Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[wrigglycheese]

It's good practice not to plug unplug with music playing. And turning volume down before plugging new headphones is also good idea. But it's not really needed here, although that's still what I do in day to day basis. Just do what you are comfortable with. It should be fine.

Much appreciated

 

[flame]

thinking about getting this as my first headphone amp ever to pair with my hd600

but i'm still hesitating with the jds atom and the schiit magni 3+ ? (considering the topping l30 is easier to get as i live in europe, i might pick this one but i need some sort of confirmation)

thoughts?

 

[Rock Rabbit]

thinking about getting this as my first headphone amp ever to pair with my hd600

but i'm still hesitating with the jds atom and the schiit magni 3+ ? (considering the topping l30 is easier to get as i live in europe, i might pick this one but i need some sort of confirmation)

thoughts?

Any of them could drive HD 600, Atom very good specs and cheap (plastic, analog volume, external heavy linear ps, pre line out, 2 line in (RCA and 3.5 mm), L30 better specs and look but full power only with input over 2 V rms. Anyway the specs differences are inaudible

 

[Sombreuil]

So I don't know what happened but my L30 doesn't get as warm (and it wasn't that warm anyway) as it used to be during the first couple of days of use.

 

[kkeretic]

So I don't know what happened but my L30 doesn't get as warm (and it wasn't that warm anyway) as it used to be during the first couple of days of use.

Interesting, I have already thought the same a couple of times for my copy. I have a feeling it is noticeably less warm after ~2 hours of use than the first few days at the same room temp.

 

[Robin L]

If I am not wrong, John had given a very good explanation of the heating behavior, somewhere in the first 114 pages of this thread . From my not-so-great memory, I recall him saying that the heating-up stops (or the intensity drastically reduces) after some time period of use.

FWIW, for me, it is mildly hot (like any electronic item) when switched on for a few hours. I habitually remove the charging plug and HPs when taking a break.

I keep it running constantly. No heat issue. Is it warm? Yes. Is it a problem? No.

 

[bravomail]

It's good practice not to plug unplug with music playing. And turning volume down before plugging new headphones is also good idea. But it's not really needed here, although that's still what I do in day to day basis. Just do what you are comfortable with. It should be fine.

if it was a speaker amp, then these precautions would have been granted.

In Schiit Magni world in their tiny leaflet they suggest plugging the headphones "after!" you power up the amp. There is 20 (or so) second delay before relays will kick-in and sound will start pouring in.
This plugging in headphones "after" powering up never made sense to me. I have my headphones plugged in all the time, and don't wanna mess.

Same should be here with L30 - leave your headphones plugged-in, don't mess around.

 

[Swoof]

So I typically run an E30 with either a BH Crack or JDS Labs Atom with my HD6XX. I haven't had volume issues at all, but I just started playing with EQing. I'm using Oratory1990 target @ -10db pre, I'm maxing out the volume with the Atom, it's pretty dang loud but I wish it could go a bit louder for the occasional jam out, the crack still has the juice. Would the L30 provide a bit more juice than the Atom to drive the 6XX with the -10db pre-amp? I'd love to sell Atom and match my e30 with the l30.

 

[Veri]

So I typically run an E30 with either a BH Crack or JDS Labs Atom with my HD6XX. I haven't had volume issues at all, but I just started playing with EQing. I'm using Oratory1990 target @ -10db pre, I'm maxing out the volume with the Atom, it's pretty dang loud but I wish it could go a bit louder for the occasional jam out, the crack still has the juice. Would the L30 provide a bit more juice than the Atom to drive the 6XX with the -10db pre-amp? I'd love to sell Atom and match my e30 with the l30.

I believe the L30 actually has slightly less juice than Atom. So, no.

 

[BDWoody]

I believe the Atom actually has slightly less juice than Atom. So, no.

Can I quote you on that?

 

[Veri]

I should sleep.

 

[Atanasi]

So I typically run an E30 with either a BH Crack or JDS Labs Atom with my HD6XX. I haven't had volume issues at all, but I just started playing with EQing. I'm using Oratory1990 target @ -10db pre, I'm maxing out the volume with the Atom, it's pretty dang loud but I wish it could go a bit louder for the occasional jam out, the crack still has the juice. Would the L30 provide a bit more juice than the Atom to drive the 6XX with the -10db pre-amp? I'd love to sell Atom and match my e30 with the l30.

E30 is rated for 2 Vrms. Atom has a high-gain multiplier of 4.5, L30 has 3 (9.5 dB, so 10^(9.5/20)). Therefore, the computed output voltage would be 6 Vrms for L30 and 9 Vrms for Atom, but Atom has a maximum of 8.66 V.

6XX has an impedance of 300 ohms, and the power is the voltage squared divided by the impedance.
So, Atom's power is 250 mW, L30's 120 mW. That's a difference of log(250/120)*10=3 dB.

 

[half_dog]

So I typically run an E30 with either a BH Crack or JDS Labs Atom with my HD6XX. I haven't had volume issues at all, but I just started playing with EQing. I'm using Oratory1990 target @ -10db pre, I'm maxing out the volume with the Atom, it's pretty dang loud but I wish it could go a bit louder for the occasional jam out, the crack still has the juice. Would the L30 provide a bit more juice than the Atom to drive the 6XX with the -10db pre-amp? I'd love to sell Atom and match my e30 with the l30.

WOW, even in high gain? As explained before, Atom has a higher gain multiplier, it should play louder than L30. Although it is limited to 8.66V, the EQ settings plus -10dB maybe the DAC output should not reach 2Vrms.

You can connect 2 L30 in series to get a higher gain and keep really low numbers on noise and distortion.

You may try it with L30 and Atom: E30>L30(hi gain, pre out)>Atom(hi gain hp out). This way you can play with how much Atom will receive in its input avoiding saturation by controlling the volume on L30 as well.

 

[v5cvbb]

E30 to L30 with HD600 on 0db gain, about 1 o'clock on volume is more than I ever need. On -9db at max volume is also more than I need. Is the HD6XX less sensitive?

 

[Veri]

E30 to L30 with HD600 on 0db gain, about 1 o'clock on volume is more than I ever need. On -9db at max volume is also more than I need. Is the HD6XX less sensitive?

No, same sensitivity. But the above mentioned EQ pre-gain requires a lot more amping.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

No, same sensitivity. But the above mentioned EQ pre-gain requires a lot more amping.

That is correct. The Oratory preset for HD650 is surprisingly aggressive with a pre-gain of -10 dB, whereas the preset for the HD600 only needs a pre-gain of -5 dB for a better final result Harman-wise.

I can listen comfortably to my EQed HD600 with my L30 on 0dB gain at max volume, without ever needing to go to +9dB.
If I had a HD650 I think I'd need to switch gains every time, which would be annoying in the long run.

 

[Swoof]

I'll clarify and say that it gets more than satisfyingly loud for a long session, but there are moments where you just want to crank it up for a bit- so extra headroom would be nice. I'm also considering picking up some HD600s for the less aggressive EQ, alternatively maybe balanced cables and a balanced amp for more power.

 

[v5cvbb]

No, same sensitivity. But the above mentioned EQ pre-gain requires a lot more amping.

Thanks. I wasn't thinking.

 

[diyaudnut]

I have a rather unconventional usage question for the L30

Can it be used as in the input buffer/gain stage for a Purifi amp module?
A standalone NFCA module used in these would have been great.
But since those are not directly available, can these headphone amp boards be used?

For a balanced in/out, can the pre-amp mode L, R RCA in/out be used as differential pair for a single balanced channel.

Will the outputs be able to drive the Purifi module directly (no input buffer/gain stage)

 

[half_dog]

I have a rather unconventional usage question for the L30

Can it be used as in the input buffer/gain stage for a Purifi amp module?
A standalone NFCA module used in these would have been great.
But since those are not directly available, can these headphone amp boards be used?

For a balanced in/out, can the pre-amp mode L, R RCA in/out be used as differential pair for a single balanced channel.

Will the outputs be able to drive the Purifi module directly (no input buffer/gain stage)

I have done this before with L30, Atom and a DIY amp and no problem at all.
Just remenber to connect the positive signal to the left channel on the pre/hp amp to keep the polarity right if you have plans to connect something using TRS.