Topping E30 II DAC Review

[carlcamper]

@JohnYang1997 any chance for a D10 Balanced II based on this new AKM chip?

 

[Ashimaru]

@JohnYang1997 any chance for a D10 Balanced II based on this new AKM chip?

Or D10s II? I mean like E30 II with less price and less functionality but with same performance as E30 II @JohnYang1997

 

[Jarrett]

Why go the route of dual DAC? I feel like SINAD would be about the same as the original, maybe +2 (so 112 of E30 vs 114 for E30 II)

 

[EJ3]

I've always heard it called "Chinglish".

My Chinese wife says that I speak good Chinglish because I can simplify what I am saying and explain it to her. I, in no way, shape or form, can speak more than the words to say: hello, wife, husband & thank you after being married to her for 17 years. I do speak English & conversational German, however (having been concieved in the USA South & born in Salzburg, Austria).

 

[AndreaT]

Then there is the iPhone, not low budget, but certainly put together by very low paid workers in China under awful working conditions. So paying a high price for my iPhone does not mean decent pay nor working conditions.

Well, it is difficult to say what to do. Historically, many if not all nations experienced low wages and “awful” working conditions. It happened in England, France, United States, Italy and many, many others. The Gotthard Tunnel opened in 1882 and it cost the lives of many Italians who worked in awful conditions to perforate miles of alpine rock. Working conditions improve as industrial production methods evolve. Would a worker in Vietnam feel better if I were to boycott his product and help bankrupt the company where he/she works? Would said worker move to a higher paid/better working conditions job, or return back to the spine breaking/parasite infested rice fields? Shall I buy Chord products because Chord workers have a right to strike and to sit Union Members in the board room? Or be satisfied by a poorly built/outrageously priced product because the company offers a gym and a lactation room?

 

[Xyrium]

Very Nice device. Performs better thant the Chord for a fraction of the price.

Actually, if you open up the DAVE, you'll find this inside, then Chord adds some super mega ultra power filtering to it that screws up the noise floor.

 

[amirm]

Review updated and poll added.

 

[Trell]

Review updated and poll added.

The first sentence says the review is incomplete, but that is no longer the case?

 

[AndreaT]

Review updated and poll added.

Nice to see it completed! Glad to imagine you feel better! Not as stellar as the L30 HP amp, however still very good.

 

[USER]

Amir, if you happen to have the original E30 around would you be able to check jitter in coax/toslink mode? It would be interesting to see if it is any worse.

 

[amirm]

The first sentence says the review is incomplete, but that is no longer the case?

Thanks. Fixed.

 

[enricoclaudio]

As always, another stellar performance DAC from Topping. Of course, thanks @amirm for another great review. However, owning a Topping E50, Matrix Audio X-SABRE 3 and an on the way, Topping A90D, my budget for new toys is at $0 for the next 2 years

 

[amirm]

Amir, if you happen to have the original E30 around would you be able to check jitter in coax/toslink mode? It would be interesting to see if it is any worse.

I probably have it. Where, in the mountain of gear, is the question.

 

[amirm]

Nice to see it completed! Glad to imagine you feel better! Not as stellar as the L30 HP amp, however still very good.

Yeh, the L30 is the breakthrough product.

 

[Trell]

Well, it is difficult to say what to do. Historically, many if not all nations experienced low wages and “awful” working conditions. It happened in England, France, United States, Italy and many, many others. The Gotthard Tunnel opened in 1882 and it cost the lives of many Italians who worked in awful conditions to perforate miles of alpine rock. Working conditions improve as industrial production methods evolve. Would a worker in Vietnam feel better if I were to boycott his product and help bankrupt the company where he/she works? Would said worker move to a higher paid/better working conditions job, or return back to the spine breaking/parasite infested rice fields? Shall I buy Chord products because Chord workers have a right to strike and to sit Union Members in the board room? Or be satisfied by a poorly built/outrageously priced product because the company offers a gym and a lactation room?

We can require that Western companies put more effort to better wages and working conditions than they do today, for instance.

The alternative is not Chord style companies but companies like the German company RME that makes the ADI-2 DAC we all know about here. It's more expensive than most of the competition but it also has a ton of features, excellent documentation and proven long term support, and it's actually made in Germany.

But now we are digressing from the review.

 

[gvl]

I am a bit bothered by Toslink and Coax Jitter.

I’ll take jitter over dropouts any day of the week. Hopefully this is an indication of a more reliable locking on the spdif clock.

 

[amirm]

I’ll take jitter over dropouts any day of the week. Hopefully this is an indication of more a more reliable locking on the spdif clock.

BTW, I tried to develop a test for jitter lock. In all but one narrow case, AP could not create jitter high enough to cause the few DACs I tested to lose lock. I need to get my hands on a source that shows this kind of problem to see what it is doing. Is there a cheap one I could buy?

 

[gvl]

BTW, I tried to develop a test for jitter lock. In all but one narrow case, AP could not create jitter high enough to cause the few DACs I tested to lose lock. I need to get my hands on a source that shows this kind of problem to see what it is doing. Is there a cheap one I could buy?

A Samsung TV with a broken screen off Craigslist?

 

[amirm]

A Samsung TV with a broken screen off Craigslist?

Ouch. Isn't there a source player that shows the problem?

 

[amirm]

If there is a small Samsung TV that does it, I don't mind buying it to test either.