Topping E70 Stereo DAC Review

[Sokel]

ah, you europeans live in a different world...

don't i wish that was so

How so?
We have import tariffs from forever and the general guideline is to turn sanity into law.
(though we do have crazy stuff too)

What's more sane than to hold people accountable for what they sell?
Engineering is not only the nice numbers, is safety and conformity to the standards most of all.
So...

 

[misterdog]

UK retailer, see servicing and warranty.

Topping - Premium Sound | Home Audio Retailer in London UK

Topping was born in 2008 out of Guangzhou, China. A progressive brand placing a substantial focus on R&D, they deem that a blend of measurement and hearing produces the finest recipe for true audio success. The results of their efforts are clear within their product lines, which comprise...

premiumsound.co.uk

European retail/service at Audiophonics.

TOPPING AUDIO - HiFi Products manufacturer - Audiophonics

Topping Audio designs and manufactures USB DACs and class D amplifiers that offer outstanding value for money. The brand is widely renowned for its battery-powered headphone amplifiers.

www.audiophonics.fr

Order direct from China with discount or buy from your local retailer, the choice is yours.

 

[scruffy1]

thanks all for your comments, but i bought from the local distributor, and out of warranty they offer no repair

so as i clearly implied, europeans clearly have better protection for consumers, but in australia the rule of "get fucked" applies far too normally for most service, where 1 year warranty seems the standard (even for my spouse's spanking new pixel 9 pro at over twice the price of the e70)

at least the climate here is nice, and we don't live near potential for ww3

 

[Labjr]

Everyone wants cheap stuff. They aren't going to warranty it forever.

 

[scruffy1]

hardly cheap, and a year for electronics is the epitome of enshittification

encouraging disposable consumption is an outrageous waste of resources - which is one of the reasons my pixel 4a remains in service, perfectly functional and running android 15 (using lineage o.s.) rather than binning it because google support "finished"

the problem is huge, and getting worse

i don't mind that it is out of warranty, but i resent that fixing it makes replacement seem a reasonable alternative

 

[JediMa]

I got today the Dac, and it's absolutely fantastic, the only thing i noticed it's that if I use it as preamp the soundstage sounds wider

 

[scruffy1]

a brief update :

shenzen engaged for a brief while, but any further action was denied once they eventually grokked i had bought the e70 from my local source, even though i explained the dilemma and noted that it was ultimately from their supply

their best offer was to ask topping to follow up, and i have been ghosted (insert high quality uncompressed cricket sounds)

so my advice is caveat emptor, though i have no knowledge that any other source of supply in my country of any product is any more reliable wrt services

interestingly, guangzhou offer 2 year warranty if you buy direct... more fool me for thinking it was safer to go local (as the product would have failed within their warranty, and the shenzen contact seemed very keen to fix the problem if it had been theirs)

not sure what the take home message is here, and thankfully apart from inconvenience with bluetooth out, the device is still a great dac for listening

 

[scruffy1]

well, time moves on and after shenzen referred my issue to topping i have been waiting for godot, but no longer !

unable to resist a bargain, and brave enough to trust a different chinese provider (or maybe just the same using a different brand name), i ordered this device, which has no bling at all, but replaces the defective component with an even more current iteration of bluetooth

really, for ~$36aud i am okay to try; it cost me only $3 less to confirm the local tech couldn't repair the e70, so for total expenditure $69 i will have "fixed" it, albeit will need to push one more button to fire up the music, and the dac component of the e70 is still great for my purposes (and i get to retain the 12v trigger off it so i can ignore the nad d3020 controller, which may be the worst remote i have ever had the misfortune to wave at the home theatre, although the accuracy and finesse of the air mouse i use there makes me look like i have a significant neurological deficit)

so, this baby :

Specifications:
▶ Audio Input: Bluetooth 5.4
▶ Audio Output: Coaxial/Optical
▶ Bluetooth Name: AkLIAM DD2 BT5.4
▶ Bluetooth Chip: Qualcomm QCC3084,support: SBC/AAC/APTX/APTX-Lossless/APTX-HD/LC3/APTX-Adaptive/LDAC(96KHz/24Bit), ,
▶ Power Supply: USB C,DC 5V
▶ Working Current: 13mA
▶ Size: 75*90*23mm
▶ Color: Black



fingers crossed it loves me long time