Topping E30 DAC Review

[billdylan]

No.


No, I'm not sure they exist.


As you use this site for the second month you might slowly start to detect a difference between ASR and the rest of 'em. For example, go to head-fi and type "The E30 is dead sounding, without the airiness of the the Modi 3. I prefer the latter's rich bass and plankton" and they'll probably greet you as one of their own. You're entitled to your opinion right? Damn right. Try typing that here, though, and you're going to get "uh huh", ignored or perhaps even a "dude, wtf are you talking about?". That's because that sentence is a mixture of opinion and meaningless jargon, which therefore cannot be defended objectively with measurements or double blind comparisons. It's of no value to anyone considering a purchase.

So when someone types something like "I did several tests to compare the audio quality with a good vintage cd player unfortunately it does not hold up to comparison. The latter digests all musical genres with an extraordinary dynamics that the E30 dreams of." then it has a certain smell...and you can tell immediately that they did not, in fact, perform any meaningful test, and if they did, they either did it very badly or have a faulty E30 because to the extent that "extraordinary dynamics" has any meaning, they were not found to be wanting when Amir performed his tests. There's no way a recent, more-or-less state of the art audio DAC is getting out-performed by a 40 or 50 or however many year old CD player.

I think you have an axe to grind about Topping which is colouring your views here. I have to say, despite being a very happy E30 owner, what I've read about Topping's kit has made me think...well, they're certainly not guilty of over-testing their equipment, are they? I seem to have a lucky E30 which was built after the phase problem but before the spdif one! At least with this product my headphones are safe. I thought I was safe simply waiting for other people to be early adopters and find any flaws before I make a purchase (which is a sensible approach for any consumer product really) but your situation - where something is changed but insufficiently tested many months after initial release - shows that this is a little optimistic. The only thing to be done really is to thoroughly test all functionality upon purchase so that it can be returned as early as possible. But there's no reason to believe Topping are any worse in this regard than any other company. I will consider them for future purchases.

But I've seen nothing remotely dishonest about JohnYang1997's comments. I think you just don't like his bluntness. He suggested you return it. I suggested you return it. Why didn't you return it?

Thanks for your comments
.
As you say you are lucky to have an e30 built after the phase problem and before the spdif one..That certainly inspires confidence to other would be purchasers.

And to be blunt ,as we are now being I have no problems with johns bluntness , I now realise he must not know there is a problem, and that he did not know about toppings statement release about the problem in the video ,or read fully the Reply from Toppings service department about the problem. existing It must be that indeed . I see no other reason for his bluntness, and as you say you see nothing remotely dishonest
.
I didn't get a rogue E30 to be returned, how many customers would have to return their E30's as well' in the future ? .I got the new E30 with the Models spdif problems as you mentioned. Maybe it will be changed and work with more CD/dvd players soon.That would make me feel better about my time and money

However you will be pleased to know The Topping is E30 gone I have a new DAC on order, I can only hope They havent changed the specs of it recently ,as my friends one worked perfectly.

Once again ,thanks for your opinions.

Bill

 

[Marty111]

So can this Dac be recommended to get a clean signal from a noisy usb2 on an old windows 7 x64 computer from 2012? No annoying stuff with the driver? You know like dropping, popping? I will be using mpchc, videolan, and reaper. Reaper will use the pc motherboard onboard line-in input to record.

 

[PhnomPenhPaul]

I write to apologise to @Robin L for my post of yesterday. On re-reading his post [on which I commented] it is clear that he did try to help the OP [in the last sentence of the penultimate paragraph] and I should not have commented in the pejorative and offensive way that I did. For the record, it was only the very last bit of his post [about when CD players came to market] to which I took [I admit exaggerated] exception. [@RobinL's explanation of why he thought it not the case that the OP's early CD player might sound [in the former's words] 'more audiophile' than the Topping E30 is exemplary].
@threni, I do come to this site often and it is a pleasure to do so. This is a haven of common sense in a sea of nonsense. I remember the introduction of CD's [and owned a Technics SL-P7 bought in 1985] and thus the world before the internet brought the explosion of subjective reviews of questionable value and [if I am being cynical] integrity. I consider myself very lucky to have @amirm showing that you need not spend huge sums [by 1st world standards] to get equipment that is state of the art in terms of its measurements [and thus faithful to the signal source], sums literally orders of magnitude less than some would have you believe is necessary. I also particularly value the posts of the members and owners of equipment that I might be interested in buying. I have, for instance, learned that AKM and Cirrus Logic based DACs might not be the best choice for direct connection to a power amp when one is playing music with different sample rates/formats in one session [see @JohnYang1997's post #535 in this thread]. Reliability and other technical issues are often brought up in this forum and these are of great import to me as I don't have the luxury of easily returning items to vendors from here in Cambodia.
Anyway, sorry for the long post, and, most importantly, sorry once again to @Robin L .

 

[nerone]

My E30 sounds good and in my opinion the dac does not keep up with the cd player
It bothers me a little to be made fun of by some member who continues to support the good measures amirm has achieved and that my opinion is nonsense.
Since the measurements on this dac were made some time ago on an almost modified model, these measurements are no longer reliable.
If I buy a dac and read on ASR that it is okay I go to buy it but if the manufacturers after the review market the same dac with different components I see it as an incorrectness and lack of seriousness towards customers.
So the measurements made on the E30 are no longer reliable but reliable only for the model reviewed at the moment.

 

[JohnYang1997]

My E30 sounds good and in my opinion the dac does not keep up with the cd player
It bothers me a little to be made fun of by some member who continues to support the good measures amirm has achieved and that my opinion is nonsense.
Since the measurements on this dac were made some time ago on an almost modified model, these measurements are no longer reliable.
If I buy a dac and read on ASR that it is okay I go to buy it but if the manufacturers after the review market the same dac with different components I see it as an incorrectness and lack of seriousness towards customers.
So the measurements made on the E30 are no longer reliable but reliable only for the model reviewed at the moment.

It's true in this regard. But we will still be responsible for the specifications we published.
And anyone can send on in for Amir to measure the later version.

 

[billdylan]

My E30 sounds good and in my opinion the dac does not keep up with the cd player
It bothers me a little to be made fun of by some member who continues to support the good measures amirm has achieved and that my opinion is nonsense.
Since the measurements on this dac were made some time ago on an almost modified model, these measurements are no longer reliable.
If I buy a dac and read on ASR that it is okay I go to buy it but if the manufacturers after the review market the same dac with different components I see it as an incorrectness and lack of seriousness towards customers.
So the measurements made on the E30 are no longer reliable but reliable only for the model reviewed at the moment.

Hi Nerone

I too thought there would be better responses on this site apart from ,Platitudes and denial of a noted problem

To be honest it stinks

As do the evasive and slightly abusive attitude in some replies

Get rid of it and buy something else. The reality is It's a Crap shoot as to whether the New Topping E30 will work when you use its coaxial input.

Some of us appreciate comments on the E30 and have no interest in only positive ones being allowed here

Thanks for your post

Bill

 

[billdylan]

It's true in this regard. But we will still be responsible for the specifications we published.
And anyone can send on in for Amir to measure the later version.

Hi

My apologies ......it now seems this answer came from a member JohnYang on thursday , and only a day after having a bit of a 'tantrum' ...sorry 'being blunt' when I quoted a Topping Service Center email confirming the E30 s Coaxial problem

"no. It's not fixable unless hardware change. If one encounters the issue with incompatibility the only suggestion is to returning the product. Although there has been shown to work with many upstream devices. The chance of encountering the incompatibility makes me not recommending the device if someone is not willing to risk trying."

Thanks for finally putting the record straight johnYang, Much appreciated,

It might have been helpful to have heard this when the above major contributor responded to my E30 problem and trashed me for quoting Toppings reply and reports by E30 owners confirming this ..After being condescending and then annoyed that I wouldn't go away He eventually refused to deal with my "Cherry picking of facts, Perhaps a decision made After speaking to Topping with whom he is connected.

Thanks for finally making it clear, that if you Buy a Topping E30 DAC you can "Take a Risk" ( You Never Know , It might just work for you ) if not, send it back ...wait ...get a reply from the poor seller ...wait for a refund...then buy something that has a decent chance of working

When in fact they should be changing advertising to reflect this "Risk" I think its called transparency .

S'funny This Reminds me of when I Bought my New Car. when i asked the Salesman about its reliability I don't think he said "Drive it Home, It might make it , it might not ...If it doesn't make it ...Bring it back and we will eventually refund your money ..

A solution might be for JohnYang being on good terms with his employers to get them to provide some samples of the E30 Dac For some respected member on this site (Perhaps 'Amirm if he would be so kind ) to re test the new E30 dac in a lab situation


Then we would know how good ,or bad the coaxial readings are ,and be informed when making a choice on this DAC..Sounds Logical to me.

And maybe a Post on the Review of the E30 ..noting the review is now out of date in 2021..It Was a review I read that and helped me choose a Topping E30 .It is no longer relevant until the 'New' E30 is Re evaluated


Thanks for any forthcoming input about the subject ...except of course any Grammar Nazi's ...ha..ha..

Have a great Day.

Bill

 

[voodooless]

I did several tests to compare the audio quality with a good vintage cd player unfortunately it does not hold up to comparison.

Let’s get back to this one. Because we did not yet get to the bottom of this. How did you compare this? What did you use to play audio over the TV? How do you know it’s the exact same master as you put in the CD player? Did you match volume?

All kinds of thing can cause a difference here.. without more info anything goes. And what’s the brand and model of the player.. possibly we can dig up some measurements.

 

[daftcombo]

A subjective review of the E30:

https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/topping-e30-dac-review-entry-level-overachiever/

Extract:
"From the first seconds, even with my eyes closed I could swear that I am listening to an AKM based DAC. Transparency was great, I could easily look deeper into my tunes, texture was natural and I could feel the body of all acoustic instruments, I could feel the wood of the violins, guitars and I could feel the copper chords vibrating naturally. Soundstage was a bit wider compared to ESS designs and depth was by a smudge going deeper strengthening my findings. There was an apparent smoothness over my tunes, midrange was notably fuller sounding even compared to my reference Element X. I felt the presence of the midrange so much that it even infused a bit of life into the harsher recordings and made older tunes sounding fresher and livelier. Oh, this is definitely an AKM based DAC. The only thing that I could complain about compared to a high-end DAC was the detail retrieval that was not its best trait, I would spot some micro-details but only with my eyes closed. They are still there, but are not screaming for attention and prime time. "

 

[billdylan]

Hi Daftcombo

That is an absolutely Fantastic Review When I read it I was so Excited I went out and bought what I thought was this Topping E30

However, If you Read this thread you will realise that wonderful Dac doesn't exist anymore .Unfortunately ,That review is over a year old and is a review of the old Model With "The AKM 4493 Chip " installed .
I gleefully paid my money

 

[half_dog]

Hi Daftcombo

That is an absolutely Fantastic Review When I read it I was so Excited I went out and bought what I thought was this Topping E30

However, If you Read this thread you will realise that wonderful Dac doesn't exist anymore .Unfortunately ,That review is over a year old and is a review of the old Model With "The AKM 4493 Chip " installed .
I gleefully paid my money

But it still keeps with the AK4493, what has changed was the SPDIF receiver chip...

 

[daftcombo]

That is an absolutely Fantastic Review When I read it I was so Excited I went out and bought what I thought was this Topping E30

The writer's goal was achieved, then.

 

[VintageFlanker]

The only thing that I could complain about compared to a high-end DAC was the detail retrieval that was not its best trait, I would spot some micro-details but only with my eyes closed

This could have been written for just about any DAC review, as long as there is an higher end DAC to rank above. No way to dissociate price and performance, of course...

That is an absolutely Fantastic Review When I read it I was so Excited I went out and bought what I thought was this Topping E30

Not sure if you're sarcastic...

 

[threni]

But it still keeps with the AK4493, what has changed was the SPDIF receiver chip...

Topping's CS corrected him on that, but I don't think he really gets it. At this point there's a Pavlovian "see post about E30.... type something negative about Topping" thing happening.

 

[billdylan]

But it still keeps with the AK4493, what has changed was the SPDIF receiver chip...

Hi Half Dog.

Sorry I pushed a button and posted by mistake in mid answer .Its late in Australia and I'm tired. Thats The World Time differences conundrum . Ha Ha..

The AK 4493 is the DAC Chip. I meant The Spdif Receiver Chip in the reviewed model back in 2020, was the AK4118 Chip.
Unfortunately, The Ak chip factory Burnt down ,As A Result a decision was made at Topping to change to the CS 8416 spdif chip instead.

The old version of E30 used AK4118 chip for the Coaxial/optical inputs Since Recently the new version uses the CS8416. chip for this job ..just confirming again.

Topping admits there is Now an area of concern about the Cs chipped version of the E30

So, if you are interested in the changes to the E30 and the problems arising since the review you quote from was published back in 2020, check this thread out, and also the comments on the Coaxial input problems with the New e30 on the last few pages of the "E30 review" thread on this site

Thanks for Your Post Half dog , I Hope this helps you and anyone else to perhaps consider carefully before purchasing the 'New' Topping E30..

Bill

 

[billdylan]

Topping's CS corrected him on that, but I don't think he really gets it. At this point there's a Pavlovian "see post about E30.... type something negative about Topping" thing happening.

Nice to see You Back and have your input.

Thanks for the Pavlovian Comments .
.

Bill

 

[voodooless]

Hi Daftcombo

That is an absolutely Fantastic Review When I read it I was so Excited I went out and bought what I thought was this Topping E30

Well, there is your very first mistake already: never ever let yourself influence by subjective nonsense like that. Even so, the thing you have will sound exactly the same if used with a compatible source.

 

[billdylan]

This could have been written for just about any DAC review, as long as there is an higher end DAC to rank above. No way to dissociate price and performance, of course...

Not sure if you're sarcastic...

Hi Vintage Flanker

I'm Not being Sarcastic at All..Sorry if you got that impression. I was genuinely Excited ,Thats why Bought An E30 the glowing reviews.Why else would I have Bought One ?

How was I to Know about the new versions problems ? If I had known I obviously wouldn't have given Topping my money.

No one had mentioned the problems I had no Idea their were problems until I Found other posts with the same Problems And Toppings Service Centre confirmed that there were

I hope That's cleared things up .As I Said in my Reply to half dog . " Sorry I pushed a button and posted by mistake in mid answer "i really wanted the DAC as featured in the review.. As You Can Imagine I was very disappointed to find it was no longer produced and I had purchased something less capable in its place
...
Thanks for your post

Bill

 

[billdylan]

Well, there is your very first mistake already: never ever let yourself influence by subjective nonsense like that. Even so, the thing you have will sound exactly the same if used with a compatible source.

Pardon ?

 

[VintageFlanker]

I was genuinely Excited ,Thats why Bought An E30 the glowing reviews.Why else would I have Bought One ?

Don't know. Perhaps being a member here should immune you against such nonsense in the future. Live and learn.

Pardon ?

What he said.