Topping E30 DAC Review

[dgnzcn]

I totally agree with you, here my expectation was that the Topping E30 should be flatter than the motherboard realtek receiver 1200, I was wrong, the receiver on the motherboard 1200 did a great job and I couldn't see any difference with the Topping E30 DAC, at least with my own ears.

Already today the Topping E30 came, tested it and sold it, continue with the motherboard realtek 1200 sound chip.

I would love for someone to test the realtek 12xx sound chip series, I don't know, maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Moosi]

If you dont hear an upgrade from the Realtek DAC to the E30, your headphones are probably the bottle neck.
There are even noticeable differences in DACs using the very same chips, for example between the E30 and the Sanskrit MK2 from SMSL.

There is no point in using a high end DAC with low to medium end speakers/headphones. If your headphones are less than ~300$, I would not even think about the E30, since the more in depth, space and detail can't be aquired if the speakers can't show it.

1. Speakers/headphones
2. AMP
3. DAC

 

[dgnzcn]

If you dont hear an upgrade from the Realtek DAC to the E30, your headphones are probably the bottle neck.
There are even noticeable differences in DACs using the very same chips, for example between the E30 and the Sanskrit MK2 from SMSL.

There is no point in using a high end DAC with low to medium end speakers/headphones. If your headphones are less than ~300$, I would not even think about the E30.

I don't know, maybe ..., but frankly I'm very happy with my AKG K612 PRO headset.

 

[Robbo99999]

If you dont hear an upgrade from the Realtek DAC to the E30, your headphones are probably the bottle neck.
There are even noticeable differences in DACs using the very same chips, for example between the E30 and the Sanskrit MK2 from SMSL.

There is no point in using a high end DAC with low to medium end speakers/headphones. If your headphones are less than ~300$, I would not even think about the E30, since the more in depth, space and detail can't be aquired if the speakers can't show it.

1. Speakers/headphones
2. AMP
3. DAC

Price is not really an indicator of headphone sound quality, as proven by research, (and also in my list of own favourite headphones price is not an indicator). But I agree that you want some good headphones to be able to discern whatever difference may be there.

 

[Robbo99999]

I totally agree with you, here my expectation was that the Topping E30 should be flatter than the motherboard realtek receiver 1200, I was wrong, the receiver on the motherboard 1200 did a great job and I couldn't see any difference with the Topping E30 DAC, at least with my own ears.

Already today the Topping E30 came, tested it and sold it, continue with the motherboard realtek 1200 sound chip.

I would love for someone to test the realtek 12xx sound chip series, I don't know, maybe I'm wrong.

Well I'd like to see that tested too.

 

[Moosi]

Price is not really an indicator of headphone sound quality

Sure, there are vast differences in quality and pricing with headphones. I was actually just picking some number to make a point for a good set of speakers/headphones.

Im not into headphones, but on my KEF-Q150 speakers I noticed a fine improvement over the (crappy-level) realtek Mainboard DAC. First thing I noticed was drums actually sounding like real drums, before it sounded all artificial. Now I especially enjoy any type of "bongo bongo music" which didn't was the case before.

 

[Materhoe]

Can anyone give me some advice with th E30 and USB noise?

I've connected the DAC via USB and as soon as I start a game that draws alot of GPU power I get a hum/sizzle noise that is just too loud and distracting. When im listening to Music or just browsing I haven't got a hum/sizzle, only if I turn the Amp up to about 3/4 volume and higher.

In my desperation I bought myself the ifi iDefender+ but it does not change anything at all....

Even if I use the Optical connection there will be the same hum/sizzle noise if I dont disconnect the USB connection...

 

[Vict0r]

Can anyone give me some advice with th E30 and USB noise?

I've connected the DAC via USB and as soon as I start a game that draws alot of GPU power I get a hum/sizzle noise that is just too loud and distracting. When im listening to Music or just browsing I haven't got a hum/sizzle, only if I turn the Amp up to about 3/4 volume and higher.

In my desperation I bought myself the ifi iDefender+ but it does not change anything at all....

Even if I use the Optical connection there will be the same hum/sizzle noise if I dont disconnect the USB connection...

Ground loop! I had the same issue with my e30 in combination with active monitors. I solved it by using the optical connection from the e30 to my motherboard. You don't need the usb cable when you're optically connected.

 

[Moosi]

Can anyone give me some advice with th E30 and USB noise?

Plug a USB-HUB between PC and E30 or try different USB ports, for example the extention ports of the case which are being connected to the mainboard via cables. The only UBS ports prone to signal interference should be the ones directly connected to the mainboard.

 

[sritacco]

I've been a little COVID bored, so I started tinkering with my home audio. I have an aging AVR (Onkyo TX-NR1010) and a nice set of (also aging) Martin Logan electrostatics in a 5.1 config. Nothing too crazy, Aerius i, Cinema Center, Scripts in the back. It's always been really wonderful sounding to me. Many years ago I ripped all my CDs to a lossless format and have used a Sonos Connect to play my library. I've owned DVD Audio and SACD players, so I had a handful of those disks. I like the idea of higher resolution digital, but the multi disk players I owned (NAD & Denon) both broke in less than two years, so I kind of gave up on it. Neither format made it anyway. Thanks to this board, I decided to try an alternative to Sonos in my system. I had an Intel i5 based mini-pc gathering dust so I loaded Volumio on it and attached an E30. I ripped my DVD Audio discs and graduated to higher resolution audio. I have 3 SACD disks and I think I'm going to have those ripped for me rather than adding to my junk equipment collection.
I have to say, I don't believe I can hear a difference between Sonos and the E30 on regular CD audio, though I'm still listening. So far, I don't really think I hear much difference with the higher resolution stereo content either but I have so little content. The quality of the recording and engineering seems to make much more difference than the digital resolution and the DAC. I must also confess I'm addicted to the Onkyo's multi-channel stereo mode. It really does a great job of spreading out the sound stage and adding depth. I will write an update after I do more critical listening.

Two things I do want to report and praise.
The e30 certainly sounds great and functions flawlessly on a intel based Volumio installation.
What it offers is an amazing amount of flexibility in high resolution PCM and DSD formats. It is low cost, measures exceptionally and sounds great. Many thanks to this board, Amir and his reviews.

Next, Volumio is the bomb! What a terrific application. I do hope that someday there will be multi-channel 5.1/7.1 DACs and Volumio will be enhanced to support multi-channel content and DACs. In the meantime, I remain addicted to the Onkyo multi-channel mixing magic. I can also play the few 5.1 tracks I have directly through the Onkyo's DAC. Clearly, engineering good 5.1 content is much harder than Stereo. There are so few fine examples. A shining example remains the Eagles Hell Freezes Over DTS. I wish there were more multi-channel content of that quality.

 

[dgnzcn]

Which song should I listen to to compare different brands of dac/amp sound differences?

 

[Frio]

Those you know and you maybe even know how they are supposed to sound. But don't expect too much, most double blind tests can't dissect brands or chips.

 

[sritacco]

Which song should I listen to to compare different brands of dac/amp sound differences?

I have pretty limited DVD-Audio but most are duplicates of regular CD content... the two most well known that I have are Hotel California and Rumours. They both have the big-radio 1970's sound and were layered like crazy. I can really hear almost no difference between the higher res formats and standard CD audio. Maybe there is a little more detail in the vocal, but that could also easily be my imagination. I think it's something of a testament to how good CD audio was when it was designed.

For other CD audio to listen between DACs, so far, I've used tracks like Amos Lee, El Camino and Counting Crows, Anna Begins. When really critically listening you can hear some (likely unintentional) background sounds in Anna Begins and at first I thought, "is that the DAC?" but no, I went back to Sonos and there they were, just the same. In particular, El Camino is recorded like Amos is in your living room singing to you. It feels like he's there. I saw him live and up close a few years ago and it was just the same. They have really captured his music almost exactly as performed (or he's performing it exactly as recorded, not sure which).

FYI, I've tested it, and my hearing rolls off between 14-15 KHz, so people who can hear dog whistles, may have different results. ;-)

 

[dgnzcn]

I have pretty limited DVD-Audio but most are duplicates of regular CD content... the two most well known that I have are Hotel California and Rumours. They both have the big-radio 1970's sound and were layered like crazy. I can really hear almost no difference between the higher res formats and standard CD audio. Maybe there is a little more detail in the vocal, but that could also easily be my imagination. I think it's something of a testament to how good CD audio was when it was designed.

For other CD audio to listen between DACs, so far, I've used tracks like Amos Lee, El Camino and Counting Crows, Anna Begins. When really critically listening you can hear some (likely unintentional) background sounds in Anna Begins and at first I thought, "is that the DAC?" but no, I went back to Sonos and there they were, just the same. In particular, El Camino is recorded like Amos is in your living room singing to you. It feels like he's there. I saw him live and up close a few years ago and it was just the same. They have really captured his music almost exactly as performed (or he's performing it exactly as recorded, not sure which).

FYI, I've tested it, and my hearing rolls off between 14-15 KHz, so people who can hear dog whistles, may have different results. ;-)

Thank you. I was looking for songs that I could distinguish the sound performances in different dacs. It was good, I will give it a try.
I would be glad if you have any other suggestions.

 

[imnotdrunk]

got everything running now, my Braun turntable is working well after some compatibility issues & running it through the Puffin to E30 via Toslink sounds sweet, L30 goes straight into the Quad 450 and I'm happy out....until I have the cash for RME ADI DAC but that'll take a while

 

[sritacco]

Now for my first problem... I just got some DSD content ripped and am trying to play the .dsf files.
I'm playing from Volumio but the E30 DAC shows PCM on it's display.
I have the setting in Volumio for DSD Direct.
Now I find a thread in Volumio's forum that the DSD Direct support for specific DACs requires linux kernel patches. Seems like playing the DSDs is going to involve a wait. For now, I think I'll transcode them to PCM. This way I can even play the 5.1 versions through my AVR.

 

[sritacco]

Now for my first problem... I just got some DSD content ripped and am trying to play the .dsf files.
I'm playing from Volumio but the E30 DAC shows PCM on it's display.
I have the setting in Volumio for DSD Direct.
Now I find a thread in Volumio's forum that the DSD Direct support for specific DACs requires linux kernel patches. Seems like playing the DSDs is going to involve a wait. For now, I think I'll transcode them to PCM. This way I can even play the 5.1 versions through my AVR.

This is funny... the "problem" turned out to be that the setting for DSD Direct in the Volumio UI is inverted. Minor...

 

[facboy]

has anyone had an issue on Windows 10 where the sound on the E30 stops working? the front panel looks normal but no sound plays and programs trying to do playback just hang. unplugging the E30 unfreezes those programs (but obviously there is still no sound). plugging it back in results in the same problem. a reboot seems to fix it. it's happened to me a couple of times in the last month, never before.

 

[dgnzcn]

Is it harmful to use an android phone electrical dc adapter instead of usb power with the Topping e30 dac?

 

[sritacco]

Well, in theory, you want a low noise power source but I think Amir indicates above that it made little difference when he tried a different power supply. I'm using a universal usb power adapter I had lying around. It seems to be working fine. The spec. Says the e30 only needs 5V 1 Amp. Most any usb power adapter can deliver that.

Here is a link to Amir's follow-up about different power supplies.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-e30-dac-review.12119/post-354014