

View attachment 85132

Power is most important in a headphone amp as if you run out of that, distortion sets it and in a very nasty way. So let's see how much juice the A50s can provide using a high 300 ohm load:

View attachment 85133

It was just yesterday that we were gushing about the Drop THX 789. See how the A50s leaves it in the dust as far as noise not only in low gain but also high gain! Output power is 52 milliwatts in high gain mode. This is due to modest 6 dB gain. If you have a balanced DAC, you can feed it higher voltage than the 2 volts I used to get more power. Alternatively, you can use the 4.4 mm headphone jack:

View attachment 85134

Now you well exceed my threshold of 100 milliwatts and keep noise and distortion absolutely in check.

Using the same balanced output, let's go down to 50 ohm which forces the amplifier to produce more current:

View attachment 85135

Nearly 3 watts of power out of this little amp! Note that the above sweep goes to 4 volts which would represent using a balanced DAC with XLR to RCA out (or if it produces that much output using its RCA Out).

Using unbalanced out and 2 volt max sweep give us:

View attachment 85136

Finally, channel balance is quite good:

View attachment 85137

As noted though, there are sample variations in the potentiometer so your results may not be as good. Fortunately the 0 dB low gain should let the volume control operate in its more linear region.

Headphone Amplifier Listening Tests
As always I start with my inefficient and low impedance Ether CX headphone. The A50s had no trouble handling it with unbalanced 1/4 out. For grins though, I switched to balanced output from it and now we are talking! Incredible and tight bass followed which is evidence of high power with exceptionally low distortion.

I switched to Sennheiser HD-650 using 1/4 out (too lazy to dig up my balanced cable). Power here was just enough to slightly resonate my ear lobes. If you wanted to have more enjoyment at the cost of reducing your hearing lifetime, you may want to use a balanced capable with it. That will give you 4X the power which should be plenty to drive the headphones themselves to distortion.

Conclusions
What can I say? We have another instrument-grade audio product in the form of A50s. You may be getting tired of seeing such exceptional results but I won't. It puts a smile on my face every time an audio product pegs my analyzer to its limits. Whether it is objective testing or subjective, the A50s nails the target of producing state of the art performance.

Needless to say, it is my pleasure to highly recommend the Topping A50s.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

So another day goes by and we are still canning pears. 15 quart jars done yet we still have not made a dent in the harvest. I was going to ask my wife to help me carry a large speaker for testing but once I saw how tired she was after skinning 100+ pears, I decided it would be unwise. This is when I thought I should ask you all to donate enough money so I can hire someone to help us with this massive harvest. That way I can test more audio gear. Assuming you agree, here is the link: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

It would be interesting to know how this compares with the A50 as that has a 2.5mm output which is convenient if all you're custom cables are already terminated that way

 

[LuckyLuke575]

$200 is nothing for audiophiles.

This is hardcore ultra high end headphone amplifier.
But it comes with a very high price too...two hundred US dollars.
It's going to be a tough sell, even for the highest heeled audiofiles.

USD 200 isn't scratch bud. I'd pay that for this amp everyday of the week. The THX 789 is double that price and they've already sold a ton of those, and this has even better performance than that.

If a guy can't even spend USD 200 on a decent amp then it would make sense to stick to a portable DAC / amp combination or bluetooth headphones.

 

[okok]

a50s to fix L30 problem

L30 power stage not powerful, like no fully +-15v decent power

edit: power supply

 

[JohnYang1997]

a50s to fix L30 problem

L30 power stage not powerful, like no fully +-15v decent power

edit: power supply

what?

 

[BARDUKE]

I recently got the L30/E30 stack. I am considering returning it and getting the A50s/D50s stack; I have an amazon gift card that would cover the difference so I wouldn't be out of pocket for anything.

I noticed that with my HD660S, I had the E30 at 0.00db and the L30 was at 1 or 2 o'clock and the volume was just adequate; I don't know if maxing both out would be good for the units in the long run.

I thought of the A50s since it has a balanced output and I have balanced 4.4mm cables for my HD660S, Sundara, and LCD-X (coming tomorrow). Would it be better for me to send back the 30 series equipment and go for the 50s?

 

[mlavende]

I recently got the L30/E30 stack. I am considering returning it and getting the A50s/D50s stack; I have an amazon gift card that would cover the difference so I wouldn't be out of pocket for anything.

I noticed that with my HD660S, I had the E30 at 0.00db and the L30 was at 1 or 2 o'clock and the volume was just adequate; I don't know if maxing both out would be good for the units in the long run.

I thought of the A50s since it has a balanced output and I have balanced 4.4mm cables for my HD660S, Sundara, and LCD-X (coming tomorrow). Would it be better for me to send back the 30 series equipment and go for the 50s?

Well I can tell you that with my HD660s I have the D50s between -10 and -20 and the A50 (note not A50s) at about 11 o'clock. This is with a balanced cable.

Not sure if that helps due to the older A50, but regardless I love the sound

Thanks
-Mat