Topping E30 DAC Review

[pulsedriverbg]

@Goose45
Here is a link for the newest drivers:
Drivers
In the archive there is a manual how to install Foobar2000 plugs! Do install everything regarding Foobar2000. Do a restart and try again.

 

[solderdude]

For my education, may I ask why both amps need to be switched on? What’s the consequence of having only one amp switched on? I have my stereo amp off when I listen to my headphone amp (and vice versa). I can detect a noise when turning one device on/off while listening to the other, but don’t otherwise detect significant volume loss or continuous noise.

What may happen is completely dependent on the electronic design of both amps.
Everything is possible from no influence at all to distortion and clipping.
No way to tell, when both amps are on this should not be a problem.
Though, there is a bigger chance of introducing hum by leakage currents.

 

[Goose45]

Thanks so much pulsedriverbg. Will give it a try.
.

 

[kitar01]

If i can buy E30 or D50 for a similar price what should i choose? for sound quality i mean
Thank you

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[Sukie]

If i can buy E30 or D50 for a similar price what should i choose?
Thank you

​

D50 or D50s?

 

[Atanasi]

Because some amps short the input to ground or directly connect to the opamp input which has ESD protection which will short the input to supply rails which is 0V/gnd equivalently. This will cause the other amp receiving distorted input.

Balanced amps warn not to connect the output to an unbalanced headphone cable, because it would short the signal to ground.
Doesn't an amp that shorts the input do the same to a DAC, even with a single amp? The DAC would need overcurrent protection for not burning the output.

 

[kitar01]

D50 or D50s?

D50....my question was about sound quality

 

[Sukie]

With a DAC it's not really about sound quality but about whether or not they do their job. Both these DACs do. Having said that the E30 is a more recent product and there seems no reason to buy the D50 over the E30. With the E30 you're getting a remote, which the D50 doesn't have.

All in all I'd go for the E30, but not on the grounds of sound quality. It's a newer product with better features (I'm a fan of the remote!). The reason I asked whether it was the D50 or the D50s is that the D50s adds in extra features and, if you were offered the D50s at the price of the E30 you'd be getting a bargain!

 

[kitar01]

With a DAC it's not really about sound quality but about whether or not they do their job. Both these DACs do. Having said that the E30 is a more recent product and there seems no reason to buy the D50 over the E30. With the E30 you're getting a remote, which the D50 doesn't have.

All in all I'd go for the E30, but not on the grounds of sound quality. It's a newer product with better features (I'm a fan of the remote!). The reason I asked whether it was the D50 or the D50s is that the D50s adds in extra features and, if you were offered the D50s at the price of the E30 you'd be getting a bargain!

Ok thank you. Just made the order...

 

[sjeesjie]

Ok thank you. Just made the order...

So which one?

 

[Countach]

Ever thought it might not be the DAC? But maybe speakers, amp, headphones ?

Also- how do you know its strongest at 12-12.5k?

Well, I've tried 3 different headphones and the hiss/dryness is there, so I would count them out as well as the speakers. The hiss is also audible on Zen DAC while listening through its phones out, so not an integrated amp issue as well :/

I've opened the files in audio editor and seperated frequencies using filters. The most hissing/dry tones are around 12-12.5 kHz.

Today I've tested everything once again with different laptop and with different Windows volume settings. Still the same - I just can't get rid of this dry, hissy tarnish behind.

It must be something with my hearing then Maybe I'm exceptionally sensitive to some kind of background noise.

 

[Mark Lawless]

I have the D30 DAC but upgraded to this DAC the difference it tremendous. I love the new DAC. I played with the different filters and didn't hear a difference between them. Can you explain the reasons for having these different filters. Is it mostly just for dogs. Or are we humans supposed to hear a difference?

 

[Robbo99999]

I have the D30 DAC but upgraded to this DAC the difference it tremendous. I love the new DAC. I played with the different filters and didn't hear a difference between them. Can you explain the reasons for having these different filters. Is it mostly just for dogs. Or are we humans supposed to hear a difference?

I think it's hard to tell the difference between the filters. With another DAC of mine ages ago I did some comparative listening using different filters and I preferred the sharp linear filters, which would be the equivalent of Filter #1 in the E30. It wasn't blind testing, just me listening to the same passage of music & flipping between the filters, I'm sure I couldn't tell the difference if it had been blind testing.

EDIT: Most people who are technically minded and know about filters seem to choose the linear sharp filters, as I think they're theoretically the best filter.

 

[vhild§]

I have the D30 DAC but upgraded to this DAC the difference it tremendous. I love the new DAC. I played with the different filters and didn't hear a difference between them. Can you explain the reasons for having these different filters. Is it mostly just for dogs. Or are we humans supposed to hear a difference?

I´m interested, how would you describe the difference between D30 and E30?

 

[ranrt]

Ive been following this thread and had everything going fine but my E30 started not being recognized by my computer every time I restart the computer. It flashes the USB lights like its not connected then goes into the Auto Shutdown. And to add insult to injury, the driver wont re-install now. I get it to the reboot portion but when I restart, I get the no recognize and no install of driver catch 22 im currently in. And I uninstalled the driver and re-downloaded from this thread page as well as the firmware update but I cant get them to stick. Also, when I unplug my E30 from the USB port and move it to another one, itll flash a bunch of stuff, then get recongnized (without driver support) but if I put it into the same USB port I rebooted on, it wont recognize. Did something happen the the E30 itself? Things two days new to me and its a bit frustrating tbh.lol

Hi , I have received my E30 today and i have the same problem , the USB led on the E30 screen is blinking, what can be done to fix that issue ?

 

[pulsedriverbg]

Well, I've tried 3 different headphones and the hiss/dryness is there, so I would count them out as well as the speakers. The hiss is also audible on Zen DAC while listening through its phones out, so not an integrated amp issue as well :/

I've opened the files in audio editor and seperated frequencies using filters. The most hissing/dry tones are around 12-12.5 kHz.

Today I've tested everything once again with different laptop and with different Windows volume settings. Still the same - I just can't get rid of this dry, hissy tarnish behind.

It must be something with my hearing then Maybe I'm exceptionally sensitive to some kind of background noise.

How did the old DAC get damaged?
If the hiss is audible with the 2 new DAC's i think the problem is elsewhere
Can you try different interconnect cables and maybe amp/preamp? The power supply can be the problem too, or the power inlet.....

 

[MadMan]

I got a reply from Topping support...

"Output impedance of E30 is 100ohm, no matter what mode it works."

'No matter what mode' means for both fixed output DAC mode or preamp mode. So, it's a good enough output impedance to directly drive things like Icepower modules.

 

[Toku]

Hello to everyone,
till now i have used KTB but it had some issue with the one channel missing so i needed another DAC.
Pulled the trigger and ordered E30 so i just got it today.
When i connected it to my Android Media player (Android 6 on MTP) trough USB and powered with a Samsung charger strange thing happens. On the E30 screen it shoes 45.15 DSD and no audio from Spotify/Tidal/Youtube. When i use a dedicated player app for music from the local storage it works with no issue. 45.15 DSD sing the display reading changes to 44.1 for example. But when i try Spotify/Tidal/Youtube again ....no audio.

Can someone help me how can i get around this problem? I use mainly the media player to listen to Spotify/Tidal. Obviously the player recognizes E30 but does not send any signal from Spotify/Tidal to it. Previous on KTB there where no such issues.

In the first place, E30 cannot play DSD45.15MHz/DSD1024. When these files are played, an error message usually appears on the PC. However, depending on the audio player you use, there are some that convert it into a playable PCM signal. In my audio player foober2000, an error is displayed, and in TuneBrowser, it is automatically converted to 352.8kHz and played. ..
I have no knowledge about Spotify/Tidal, but even if I upsample to 45.15MHz/DSD1024 to create a signal with these, the E30 can not be played, so it is error or converted to PCM and played.
I think that automatic conversion is working in the case of playing at 44.1kHz.

 

[ranrt]

Hi , I have received my E30 today and i have the same problem , the USB led on the E30 screen is blinking, what can be done to fix that issue ?

Well just to inform you all , after struggling with the driver uninstall and install on my main win 10 PC few restarts of the PC and it works now, i am playing from spotify on the E30 showing 44.1 PCM later i have tried FLAC highe res using foobar but the E30 keep showing 44.1 pcm , is this normal ?
i thought the E30 should detect the high res file

 

[pulsedriverbg]

In the first place, E30 cannot play DSD45.15Mz/DSD512. When these files are played, an error message usually appears on the PC. However, depending on the audio player you use, there are some that convert it into a playable PCM signal. foober2000 gives an error.
I have no knowledge about Spotify/Tidal, but even if I upsample to 45.15MHz to create a signal with these, the E30 can not be played, so it is error or converted to PCM and played.

I am connecting E30 to my ANDROID player, not PC. And i'm not trying to play DSD45.15Mz/DSD512. When the ANDROID player starts up on the DAC screen shoes up 45.15 and no audio comes out when playing from Spotify/Tidal/Youtube. When i install JetAudio player for instance ..... and play a local file the audio starts normally. If i return and try again Spotify ..... no sound again.