Topping E30 DAC Review

[Bel Canto]

It might still be broken.
L30 was developed after E30. And after L30 released, we did a revision on E30 to make sure it's ok to plug the 15AC to E30.
What does the SN number start with?

Thabk you for the quick reply, I'll get serial number soon but it is a new E30 with cirrus logic spidf receiver.

 

[Bel Canto]

@JohnYang1997 Serial number of E30 is 2105731986
L30 is 2101623032

 

[JohnYang1997]

@JohnYang1997 Serial number of E30 is 2105731986
L30 is 2101623032

Ok contact seller for a replacement.

 

[nerone]

I LED si accendono, nessun suono esce dagli altoparlanti.
I condensatori bruciati sembrano 2

Basically.

Hi, you haven't answered my question from post 4983 anymore
There is a solution?

 

[JohnYang1997]

Hi, you haven't answered my question from post 4983 anymore
There is a solution?

If it's not working after removing what's burned. There are more components broken. So no fix after that.

 

[Moosi]

I am having two E30 here, one is serial 2102XX and the other is 2008XX. Half a year between them and I am really about to believe they sound slightly different. The older E30 seems to present background details in a more straight foreward manner, whereas the newer E30 does not seem less detailed, but less pronounced on the details, hence more laid back and two dimensional. It's subtle, but I notice. I need confirmation on this.

 

[voodooless]

I need confirmation on this.

Then do a blind test. Should be easy for somebody else to hook them up and you guessing which one is which.

 

[Moosi]

Then do a blind test. Should be easy for somebody else to hook them up and you guessing which one is which.

Can't, because one of them is going to my father tomorrow to complement his TV. I have listened to "nuthin but a g thang" from Dr. Dre three times and the breathing noise the woman makes on the track is more out front with the older E30. I have listened to "rhythm is a dancer" from Snap and the "swoosh" effects from the left speaker from minute 2:00 on are more out front with the older E30, both 16/44 Flacs with Roon@DSD256. Believe me or not, but there is something here. The older E30 sounds more airy with background noises popping more. The newer one sounds a bit heavier, but dryer, more flat, less pronounced on the background effects. It's subtle and you probably need very good and revealing speakers to even notice it. It's not that the newer E30 sounds bad in comparison, just a little different. edit: Just checked, both driven in "DAC" mode.

 

[Bel Canto]

I am having two E30 here, one is serial 2102XX and the other is 2008XX. Half a year between them and I am really about to believe they sound slightly different. The older E30 seems to present background details in a more straight foreward manner, whereas the newer E30 does not seem less detailed, but less pronounced on the details, hence more laid back and two dimensional. It's subtle, but I notice. I need confirmation on this.

What input are you using on the E30? There has been a change to the spidf receiver from akm to cirrus logic.

 

[Bel Canto]

Well that sucks. My serial is 2006XXXXXX. Sounds like long before the revision and came through it unscathed. It was wrongly plugged in for at least a couple minutes too. So what really is going on???

Was plugged in for around 2-3 seconds, hopefully will get a replacement.

 

[Moosi]

What input are you using on the E30? There has been a change to the spidf receiver from akm to cirrus logic.

Both E30 are having the AKM receiver (officially said). Cirrus Logic is from 2103XX onwards. That being said, I was using the same USB port and same power supply in both cases, even the cables were the same I just un- and replugged everything. I never touched any other port on any of the two. Maybe they have made some minor changes to the circuit, but I'm not willing to open them up tho. Someone with a larger collection of DACs should consider him or herself worthy the task. edit: Both E30 = 1.08 /ASIO 5.12.0

 

[Rottmannash]

Both E30 are having the AKM receiver (officially said). Cirrus Logic is from 2103XX onwards. That being said, I was using the same USB port and same power supply in both cases, even the cables were the same I just un- and replugged everything. I never touched any other port on any of the two. Maybe they have made some minor changes to the circuit, but I'm not willing to open them up tho. Someone with a larger collection of DACs should consider him or herself worthy the task. edit: Both E30 = 1.08 /ASIO 5.12.0

I assume both units were using the same filter? And both were up to date w/ firmware?

 

[serendipitydawg]

New member & new E30 owner here. Thanks Amir for your review, and thanks to everyone for your reports, observations.

I'm deeply annoyed about the change to the SPDIF receiver, which means my cheap Philips DVD player & Pioneer DVD player both suffer from interruptions during playback via SPDIF.

I'm also mystified why my cheapo Blu-ray player plays perfectly via SPDIF.

Anyone care to explain why?

 

[Moosi]

I assume both units were using the same filter? And both were up to date w/ firmware?

Yes, same firmware, same ASIO driver. The filters are for PCM only. Since I used both in native DSD256 (upscaled in Roon), there are no filters involved.

 

[Moosi]

I have both versions of E30, and can confirm the CS8416 (serial 2102xx) version sounds more "flat"or "boring".
Something is simply not right with this one.

Found this and he's wrong claiming 2102 has CS8416 chip (in fact it still has AKM) but he's right that the sound of the 2102 is somehow slightly different. It is indeed more "flat" or "boring" as he suggests, this is my observation too, but not to a severe degree. I noticed no popping sounds with DSD on the 2102. The 2008 has a very loud single pop when I play the first track after wakeup. Maybe they put an additional filter into the circuit in order to deal with the popping noises, possibly leading to a little "dulled" output in the details. However, the loud pop on the 2008 is quite annoying and the difference in sound is very subtle, in fact I believe the newer E30 is not less detailed, but a little thicker and ever so slightly laid back with the background effects. Think I'm gonna keep the newer one.

Does anyone have a picture of the E30 PCB with Cirrus Logic chip to compare?

 

[proud]

So I should say, thanks for the kind and detailed feedback. We are going to carefully consider your request and hopefully 48khz dsd playback will be supported in newer models and be supported via firmware update.

My question is, has this error been fixed and now there is support for DSD with a frequency of 48 kHz? I convert PCM files in DSD512 from the HQPlayer and have a lot of music in 48-96-192kHz format. I want to use in DAС / direct DSD mode, and values 24.57 should be correctly displayed on the indicator and not play with a slow pace

 

[serendipitydawg]

New member & new E30 owner here. Thanks Amir for your review, and thanks to everyone for your reports, observations.

I'm deeply annoyed about the change to the SPDIF receiver, which means my cheap Philips DVD player & Pioneer DVD player both suffer from interruptions during playback via SPDIF.

I'm also mystified why my cheapo Blu-ray player plays perfectly via SPDIF.

Anyone care to explain why?

Has anyone got any ideas? (sorry to bump my own thread)

 

[ouimetnick]

Found this and he's wrong claiming 2102 has CS8416 chip (in fact it still has AKM) but he's right that the sound of the 2102 is somehow slightly different. It is indeed more "flat" or "boring" as he suggests, this is my observation too, but not to a severe degree. I noticed no popping sounds with DSD on the 2102. The 2008 has a very loud single pop when I play the first track after wakeup. Maybe they put an additional filter into the circuit in order to deal with the popping noises, possibly leading to a little "dulled" output in the details. However, the loud pop on the 2008 is quite annoying and the difference in sound is very subtle, in fact I believe the newer E30 is not less detailed, but a little thicker and ever so slightly laid back with the background effects. Think I'm gonna keep the newer one.

Does anyone have a picture of the E30 PCB with Cirrus Logic chip to compare?

Any photos of the E30 PCB with the AKM receiver?

 

[Moosi]

^
Thank you. Wow, there are a lot of differences. In fact a lot more than just a swap of receiver chips. There are even quite visible differences to the output stage. No wonder it sounds different to earlier versions. The power supply stage has also severely changed. This new E30 has to be re-reviewed by amir. I'm calling it out! (green=same as before/red=changes in the circuit)

 

[solderdude]

The changes near the power plug (top left part) are without a doubt protection against blowing up the E30 when, accidentally, the L30 AC power supply is connected. To make some room they shifted some parts a bit lower on the PCB.
Aside from the chip change the large (output coupling ?) caps in the output stage stand out.
DAC chip is still the same one, only the SPDIF receiver has changed.

No wonder it sounds different to earlier versions.

The only thing in the audible path that differs is some ground traces between DAC dif analog out and different output coupling caps. Why would they sound different ?
Also no more compound decoupling of the output stage power supply rails.

Maybe they put an additional filter into the circuit in order to deal with the popping noises

I reckon they just changed the muting timing to prevent popping noises.