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Topping E50 Review (Balanced DAC)

Toku

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As soon as the Topping E50 I ordered arrived, I performed the operation test, so I will report the result.

Until now, I mainly used E30 and D10s D10 Balanced for DAC, but I bought the newly released E50 because it can also play MQA.

Immediately after arriving, I checked all the basic operations. The genuine AC adapter of iPad is used for the power supply. The PC is Windows 10 Pro and the audio player is using Foober2000 and TuneBrowser in ASIO mode.
I did a continuous playback test by randomly switching between PCM44.1kHz~784KHz/16~32Bit and DSD2.8~DSD512, but there are no problems to worry about.
I tested PCM44.1~192kHz (16/24Bit) using the OPT/COAX output of D10s for the input of OPT/COAX, but it also plays back without any problem.

I used to use the SMSL M500 to play MQA, but the E50 is a big improvement.
On the M500, when MQA is played, it will be PCM playback at first and will switch to MQA after 3 to 4 seconds. At the time of switching, the sound was interrupted for a moment and could not be played smoothly, but with the E50, when MQA is played, the MQA is displayed instantly and playback starts. The sound is not interrupted like the M500, but there is a small click noise.

With the E30, I had a habit of making a slight click noise when switching songs or during sleep/wake, and I was a little worried when I connected the power amplifier directly, but with the E50, this is completely silent. This is a nice evolution. The product has been energized continuously for a long time since it arrived, but I hardly feel the heat generated by the main unit.

The brightness of the display can be adjusted in 3 steps, and automatic ON/OFF can be selected, improving usability.


Problems I noticed
When using USB input in pre-mode, the volume is suddenly maximized when the volume is lowered from -0.0 to the minimum value of -99. This symptom is the same for both balanced and unbalanced outputs. It is completely normal when inputting OPT/COAX.
If you operate the volume without knowing this, it will cause serious troubles such as destroying the speaker. I immediately reported this issue to Topping. I hope it will be improved as soon as possible.
---- postscript ----
This issue only occurs when playing DSD.
 
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ralph

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When using USB input in pre-mode, the volume is suddenly maximized when the volume is lowered from -0.0 to the minimum value of -99.

Thanks for sharing this info Toku san. This is almost a show stopper for considering it as a pre amp.
 

testp

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o
Problems I noticed
When using USB input in pre-mode, the volume is suddenly maximized when the volume is lowered from -0.0 to the minimum value of -99. This symptom is the same for both balanced and unbalanced outputs. It is completely normal when inputting OPT/COAX.
If you operate the volume without knowing this, it will cause serious troubles such as destroying the speaker. I immediately reported this issue to Topping. I hope it will be improved as soon as possible.
---- postscript ----
This issue only occurs when playing DSD.

Oh wow, that's good to know.. i wonder the same about D30pro?
 

Asma

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I mainly used E30 and D10s D10 Balanced for DAC, but I bought the newly released E50 because it can also play MQA.
Please share your subjective impressions of the sound as the E50 versus the E30. I own the E30 for over a year, I don't know if it's worth buying the E50? I understand that everyone's hearing is different, but it would still be interesting to hear your opinion.
 

Toku

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Oh wow, that's good to know.. i wonder the same about D30pro?
I also purchased the D30 Pro, but returned it because the PCM 384kHz did not play properly and the sound was mixed with noise. I have not received any information that the symptoms have improved since then.

Please share your subjective impressions of the sound as the E50 versus the E30. I own the E30 for over a year, I don't know if it's worth buying the E50? I understand that everyone's hearing is different, but it would still be interesting to hear your opinion.
I use three E30s that are manufactured at different times. To be honest, the sound quality comparison between E50 and E30 does not seem to change much.
So what is the effect if purchased for the purpose of improving sound quality? is.
If you only consider sound quality, E30 is enough for me. This is just my personal impression.
The purpose of purchasing the E50 is to use it as a convenient test sound source with balanced and unbalanced output.
 

JDA

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Hi,

Just had a listen to an E50/L50 stack, in an A/B with an E30/L30 stack, using Sennheiser HD600s. I could hear a difference, but it was VERY slight, and I honestly could not say I preferred the more expensive kit.

Someone with better ears / cans might be able to :) I'll post this in the E50 and L50 threads.

Regards,

JustDacs
 

Asma

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I use three E30s that are manufactured at different times. To be honest, the sound quality comparison between E50 and E30 does not seem to change much.
it turns out that there would be a tangible increase in sound quality, you need a DAC of a level not lower than the D90SE.
 

tmo

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Does anyone know how to switch the output mode setting to be DAC mode instead of pre-amp mode?

Not sure if it's appropriate to tag @JohnYang1997 for this. Forgive me if it is not.
 

adam2434

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Are any folks using the E50's balanced output in preamp mode to drive powered monitors? Is that working well?

Thinking about trying the E50 with a pair of Kali LP-8 monitors I already have.

Also, are Apos and Headphones.com good places to buy Topping gear in the US?
 
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Fawzay

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Are any folks using the E50's balanced output in preamp mode to drive powered monitors. Is that working well?

Thinking about trying the E50 with a pair of Kali LP-8 monitors I already have.

Also, are Apos and Headphones.com good places to buy Topping gear in the US?

Yea working fine with my Presonus Eris 4.5. I found it can squeeze more detail tho
 

Haruko

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well well, the e50 just came today and it's much more of an improvement from su8 v2... i had a chance to listen to d30 pro and difference between su8 was not as much apparent as e50 is... i had different amp back then tho (thx 789)...
edit: nope d30pro sounds completely different
 
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Rottmannash

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Are any folks using the E50's balanced output in preamp mode to drive powered monitors? Is that working well?

Thinking about trying the E50 with a pair of Kali LP-8 monitors I already have.

Also, are Apos and Headphones.com good places to buy Topping gear in the US?
Yes to both. I've bought a Topping DAC from Apos and a pair of HPs from Headphones.com. Both reputable.
 

Postlan

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I finally got my first Topping converter, E50.

E50 sounds surprisingly good considering the PSU is +5V which drives analog OpAmp only by +-2.5V. Its output level is quite low (not professional +4dB), and it still does not sound as good as my other $4000 ESS based converter, but they are pretty close. I have an impression that E50 can be as good once it has +-15V power supply for its analog part. I'll modify E50 with LM49720 with +-15V supply hoping I can sell my expensive converter.
 
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RedCometZero

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How is the volume ramping with the remote on this? Would it be usable as the volume control on speakers for TV viewing?
 

Lupin

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Do you have any plan to release D30pro+ (D50pro?) on ESS ?
What do you hope/expect to gain from an ESS based D30Pro?

The D30Pro as it is already measures excellent so not much useful to gain their. Besides a better measuring ESS version already excist in the form of the D90se
 

Debqtz

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How much better would this DAC be then the AudioQuest Dragonfly Red plugged into a Darkvoice 336SE then that into a pair of Sennheiser HD6XX's. Right now I have the dragonfly plugged into the Darkvoice via 3.5mm to RCA male and would have the Topping e50 plugged into the Darkvoice via TRS to RCA. I heard a lot of places that the Dragonfly Red isn't enough to power the Darkvoice with Sennhieser HD6XX's and I didn't really notice much of a difference with that vs having no DAC. The thing that has me confused is the Dragonfly Red is almost the same price as the Topping E50 so how could the Topping be that much better? I get that maybe you pay a premium for the size of the Dragonfly and the Topping E50 is more of a dedicated device. Could someone let me know what I can expect with this upgrade. And no I have no idea how to read charts and graphs. Thank you in advance!! :D
 
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