Topping E30 DAC Review

[redshift]

That was my point but apparently people do. My only source is compact disc. I keep forgetting that the world has moved on in the past 15 years whilst I wasn't doing much else except working and sleeping.

Right, I certainly want good enough sound. Compression, yeah, why not if the rest of the audio pipeline can suck up the artifacts and pump out the tunes without being irritating.

I’m not critically listening to the minutia of each recording. However, if there is something in the reproduction that is obviously wrong and bothersome, I’ll point it out.

 

[frogmeat69]

Because the discussion is over.

Then stop derailing this thread and take it to the proper one. 4 pages of nothing about the thread topic so far.

 

[redshift]

Then stop derailing this thread and take it to the proper one. 4 pages of nothing about the thread topic so far.

Yep ringing DAC’s has nothing to do with a topping DAC. Or?

 

[Moosi]

The AK4493 chip does not put out more than 2 channels and does not have any kind of surround virtualization functions, right? Therefore if you send a 5.1 signal to it, what does it actually do with it? Smash all the channels together again?
I'm asking because I'm upscaling HQ 2.0 content (music) via Roon to 5.1 sending it via ASIO (+upscale to DSD256 native) to the E30 where it should be smashed together to 2.0 again resulting in more or less the same sound. But it doesn't! It creates a stage so much more deep and wide, the voices are coming so much more out of my speakers (a pair of KEFQ150) it's so recognizable, the voices are so pinpointed to the center, it's a huge improvement over any 2.0 signalling. There is no loss in detail whatsoever, just a sphere of crisp, clean tunes seeming to pop out of the air.
If you are using Roon with the E30 in a 2.0/2.1 setup, please try the Stereo upscale to 5.1 and report your findings!

 

[voodooless]

The E30 can’t handle any kind of surround. You can only send stereo to it. So that is what it will get in your upscaling setup.

 

[Moosi]

The E30 can’t handle any kind of surround. You can only send stereo to it. So that is what it will get in your upscaling setup.

I know, but it is a very different kind of stereo! It's like night and day on my equipment. I wonder how that is.

 

[voodooless]

I know, but it is a very different kind of stereo! It's like night and day on my equipment. I wonder how that is.

sure, if all kinds of strange surround up conversions happen.. anything goes..

 

[TchErNoB]

I know, but it is a very different kind of stereo! It's like night and day on my equipment. I wonder how that is.

If I send a multichannel signal to e30 then seems like my tweeter are gonna explode lol
I have a multichannel amp and and stereo amp I always make sure it does t go through the e30 cause it cannot decode it and it just pure noise.
If you can then it means something is decoding it for the e30

 

[treuben]

The mixdown of 5.1 to stereo (wherever in your chain that's happening) usually takes the center channel down in perceived level. That's why with many downmixed movies the dialogue is hard to hear. If whatever is mixing down is using the default weighting you'll probably get something like stereo-wide effect.

 

[MaxBuck]

The drinks shelf is a nice touch.

I think audio reviews are incomplete without drinks shelves.

 

[Moosi]

The mixdown of 5.1 to stereo (wherever in your chain that's happening) usually takes the center channel down in perceived level. That's why with many downmixed movies the dialogue is hard to hear. If whatever is mixing down is using the default weighting you'll probably get something like stereo-wide effect.

Yes, but the voices are even more pinpointed between the middle of the speakers by coming out foreward a bit with the 5.1 downmix and the spatial effects are popping more into the room. I get the feeling that the sound overall gets more airy and poppy by adding some sort of echo or halo effect. That is what you might describe as "stereo-wide effect". I noticed certain instruments such as e-guitarres do sound a little hollow and not as full and heavy compared to 2.0 signalling. However, since I'm upscaling to DSD256 even if it gets a little hollow, I can still sense a lot of subtle detail and with those spatial effects "popping" more out of the dark, some tracks really create the immersion of being embraced by a sound-sphere. 2.0 sounds a little fuller, not considerably narrower, but the image appears more flat and two dimensional compared to 5.1 upscale. It's quite subtle, but noticeable. With the 5.1 downscale, sometimes I get the illusion of being slapped in the face by tunes. They just pop deeper into the room. That's what it does:


Besides, I tried really hard to find any differences between the two DSD filters (narrow, wide) of the E30. Can't hear any, but I assume they only apply to DSD64?

 

[Mart68]

I think audio reviews are incomplete without drinks shelves.

Only if they are stocked with audiophile quality drinks though. Sure you can buy budget drinks at the supermarket and that's fine for a starter system but once you start upgrading and learn how to listen you'll soon realise they are holding things back.

Don't listen to these objectivists who'll tell you they all taste the same after the first glass.

 

[voodooless]

to 5.1 upscale.

It's not a 5.1 upscale. The image clearly says "Channel Mapping":

Channel mapping for 2.0, 5.0, 5.1, and 7.1 is straightforward, since each larger layout simply adds channels to the previous one. In these cases, Roon matches up the channels from the source material with the channels on the output device and fills any unused channels with silence

That basically means it does absolutely nothing at all to your stereo channels.

 

[Moosi]

It's not a 5.1 upscale. The image clearly says "Channel Mapping":

Yes, but it's not the channel mapping, it's the downmixing which creates the effect. If I change to 5.1 without downmixing enabled it does not sound any different to 2.0. Only when I have speakers to "5.1"+"send stereo to 5.1"+"downmixing if nessessary" = creates the effect. I believe the program is somehow upmixing and downmixing right again and by that conversion the tunes get handled slighty differently creating overall more depth and spark at the expense of a little hollowness throughout the spatials.

 

[voodooless]

Yes, but it's not the channel mapping, it's the downmixing which creates the effect.

What is your setting for:

Then?

 

[Moosi]

What is your setting for:Then?

Try this on your setup and please report if there is any difference on your equipment:

 

[voodooless]

Well, whatever it does, it wouldn't trust it...

 

[MaxBuck]

Only if they are stocked with audiophile quality drinks though.

Handcrafted artisan bitters FTW.

 

[tonimccloud]

Thank you for the answer! I’m gonna use to watch movies/tvshows as much as playing. And occasionally for music.
Another problem is that here in my country the e30 costs $140 and the g6 +- $340.
And two more questions. How much, in theory, the e30 outperforms the g6? Are we talking about more than 20% of performance or less than 10%?
And with the e30 connected to the tv, do I get worse sound from the ps5 to my headphone?

Hi Norius, topping e30 is not ps5 compatible, just buy a Cambridge Dacmagic 100. It's just plug n play with PlayStation 5 and sounds very very good (it opens the scene more than the zen dac) and it has the ability to change between uac1 protocol (ps5) and uac2.
You can use also with ifi zen dac v2 (it's uac2 native) and last firmware, but it has some issues with the last ps5 update: after the update (before the update the zen dac worked perfect) the ps5 just didn't recognize the zen. I managed to resolve the problem connecting an external power supply to the zen, and connect and disconnect a lot of times. In one of that connections/disconnections ps5 read the ifi zen dac. I know Ifi will resolve this issue, but it's a pain that maybe your dac doesn't work after a ps5 update

Regards

 

[nerone]

Just try remove it. If the unit just works then it's fine you can replace with anything like 105 106 226 25V caps. If it doesn't work then there's other things that is faulty.

Hi, I went to buy the capacitor in an electronics store near my house unfortunately it does not have the smd but only the electrolytic, can they fit?
Thank you