Topping E30 DAC Review

[samsa]

If you do an apt update; apt upgrade and then return to step (e) in the setup instructions, you will find that it breaks in exactly the fashion described by @PNWer.

There really is a bug in moOde.

Which is fixed here (and will be in moOde 6.6.0).

 

[vkvedam]

I have been following this thread for quite some time. I ordered an E30 months ago and it finally arrived last week. I set it up next to my Chord Qutest with a brand new iFi "audiophile" power supply. I connected it to my laptop, made sure it was working, and then left it on for a few days to settle in. This past weekend, I listened to some of my favorite tracks. Almost immediately I noticed some of the attack on the acoustic guitar was in the background. I listended for a couple of hours and then reconnected the Qutest and tried again. The difference was immediately noticeable. And yes I made sure I was level matched. I really wanted this to be a close competition because I like the E30's form factor and the remote control. Another reason is that I like it when high quality, high performing audio products are made available to consumers for a reasonable price. I was using the USB input. I cycled through all of the filters and didn't hear much of a difference. I need to do more comparisons with the other inputs, but right now I am not impressed.

Your description was a bit confusing, did you mean to say wasn't in the background? I shall be getting mine soon, I have D50 as well so it would be a good comparison. I used to have Mojo-Poly but sold them after getting D50.

 

[Peen]

Well, people come to different conclusions about whether you get best performance at 100% volume or not. There is some evidence & science behind running something like 97% windows volume rather than 100% on pretty much all DACS (delta-sigma type DACS). Also some DACS perform worse close to 100% output as can be seen in Amir's reviews. But music is not coded for a 100% signal all the time, so you're not always at 100% full signal, but you are bound to be at least some of the time. With the E30 DAC there's no point in running a huge offset of volume - I'd generally recommend just 97% on the Windows Volume Slider due to delta-sigma DAC, and then in your case you have the clipping issue due to what you're attaching it to, so in your case I'd just run -7dB to keep it at the same level as your apple dongle, and I would say that's for sure enough headroom over your tests too. (Run your DAC in 24bit mode to ensure volume decrease doesn't result in loss of dynamic range.....although if you're doing most of the attenuation in the DAC itself whilst it's in pre-amp mode it's possible that it's internal volume control might operate at 32bit or something even if you have windows at 16bit which would be fine, but no downside to setting windows to 24bit).

One more question for you guys, since you've been so helpful.

Right now I have it set up like this. PC (USB Out) -->(USB In) Topping E30 (RCA Out) --> (RCA In) PW Link (RCA Out) --> (RCA In) PowerGate

Would it be possible better to go like this? PC (OPT Out) --> (OPT In) PW Link (OPT Out) --> (OPT In) Topping E30 (RCA Out) --> (RCA In) PowerGate

Someone mentioned this on the AVS Forum, saying the PW Link is "Re-digitizing" even with RCA in and acting as a DAC. But that makes no sense to me if I'm going RCA in on the PW Link, should just be all analog after the DAC in setup I already have.

Thanks,
Tyler

 

[samsa]

What is the function of the PW Link in your setup?

 

[Peen]

What is the function of the PW Link in your setup?

Strictly ARC

 

[samsa]

Strictly ARC

Well, then the answer to your other question should be obvious. ARC works by digitizing the analog input, applying digital room correction and then converting the result back to analog.

As I said before, this renders your E30 completely superfluous. You should just go digital from your PC to the PW Link.

 

[Robbo99999]

Well, then the answer to your other question should be obvious. ARC works by digitizing the analog input, applying digital room correction and then converting the result back to analog.

As I said before, this renders your E30 completely superfluous. You should just go digital from your PC to the PW Link.

ARC is just this isn't it: https://www.cnet.com/news/what-is-audio-return-channel-arc/

It's just passing through the digital signal unaltered, not sure what that's got to do with room correction.

 

[samsa]

ARC is just this isn't it: https://www.cnet.com/news/what-is-audio-return-channel-arc/

It's just passing through the digital signal unaltered, not sure what that's got to do with room correction.

ARC= Anthem Room Correction. Read the manual.

 

[tankas]

ARC is just this isn't it: https://www.cnet.com/news/what-is-audio-return-channel-arc/

It's just passing through the digital signal unaltered, not sure what that's got to do with room correction.

He's talking about this:
https://www.paradigm.com/en/wireless/pw-link

Maybe there's a point to put that before E30. But keeping in mind that usually optical not as good/clean as USB probably not.

 

[Peen]

I realize it's pointless to even have the E30 in my setup. I go overkill in basically everything. I will try running PW Link before the E30 and even take the E30 out of the chain and run ARC to see what the before and after is. I'm sure it will make no difference. Either way, it's fun to experiment a bit!

Edit: Took two measurements, one with E30 and another with PW-link as DAC. Both were taken with 10 measurements each. Red line is uncorrected and green is corrected with ARC.

 

[Tup3x]

It is a malfunction of Windows 10. Microsoft must improve fast

Which?

 

[Astrozombie]

Has anyone used this with a wall adapter so you don't take up another USB slot?

 

[Toku]

Which?

Something went wrong since the recent update of Windows 10. Probably due to a bug.

 

[Robbo99999]

Has anyone used this with a wall adapter so you don't take up another USB slot?

Yep, a Motorola phone charger (a Motorola plug that fits into the wall and allows a USB cable to be attached to it).

 

[solderdude]

Has anyone used this with a wall adapter so you don't take up another USB slot?

using a Samsung phone charger.

 

[AndyLu]

Has anyone used this with a wall adapter so you don't take up another USB slot?

Yes, I am using it with an iFi power adapter. I also used it with a Motorola phone charger. Both work fine.

 

[vrobec]

Using it with linear power supply. The sound is wonderful.

 

[Monte]

Using an old Zip drive wall wart, rated 5V/1A. The Zip drives are gone. Long live the power supplies. Works fine and has a compatible plug end.

 

[The Dragon]

Out of curiosity, what output level did you choose on the Qutest?

I set the Qutest to 2V output setting. I am going to run another test this weekend with coaxial input to see if that makes a difference. I was not expecting such a noticeable difference in sound. In fact, I was going to consider selling the Qutest. I never liked the UI. The E30 didn't sound bad, just not as good. Probably a good "band for buck" DAC. I guess I will be keeping the Qutest after all.

 

[vrobec]

I set the Qutest to 2V output setting. I am going to run another test this weekend with coaxial input to see if that makes a difference. I was not expecting such a noticeable difference in sound. In fact, I was going to consider selling the Qutest. I never liked the UI. The E30 didn't sound bad, just not as good. Probably a good "band for buck" DAC. I guess I will be keeping the Qutest after all.

I think the DAC's you comparing are not the same cathegory. E30 is an entry level, cheap and affordable DAC which sounds great for the money. Qutest is another league.