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Topping E30 DAC Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
I bought E30 + L30 on audiophonics.fr + refubrished Final E4000 IEM on ebay as a set for relaxed listening.
The result of few hours of laboring is perfect and I would like to share some of my E30 related findings.
1) Sound quality of E30 depends on power supply quality. Using USB power from computer may measure well but sounds worse than using power from better quality source. I am using cheap Stontronics 5V 1A LPS which can be found on ebay.
2) As usual, DAC is sensible to quality of USB cable. I simply tested bunch of old noname cables I found at home and to my surprise I found one which performs well.
3) Added iFi iSilencer between computer USB port and USB cable helped to remove some nervousness or harshness in the sound. iSilencer uses Active Noise Cancelling technique to eliminate influence of computer generated noise to connected USB device.
4) As usual, RCA cables have also some level of influence to resulting sound quality. I chose one I made some years ago from 14 AWG coax cable (silver plated copper, teflon insulation), few meters of which I bought some years ago on ebay.
5) When the auto on/off feature is disabled, after initial handshake between computer and DAC the +5V wire is no more needed for audio playback. I could not distinguish any sound impact after disconnecting the +5V wire. So my result is that I could not find any sound degradation caused by computer power on data USB cable. It seems teh USB port si not used to power the device and the +5V power line of data USB cable is used only for initial USB protocol handshake (yet before playback starts) and also for the auto on/off feature.
6) Final E4000 IEM is good pair with E30 + L30 for enjoyable relaxed listening. No peaky distorted trebles, nice mids and solid bass. Overall clean sound across the frequency spectrum. I was listening on middle gain and on middle positions of L30 volume control.
7) The E30 manual does not mention how to switch between DAC mode and preamp mode. Press the E30 button for more seconds. If auto on/off is disabled (AC mode), make a long button touch when E30 is turned off to switch between device modes.
8) I found DSD source format playback as better sounding option for E30 than PCM. I am using HQPlayer to upsample all music content to DSD regardless on source format/sample rate.
All my sound impressions are subjective.
The result of few hours of laboring is perfect and I would like to share some of my E30 related findings.
1) Sound quality of E30 depends on power supply quality. Using USB power from computer may measure well but sounds worse than using power from better quality source. I am using cheap Stontronics 5V 1A LPS which can be found on ebay.
2) As usual, DAC is sensible to quality of USB cable. I simply tested bunch of old noname cables I found at home and to my surprise I found one which performs well.
3) Added iFi iSilencer between computer USB port and USB cable helped to remove some nervousness or harshness in the sound. iSilencer uses Active Noise Cancelling technique to eliminate influence of computer generated noise to connected USB device.
4) As usual, RCA cables have also some level of influence to resulting sound quality. I chose one I made some years ago from 14 AWG coax cable (silver plated copper, teflon insulation), few meters of which I bought some years ago on ebay.
5) When the auto on/off feature is disabled, after initial handshake between computer and DAC the +5V wire is no more needed for audio playback. I could not distinguish any sound impact after disconnecting the +5V wire. So my result is that I could not find any sound degradation caused by computer power on data USB cable. It seems teh USB port si not used to power the device and the +5V power line of data USB cable is used only for initial USB protocol handshake (yet before playback starts) and also for the auto on/off feature.
6) Final E4000 IEM is good pair with E30 + L30 for enjoyable relaxed listening. No peaky distorted trebles, nice mids and solid bass. Overall clean sound across the frequency spectrum. I was listening on middle gain and on middle positions of L30 volume control.
7) The E30 manual does not mention how to switch between DAC mode and preamp mode. Press the E30 button for more seconds. If auto on/off is disabled (AC mode), make a long button touch when E30 is turned off to switch between device modes.
8) I found DSD source format playback as better sounding option for E30 than PCM. I am using HQPlayer to upsample all music content to DSD regardless on source format/sample rate.
All my sound impressions are subjective.
Shhhhh! Now you've ruined the sound quality for him.
E30 was designed way prior the existence of L30 project (the name even). Latest revision has up the protection voltage to make sure it doesn't break. Also mind that the L30 and E30 don't share the exact same jack. You can't plug the E30 plug into L30 jack. We did all the protection for L30, DC, over voltage, 110V plug to 220V etc. Protection for E30 is an afterthought.
Yes. This is normal behavior. I'm assuming E30 was off at the time or the PI wasn't on.
So if you order the red an blue ones, they will be the one with the protection?
sure but blue and red aren't actually out yet.
If you had put this line first it would have saved me some reading
Stontronoics produced more types of 5V adapters. It looks like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/STONTRONICS-S2226ST-Linear-Power-Supply/dp/B015XOYJDG
Mine is about 6 years old. It is probably out of production. It is relatively big and too heavy for switching power supply. The label shows input 17W for 1000mA 5V output. Model number on the label is AD05000RBS.
tw99
Senior Member
There's a great forum called head-fi where the readership will love all that audiophile nonsense that you posted...
Aldoszx
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2019
- Messages
- 292
- Likes
- 190
Thank you for the answer !
Indeed, E30 is on standby when no music is playing.
So, the first source of signal wakes it up, no matter what selection was made before?
Sincerest apologies. Your power supply is certainly a linear power supply. It's almost gone these days.
I checked Aliexpress and found a similar product.
https://ja.aliexpress.com/item/4001...Switch_0&algo_pvid=64bf94f4-4ddc-4b0c-854b4b4 851a-e4675b08f9fa-12
bloodshoteyed
Major Contributor
i would have a question for all the owners, preferably those who also own(ed) smsl gear...are the remotes any better here, as in, are they anymore user friendly?
More user friendly in what way? There are buttons.. the buttons are quite clear.. and when you press them they do what they are supposed to.. Sounds fine to me?
I see, for some reason i can hear a bit of popping / crackling at times especially in the left ear - something truly just does not feel right at all. I also noticed optical seems to not want to work on the E30 either (with the driver installed).
I think my E30 may be faulty. I'll see what happens down the line, but looks like i'll get the M200 to stack with my SMSL SP 200.
bloodshoteyed
Major Contributor
generically marked buttons of which of you first have to press one to wake up/enable the remote, imo IS NOT user friendly
once i set up my Sanskrit2nd i almost threw the remote away, that's how annoyed i was by it...
once i set up my Sanskrit2nd i almost threw the remote away, that's how annoyed i was by it...
Nope, it doesn't do that
I know the purpose of this forum, but come on guys...how else is someone supposed to give their impressions other than subjectively? It's the only way for the average user. If you want to ask him about his subjective impressions, don't be lazy and ask about specific points.
Uh huh
Uh huh
Uh huh
Uh huh
Uh huh.
Obviously...
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