Topping E30 DAC Review

[TheBatsEar]

bagged an E30 for £60

Sweet

 

[rcstevensonaz]

(edited) I have a power strip. When powered on, everything turns on... except the E30 which goes into standby mode and requires a button press to activate.

E30 also does what you need.
You have to set it by accessing the A-C or A-O options available in the start menu, accessible by keeping pushed the front capacitive button of the E30 during the power-up.

Can someone explain how that fixes the issue? Changing between A-C and A-O doesn't seem to make any difference.

I am having the same problem — my E30 (AK4493 version from 2020, FW v1.08) is powered by a 5V adapter plugged into a power strip that controls my AV rack. When I power on the AV rack in the morning, the E30 stays in stand-by mode even though my laptop is already powered on and connected to the E30. And it continues to stay in standby mode if the laptop is audio to the E30.

As a test, I set my laptop playing a song. Then power cycle the E30. After E30 is back on, the device is fully visible to the PC's Device Manager and the Topping USB Audio Control panel; but it remains in standby instead of music again being sent through to my mixer / amp.

I want the E30 to immediately go active if the USB connection is active. This happens for the D90 but not the E30.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

Just noticed a newer driver was released (back in late Sept) since I last checked the maker's website:

V5.50 driver for most of TOPPING DACs-TOPPING

As an update: the most recent drivers launched by Topping for E30 (and other DACs) are now v5.62: https://www.tpdz.net/newsinfo/874980.html

And copying from earlier comment by @nsfgp :

Release Notes from the Driver Developer/Source (Thesycon)

https://www.thesycon.de/usbaudio/TUSBAudio_history.txt

 

[Toku]

This problem is simply a misunderstanding of the behavior of A-O, A-C.
This behavior is common not only to the E30 but also to Topping's DAC products.
A-O and A-C operations do not function by turning the power line ON-OFF. The 5V power line must be turned on at all times. Also, A-O and A-C will not function if you turn it off using the panel button on the main unit or the power button on the remote control.
A-O, A-C is a function that allows the E30 to wake or go to sleep when the selected USB, OPT, or COAX communication is connected/disconnected during normal operation. A-O and A-C functions are incorporated for such operations.
However, the behavior may be different from what you intended.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

This problem is simply a misunderstanding of the behavior of A-O, A-C.
This behavior is common not only to the E30 but also to Topping's DAC products.
A-O and A-C operations do not function by turning the power line ON-OFF. The 5V power line must be turned on at all times. Also, A-O and A-C will not function if you turn it off using the panel button on the main unit or the power button on the remote control.
A-O, A-C is a function that allows the E30 to wake or go to sleep when the selected USB, OPT, or COAX communication is connected/disconnected during normal operation. A-O and A-C functions are incorporated for such operations.
However, the behavior may be different from what you intended.

Thanks. But I think that confirms the A-O/A-C toggle doesn't address the issue either of us posted. We want the E30 to be awake and active when powered on if there is a USB device connected. Or, for it to at least automatically become active when there is audio being sent over the USB after powering on.

I personally suspect it is a firmware bug that it doesn't come out of standby mode in that situation (@JohnYang1997). The Topping D90 (AK4495 version, firmware v1.06) does not have this problem. When the exact same USB cable is plugged into my D90 instead of E30, the audio from the laptop just simply resumes after power cycling the D90.

 

[Toku]

Thanks. But I think that confirms the A-O/A-C toggle doesn't address the issue either of us posted. We want the E30 to be awake and active when powered on if there is a USB device connected. Or, for it to at least automatically become active when there is audio being sent over the USB after powering on.

I personally suspect it is a firmware bug that it doesn't come out of standby mode in that situation (@JohnYang1997). The Topping D90 (AK4495 version, firmware v1.06) does not have this problem. When the exact same USB cable is plugged into my D90 instead of E30, the audio from the laptop just simply resumes after power cycling the D90.

That's by design, not a bug.
If you would like to improve the specifications, please make suggestions directly to Topping in China.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

That's by design, not a bug.
If you would like to improve the specifications, please make suggestions directly to Topping in China.

I can't argue on that. But, curious why the behavior of E30 and D90 are designed to behave differently after a power cycle.