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Topping E70 Stereo DAC Review

Rate this DAC:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 8 2.0%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 8 2.0%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 47 11.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 333 84.1%

  • Total voters
    396
Hi all, I'm a happy owner of a Topping E70 in the market for a new amplifier. I'm currently considering the AUDIOPHONICS AP300-S250NC (https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/powe...ifier-ncore-nc252mp-2x250w-4-ohm-p-18419.html), but one line in its description gives me pause:
"This amplifier does not have a decoupling capacitor, so it lets the DC component of the signal through. Make sure your source has no DC component present at the output. The DC protection of the module switches on at 12VDC which is very permissive."

I don't really know anything much about this matter, if at all, so I'd appreciate some advice on whether the E70 does or does not have any DC component present at output. I believe I read somewhere else on ASR's forum (can't find it now, of course) a statement along the lines of most, if not all, DACs and preamps having this decoupling capacitor, but I'd really appreciate confirmation about the E70 in particular, please.

I haven't heard back from an email I sent Topping as yet, so hopefully I can get some sound advice from you kind folks. Thanks everyone!
 
The DC protection of the module switches on at 12VDC which is very permissive
The DC protection for amps with DC coupling design is their responsibility. It does not seem logical to me to ask the connected equipment to guarantee the absence of DC, because, although it must be so, this does not protect against a failure in the amplifier itself. The allowed level of 12 volts DC seems excessive to me.
 
Hi all, I'm a happy owner of a Topping E70 in the market for a new amplifier. I'm currently considering the AUDIOPHONICS AP300-S250NC (https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/powe...ifier-ncore-nc252mp-2x250w-4-ohm-p-18419.html), but one line in its description gives me pause:
"This amplifier does not have a decoupling capacitor, so it lets the DC component of the signal through. Make sure your source has no DC component present at the output. The DC protection of the module switches on at 12VDC which is very permissive."

I don't really know anything much about this matter, if at all, so I'd appreciate some advice on whether the E70 does or does not have any DC component present at output. I believe I read somewhere else on ASR's forum (can't find it now, of course) a statement along the lines of most, if not all, DACs and preamps having this decoupling capacitor, but I'd really appreciate confirmation about the E70 in particular, please.

I haven't heard back from an email I sent Topping as yet, so hopefully I can get some sound advice from you kind folks. Thanks everyone!
Hi @Yannick! Welcome to ASR.

You're buying a 500€ Amp for your 400€ DAC.

Please consider also purchasing a 20-30€ multimeter. It's an extremely useful tool with which you can measure DC and AC voltages yourself.

No more relying on what other people say your equipment may or may not do. With it, you can gather your own data.

IMO, a must-have accessory for any audio enthusiast.
I use an Aneng AN870 and it's been great.
 
Multimeter, must have - ok, must - use... I would probably hurt myself (joke or not). Audio enthuziasts are: doctors, lawyers, writers... you know.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies. Looks like the amplifier search will need to wait a short while: I'm off to look into multimeters! Many thanks for the suggestions, it can be overwhelming when first jumping into the more scientific realms of audio so it's great to receive such a warm welcome.

All the best to everyone.
 
Just updated my E70 with firmware v1.04 and notice there is a new parameter in the setup menu - "b" with various values up to 15?

I thought I had seen an explanation of this somewhere but now can't seem to find it. I understand it has something to do with the SPDIF interface which is how I mainly feed my E70/L70 stack plus Edition XS/Fiio FT5 set up using the SPDIF coax output from my Fiio M15S so it may be pertinent to set it to a suitable value?

Can anyone lighten my darkness please?
 
Check out this reply from Topping to a customer enquiry about v1.04:

Dear Paul

Thank you for contacting TOPPING support. We are happy to assist.

Yes, it is genuine.

E70 V1.04:
Add bandwidth setting in setup menu (B-5)
Customized settings from 5 to 15 (default: 5)
The larger the number is, the stronger the range to adapt to jitter, and the smaller the number, the better the performance against clock jitter.

From
 
Many thanks for the pointers and I can get some understanding of the function.

Strangely enough when I went through the settings following the install of V1.04 the value was set at maximum 15 and not the 5 default? Have changed it to 5 now and will see how it goes.
 
Hi all, I'm a happy owner of a Topping E70 in the market for a new amplifier. I'm currently considering the AUDIOPHONICS AP300-S250NC (https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/powe...ifier-ncore-nc252mp-2x250w-4-ohm-p-18419.html), but one line in its description gives me pause:
"This amplifier does not have a decoupling capacitor, so it lets the DC component of the signal through. Make sure your source has no DC component present at the output. The DC protection of the module switches on at 12VDC which is very permissive."

I don't really know anything much about this matter, if at all, so I'd appreciate some advice on whether the E70 does or does not have any DC component present at output. I believe I read somewhere else on ASR's forum (can't find it now, of course) a statement along the lines of most, if not all, DACs and preamps having this decoupling capacitor, but I'd really appreciate confirmation about the E70 in particular, please.

I've spent quite some time trying to understand what that advice meant in practice. Found some post going into details, so technical that about a third of it entered my mind and not much stayed. So I tried to look at it another way : I can't say that I found someone complaining online that their speakers got damaged because of this specific reason with these audiophonics power amps. And yet I've seen a huge number of people saying they use them, in a good variety of setups, and with many different sources.
 
Have a look on Page 21 #402 in this thread - there is a link posted there which is the one I used to update my E70 ESS
 
Just reporting back for anyone else in the same boat. I can't guarantee I've measured this correctly as I've simply watched a couple of how-to videos on multimeters before The Big Measuring Event; in fact, I can probably more likely guarantee I've measured INcorrectly!

For what it's worth, though, I measured ~10mV of DC output on pins 2 & 3 of the XLR output of the Topping E70. Now, whether that's a 'safe' amount or not I the amateur can certainly not say, but assuming the measurement is accurate, the DC output I read personally was non-zero, so I am more inclined to spend a little more and buy another Audiophonics Hypex amplifier that doesn't carry this warning about a lack of decoupling capacitors.

For what it's worth as a counter-argument to my decision, Audiophonics, whom I'd also written to along with Topping, were kind enough to get back to me and let me know that the message about the decoupling capacitor absence "only concerns esoteric or DIY sources without output capacitors".

Thanks again everyone for their input! Much appreciated.
 
So where is the 1.04 firmware?
I have the TV issue as well.
Any help is appreciated!

I've been running the E70 with my Audiophonics Purify-Amp in "preamp-mode" for around a year now without any problems. The firmware was flashed to 1.04 ! So I can adjust the PLL of the SPDIF input if necessary. For LG-TV's 10 should work. Please keep in mind that higher numbers increase jitter. A little tweaking is recommended. I'm running it with my Sony TV with 5.
Topping set it to 5 for the best measurement experience.;) Lower number=better measurement!
 
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