Topping E2x2 Audio Interface Review

[Trdat]

Add SPDIF out and the product can possibly take over the whole market.

Just for an SPDIF on the Focusrites is a massive jump in price, and taking in cosideration some of us don't use the extra input outputs and just use the SPDIF for measuring.

 

[TK750]

Not the performance we expected,specially on the DAC part which is a 15 yo performance considering interfaces at similar price.
My main worry is the 48V button right next to XRL sockets which is way too easy to press while plugging and unplugging,it would be a good idea these buttons not to be instant but time dependent (2-3 sec to activate)

Thanks Amir!

Eh I get the concern but I doubt many people are using this with ribbon mics. If you're using XLR to plug in line level gear then you've already gone wrong imo.

 

[Atanasi]

Note an interesting feature that if you use TRS in line In, you get a different gain than when using XLR. One is used for microphone and the other for line in/instrument.

I suppose TRS-XLR combined connectors wired to line-ins and mic-ins are common with audio interfaces. MOTU M-series has the same thing, for example.

 

[MAB]

I don't know how you can put "customer service" and "Behringer" in the same sentence. I bought one of their speakers on Amazon. Measured it. It was clearly broken. Initiated a warranty repair. After some delay and back and forth, they said to send it to them which I did. Even though I had bought this from Amazon and I had shown then a copy of my online receipt, they answered that I had not provided proper proof of purchase so I had to send them that order reference again. After a while they said they have no parts for it so can't repair it. And proceeded to close the ticket without any offer of a refund!!! So now I not only had lost the original purchase price but cost of shipping too. I tried to get their attention again but they would not respond. BTW, this is on top of the stupid "tribe" thing you have to register just to submit such a ticket.

A few months went by and I decided to contact their sales channel and telling them (again) that I am reviewer. This got their attention and they then offered to make a refund. But not to my credit card but with a wire transfer to my back account (!). I provided all of the information and they say that the info must be wrong as they can't do the transfer. I check with my bank and it is all correct. I send again but they still complain and once again proceed to close my ticket!

The above went on for some 9 months. A couple of months ago on a whim, I complained to Amazon. They immediately issued a refund to me even though this was not their fault.

Based on this, I would never, ever buy anything Behringer.

I didn't realize Behringer had such poor customer service and support.
I'm fairly certain your Behringer experience isn't anything close to returning a Topping, believe me and about 100 other's who posted on your forum.
Even if equivalent experiences, it doesn't make Topping and the reseller's horrible customer service track record OK. They are exceptionally bad, and need to dig out of a very deep hole to get back to good.

 

[computer-audiophile]

... it doesn't make Topping and the reseller's horrible customer service track record OK. They are exceptionally bad, and need to dig out of a very deep hole to get back to good.

Maybe someone will bring out an interface one day that has a nice GUI that runs under Linux.

I've been trying to fall in love with Topping for a while now, I have DACs etc. from them here, but I can't get the spark.

 

[Draki]

Add SPDIF out and the product can possibly take over the whole market.

Just for an SPDIF on the Focusrites is a massive jump in price, and taking in cosideration some of us don't use the extra input outputs and just use the SPDIF for measuring.

Which is the lowest-priced USB interface with an SPDIF output?

 

[DSS]

I don't know how you can put "customer service" and "Behringer" in the same sentence. I bought one of their speakers on Amazon. Measured it. It was clearly broken. Initiated a warranty repair. After some delay and back and forth, they said to send it to them which I did. Even though I had bought this from Amazon and I had shown then a copy of my online receipt, they answered that I had not provided proper proof of purchase so I had to send them that order reference again. After a while they said they have no parts for it so can't repair it. And proceeded to close the ticket without any offer of a refund!!! So now I not only had lost the original purchase price but cost of shipping too. I tried to get their attention again but they would not respond. BTW, this is on top of the stupid "tribe" thing you have to register just to submit such a ticket.

A few months went by and I decided to contact their sales channel and telling them (again) that I am reviewer. This got their attention and they then offered to make a refund. But not to my credit card but with a wire transfer to my back account (!). I provided all of the information and they say that the info must be wrong as they can't do the transfer. I check with my bank and it is all correct. I send again but they still complain and once again proceed to close my ticket!

The above went on for some 9 months. A couple of months ago on a whim, I complained to Amazon. They immediately issued a refund to me even though this was not their fault.

Based on this, I would never, ever buy anything Behringer.

buy from Thomann. One of the best customer services I know. https://www.thomannmusic.com/

 

[computer-audiophile]

buy from Thomann. One of the best customer services I know. https://www.thomannmusic.com/

I've had the same thought. Thomann would also help if there are problems with Behringer gear bought there. They have an always approachable and helpful staff. I've been a satisfied customer of theirs for decades and have a long list of equipment I've bought from them.

 

[phoenixsong]

Which is the lowest-priced USB interface with an SPDIF output?

Could be this one, but we digress https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/audio-interfaces/komplete-audio-6/

 

[anphex]

Considering the price, very good!
What worries me is the support. From what I read and heard Topping isn't the most accessible after sales company and Interfaces plus their software can be a real headache sometimes.

 

[AudioSceptic]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping Professional E2x2 audio interface (ADC, DAC, Headphone Amp). It was sent to me by the company and costs US $159.
View attachment 322548
As the British would say, the E2x2 definitely "looks the part" as far as fitting in the general offering of interfaces in the market. And that extends to control app which seems a lot fancier than I expected from a company just getting into this market:
View attachment 322550
The company must have staffed up on the software side of things. You can power the unit exclusively via USB-C if your host supports its level of power (mine did), or with auxiliary USB-C power:
View attachment 322551

Note an interesting feature that if you use TRS in line In, you get a different gain than when using XLR. One is used for microphone and the other for line in/instrument.

We have three subsystems to test so let's get on with it.

Topping E2x2 DAC Measurements
Treating the unit strictly as a DAC, we have this for our dashboard:
View attachment 322552
I am so used to chart topping measurements from Topping DACs that this seems decisively less performant:
View attachment 322553
We do beat the spec so that is good.

Noise performance is better:
View attachment 322554
As is multitone:
View attachment 322555

Linearity is near perfect:
View attachment 322556

As is jitter:
View attachment 322557

IMD noise and distortion is along the same lines as the dashboard SINAD:
View attachment 322558

One filter is provided:
View attachment 322559

Wideband THD+N again is similar to what we saw in dashboard:
View attachment 322560

Topping E2x2 ADC Measurements
The E2x2 starts to show the strength of the brand in this department:
View attachment 322561
View attachment 322562

Noise performance is nice:
View attachment 322563

As is frequency response:
View attachment 322564

Measuring the IMD level was a bit tricky in that the gain impacted that initial hump. This measurement is also not ideal as it shows the generator level on X axis, not the output:

View attachment 322565

Still what is there seems pretty nice especially if you use the right gain structure. Testing against measured level, I had an older THD sweep which I resurrected:
View attachment 322566

As you see, it matched the reference pretty well.

Performance is essentially frequency independent:
View attachment 322567

Topping E2x2 Headphone Amplifier Measurement
Let's see if Topping brought its "A game" in this department:
View attachment 322568

Seems to be the case seeing how this is USB powered. Many competitors just have a checklist headphone amp with low power and high noise and distortion. Not here. We have good bit of power in high gain mode and excellent noise and distortion in low gain. Same is true of 32 ohm:
View attachment 322569

I was impressed by the noise level as represented in our 50 mv test:
View attachment 322570

Many stand-alone headphone amps struggle to achieve this level of quietness:
View attachment 322571

Conclusions
Topping gives us a "good" DAC in E2x2. But then surprises us with very good performance of its ADC and excellent response of the headphone amplifier. I suspect the cost constraints here kept it from delivering better DAC performance. For some reason I thought if Topping entered the interface market, they would top of the chart performance with costs to go with it. Thinking about it, they may have been wise to go after the entry level market first. This way, they pick up customers who are not wedded to long established brands.

I am impressed by the completeness of the product especially when considering the control app and such. You would think the company has been in market for many years.

I am going to recommend the Topping E2x2 audio interface as an entry level product.

E2x2 Specifications@24bits/96kitz)

1. Microphone Inputs:

Equivalent Input Noise@A-wt,150 Ohm | -130.5dBu
THD+N@A-wt | -110dB (0.0003%)
Dynamic Range @A-wt | 115dB
SNR | 115dB
Crosstalk@1kHz | -140dB
Frequency Response | 20Hz-40kHz (#0.2dB)
Maximum Input Level | 8.6dBu
Input Impedance | 1.5k Ohms
Available Gain | 58dB + 20dB (20dB digital gain)
Phantom Power | 48V
Phantom Power | XLR connector of the combo socket:

2. Line Inputs:

THD+N@A-wt | -107dB0.00045%)
Dynamic Range @A-wt | 115dB
SNR @A-wt | 115dB
Crosstalk@1kHz | -140dB
Frequency Response | 20Hz-40kHz (#0.1dB)
Maximum Input Level | 23.9dBu
Input Impedance | 6k Ohms
Available Gain | 58B + 20dB (20dB digital gain)
Connector Type | TRS connector of the combo socket:
Tip (Hot), Ring (Cold) & Sleeve (Shield)

3. Instrument Inputs:

THD+N@A-wt | -108dB (0.0004%)
Dynamic Range @A-wt | 115dB
SNR @A-wt | 115dB
Crosstalk@1kHz | -140dB
Frequency Response | 20Hz-40kHz (#0.3dB)
Maximum Input Level | 14.8dBu
Input Impedance | 1M Ohms
Available Gain | 58dB + 20dB (20dB digital gain)
Connector Type | TS connector of the combo socket:
Tip (Hot) & Sleeve (Shield)

4. Line Outputs:

THD+N@A-wt | -100dB (0.001%)
Dynamic Range @A-wt | 115dB
Analogue Dynamic Range@A-wt, -40B attenuation | 127dB
SNR @A-wt | 115dB
Crosstalk@1kHz | -128dB
Frequency Response | 20Hz-40kHz (#0.3dB)
Maximum Input Level | 14dBu
Noise @A-wt | 1.8uVrms
Output Impedance | 100 Ohms
Connector Type | 6.35mm TRS balanced jack:
Tip (Hot), Ring (Cold) & Sleeve (Shield)

5. Headphone Outputs:

THD+N @A-wt | -100dB (0.001%)
Dynamic Range @A-wt | 115dB
Analogue Dynamic Range @A-wt, -40dB attenuation | 132dB
SNR @A-wt | 115dB
Crosstalk@1kHz | -120dB
Frequency Response | 20Hz-40kHz (£0.3dB)
Maximum Input Level | OdBu@ Gain=L, 17dBu@ Gain=H
Noise @A-wt | 1 uVrms
Output Impedance | 1 Ohms
Connector Type | 6.35mm stereo headphone jack:
Tip(Left), Ring (Right) & Sleeve (Shield)
6.35mm stereo headphone jack | 580mWx2@320 THD+N<1%
380mW x 2@64Q THD+N<1%
198mW x 2 @1500 THD+N<1%
105mW x 2@3000 THD+N<1%
55mW x 2@6000 THD+N<1%

*Note: The above data is the result of the test in TOPPING laboratory.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome. Click here if you have some audio gear you want me to test.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Am I the only who thinks that this is good value just for the HP amp.? You can spend a lot more for worse performance.

 

[Sonny1]

When my son’s Focusrite bites the dust, I’ll get him one of these. He’s not the most careful guy with his gear but he’s only 18 and makes some impressive recordings on the Focusrite. He’s obsessed with eliminating background noise and converted his closet to a vocal recording booth and stopped using single coil pickups because of the noise. Sucks because he has a beautiful Tele with pickups made by a guy on Camino island that sound really good (just noisy like all traditional Tele single coils). I know there are noiseless versions but none sound as good as these, in my highly biased subjective opinion. This interface is cheap and might find itself into his Christmas stocking this year.

When he left for university, the first thing my wife did was remove the foam from his closet walls and convert it back to a closet. Good times!

 

[levimax]

The other use case for these devices is hooking up a TT to a PC based system. I use TT to a DIY balanced transmitter with 47K input impedance for cart loading to an ADC. The microphone gain/ adjustable input level is enough to not need a phono pre-amp and you can do RIAA in the digital domain. The performance of the ADC / microphone preamps looks very good for the price plus you get a great headphone amp.

 

[Trdat]

Which is the lowest-priced USB interface with an SPDIF output?

Maybe about $300 US which isnt that much now that I think of it but still, adding that in at around $150 or so would be great.

 

[617]

Regarding customer support, I once had an issue with my MOTU, which is part of their more inexpensive consumer line (they also make professional interfaces with many inputs, outputs, dsp and flexible monitoring) and they were very helpful over email and over the phone if I remember correctly. He was located in their main office which is in Harvard Square, about 20 minute walk from my house.

 

[BadAudioAdvice]

Looking forward to seeing how the measured performance of the $900 MixPre3-II compares to this
(I realize that Topping and SoundDeviecs are targeting different markets and use cases)

 

[amirm]

Julian Krause did mention in his video that depending on the power provided, the performance of the headphone output is also affected. However, I didn't really understand that portion. Must the supplementary usb c power input be used to attain that ideal performance, or is it dependent on the device that is feeding the signal to the E2x2 thru the primary usb c connection? If it is the latter, how should we know if our device is adequately powering the E2x2 to hit the ideal headphone output performance without the help of measuring devices?

I did all my testing with the single connection coming out of my monitor USB hub.

 

[testp]

it doesn't take a brain scientist to figure out where This could be heading: DSP DAC's from Topping..

 

[dsnyder0cnn]

I'm still happy with my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (older gen 2 mode), but if it ever lets me down, the Topping E2x2 looks like a perfectly fine successor.

 

[pseudoid]

Topping Professional E2x2 audio interface (ADC, DAC, Headphone Amp).

Close.

it doesn't take a brain scientist to figure out where This could be heading: DSP DAC's from Topping..

Less Close!

More like a USB-C Input/Output >To/From< Line Input+2Outputs, w/a Headphone Amp.
USB-C I/O ><Line I/2O, HPamp ... burp!