Topping E30 DAC Review

[Countach]

Hello everyone. This is my first post on this forum.

I want to share my observation and hear your opinion about it, cause perhaps I'm loosing my mind or maybe my hearing/audio equipment has been damaged in the past weeks (I doubt the latter, though).

A few weeks ago my old USB DAC was damaged and I needed something new and not expensive. The old DAC was a 70$, Wolfson-based one of a Polish, small brand called Nostromo (I think it's rather unknown outside Poland). After reading many reviews (also this very topic), I chose Topping E30 and I also bought iFi Zen DAC just for pure comparison. I've listened to dozens of music tracks which sound I remember very well since a least 12 years. I was quite baffled when I heard some kind of audible "hiss" or maybe subtle "background metalic sound" on certain tracks between 9 kHz and 13 kHz (but most severe on 12-12,5 KHz). And that on both E30 and Zen. This background "hiss" accompanies some female voices, drums cymbals and bell/jingle sounds. It's actually rather annoying, because the old Polish DAC, I've mentioned, sounded clean as silk in these frequencies. There wasn't any audible "hiss" for sure. I don't know what's causing it on E30. Perhaps my old DAC lacked details in this area or maybe cause I'm powering E30 via USB from a cheap netbook. I really don't know. I love E30 in general but I cannot enjoy it fully because of this annoying metalic "hiss".

I would appreciate any remarks, guys

 

[Jimbob54]

Hello everyone. This is my first post on this forum.

I want to share my observation and hear your opinion about it, cause perhaps I'm loosing my mind or maybe my hearing/audio equipment has been damaged in the past weeks (I doubt the latter, though).

A few weeks ago my old USB DAC was damaged and I needed something new and not expensive. The old DAC was a 70$, Wolfson-based one of a Polish, small brand called Nostromo (I think it's rather unknown outside Poland). After reading many reviews (also this very topic), I chose Topping E30 and I also bought iFi Zen DAC just for pure comparison. I've listened to dozens of music tracks which sound I remember very well since a least 12 years. I was quite baffled when I heard some kind of audible "hiss" or maybe subtle "background metalic sound" on certain tracks between 9 kHz and 13 kHz (but most severe on 12-12,5 KHz). And that on both E30 and Zen. This background "hiss" accompanies some female voices, drums cymbals and bell/jingle sounds. It's actually rather annoying, because the old Polish DAC, I've mentioned, sounded clean as silk in these frequencies. There wasn't any audible "hiss" for sure. I don't know what's causing it on E30. Perhaps my old DAC lacked details in this area or maybe cause I'm powering E30 via USB from a cheap netbook. I really don't know. I love E30 in general but I cannot enjoy it fully because of this annoying metalic "hiss".

I would appreciate any remarks, guys

Ever thought it might not be the DAC? But maybe speakers, amp, headphones ?

Also- how do you know its strongest at 12-12.5k?

 

[TheMarshal]

@JohnYang1997 - I must admit, after a while, this device seems to be a total wreck. In my short 3 short months of using it, it had caused multiple problems for me.

1. It does turn on my speakers when they are in a standby mode, however, there is no sound playing after the device is restarted*. It's not just me but a couple of other people do have that issue and had written in this thread. You were prompt in replying, but none of the things helped.
2. My unit is one of the old ones with reverse polarity.
3. It had massive pop issues. Luckily they were fixed via an update. However, there are still poping issues when either source or sample rates are changed.
4. Today, out of the blue, it had given me an E - d issue (which by the way, isn't specified in the manual). I found one person that had it too on the forum. If I recall correctly, the user was @cyberzigot.

Do you think that a product should be rushed to market - and then fix the issues? I have a feeling that you had used us, the first adopters, as beta testers. Of course, it is a $120 device, but then again it should work properly out of the box, right?

Hopefully, ShenzenAudio or you as a company can help me out with the issues I have with this product. This is unacceptable.

*I have tried other DACs - and this issue is present only when using Topping E30.

 

[JohnYang1997]

@JohnYang1997 - I must admit, after a while, this device seems to be a total wreck. In my short 3 short months of using it, it had caused multiple problems for me.

1. It does turn on my speakers when they are in a standby mode, however, there is no sound playing after the device is restarted*. It's not just me but a couple of other people do have that issue and had written in this thread. You were prompt in replying, but none of the things helped.
2. My unit is one of the old ones with reverse polarity.
3. It had massive pop issues. Luckily they were fixed via an update. However, there are still poping issues when either source or sample rates are changed.
4. Today, out of the blue, it had given me an E - d issue (which by the way, isn't specified in the manual). I found one person that had it too on the forum. If I recall correctly, the user was @cyberzigot.

Do you think that a product should be rushed to market - and then fix the issues? I have a feeling that you had used us, the first adopters, as beta testers. Of course, it is a $120 device, but then again it should work properly out of the box, right?

Hopefully, ShenzenAudio or you as a company can help me out with the issues I have with this product. This is unacceptable.

*I have tried other DACs - and this issue is present only when using Topping E30.

You know that you can directly contact the seller right? Also you touched a bottom line of mine. Topping is not my company. E30 was not even designed by me. So not my problem. Not even a little bit.

 

[Jarrett]

Just look at them though - the E30 looks much, much better!

 

[TheMarshal]

lso you touched a bottom line of mine. Topping is not my company. E30 was not even designed by me. So not my problem. Not even a little bit.

Dang it man, sorry about that. I thought you were a representative of Topping. Well, as you have a lot of know-how for their products - and I made the assumption. I am off to find a solution to the problem. I guess I am just a bit grainy today as my DAC failed.

I do honestly apologize to you. Hopefully, I'll get this solved with either Topping or the Seller.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Dang it man, sorry about that. I thought you were a representative of Topping. Well, as you have a lot of know-how for their products. I am off to find a solution to the problem. I guess I am just a bit grainy today as my DAC failed.

I do honestly appologize. Hopefully, I'll get this solved.

I suggest contacting the seller or costumer service. As it's within warranty, you should be getting a good solution.
I'm currently a designer (responsible for A90 and L30) in Topping. I joined here, ASR, in 2018, then Topping in last November. I'll help people who encounter issues with Topping products here but it's just for convenience and my own will as a member of this forum as I have better access.

 

[TheMarshal]

I suggest contacting the seller or costumer service. As it's within warranty, you should be getting a good solution.
I'm currently a designer (responsible for A90 and L30) in Topping. I joined here, ASR, in 2018, then Topping in last November. I'll help people who encounter issues with Topping products here but it's just for convenience and my own will as a member of this forum as I have better access.

L30 - nice! Haven't ordered mine yet. Keep up doing your great job - as I need to spend more and more on great audio gear. That 1 extra SINAD score matters for me

I will contact Topping CS - to see what they can guide me with. I Will update everyone here on what does the E-d message stand for once I get back from your colleagues.

Thanks again - and sorry about that earlier. I really had a bad day - and the DAC failing was the cherry on top.

 

[raif71]

It makes you feel good and possibly think you hear a difference. I’m actually considering purchasing a hifi usb-cable. I know it’s crazy, but hey, this is a hobby!

Congrats...you're getting out of the "beginner" zone.

 

[Jerry Bruckheimer Fan]

Apologies if this has been talked about before. I was thinking about using this DAC with a stereo amp and tower speakers in the future. However, as you guys may know, most tower speakers aren't capable of going down to 20hz or below the way that subwoofers do. In fact, most of them that claim so in their frequency response have somewhat exaggerated bass.

My thoughts are to use a Y-splitter with 2 going to the amp for the speakers and 2 going into subwoofers' amps. Then use the subwoofers internal crossover and LPF to route all the frequences below 80hz. Is this is a good method? Anyone know any better way? Also, when using a Y-split, is there any loss of line level signal/voltage or addition of noise? Love to hear thoughts from anyone with knowledge or experience on this matter.

 

[solderdude]

Also, when using a Y-split, is there any loss of line level signal/voltage or addition of noise?

Should be no problem as long as both amps are switched on.

 

[Jerry Bruckheimer Fan]

Should be no problem as long as both amps are switched on.

Maybe I should just suck it up and buy/learn how to use miniDSP.

 

[solderdude]

The splitter is cheaper

 

[Sukie]

Well, yes I would pick the E30 over the D10s as the price difference is not huge. The E30 also has an auto on function.

About volume control, as mentioned previously, one option is to set the L30 volume to a fixed position (say 12 o'clock, suitable gain setting) and then control volume via the E30 remote during listening. I'm still waiting for my L30 to arrive, but have a 3 m long cord on my HD600 and don't want to get up from the couch all the time

I can honesty say that, as long as my DAC is doing its job, the presence of a remote is the next most important thing - at least as far as I'm concerned.

Even if you're within reach of your headphone amp today, you might be a couple of metres away on another occasion (moving chairs, moving amp or another factor).

I'd also add that the remote is suprsingly good for a budget product. Easy to handle and a good directional range

 

[Alexium]

I would think that a remote with no ability to skip tracks is almost useless. But maybe this is down to every person's particular listening habits / scenarios.

 

[Deleted member 18309]

Should be no problem as long as both amps are switched on.

For my education, may I ask why both amps need to be switched on? What’s the consequence of having only one amp switched on? I have my stereo amp off when I listen to my headphone amp (and vice versa). I can detect a noise when turning one device on/off while listening to the other, but don’t otherwise detect significant volume loss or continuous noise.

 

[Sukie]

I would think that a remote with no ability to skip tracks is almost useless. But maybe this is down to every person's particular listening habits / scenarios.

Completely depends on your set up. I stream to my DAC via a RPi using Moode Audio and Bubble UPNP app on my phone. The app can control the track selection, album selection etc. The volume control alters the hardware volume on the DAC. I find this very useful indeed.

I can sit, enjoy and adjust volume and track selection until my heart's content, whilst browsing through the latest threads on ASR!

 

[pulsedriverbg]

Hello to everyone,
till now i have used KTB but it had some issue with the one channel missing so i needed another DAC.
Pulled the trigger and ordered E30 so i just got it today.
When i connected it to my Android Media player (Android 6 on MTP) trough USB and powered with a Samsung charger strange thing happens. On the E30 screen it shoes 45.15 DSD and no audio from Spotify/Tidal/Youtube. When i use a dedicated player app for music from the local storage it works with no issue. 45.15 DSD sing the display reading changes to 44.1 for example. But when i try Spotify/Tidal/Youtube again ....no audio.

Can someone help me how can i get around this problem? I use mainly the media player to listen to Spotify/Tidal. Obviously the player recognizes E30 but does not send any signal from Spotify/Tidal to it. Previous on KTB there where no such issues.

 

[JohnYang1997]

For my education, may I ask why both amps need to be switched on? What’s the consequence of having only one amp switched on? I have my stereo amp off when I listen to my headphone amp (and vice versa). I can detect a noise when turning one device on/off while listening to the other, but don’t otherwise detect significant volume loss or continuous noise.

Because some amps short the input to ground or directly connect to the opamp input which has ESD protection which will short the input to supply rails which is 0V/gnd equivalently. This will cause the other amp receiving distorted input.

 

[Goose45]

Hi

i am a newby who just purchased an E30. Not sure if this is the correct place to ask a question but here goes.

I have the E30 connected via USB to Win 10 and works fine up to 96kHz.

However, any attempt to go higher (I.e. changing to 384khz in windows audio setting) than this returns an error when playing any audio file in foobar.

In Device Manager 'Topping DFU' appears under 'Other Devices' with this error below, but updating the driver results in nothing found.

I have tried to download drivers from the Topping website but the site returns 'Not Found'.

Win10 Update is showing fully up to date.

Does anyone have any suggestions please? I thought that it could play up to 384kHz plug and play with Win 10.

Thanks in advance
Goose

DEVICE MANAGER ERROR
The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)

There are no compatible drivers for this device.


To find a driver for this device, click Update Driver.