Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[ReaderZ]

I have HD650 and D10S and even on low gain it is getting painfully loud going much past halfway volume to me, the E30 will have basically the same volume, look at the level measurement in the reviews. The DT1990 have more sensitivity than HD650, I would worry about the future or present condition of your ears.

That or his L30/D10s is defective, or he has changed digital attenuation without realizing it.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Hello everyone, I'm new at this and I recently purchased a Topping L30 to drive my DT1990. The combination is excellent, however, I need to set the amp to high gain in order to reach the max volume . This is weird because I've seen people commenting how the L30 has enough power to drive the HD6XX even on medium gain with the wheel at 1 o'clock, yet this is happening to me. Shouldn't the L30 have enough power in medium gain to drive the DT1990 to loud levels? Is this behavior normal, or is it because I've paired it with a Topping D10s instead of something like the E30?

Just want to make sure I'm getting the most out of my headphones. Any help is highly appreciated.

With 2V from D10s usually it's loud enough for average people around 12 o'clock for 250 300ohm headphones. So very likely you have some attenuation in the digital namely your OS on your computer, your music player software etc Check the volume on those.
Another thing is that don't scared about turning up the amp. The full range is there for you to use. In fact when measured it's the amp turned all the way up and the input voltage is what's varying.
People all listen at different levels so you may just like listening louder than others.

 

[《J》]

I have HD650 and D10S and even on low gain it is getting painfully loud going much past halfway volume to me. The E30 will have basically the same volume, look at the level measurement in the reviews. The DT1990 have more sensitivity than HD650, I would worry about the future or present condition of your ears.

Sadly nothing like that on my end, I'm comparing the volume to my Dunu DN-2000J (L30's low gain setting works really nicely for sensitive IEMs), and I can only get close to these with the high gain setting. And for the record, I only like to listen at louder levels music that wasn't mastered super loudly with little to no dynamics (e.g. 2004 remasters of Rust in Peace and Peace Sells, Rage Against the Machine's Renegades, etc are all a big no); the amount of overcompressed music that is unlistenable on higher quality equipment is outright disgusting.

With 2V from D10s usually it's loud enough for average people around 12 o'clock for 250 300ohm headphones. So very likely you have some attenuation in the digital namely your OS on your computer, your music player software etc Check the volume on those.
Another thing is that don't scared about turning up the amp. The full range is there for you to use. In fact when measured it's the amp turned all the way up and the input voltage is what's varying.
People all listen at different levels so you may just like listening louder than others.

Thanks for the reply John. I've checked the audio levels of both my system and my music players, and all of them are at 100%. I've also looked into this and this, but nothing changed. Lastly, I tried connecting the D10s to my phone through an USB-C to USB 3.0 Converter, again facing similar results.

Could it be a defect of my unit/headphones, or something else on my computer? I just don't know what to do . I purchased the stack from Aoshida-HIFI Audio Store on AliExpress.

 

[artburda]

Sadly nothing like that on my end, I'm comparing the volume to my Dunu DN-2000J (L30's low gain setting works really nicely for sensitive IEMs), and I can only get close to these with the high gain setting. And for the record, I only like to listen at louder levels music that wasn't mastered super loudly with little to no dynamics (e.g. 2004 remasters of Rust in Peace and Peace Sells, Rage Against the Machine's Renegades, etc are all a big no); the amount of overcompressed music that is unlistenable on higher quality equipment is outright disgusting.


Thanks for the reply John. I've checked the audio levels of both my system and my music players, and all of them are at 100%. I've also looked into this and this, but nothing changed. Lastly, I tried connecting the D10s to my phone through an USB-C to USB 3.0 Converter, again facing similar results.

Could it be a defect of my unit/headphones, or something else on my computer? I just don't know what to do . I purchased the stack from Aoshida-HIFI Audio Store on AliExpress.

Can you play a test tone (e.g. 500 Hz) and measure the output voltage from the headphone out with a multimeter?

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

This is probably the wrong place to ask, audio purests n' all, but just in case @JohnYang1997 is still reading... is there any chance Topping might consider developing a DAC w/ 4ch out + PEQ + Delay + sophisticated DSP algorythms... a miniDSP killer?

Channel-wise we could mention the Topping E304 (4 channels) and the Topping E308 (8 channels)...

... if Topping had developed them of course.

As for the DSP part, I would rather use a computer for all that. A nice GUI and a real keyboard rather than a tiny display and a couple knobs.
PEQ wise, feel free to check my app in my signature, you may find it to your liking.

 

[《J》]

Can you play a test tone (e.g. 500 Hz) and measure the output voltage from the headphone out with a multimeter?

Sorry, I don't have a multimeter. I did, however, try my L30/D10s stack last day on an audio store with the HD660S, and I faced similar results. One thing I forgot to say is that I purchased the RCA cables separately (Fanmusic C003), but that shouldn't be the problem.

I also checked the volume of the Topping USB Audio Device Control Panel window and it's at max volume, also tried downgrading to the V5.0.0 drivers just in case too.

Sigh... this is really frustrating as what's there sounds nice and I dig how small and compact the stack is, but having to use high gain at around 2 o'clock just to get full volume feels like a waste and also compresses the dynamic range. And I probably won't be allowed to ask for a refund now and get a new unit, as I ordered the stack back in April in the middle of a house reform.

 

[artburda]

Certainly someone of your friends, neighbours, family has a multimeter and knows how to use it and can help you measuring the output voltage.

Sigh... this is really frustrating as what's there sounds nice and I dig how small and compact the stack is, but having to use high gain at around 2 o'clock just to get full volume feels like a waste and also compresses the dynamic range.

I'm pretty sure there is no compression of the dynamic range going on when on high gain and at 2 o'clock.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Sorry, I don't have a multimeter. I did, however, try my L30/D10s stack last day on an audio store with the HD660S, and I faced similar results. One thing I forgot to say is that I purchased the RCA cables separately (Fanmusic C003), but that shouldn't be the problem.

I also checked the volume of the Topping USB Audio Device Control Panel window and it's at max volume, also tried downgrading to the V5.0.0 drivers just in case too.

Sigh... this is really frustrating as what's there sounds nice and I dig how small and compact the stack is, but having to use high gain at around 2 o'clock just to get full volume feels like a waste and also compresses the dynamic range. And I probably won't be allowed to ask for a refund now and get a new unit, as I ordered the stack back in April in the middle of a house reform.

I'm 100% sure not compression at max volume with headphones you mentioned.

 

[NTK]

Sorry, I don't have a multimeter. I did, however, try my L30/D10s stack last day on an audio store with the HD660S, and I faced similar results. One thing I forgot to say is that I purchased the RCA cables separately (Fanmusic C003), but that shouldn't be the problem.

I also checked the volume of the Topping USB Audio Device Control Panel window and it's at max volume, also tried downgrading to the V5.0.0 drivers just in case too.

Sigh... this is really frustrating as what's there sounds nice and I dig how small and compact the stack is, but having to use high gain at around 2 o'clock just to get full volume feels like a waste and also compresses the dynamic range. And I probably won't be allowed to ask for a refund now and get a new unit, as I ordered the stack back in April in the middle of a house reform.

Do you have or can you borrow a 1/8 inch TRS to stereo RCA adapter cable? If you do, you can test the L30 driven by the headphone output from a laptop/desktop computer/phone.

 

[vinnik]

Hello everyone! First post here!

I'm buying the L30 in the next days. The only doubt i have is: would it produce enough power to drive an DT 880 (250 Ohms) if i use something like the Apple USB-C dongle that outputs only 1v?

 

[artburda]

Hello everyone! First post here!

I'm buying the L30 in the next days. The only doubt i have is: would it produce enough power to drive an DT 880 (250 Ohms) if i use something like the Apple USB-C dongle that outputs only 1v?

When using just the apple dongle, does it get loud enough? With the L30 in high gain mode you would get an additional 9dB.

 

[vinnik]

When using just the apple dongle, does it get loud enough? With the L30 in high gain mode you would get an additional 9dB.

I didn't have it just yet. I'm thinking in buying it with the Topping L30, since the DAC in the dongle seems to be transparent enough for what i listen (44.1 kHz 16 bit). But maybe the high gain mode will do the job.

 

[Powercycles]

Is Topping going to release a newer version of L30 anytime soon?

 

[Vini darko]

Is Topping going to release a newer version of L30 anytime soon?

It's barely a year old and has been though three revisions already

 

[Powercycles]

It's barely a year old and has been though three revisions already

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but they released their A50s when the A50 was barely a year old as well? So, I was thinking it will be kind of the same with the L30.

 

[Veri]

Is Topping going to release a newer version of L30 anytime soon?

Not anytime soon I think. But probably there will be. I would not bet on audible improvements though!

 

[《J》]

Certainly someone of your friends, neighbours, family has a multimeter and knows how to use it and can help you measuring the output voltage.

I do know a maintenance friend from work who could help, but he's currently on holiday, so it's not a possibility for me at the moment. I'll try to look into it as soon as he returns. Just to make sure and sorry if I misunderstand: Do you mean measuring the headphone out of the L30 with a headphone jack plugged in?

I'm pretty sure there is no compression of the dynamic range going on when on high gain and at 2 o'clock.

I'm 100% sure not compression at max volume with headphones you mentioned.

Perhaps it might just be increased base noise with high gain.

Do you have or can you borrow a 1/8 inch TRS to stereo RCA adapter cable? If you do, you can test the L30 driven by the headphone output from a laptop/desktop computer/phone.

View attachment 143932

I actually did try this. The volume itself remained the same as when connected to D10s, which makes me think either my amp (or headphone) is defective somehow, or some setting is wrong on my computer.

 

[JohnYang1997]

I do know a maintenance friend from work who could help, but he's currently on holiday, so it's not a possibility for me at the moment. I'll try to look into it as soon as he returns. Just to make sure and sorry if I misunderstand: Do you mean measuring the headphone out of the L30 with a headphone jack plugged in?




Perhaps it might just be increased base noise with high gain.


I actually did try this. The volume itself remained the same as when connected to D10s, which makes me think either my amp (or headphone) is defective somehow, or some setting is wrong on my computer.

L30 has self noise less than 1uV at high gain which is lower than most other amp's lowest noise setting. The noise would be amplified but SNR from the upstream component is preserved.

 

[artburda]

Do you mean measuring the headphone out of the L30 with a headphone jack plugged in?

With a TRS to TRS cable.

 

[NTK]

I actually did try this. The volume itself remained the same as when connected to D10s, which makes me think either my amp (or headphone) is defective somehow, or some setting is wrong on my computer.

If I understand you correctly, you are saying that, when you used a different source (e.g. laptop headphone output), the volume you heard with the L30 was the same as when you tested without.

With the L30 at medium gain, volume set to max, you should hear the same volume, not louder or softer.