Topping E30 DAC Review

[Majestyk]

Hi,
Would like to write my own impressions about this DAC.
I just got it and plugged it in.
It feeds the brother amp (the Topping L30) which has been given stellar praises from Amirm.

All I can say is following : it might be super "transparent".
If that is what measures say, then it can not be otherwise.
And I can understand that and will not try to say otherwise.

So there is only one conclusion for me : I DON'T LIKE TRANSPARENT SOUND :-(
I'll have to wait to get used to it.
And then proceed with comparison with other devices from AUNE.

But the first impression is not good.
I will not try to describe, I'll just get moquery if I would do that.
But really, I do not like it... maybe just a question of habits ?

Regards.

Get a DAC that adds 'color' to the sound, like Schiit does.

 

[PenguinMusic]

Get a DAC that adds 'color' to the sound, like Schiit does.

Hi,

Do I sense some irony in your reply ?

Hum... Yes, I guess I do.
Even though some Schiit products did get superb measures in this very site.

I will give this Topping a closer ear.
But if I still do not like it after several hours/days of listening, I'll get your mackery as an advice.
And will get something that is probably not "measure grade" but that compliments my ear with "music", not numbers.

Sorry if I go against all your beliefs.
You have yours. I have mine.
Not saying mine are better than yours. I'd appreciate some reciprocity...

PLEASE NOTE : I am not saying that the E30/L30 combo is not good.
I am saying that I DO NOT LIKE IT.
I have good hope you'll understand the subtle difference.

 

[Killingbeans]

Get a DAC that adds 'color' to the sound, like Schiit does.

Schiit is playing for both teams:

Schiit Modius Balanced DAC Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Schiit Modius Balanced USB DAC. It was kindly sent to me by the company for testing. The Modius costs just US $199 which is quite cheap for a balanced DAC from a western company. The design language is Schiit all the way (sorry, could not...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Majestyk]

Schiit is playing for both teams:

Schiit Modius Balanced DAC Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Schiit Modius Balanced USB DAC. It was kindly sent to me by the company for testing. The Modius costs just US $199 which is quite cheap for a balanced DAC from a western company. The design language is Schiit all the way (sorry, could not...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I'm aware of that. It;s best for Mr P.M. to get one that measures with more distortion. Schiit is gernally not into measurements. They build most of their DACS from 'the sound up'.

 

[MrBlitzpunk]

DSD128 is 5.64 MHz, so all is good.

Ah yeah stupid me, i didn't realize it was showing the sample rate instead of 128dsd

 

[MrBlitzpunk]

Hi,
Would like to write my own impressions about this DAC.
I just got it and plugged it in.
It feeds the brother amp (the Topping L30) which has been given stellar praises from Amirm.

All I can say is following : it might be super "transparent".
If that is what measures say, then it can not be otherwise.
And I can understand that and will not try to say otherwise.

So there is only one conclusion for me : I DON'T LIKE TRANSPARENT SOUND :-(
I'll have to wait to get used to it.
And then proceed with comparison with other devices from AUNE.

But the first impression is not good.
I will not try to describe, I'll just get moquery if I would do that.
But really, I do not like it... maybe just a question of habits ?

Regards.

At least you can hear that it's bad, i honestly can't tell a difference between the E30 and my old cheapo 10$ dongle DAC other than the E30 drives the L30 better. I even tried to A/B them but there's not any significant enough of a difference that would rule out placebo. Im just hearing the sound of my headphones/speakers. Maybe my cans are not revealing enough? Idk

I guess im glad i have cheap ears that'll work with anything

 

[voodooless]

At least you can hear that it's bad,

No, he only thinks he can. Unless he did a controlled test, all bet’s are off.

 

[Bickle81]

Hey all -
Just got my E30 and right of the bat, both the COAX and the Optical inputs have "discontinuation" issues i.e. there's "jumps" during playback :/
- USB works fine
- The issue occurred when playing from 2 different sources so I suspect it's the unit.
- My unit SN is 2104****, if that matters
*I read through the thread as much as I could before submitting here
Has anyone ran into something similar and can shed some light?
I've been waiting for this unit for so long after one got lost on it's way, this sucks.
Thanks

So - The company admits older CD players may not be supported. See attached, it's a bit awkwardly translated but TL;DR - Sucks to be me.
FYI anyone who plans to buy this and connect it to an old TOSLINK/ Coax source.
FYI @JohnYang1997

 

[Nainghsy]

I’m trying to get new DAC for spare which could equivalent to DAC magic 100 . I don‘t need headphones amp . May I know which one should I consider Topping E30,E50 or D30 pro ? Please advise thanks you.

 

[Walter]

I’m trying to get new DAC for spare which could equivalent to DAC magic 100 . I don‘t need headphones amp . May I know which one should I consider Topping E30,E50 or D30 pro ? Please advise thanks you.

The E30 would be the closest, considering that the DAC Magic has no balanced inputs. Do note the issue above with some optical and coax input sources, however. All three Topping DACs will easily outperform the Cambridge.

 

[PenguinMusic]

At least you can hear that it's bad, i honestly can't tell a difference between the E30 and my old cheapo 10$ dongle DAC other than the E30 drives the L30 better. I even tried to A/B them but there's not any significant enough of a difference that would rule out placebo. Im just hearing the sound of my headphones/speakers. Maybe my cans are not revealing enough? Idk

I guess im glad i have cheap ears that'll work with anything

Hi,

Just to mention it : I did not wrote that I can hear the device is bad.
I have written that I did not like the sound coming out of the E30/L30 combo.

And that, admittedly, it is all in my head and pure placebo.

I do not believe that my ears are better than yours.
Too old to be that arrogant

No, he only thinks he can. Unless he did a controlled test, all bet’s are off.

Perfectly true.

I did not wrote that this device is bad.
That would be an objective statement.

I have writtent that I do not like it.
Which is totally subjective and personal and possibly pure placebo (which I also admitted).

I do not think I wrote otherwise about this device.
So, as far as I am concerned, you only think you can read.
Unless you can point where I did say the device is bad, all bets are off.

Reading some late tests by amirm, I can read that a device with mild measurements can offer a lot of fun to listen to.
And that statement would only work one way round ?

Sometimes, brains and heart tells the same story. Sometimes they don't.
As long as you do not make a confusion between heart and brains, it's OK is it not ?


Regards.

 

[fritobugger]

Hey all -
Just got my E30 and right of the bat, both the COAX and the Optical inputs have "discontinuation" issues i.e. there's "jumps" during playback :/
- USB works fine
- The issue occurred when playing from 2 different sources so I suspect it's the unit.
- My unit SN is 2104****, if that matters
*I read through the thread as much as I could before submitting here
Has anyone ran into something similar and can shed some light?
I've been waiting for this unit for so long after one got lost on it's way, this sucks.
Thanks

Did you download the most recent drivers and firmware?

 

[PenguinMusic]

Did you download the most recent drivers and firmware?

Hi,

Drivers ?
You mean for the computer ?
Not sure there are some for Linux...
Besides I listen to it with a dedicated player... not computer.

Firmware ?
Have to check on that.
Will report in case it gives improvements...

Thanks a lot for the hint.

Regards.

 

[fritobugger]

Don't take it too personally, some folks just enjoy appearing superior and unpleasant.

Hi,

Just to mention it : I did not wrote that I can hear the device is bad.
I have written that I did not like the sound coming out of the E30/L30 combo.

And that, admittedly, it is all in my head and pure placebo.

I do not believe that my ears are better than yours.
Too old to be that arrogant



Perfectly true.

I did not wrote that this device is bad.
That would be an objective statement.

I have writtent that I do not like it.
Which is totally subjective and personal and possibly pure placebo (which I also admitted).

I do not think I wrote otherwise about this device.
So, as far as I am concerned, you only think you can read.
Unless you can point where I did say the device is bad, all bets are off.

Reading some late tests by amirm, I can read that a device with mild measurements can offer a lot of fun to listen to.
And that statement would only work one way round ?

Sometimes, brains and heart tells the same story. Sometimes they don't.
As long as you do not make a confusion between heart and brains, it's OK is it not ?


Regards.

 

[fritobugger]

I think the drivers are only needed for Windows machines.

Firmware, given the series number is probably the most recent but you might want to check the Topping website to be sure.

Hi,

Drivers ?
You mean for the computer ?
Not sure there are some for Linux...
Besides I listen to it with a dedicated player... not computer.

Firmware ?
Have to check on that.
Will report in case it gives improvements...

Thanks a lot for the hint.

Regards.

 

[PenguinMusic]

Don't take it too personally, some folks just enjoy appearing superior and unpleasant.

Hi,

Wise advice. But sometimes, I can't help it :-(

 

[PenguinMusic]

I think the drivers are only needed for Windows machines.

Firmware, given the series number is probably the most recent but you might want to check the Topping website to be sure.

Hi,

Well I've been to the topping website and it seems there are no updates for the E30/L30 devices.
There is an update for the E30 but given my SN it does not apply for my device.

Will give it an ear

 

[voodooless]

@PenguinMusic, why not try to do a somewhat more controles test? What was your previous reference? What were you expecting? This DAC should not sound any different from any other decent DAC.

 

[PenguinMusic]

@PenguinMusic, why not try to do a somewhat more controles test? What was your previous reference? What were you expecting? This DAC should not sound any different from any other decent DAC.

Hi,

Hum... I am aware of that. More or less as the previous DAC has ESS chip which is known to have a small bump in one area.
This one sports the AK4493 and I took it because of that because I have the Shanling m2X and really like its sound.?

The main concern is : I did not only change the DAC but also the HPA.

So I will now test the 3 DAC I currently have with the same HPA.

I'll do it as near to "controlled" as I can, but I am not equipped with any measurement gear, so that will be a rule of thumb.

It is also HIGHLY possible that given the measured results I had high expectations for this little combo.
Maybe a little too high... and thus have been slightly disappointed.

Again : I am not questioniçng the measured quality of this DAC. Just stating that, compared to what I was used ( alittle pricier but with lesser measures) I was not pleased by what I was hearing.

Regards.

 

[PenguinMusic]

Hi,

As a follow-up, it looks like the problem is probably not the DAC.
It is probably the L30 HPA that I do not like at least with no EQ.

I have paired the E30 DAC with my AUNE x7s HPA.
And there it works indeed really nicely.

But when paired to the L30 HPA (now I'll make myself ridiculous but I agree to take it) the combo shows 2 flaws that make it a no-go to me :
- 1°) it seems that the bass is OVERwhelming and thus eats up the rest of the musical message. And treble is somewhat "harsh" ;
- 2°) on somewhat "complicated" recordings, it seems it cannot be "fast" enough to catch up with all the parts of the message. So the score turns a little into mud :-(

If you want to give it a try : take the Bruce Sprinsteen "Live in Dublin" and try to play Love of the common people or This Little light of mine.
At times all members of the band play at the same time.
And I can still get music on the AUNE combo (x8 DAC + x7s HPA) or even better the AUNE S6 (DAC + HPA in the same box, but an old one released in 2017 I think).
I have something like a "muddy" sound with the L30 + E30 combo.

But if I pair the E30 with the AUNE x7S HPA I have a really good result.
Maybe even slightly superior to the result on the x8 + x7s result.
I think I'll try to keep that combo for some time and then change it.

Those are all IMPRESSIONS.

The cost for the x8 is about 270€ ; for the x7s about 250€ and for the S6 about 550€.
So of course, AUNE devices are more expensive.
But we're not talking about price are we ?

Go ahead and make fun of me for telling that I hear difference between those devices.
I would like to emphasize that I am not talking about the DAC alone but about a "combo".

Regards.