Topping E30 II Lite DAC review and measurements

[rongon]

Yes.

Only if you use optical or coaxial input.

This is so confusing. That is what I gleaned from Amir's review and various forum posts, but that is not what I'm getting here with my E30II lite.
I've tested it every which way I can with swapping PSUs in and out, etc.

1) E30II lite USB only to RPi4 USB port, powered USB hub *disconnected* (E30II lite is the only USB device connected) = DAC no power (but RPi4 boots fine)
2) E30II lite USB only to self-powered USB hub, with hard drives removed, USB hub connected to RPi4 = DAC no power (but RPI4 boots)
3) E30II lite USB connector to RPI4 USB port, Anker 5V PSU to E30II lite 5V Input = DAC powers up and seems to work fine (RPi boots)
4) E30II lite USB connector to self-powered USB hub with hard drives connected too, USB hub connected to RPi4 = DAC powers up and seems to work fine (RPi4 boots fine).
5) E30II lite USB connector to USB port on modern Dell laptop (i7 11th generation CPU, etc.) = DAC no power

Also, the E30II User's Guide is not clear about this. It only says...

"When connects to power supply". That's it. No further details provided.

Who has tested this? Has anyone physically tested an E30II lite to verify that it works powered from a SuperSpeed USB-A port's bus power only? The Raspberry Pi 4 has two USB-A SuperSpeed ports, along with two USB-A 2.0 ports with black innards, which I am not using.

Should I return this E30II lite to the seller? I think it's not working as advertised.

??

 

[Zek]

I think it's not working as advertised.

What doesn't work as advertised?

 

[rongon]

What doesn't work as advertised?

DC power connections.

Amir wrote in the review:

The DAC may be powered from any USB source, so just a USB power cable is provided.
It worked for me from any USB power source I had at hand, including a power bank.

Does that mean you are required to use some kind of "USB power source" to supply 5V DC power to the E30II lite 5.5 x 2.1 mm barrel connector ("DC5V")?

It's not clear to me from what Amir wrote or what Topping says in the manual whether the E30II lite can be powered from a single USB connection.

 

[rongon]

Follow up --
I connected my E30II lite to a modern Dell laptop's USB port (just the one USB connection; no 5V DC barrel connection).
Result is same as from RPi4. DAC no power, stays 100% dark.

Looking at Topping's FAQs for E30II and E30II lite:

E30 II / E30 II Lite

Can't be turned on
· Check the power connection.
· Try with another DC5V power adapter.
· Try with another power cable.

That does imply that a "DC5V power adapter" must be used.

For the second time:
- Has anyone here physically tested whether or not an E30II lite can be powered from a single USB connection (without the 5VDC barrel connection to an external PSU)?

@amirm - Do you remember how this worked?

 

[Sokel]

DC power connections.

Amir wrote in the review:



Does that mean you are required to use some kind of "USB power source" to supply 5V DC power to the E30II lite 5.5 x 2.1 mm barrel connector ("DC5V")?

It's not clear to me from what Amir wrote or what Topping says in the manual whether the E30II lite can be powered from a single USB connection.

It's not Amir in this review,it's @Rja4000 but he describes it very accurately:

The DAC may be powered from any USB source, so just a USB power cable is provided.
It worked for me from any USB power source I had at hand, including a power bank.

The difference is the bold.
Another great tell is that the box contains 2 USB cables,one for data and one for DC.
So...

 

[rongon]

So, nobody here has physical experience with this device, except for the reviewer?

Amir's review of the E30II (not the 'lite' version) included this:

There is no power supply included. There is a USB to 5 volt barrel connector giving you the choice of how you feed it. I started with my USB hub built into the monitor but got the best results with a Samsung USB charger. Your situation may vary as you don't have an analyzer in front of the unit.

That also suggests that the separate power connection is required, but again that's not 100% clear from just that statement.

In his review of the earlier E30, Amir wrote:

It is a similar setup as Topping D50 with external USB power (mandatory for all inputs).

"Mandatory for all inputs."

That all tells me the DC power connection is required, which agrees with my hands-on experience with the device.

A Major Contributor member posted that the DAC works from a single USB connection. I figured he/she knew, and I began to have doubts about the unit I have. It looks like those doubts were unfounded (phew!).

Can anyone confirm that an external DC power supply is *required* for the E30II lite? Nobody else has one of these DACs?

 

[mlsstl]

Don't know if this helps, but I have an original E30. Just plugged the power cable into a USB port on my PC and it powered on just fine. Note that the power connection is a separate cable from the USB signal input to the DAC. So, to use as a DAC, that's three separate cables -- 1) a power connection from a USB port or external power supply, 2) a cable (USB, coax or optical) to carry the digital signal to the E30's input, 3) a pair of L/R RCA output cables to connect the DAC to the amp.

 

[rongon]

Thank you for replying with your experience. I appreciate it. And yes, that's what I've found too.

I hope it's clear that the question was not whether or not the E30II lite would power up from a USB port or whatever. The question I had was whether or not the E30II lite could be used from a single USB cable connection ("bus powered"). I asked that question and got confusing answers, including one person who claimed that the E30II lite *can* be operated by USB bus power alone (which is not correct).

I think the confusion came from comparison with the Schiit Modi+, which has two USB-C female connectors (one with a USB icon, the other with an AC power plug icon), but *can* be powered from the USB bus power (a single USB connection). On the Modi+, the second USB-C power connector is only required if you're using one of the S/PDIF inputs. I think some people (including myself) had gotten those confused.

So, for the record...
For the Topping E30, E30II and E30II lite:
*** A 5V DC power source *must* be connected to the DC5V input for the DAC to operate (for all inputs).

Both the reviewers and the Topping manual didn't spell that out with a lot of clarity, even though the information is there for you to puzzle out.

But it's all good. The reviews are fine, it's really Topping's User Manual that should be super-clear about this, but is not.

 

[DOuG pRATt]

Yesterday, my E30 II Lite display showed "OFF." I'd never seen that before. Putting my phone on the USB port did nothing. Neither the remote nor front panel power buttons woke it up. Recycling power by pulling the power plug brought it back to life.

 

[Jimster480]

Yesterday, my E30 II Lite display showed "OFF." I'd never seen that before. Putting my phone on the USB port did nothing. Neither the remote nor front panel power buttons woke it up. Recycling power by pulling the power plug brought it back to life.

It happened before with my EX5, but it has worked now for the past 8 months after that episode.

 

[antcollinet]

Yesterday, my E30 II Lite display showed "OFF." I'd never seen that before. Putting my phone on the USB port did nothing. Neither the remote nor front panel power buttons woke it up. Recycling power by pulling the power plug brought it back to life.

It happened before with my EX5

Computers sometimes crash and need to be restarted.

I guess it probably happens with more than 50% of the gear I own. Mostly it is pretty rare. I even needed to restart my boiler (furnace) recently to stop the pump running 24/7.

 

[Jimster480]

Computers sometimes crash and need to be restarted.

I guess it probably happens with more than 50% of the gear I own. Mostly it is pretty rare. I even needed to restart my boiler (furnace) recently to stop the pump running 24/7.

Yep, people forget that almost everything we own today is a "computer" by some regards. Even these DAC's on our desks.

 

[DOuG pRATt]

Yep, people forget that almost everything we own today is a "computer" by some regards. Even these DAC's on our desks.

By now, I think everybody knows how fragile technology can be. CrowdStrike stopped much of the world with a single malformed .sys file. Whatever caused the non-responsive "OFF" message on my E30II Lite, it's a knowable problem. The question is, what exactly are the conditions that cause this behavior? It would be nice if Topping are able to fix it with a firmware update. Even better if the release notes state exactly what they fixed.

 

[Jimster480]

By now, I think everybody knows how fragile technology can be. CrowdStrike stopped much of the world with a single malformed .sys file. Whatever caused the non-responsive "OFF" message on my E30II Lite, it's a knowable problem. The question is, what exactly are the conditions that cause this behavior? It would be nice if Topping are able to fix it with a firmware update. Even better if the release notes state exactly what they fixed.

Does it have the ability to just have the firmware updated from your PC? I know some of the older ones didn't and I don't know if the new lower end ones do either.

 

[Wesseling Audio Lab]

Got my E30 lite today.. Love it. The separate 5V DC in requirement is exactly what I've been looking for!

Nice case and display.. I'm using it with Topping a BC3 which has LDAC

Just checked the price of BC3, wow, $163ca. After Amir's review a few years ago I bought 3 of them for half that price.

 

[DOuG pRATt]

Does it have the ability to just have the firmware updated from your PC? I know some of the older ones didn't and I don't know if the new lower end ones do either.

Yes, that's how the update works, as was covered a while back in this thread.

 

[trevor_bartram]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned operation of the remote control in this thread. Amazon reviews cite remote control operation as disappointing. I could not find similar complaints for the plain E30 II. Do owners here have a problem with the Lite remote control?

 

[rongon]

The remote works fine for me, but I've only used it to access settings like the various filters and display brightness. I did notice that you have to be within direct line of sight with the unit to get the remote to work. That's the common complaint I've seen, but it doesn't bother me much. I don't use the DAC as a preamp, so I don't use the remote to control playback volume or input selection.

 

[Rja4000]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned operation of the remote control in this thread.

I personally use the E30 II Lite behind a Bluesound Node (first gen), connected through TosLink.
I control volume with the BlueOS App and never change the DAC input.
So I never use the remote.

 

[trevor_bartram]

I'm considering using the E30 II Lite directly into a power amplifier (Adcom GFA-535). I will be using the remote on a daily (hourly?) basis (input selection, volume, mute). The remote will be 8ft away & can be pointed directly. Does anyone see a problem with this setup in terms of sound quality & remote operation?