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Topping E30 DAC Review

Carotis

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Good afternoon. Tell me please, are there any problems with the bundled power supply? Is there any noise when connecting via USB?
 

wasnotwasnotwas

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Good afternoon. Tell me please, are there any problems with the bundled power supply? Is there any noise when connecting via USB?

I dont think it has a bundled PS- it has a cable thats USB to that round barrel that you plug into an available USB charger or slot on a device. See the measurements on page 1 . That was powered from a USB hub.
 

Carotis

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I dont think it has a bundled PS- it has a cable thats USB to that round barrel that you plug into an available USB charger or slot on a device. See the measurements on page 1 . That was powered from a USB hub.
ah, exactly. if I connect it to my computer, is that enough? are there any noise problems?
 

Robin L

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ah, exactly. if I connect it to my computer, is that enough? are there any noise problems?
Amirm: "For my testing, I hooked up the power input using the supplied cable from my USB display hub (next to its data port)."
I haven't used the computers USB hook-up as I'm already using two [out of three] ports, using a little USB charger. Never had any audio gear as noise free as my Topping E/L 30 combo.
 

Carotis

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Amirm: "For my testing, I hooked up the power input using the supplied cable from my USB display hub (next to its data port)."
I haven't used the computers USB hook-up as I'm already using two [out of three] ports, using a little USB charger. Never had any audio gear as noise free as my Topping E/L 30 combo.
will a simple power supply be enough, which say, charge a smartphone?
 

slartibart

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I recently contacted Topping about an issue where an audible pop occurs when using the USB input and coming out of standby. This pop only occurs coming out of standby and no other time. If the DAC is already on and displaying the flashing blue USB symbol and I turn on the player then the display shows the same (45.15 DSD changing to 44.1 PCM) but no pop. I sent Topping a video showing the issue and their final reply suggested the DAC maybe faulty and to return it. I have seen other posts mentioning a pop at start up so I don't want to return it if they all do it. I have attached a link to my video of the issue. Does anyone have an E30 that does not have an audible pop when coming out of standby using the USB input?

Video of audible pop
 

Robin L

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imnotdrunk

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The funny bit is that powerbanks are secretly also an SMPS.
The only difference is that it cannot create a groundloop via the obligatory wallwart or USB port.
Groundloops, however, mostly come from the USB or SPDIF from the source combined with the amp behind the E30.
Of course one could use optical input to get rid of groundloops but at the cost of limited sample frequencies.
Thanks! Just tried, the hum on the speakers is about as twice as loud when using the USB socket on a power cord plugged into a different outlet than the rest of the gear, compared to powered by the power bank. However the hum itself is negligible as I can mostly hear it if I crank up the volume to > twice the loudness of my regular listening volume. However I have no idea if any of this is related to a 'ground loop', as I'm still learnding about all this stuff
 

Aldoszx

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I recently contacted Topping about an issue where an audible pop occurs when using the USB input and coming out of standby. This pop only occurs coming out of standby and no other time. If the DAC is already on and displaying the flashing blue USB symbol and I turn on the player then the display shows the same (45.15 DSD changing to 44.1 PCM) but no pop. I sent Topping a video showing the issue and their final reply suggested the DAC maybe faulty and to return it. I have seen other posts mentioning a pop at start up so I don't want to return it if they all do it. I have attached a link to my video of the issue. Does anyone have an E30 that does not have an audible pop when coming out of standby using the USB input?

Video of audible pop
Yes, mine does the same pop when wake-up from stand-by and also when goes to stand-by.
I have a second unit which I will test soon to see if has the same behavior.
 
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Matias

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mocenigo

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Problems that remain in E30.

[...]

1. When playing a PCM 768kHz file, the playback sound is sometimes accompanied by intense noise. The frequency of occurrence is different for each of the three units.
(Expect the next USB firmware update)

Same with the D90 (I have a no-MQA version)
 

Robin L

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Wonderful. Do you like the sound quality of this DAC? Some say it is too flat and dry.
P.S. Want to use it together with headphone amp Topping L30
The "sound" is probably determined much more by the headphones I'm using now, Drop 6XX. They have an overall "warm" and "sweet" characteristic. That is to say, the upper bass/lower midrange is a little pumped compared to the rest of the frequency range of the Drop 6XX's. Also, the 6XX's have very low distortion in the upper registers. I EQ the headphones to knock down the upper bass/lower midrange, make other eq adjustments to have a little more 'presence' and deeper bass. As far as I can tell, the Topping E/L 30 combo has the least sound signature of any electronics I've owned. No grit [which I guess is odd-order harmonic distortion], but plenty of detail. Nothing sticks out, which is as it should be. With EQ there's plenty of bass and no bleed-through into the midrange. Again, the headphones are much more of the sound signature than the electronics. I've got other headphones [3 more from Sennheiser], don't want to use them with this rig as none of the them match the sound quality of the Drop 6XX 'phones. If it seems like I pointing to the headphones more than the electronics, it's because these electronics have very little 'sound' of their own.
 

Carotis

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The "sound" is probably determined much more by the headphones I'm using now, Drop 6XX. They have an overall "warm" and "sweet" characteristic. That is to say, the upper bass/lower midrange is a little pumped compared to the rest of the frequency range of the Drop 6XX's. Also, the 6xx's have very low distortion in the upper registers. I EQ the headphones to knock down the upper bass/lower midrange, make other eq adjustments to have a little more 'presence' and deeper bass. As far as I can tell, the Topping E/L 30 combo has the least sound signature of any electronics I've owned. No grit [which I guess is odd-order harmonic distortion], but plenty of detail. Nothing sticks out, which is as it should be. With EQ there's plenty of bass and no bleed-through into the midrange. Again, the headphones are much more of the sound signature than the electronics. I've got other headphones [3 more from Sennheiser], don't want to use them with this rig as none of the them match the sound quality of the Drop 6XX 'phones. If it seems like I pointing to the headphones more than the electronics, it's because these electronics have very little 'sound' of their own.
thank you very much!
 

holbob

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Anyone else's E30 "vibrate" when touched? It stops if you put weight onto it (hold it down by hand). It's a tad weird and disconcerting...
 

slartibart

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Yes, mine does the same pop when wake-up from stand-by and also when goes to stand-by.
I have a second unit which I will test soon to see if has the same behavior.
Thanks for the reply. That is what I suspected. It would be good to know if your other E30 has the same issue. I was surprised that Topping suggested returning it. I can't believe they haven't noticed this themselves. I would be more surprised if someone said that their DAC didn't have the issue .
 

voodooless

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Delay? Distortion? Are they now trying to make... print-phile cables?

Nope, just defy the laws of physics.. Every cable has delay. Last I checked the speed of light was still not infinite :facepalm:
 

mocenigo

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Nope, just defy the laws of physics.. Every cable has delay. Last I checked the speed of light was still not infinite :facepalm:

Right, the delay of adding an adapter, therefore less than an inch in connection length... sigh.
 
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