Topping E30 DAC Review

[Sukie]

I'm surprised by how many people on ASR actually use that term, I hardly ever read it on other sites The winner here seems to be @Robin L

I think it's just a humorous take on the endless quest for "audio heaven". The quest for the Holy Grail.

 

[Robin L]

I think it's just a humorous take on the endless quest for "audio heaven". The quest for the Holy Grail.

. . . .that segues to neurosis. An attempt at a listing for the DSM-5. A very specific, easily identified form of neurotic behavior.

 

[slartibart]

I connect the optical input of my E30 to my TV and the DAC does not go into standby mode when the TV is on standby. When I switch the TV to standby the DAC display briefly changes to the three dashes indicating no signal but within a second it displays 48kHz again. The strange thing is if I put the DAC into standby using the remote then it remains in standby.

 

[voodooless]

I connect the optical input of my E30 to my TV and the DAC does not go into standby mode when the TV is on standby. When I switch the TV to standby the DAC display briefly changes to the three dashes indicating no signal but within a second it displays 48kHz again.

What happens if you pull the optical cable? Does it still have light output when the TV is in standby (should see red light coming from it)?

 

[slartibart]

What happens if you pull the optical cable? Does it still have light output when the TV is in standby (should see red light coming from it)?

Yup that does seem to be the reason so short of unplugging the TV not much I can do about it. The strange thing is if I use the remote to put the DAC in standby it stays in standby and wakes up when the TV is turned on from standby.

 

[Phrangko]

the styling is getting better, but still a bit ugly.

why can't the Chinese brands stop putting 7 different fonts on the front of their device?

Not Chinese brands but blame Topping for that.

 

[Surfzm]

I have connected E30 ( pre mode - to be able to use remote control) with tv and computer (samsung TV through optical, computer through usb) output to JBL lsr305 Studio monitor but sound is not so loud.. eventhough LSR 305 is on max volume I have to put E30 at approx -15 to -20 to get moderate listening volume.
Should I buy Topping L30 and use it as preamp with E30?
I have heard that headphone amplifier and preamp are not good to use with active speakers...(because of the impedance) they should be used with headphones only. ( its better to buy amplifiers and preamps that are not made for headphones? )
Any suggestions ?

 

[threni]

I have connected E30 ( pre mode - to be able to use remote control) with tv and computer (samsung TV through optical, computer through usb) output to JBL lsr305 Studio monitor but sound is not so loud.. eventhough LSR 305 is on max volume I have to put E30 at approx -15 to -20 to get moderate listening volume.
Should I buy Topping L30 and use it as preamp with E30?
I have heard that headphone amplifier and preamp are not good to use with active speakers...(because of the impedance) they should be used with headphones only. ( its better to buy amplifiers and preamps that are not made for headphones? )
Any suggestions ?

The E30 goes all the way to -0dB for full volume. Why don't you want to do that? Sounds totally normal to me; I run my Asgard 3 at full volume in low gain mode and use my E30 in pre-amp mode to remotely control the volume and it's at -20dB.

 

[Surfzm]

I dont know, safety precautions!
Then they are both maxed out..
So I though it would be better to use preamp..
I also have nad325bee, maybe that's better option?

 

[threni]

I dont know, safety precautions!
Then they are both maxed out..
So I though it would be better to use preamp..
I also have nad325bee, maybe that's better option?

What's unsafe about running a DAC at full volume? DACs without pre-amp modes are always running at full volume. Perhaps run the E30 at max and control the volume elsewhere in the chain?

 

[Surfzm]

I agree, thats why I wanted to put E30 in DAC mode ( this way I cannot use remote) and connect E30 with another preamp and control the volume ( its important to use remote control ).

 

[Aardappel]

Hi everyone,

I have a quick question regarding the E30 - the DAC looks like it measures well plus it is very affordable! I am considering hooking it up to a Purifi EVAL1 power amp with a modified RCA to balanced XLR cable (like the one from March Audio) and using the E30 as my main volume control/preamp using the remote control. My questions are:

1) When you first switch on the unit, is the volume at 100% or at 0% of maximum?
2) Could the volume ever revert to maximum volume if there has been a power outage or some sort of restart?
3) When plugged into a computer via USB, is the volume still primarily controlled via the E30 or could the volume jump up to 100% through the computer's software?

Cheers

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

The E30 stays at whatever volume setting it was at when you turned it off. Not sure about the power failure question though. I've never unplugged the juice since first plugging it in. I'd bet it resets to full volume though in that case. But otherwise it stays at your last volume level.

 

[threni]

Hi everyone,

I have a quick question regarding the E30 - the DAC looks like it measures well plus it is very affordable! I am considering hooking it up to a Purifi EVAL1 power amp with a modified RCA to balanced XLR cable (like the one from March Audio) and using the E30 as my main volume control/preamp using the remote control. My questions are:

1) When you first switch on the unit, is the volume at 100% or at 0% of maximum?
2) Could the volume ever revert to maximum volume if there has been a power outage or some sort of restart?
3) When plugged into a computer via USB, is the volume still primarily controlled via the E30 or could the volume jump up to 100% through the computer's software?

Cheers

I power it down frequently and it always remembers whether it's in pre-amp or DAC mode, and the volume in pre-amp mode. I've only used it via USB.

 

[Aardappel]

I power it down frequently and it always remembers whether it's in pre-amp or DAC mode, and the volume in pre-amp mode. I've only used it via USB.

Thank you for your replies!

With power down, do you mean unplug as well? Just wondering if I will blow up my speakers one morning because there has been a power outage that I wasn't aware of and the E30 has reset itself to 100%

With regards to USB input, can you control the DAC volume with the software of your computer or can you 'limit' the volume of the E30 with the remote and never go over that level when playing around with the volume controls on your computer?

 

[threni]

Thank you for your replies!

With power down, do you mean unplug as well? Just wondering if I will blow up my speakers one morning because there has been a power outage that I wasn't aware of and the E30 has reset itself to 100%

With regards to USB input, can you control the DAC volume with the software of your computer or can you 'limit' the volume of the E30 with the remote and never go over that level when playing around with the volume controls on your computer?

I have my amp,DAC and pi all on the same 4 point power extension point and switch that off so a full power down. I have configured the pi with two alsa devices, one is direct to the dac full volume and the other goes through software eq with a volume control. So I can control the volume on the pi (via an Android app), and the DAC, and the amp independently of each other. But it's been fine with the pi/amp on full and controlling the volume via the DAC. I guess until you're confident this is consistent and repeatable for you you could set the amp at a quieter level and use the pc volume.

 

[Aardappel]

I have my amp,DAC and pi all on the same 4 point power extension point and switch that off so a full power down. I have configured the pi with two alsa devices, one is direct to the dac full volume and the other goes through software eq with a volume control. So I can control the volume on the pi (via an Android app), and the DAC, and the amp independently of each other. But it's been fine with the pi/amp on full and controlling the volume via the DAC. I guess until you're confident this is consistent and repeatable for you you could set the amp at a quieter level and use the pc volume.

Very interesting thanks. It is awesome that you can control the volume on the Pi and the E30 independently - I wonder though what the 'best' way would be to control the volume in that scenario, as in lowest noise and whilst achieving 'full bit-depth'. Not sure if the E30 upscales the audio signal so that the volume can be lowered without impacting SQ vs reducing volume via the Pi/USB which might impact bit-depth...

 

[threni]

Very interesting thanks. It is awesome that you can control the volume on the Pi and the E30 independently - I wonder though what the 'best' way would be to control the volume in that scenario, as in lowest noise and whilst achieving 'full bit-depth'. Not sure if the E30 upscales the audio signal so that the volume can be lowered without impacting SQ vs reducing volume via the Pi/USB which might impact bit-depth...

I think the best might be not use the pc for volume control, just the amp and dac. Potentially even the pc might be fine but in my case it's going through an equaliser as well as volume control, there's just no need for two volume controls if I wasn't using eq. I'm pretty sure there's no difference between the dac in dac mode (full volume) and pre-amp mode (at full volume). And the amp is fine at whatever volume (I keep that in low gain as I've read it's best in that mode than the equivalent volume in high gain (not that the difference is likely to be audible).

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

Keep in mind that the E30 in pre amp mode at "full volume" is simply at the volume that any dac would be at when you use it (2vrms). It's not amplifying the signal. All you can do with the preamp is attenuate (lower) the signal. So even if there was a power failure and it reset to zero, it would then just be like pretty much any other dac you would have plugged in...

 

[The Messiah]

What's the default volume setting in preamp mode ?