Topping E30 II Lite DAC review and measurements

[Zek]

Nobody has an E30 II Lite DAC yet?

 

[Rja4000]

A few questions for Topping E30 II Lite DAC owners:
Are there any clicks at the beginning of the playlist or delays in playing the song?
Are there clicks and pops when playback stops and then resumes?
Are there clicks and pops when the audio files are of different resolutions (PCM or DSD)?
Does the DAC go into slipping mode if there is no input signal for a few seconds and there is a lag when the signal arrives?

Hi
Most of those thing are software-related, in my opinion. More related to your streamer or PC software. Unless I miss something.

The DAC doesn't go in sleeping mode after a few seconds.

 

[horstman]

Nobody has an E30 II Lite DAC yet?

Actually I do, and I'm comparing it with the regular E30II right now.

I have a rather modest setup at the moment though, just an old Macbook connected by USB with the DACs, which is connected to a Fosi V3 amp, and to Celestion SL 600 speakers.

The lite version sounds to me exactly like that, less of everything.
Less detail, less depth, less clarity, by a noticable margin.

That said, I don't really like either of them, too much on the bright side, I'll most likely keep the little SMSL C100 I'm also trying out.

 

[Rja4000]

Less detail, less depth, less clarity, by a noticable margin.

That said, I don't really like either of them, too much on the bright side

Crank the volume up a notch or two.

Those "symptoms" are typical when comparing while volumes are not perfectly aligned.


Audio devices comparaison by listening is a tricky discipline, which requires very high methodological care. And the smaller the expected difference, the more difficult it becomes.
Perfect level matching is rule #00.

 

[horstman]

Crank the volume up a notch or two.

Those "symptoms" are typical when comparing while volumes are not perfectly aligned.


Audio devices comparaison by listening is a tricky discipline, which requires very high methodological care. And the smaller the expected difference, the more difficult it becomes.
Perfect level matching is rule #00.

I'm not suggesting my observations are a scientific fact, it's just what I personally did hear, in the fairly basic setup I described.
To me the difference wasn't subtle.

And yes, I always try to keep the volume the same when making comparisons.

 

[BlackWombat]

I bought the E30 II Lite a few days ago and im quite pleased with this unit.
Compared to a Dac Magic 100 its less "musical".
Overall sounds more "true" but also "tempered" if that makes sense.
If someone is interested in the insides take a look at the attachehed pictures.
Quite large capacity Rubycon YXJ Caps close to and also in the signal path.
Not to shaby as far as i can tell.

 

[777]

I bought the E30 II Lite a few days ago and im quite pleased with this unit.
Compared to a Dac Magic 100 its less "musical".
Overall sounds more "true" but also "tempered" if that makes sense.
If someone is interested in the insides take a look at the attachehed pictures.
Quite large capacity Rubycon YXJ Caps close to and also in the signal path.
Not to shaby as far as i can tell.

RT6863 opamp... good, a powerfull one.

 

[antcollinet]

I'm not suggesting my observations are a scientific fact, it's just what I personally did hear, in the fairly basic setup I described.
To me the difference wasn't subtle.

And yes, I always try to keep the volume the same when making comparisons.

"Trying" is not enough when comparing kit. You will always perceive a sonic difference when the devices are not sufficiently accurately level matched. And the only way to do it accurately enough is with a volt meter on the speaker terminals while playing a test signal. To +/-0.1dB.

 

[horstman]

"Trying" is not enough when comparing kit. You will always perceive a sonic difference when the devices are not sufficiently accurately level matched. And the only way to do it accurately enough is with a volt meter on the speaker terminals while playing a test signal. To +/-0.1dB.

No offence mate, but you are getting a little carried away.

This topic and this forum provide all the measurements one could want, which is a great; I merely added a subjective impression of my listening experience.
In the end, it's only that experience that has any meaning in audio; and each one's different.

 

[Rja4000]

In the end, it's only that experience that has any meaning in audio;

Sure.

and each one's different.

It should not be.

Let me explain:

It's been scientifically proven that (statistically) the preferences in term of frequency response is shared accross the whole population, whatever the age, gender or geographical origin.

And it's also somehow proven that those devices that measure well can't sound any differently, if conditions are equal. (At least, nobody has ever proved the opposite, to my knowledge)

What you did is, most likely, varying those conditions. Which is the very reason you heard differences. They are not coming from the devices you're comparing.

No offence, but the chances that you accidentally discovered an unknown law of physics which would explain a difference of the amplitude you describe between devices measuring audibly perfect, while not taking rigourously all actions to keep everything else but the devices sufficiently equal, are so low that they aren't worth spending the time we take for this exchange.

 

[antcollinet]

No offence mate, but you are getting a little carried away.

This topic and this forum provide all the measurements one could want, which is a great; I merely added a subjective impression of my listening experience.
In the end, it's only that experience that has any meaning in audio; and each one's different.

No offence taken mate

That's fine - but if you are making decisions on what kit to buy (or are advising others to do so) based on those impressions, it is only in your own interest to make those comparisons as valid as possible.

Or at least to understand the problems that might arise from not doing so.


And yes - I'm a little obsessive on pointing out these issues, since others reading - especially less knowledgable/experienced - will form their own opinions, understanding and mindset from what they read here. We claim to be about the science.

 

[robertospeed]

 

[DOuG pRATt]

Thanks for running the tests. The sharp filter setting in the manual is F-1, but the test results showed sharp is on F-6. I'm going to guess the documentation is accurate for the not-Lite E30 II.