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Topping E30 DAC Review

The Dragon

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Just curious -- what headphones did you use to observe distortion? I am using Audio Technica MSR7 when I was mixing.
It's true its not the same quality I hear in real life, but as someone who has heard the comparison in person and the recording, I can vouch that what I hear in the recording when I use proper headphones is atleast indicative of the relative difference between the 2 dacs in real life. Anyway, I won't go on to act as a proponent to sound demos, I was just doing it out of boredom. Weather or not you hear a difference and weather or not you believe in youtube sound demos is up to you.

Not that it really matters, but I was listening through Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones. Just so I am clear, I did not claim that I could not hear any difference in the video. What I can say with 100% confidence is that any difference that I may or may not have heard are meaningless and marginal at best considering the medium. It has nothing to do with a belief or non-belief in youtube sound demos. It has to do with the understanding of the facts and science behind the medium's capability limits. The other factor is there is no guarantee that these are in fact the DACs being tested or that they have been level-matched. Any differences heard can be easily reproduced by simply adjusting tone controls to achieve the desired effect. It cannot be attributed to either one of these being superior to the other. Any claims like this based on youtube videos are dubious at best.

The Schiit Modi Multibit has long been proven to be a low-fidelity, underperforming design which has clever marketing behind it (The clever part being to promoting a line of products while making no claims of accurate sound reproduction). But that is where it stops, with marketing. I would think the Modi 3 would be a more appropriate comparison since it actually does manage decent DAC performance. However, any reviews and/or comparisons of a subjective nature or claims of magical performance or special properties that require a leap of faith with a healthy dose of psuedo-science will probably not be met with any kind of acceptance of a serious nature around here.
 

facboy

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Good to hear, I'll wait it out a bit longer to see what happens.

FWIW I ordered from them via Amazon back in April, I seem to recall the tracking number didn't do much at first either. When I check it now on the 4px site I can see the details, but the dates/times on the history are a bit random and do not look entirely accurate (eg it cleared Heathrow customs at the same time that it was delivered to me). I remember I could definitely see that it was had arrived in the UK at one point and was with the 'local' courier, next thing I knew was when it landed on my doorstep.
 

Robbo99999

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FWIW I ordered from them via Amazon back in April, I seem to recall the tracking number didn't do much at first either. When I check it now on the 4px site I can see the details, but the dates/times on the history are a bit random and do not look entirely accurate (eg it cleared Heathrow customs at the same time that it was delivered to me). I remember I could definitely see that it was had arrived in the UK at one point and was with the 'local' courier, next thing I knew was when it landed on my doorstep.
Right, so there's lots of lag in the tracking details, ok.
 
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I received my black E30 yesterday (the16th), ordered on the 1st from Apos Audio. CJ at Apos sent me a very apologetic email stating that the black ones weren't in stock and asked if I would like to change my order to the silver one or cancel altogether. I replied I would wait for the black one. He was very helpful and kept in contact during the whole process. 5 stars for CJ and Apos. As for the E30, it provides an audible improvement over my old D10, so I'm happy with it too. With the D10 I could pause a track and raise the volume and I would get hiss and if I moved my mouse I'd get interference from that also. No such problems with the E30 which is dead quiet w hen a track is paused-no matter how high I turn the volume or whether I'm using S/PDIF or USB. I am using a wall wart to power it whereas the D10 was powered by my pc so maybe the pc's 5V rail is where the noise was coming from. I'm still playing with the filters but I'm using #1 for now, #3 is the default. Definitely a worthy addition to my system and the retro amber leds look cool too.
 

Jarrett

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I received my black E30 yesterday (the16th), ordered on the 1st from Apos Audio. CJ at Apos sent me a very apologetic email stating that the black ones weren't in stock and asked if I would like to change my order to the silver one or cancel altogether. I replied I would wait for the black one. He was very helpful and kept in contact during the whole process. 5 stars for CJ and Apos. As for the E30, it provides an audible improvement over my old D10, so I'm happy with it too. With the D10 I could pause a track and raise the volume and I would get hiss and if I moved my mouse I'd get interference from that also. No such problems with the E30 which is dead quiet w hen a track is paused-no matter how high I turn the volume or whether I'm using S/PDIF or USB. I am using a wall wart to power it whereas the D10 was powered by my pc so maybe the pc's 5V rail is where the noise was coming from. I'm still playing with the filters but I'm using #1 for now, #3 is the default. Definitely a worthy addition to my system and the retro amber leds look cool too.

I came from the D10 too. Owned it for about 4 months. You can find my comparison in an earlier reply. Yeah, maybe the wall plug power has something to do with that. I am using the E30 with my Sony phone charger. Definitely a superior looking product too.
 

Sak

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With the D10 I could pause a track and raise the volume and I would get hiss and if I moved my mouse I'd get interference from that also.
maybe the pc's 5V rail is where the noise was coming from.
I have no such problems with my d10. Also e30 work very good.
Most likely the reason is the computer power supply. I already saw a similar case at work. After replacing the power supply, the problem was resolved.
 

mykeldg

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Not that it really matters, but I was listening through Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones. Just so I am clear, I did not claim that I could not hear any difference in the video. What I can say with 100% confidence is that any difference that I may or may not have heard are meaningless and marginal at best considering the medium. It has nothing to do with a belief or non-belief in youtube sound demos. It has to do with the understanding of the facts and science behind the medium's capability limits. The other factor is there is no guarantee that these are in fact the DACs being tested or that they have been level-matched. Any differences heard can be easily reproduced by simply adjusting tone controls to achieve the desired effect. It cannot be attributed to either one of these being superior to the other. Any claims like this based on youtube videos are dubious at best.

The Schiit Modi Multibit has long been proven to be a low-fidelity, underperforming design which has clever marketing behind it (The clever part being to promoting a line of products while making no claims of accurate sound reproduction). But that is where it stops, with marketing. I would think the Modi 3 would be a more appropriate comparison since it actually does manage decent DAC performance. However, any reviews and/or comparisons of a subjective nature or claims of magical performance or special properties that require a leap of faith with a healthy dose of psuedo-science will probably not be met with any kind of acceptance of a serious nature around here.

Actually about the multibit part is true -- I made an experiment on the Topping E30 -- I used a DSP to add harmonic distortion and the result was the "euphonic" qualities of the multibit dac was atleast patrially emulated by it. I have no qualms with this statement. I just happen to prefer how it sounds, that's all.
 
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odyo

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Any new info on L30 ? When is it gonna ship ?
 

JRM_PT

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E30 ordered from Audiophonics. Now waiting for being on stock again.
Mee too. 15 to 25 days. The Raspberry Pi will arrive in 10 to 20 days (because of other stuff, namely a new extension lead to acomodate the new equipments and to refurbish all the Audio and Video equipments connections). Looooong wait:eek:
 

Veri

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What's an L30?
L30 will be matching amp for E30. Single-ended version of topping A90.
Speculation thread: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-l30-headamp.13284/

Everything subject to change of course since it is still in development. Topping A90 first orders shipping May 25th. L30 should be next upcoming Topping amp (also upcoming is A50s, improved version).

A90 : SE/balanced in, SE/balanced out, beats THX performance
A50s: SE in, SE/balanced out, improved specs from A50
L30 : SE in, SE out at A90 performance
 
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PyramidElectric

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OK finally got one of these...
I paid £105 (shipping included) on eBay via seller 'wsz0304' and it took 16 days to reach the UK, there were no additional customs charges.
The E30 is built really nicely, certainly looks a lot less 'DIY' than my D10.

It shipped with 1.06 Firmware, I tried to update this using Parallels on my Mac, I got the driver installed, but the Firmware installataion failed every time I tried it... If anyone's managed to do this any help would be appreciated!

Re the sample change 'click', trust me, if you're using an integrated amp, or a pre/power, you are not going to be bothered by this.

One thing that is a bit strange, according to the iOS app 'Mobile Tools by AudioControl' the polarity on the E30 (and my D10) are reversed, both negative polarity. I thought this may be something else downstream, but tested the headphone jack on my MBP and also a Chord Mojo, and they both register as positive polarity with the same amp and speakers.
 

Robbo99999

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I would say you just got lucky with customs. Anyone else had the same experience?
I bought mine on Amazon from Schenzhan Audio and I read the 'Terms & Conditions' and I'm not expecting to pay any additional tax, my understanding is that is factored into the total price. (It hasn't arrived yet, I ordered it last week).
 

tankas

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I bought mine on Amazon from Schenzhan Audio and I read the 'Terms & Conditions' and I'm not expecting to pay any additional tax, my understanding is that is factored into the total price. (It hasn't arrived yet, I ordered it last week).
Yeap, amazon has that. And it's my plan to get E30/L30 through this channel as well.
 

vkvedam

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I bought my Topping stuff through Amazon (Shenzhen) and didn't have to pay any excess. Tempted to get E30 but still contemplating
 

jae

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I have heard there may be some kind of DX5 this year (I assume D50/A50(s) inspired combo unit, but not sure if this will be an upgrade or more of a sidegrade to the DX7 Pro or this E30/L30 stack. Still patiently waiting for the "DX9 Pro" myself.
 
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