Topping E30 DAC Review

[voodooless]

Not much more to say.

Indeed.. let’s keep it that way..

 

[frogmeat69]

Back on topic, this little DAC is great, ain't it??!

 

[Sukie]

All that Topping touches turns to gold (well, most things). Really looking forward to the red/blue options. Trying to convince my teenage son that he needs DAC and active speakers in his bedroom so I can justify buying a coloured E30. Terrible parenting!

 

[ngs428]

In this review by Zero Fidelity he compares the E30 vs iFi Pro iDSD and the Heed Abacus. Much higher priced DACs. He states that the E30 is 50% to 60% of the of the 2 others.

What “better” performance are you truly getting with the higher priced DACs? He states the E30 is transparent. If it is transparent, are you paying more for a colored presentation? What do you get for that remaining 40% to 50% missing on the E30?

Amirm, thanks for all you do!!

YouTube Review link

 

[aon500]

Ignore him lol

 

[ngs428]

Ignore him lol

that is certainly an option. maybe they are just having to justify why they paid $2,500 more for something that is no better...

 

[raif71]

In this review by Zero Fidelity he compares the E30 vs iFi Pro iDSD and the Heed Abacus. Much higher priced DACs. He states that the E30 is 50% to 60% of the of the 2 others.

What “better” performance are you truly getting with the higher priced DACs? He states the E30 is transparent. If it is transparent, are you paying more for a colored presentation? What do you get for that remaining 40% to 50% missing on the E30?

Amirm, thanks for all you do!!

YouTube Review link

Thanks for the video. I like his take that the E30 is a no brainer in terms of value for money and good performance.

 

[bansuri]

I am really happy with my E30 sound output. Just one query, playing it on Amazon music windows app via USB compared to playing it through amazon music app on samsung mobile via USB , which is the better option from sound quality perspective between the two?
thanks

 

[Hemi-Demon]

In this review by Zero Fidelity he compares the E30 vs iFi Pro iDSD and the Heed Abacus. Much higher priced DACs. He states that the E30 is 50% to 60% of the of the 2 others.

What “better” performance are you truly getting with the higher priced DACs? He states the E30 is transparent. If it is transparent, are you paying more for a colored presentation? What do you get for that remaining 40% to 50% missing on the E30?

Amirm, thanks for all you do!!

YouTube Review link

For reference

 

[Sukie]

I am really happy with my E30 sound output. Just one query, playing it on Amazon music windows app via USB compared to playing it through amazon music app on samsung mobile via USB , which is the better option from sound quality perspective between the two?
thanks

If I'm not mistaken, android's own protocols upsample USB audio to the highest DAC setting (using USB Audio Player Pro avoids this, but Amazon can't be streamed via this app). I remember trying this out with my Samsung android playing Amazon Music through my D50s. Everything was showing as 192 khz.

When streaming from a PC you can change the audio output on Windows itself. In fact you can just leave it at 44.1 khz and avoid upsampling altogether.

I don't know what significant impact upsampling has on real life SQ, others might be able to comment.

 

[Taddpole]

In this review by Zero Fidelity he compares the E30 vs iFi Pro iDSD and the Heed Abacus. Much higher priced DACs. He states that the E30 is 50% to 60% of the of the 2 others.

What “better” performance are you truly getting with the higher priced DACs? He states the E30 is transparent. If it is transparent, are you paying more for a colored presentation? What do you get for that remaining 40% to 50% missing on the E30?

Amirm, thanks for all you do!!

YouTube Review link

Surely he's the one to ask what the other 40-50% is? Suspect he'll have no logical answer.

 

[ngs428]

I am currently using the KTB with my Atom Amp. Considering getting this nice little E30 to replace the KTB. In general, I assume I won't hear a difference.. I like the screen on the E30, so that would be the main reason. I read through about 1/4 of this thread, but it is a big one.

Any outstanding issues with the E30? Based on what I read, it looks like Topping addressed any issues early on.

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[tankas]

...
Any outstanding issues with the E30? ...

If you first mute the E30 with and then power it down with a remote control, it resets E30 to default settings. Dangerous if one would run it as pre-amp to control volume with powered speakers.

 

[ngs428]

For reference

He is hitting the audiophile juice pretty hard it looks like. Gotcha. Never saw his reviews before.

 

[tvrgeek]

Testing by lowered the output level in the E-30 control panel 24/95K
Default settings THD .028. Noise floor around -130dB.
Set -10 dB THD .0084 Noise around -122 dB Makes perfect sense. 16/44 was similar.
Set -15 dB THD .0053 Noise floor about -118
Set -25 dB THD .0038 Noise -110 dB

This adjustment makes acceptable performance, so all those " well it sounds fine" will be justified. It now finally can outperform my 10 year old Muse, but way shy of the Focusrite. It is still no where near the spec.

All tests were at -1dB into RightMark. This was the limit of the Focusrite front end to remain clean.
Remember it was THD of .00078 with noise around -128.

Almost an order of magnitude improvement by reducing the output level. Focusrite input impedance is 60K, so I doubt that should be an issue.
E-30 to Focusrite cable is a 1 foot balanced cable with the shield isolated on the balanced end by .022u.

I have yet to get either the Focusrite or E-30 into AISIO mode. I assume it takes different applications.
I am running my own external 5V supply. No power noise detectable in any cases.
It does not link when hooked to a galvanic isolator without power added back to the line. I will see if I can resolve that without causing noise.
I have about 10 USB A to B cables. I wil run through a couple and see if any measurable difference. I am not big on magic cables, but some might be bad enough to matter.

Curious. Yesterday the dashboard had filter settings. When loaded all from scratch today, no such option.

 

[tvrgeek]

It does NOT like the isolator, powered or not.

 

[Robin L]

It does NOT like the isolator, powered or not.

You're still here?

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

In this review by Zero Fidelity he compares the E30 vs iFi Pro iDSD and the Heed Abacus. Much higher priced DACs. He states that the E30 is 50% to 60% of the of the 2 others.

What “better” performance are you truly getting with the higher priced DACs? He states the E30 is transparent. If it is transparent, are you paying more for a colored presentation? What do you get for that remaining 40% to 50% missing on the E30?

Amirm, thanks for all you do!!

YouTube Review link

LOL. 50-60% of the 2 others! haha, what a bunch of BS.

 

[tvrgeek]

You're still here?

LOL. 50-60% of the 2 others! haha, what a bunch of BS.

For the same audience who is buying $1500 USB cables.

 

[Atanasi]

It does NOT like the isolator, powered or not.

Adding a hub after the isolator may help. A bus-powered one is preferred for minimal noise.
For Intona, see
https://intona.eu/en/support/answer/1237

XMOS-based products often have issues with isolation. Check also that cables to the isolator are not long (max. 1 m for testing).