Topping E30 II Lite DAC review and measurements

[AlexWolf]

Does this DAC retain volume settings after turning it off and on again?
And if you switch between sources.

 

[Njoy]

@AlexWolf it retains volume setting when switched off and also between switching sources.

 

[Arild04]

Sure. But then, I'd rather go for an LDAC compatible DAC, for which, if I'm not mistaken, you need to raise up to the D-6.

And I already have the Topping BC3 (and the Fiio BTA30 Pro) for Bluetooth.

All sorts of equipment comes with BT these days. Its not a big loss if BT is missing. For me, anyway.

 

[Arild04]

Maybe pointless to you, but not them.

Nah, they are doing what they like to do. You're assuming that they only want to hear music reproduced accurately. Like many hobbyists, they also want to play and experiment. Audiophiles are no different from other avid hobbyists. I have a friend that collects classic cars that are 40 and 50 years old. They cost a lot, aren't faster that what's available new, don't handle any better, are not more comfortable, far less safe, pollute more, are missing tons of technology and have reliability problems due to age. But he has a lot of pride in those cars and they bring him great joy.

Same with photography buffs and their gear. More than once my wife has bought expensive kitchen items that have been maybe used once. My sister is an avid quilter and her entire basement is filled with expensive sewing gear. Pick any hobby and you'll find those who spend a lot of money on it that leaves other people rolling their eyes.

They don't want to be "re-educated" by you or anyone else. You're wasting your time.

BTW, I happen to have an original E-30. Great DAC for the money.

I can be in two modes. Either just playing and enjoying the music or be in a mode where I listen for errors. Both modes are quite nice, but it is possible to get tired of finding errors. If that happening I loose interest and turn the whole thing off for a while

 

[Hador]

Filters Impulse responses

I recorded each Filter's impulse timeplot
From which we may deduct each filter's name:

F1 Slow
F2 SD Sharp
F3 SD Slow
F4 Super slow
F5 LD Short
F6 Sharp

How should the different impulse responses of the 6 filters be interpreted? Does this play a role in practice? Can you hear that? The oscillation curve is sometimes very different.

 

[Rja4000]

How should the different impulse responses of the 6 filters be interpreted? Does this play a role in practice? Can you hear that? The oscillation curve is sometimes very different.

I provide the impulse responses to be able to put a name on each filter.
The relevant information is the frequency response of each filter, IMO.

 

[Mark S.]

How are people finding the display brightness on the E30 when it's part of a 'home entertainment' system? I've heard some people say it's still distracting on minimum if it's in line of sight with a screen.

 

[mediocrebutarrogant]

all said , when connected to powerbanks the toppings taste good, connecting to mains with charger brick, they are meh.. dunno why

 

[staticV3]

dunno why

Confirmation bias

 

[mediocrebutarrogant]

a simple step like that , not sure why I will fool myself, but the difference is stark for me

 

[antcollinet]

but the difference is stark for me

It always is.

 

[BDWoody]

a simple step like that , not sure why I will fool myself, but the difference is stark for me

You did this to see if you could hear a difference (otherwise why bother) and look at that! You did! Almost like magic.

Your brain has your expectations 'in mind' when it paints its version of reality for you to consciously experience. The gap between that created version and actual reality is why we consistently emphasize the importance of using controls when trying to use our senses to determine what is real, and what is generated between the ears.

 

[Rja4000]

all said , when connected to powerbanks the toppings taste good, connecting to mains with charger brick, they are meh.. dunno why

It's hard to switch between those 2 configurations. This takes several seconds - probably around 10 seconds or so.

So even if somebody else (that you can't see or hear) was doing the switch, it would be very hard -or, more probably, impossible- to reliably detect actual changes by ear.

The only way to validate that would probably be to record the output in both cases and replay it with an ABX switcher, then evaluate statistics.


There are tiny measurements differences if you power this DAC with a power bank vs power supply. But those differences are so small that I'm 100% sure they can't be audible.
That is, unless you have a severe ground loop in one case.

 

[Rotel75]

Does the USB device disappear when switching to coax/optical?
Unfortunately my SMSL SU-1 does that.

 

[Zek]

Does the USB device disappear when switching to coax/optical?

Explain a little bit where the device "disappears" and what the problem is.

 

[Rotel75]

Windows desktop playing audio to USB DAC (SMSL SU-1).
You temp. switch the DAC to optical input for example.
The USB DAC then completely disappears in Windows (the device does not exist any more, like unplugged).
When you switch the DAC to USB input it pops up again.
This confuses my streaming software.
Some people call this a feature

 

[Zek]

What happens in the audio player - does the USB option disappears there too?

 

[Wesseling Audio Lab]

Just got my second E30 lite!

 

[Zek]

Just got my second E30 lite!

What happened to the first one?

 

[Wesseling Audio Lab]

What happened to the first one? View attachment 417615

Yeah, that could read like I replaced the first one!

I have 2 running in different systems. I'm building separate 5V shunt regulators for both units