Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[solderdude]

Who told you that there is a need for firmware changes?

The designer (@JohnYang1997). It's in this thread as well... somewhere.

What changes to the PCB are needed?

He mentioned that it required a PCB redesign, didn't say exactly WHAT changed and is unlikely to share this.

 

[MrC]

There is some DejaVu going on here...

Several months later...

 

[TheBatsEar]

Yep, hoped someone would have reverse engineered the board and found the actual issue in the meantime.

That the issue isn't just a matter of soldering, but firmware, is new to me. Couldn't find anything in the last 250 pages about this. Are you sure you saw it in this thread?

 

[half_dog]

Yep, hoped someone would have reverse engineered the board and found the actual issue in the meantime.

That the issue isn't just a matter of soldering, but firmware, is new to me. Couldn't find anything in the last 250 pages about this. Are you sure you saw it in this thread?

The differences on the circuit were already brought to this thread but those changes would require a lot of work (cutting and making new traces manually and changing the 5532 to a 072) to implement them on a old board... Grounding the chassis is the easiest part =P

 

[Joe-C-137]

Hi im new here, i got the Topping L30 for 15 bucks from people who resell Amazon pallets so i cant return it, i read a lot of comments and it seems the major risk is ESD so what i did to my unit is i used the protectors that came with the toslink cable in the power and the dB toggles, for the volume knob i used silicone rings that were for workout i think and then put some stickers to avoid direct contact, do you guys think this would help lower the risk of ESD?

Thanks in advance and sorry for bad english its not my first language

 

[TheHighContemplator]

I own one of these with it's companion E30 DAC and absolutely love it. I haven't noticed anything wrong with mine. The person I got it from bought it this year.

 

[artburda]

Hi im new here, i got the Topping L30 for 15 bucks from people who resell Amazon pallets so i cant return it, i read a lot of comments and it seems the major risk is ESD so what i did to my unit is i used the protectors that came with the toslink cable in the power and the dB toggles, for the volume knob i used silicone rings that were for workout i think and then put some stickers to avoid direct contact, do you guys think this would help lower the risk of ESD?

Thanks in advance and sorry for bad english its not my first language

View attachment 153915View attachment 153916View attachment 153917

Could still happen when you plug in/unplug a headphone.

 

[Joe-C-137]

Could still happen when you plug in/unplug a headphone.

I see, its the only equipment i have so i can just leave the headphones plugged in, the only time i need to touch it is when turning it on and off and i always do it with the headphones off just to be careful

 

[solderdude]

Yep, hoped someone would have reverse engineered the board and found the actual issue in the meantime.

That the issue isn't just a matter of soldering, but firmware, is new to me. Couldn't find anything in the last 250 pages about this. Are you sure you saw it in this thread?

Sorry was indeed not in the thread but it was in a (confidential) PM with John Yang where he described what was done.
I am not going to post any PM's but he definitely mentioned software upgrade and the PCB is changed as well (and component count) around the DC protection.
I don't think John is going to share specific information with anyone though. So even when you found the hardware parts that were fixed you would still need the software (firmware) in the processor.

If you want to make the amp safe for DC on its output I would recommend 2x2200uF/25V in antiseries in the output path.

 

[artburda]

I see, its the only equipment i have so i can just leave the headphones plugged in, the only time i need to touch it is when turning it on and off and i always do it with the headphones off just to be careful

You paid 15 bucks, consider it sunk costs, throw the amp away and buy another one when you find a nice deal. It‘s not worth the risk. I‘m sure your headphones are worth more than 15 bucks.

 

[EHC]

Hi im new here, i got the Topping L30 for 15 bucks from people who resell Amazon pallets so i cant return it, i read a lot of comments and it seems the major risk is ESD so what i did to my unit is i used the protectors that came with the toslink cable in the power and the dB toggles, for the volume knob i used silicone rings that were for workout i think and then put some stickers to avoid direct contact, do you guys think this would help lower the risk of ESD?

It's more than just ESD sensibility. The only way you can use it without risk for your headphones is with condensers in series as
solderdude just told you.

 

[Pokerking]

My amp has just arrived, what's bothering me is that number on the box doesn't match the number on the amp itself. I've ordered it on Aliexpress Aoshida-HIFI Audio Store they still haven't replied.

Both numbers are higher then 2012, one on the box is 2016.... and on the unit itself it is 2026....

 

[Nikola Tesla]

My amp has just arrived, what's bothering me is that number on the box doesn't match the number on the amp itself. I've ordered it on Aliexpress Aoshida-HIFI Audio Store they still haven't replied.

Both numbers are higher then 2012, one on the box is 2016.... and on the unit itself it is 2026....

Just got mine last week, and SN numbers match on unit and box it came in, 2102.
2016 and 2026 don't make sense, I though the convention was 2 digit year ('21), 2 digit month (02=Feb) to indicate manufacture date.
2016 and 2026 would mean '20, but 16th and 26th month?

 

[solderdude]

My amp has just arrived, what's bothering me is that number on the box doesn't match the number on the amp itself. I've ordered it on Aliexpress Aoshida-HIFI Audio Store they still haven't replied.

Both numbers are higher then 2012, one on the box is 2016.... and on the unit itself it is 2026....

Are the numbers after the first 4 digits the same. When they are I would not worry about it.
When the rest differs as well someone clearly swapped L30's and their boxes.

AFAIK the first 2 digits are the year (so 2020) and the following number is a batch.
@JohnYang1997 will know.

 

[Wisenormsk]

Hi all

Hoping someone can answer a stupid question…

I’ve ordered an e30 and l30 that arrive tomorrow. Today I got an incredible deal on a bluesound powernode 2i integrated amp/streamer. Incredible as in the same price as a much much cheaper amp.

My plan was PC -> e30 -> l30 for headphones -> pre-out to speaker amp -> passive speakers.

Is this going to work? The bluesound has an analog/optical in so I thought an RCA to 3.5mm will go in there. So I won’t be using the DAC of the powernode 2i? Next question is - is that a waste? i feel like it might be….!

 

[McLenin]

Hi all

Hoping someone can answer a stupid question…

I’ve ordered an e30 and l30 that arrive tomorrow. Today I got an incredible deal on a bluesound powernode 2i integrated amp/streamer. Incredible as in the same price as a much much cheaper amp.

My plan was PC -> e30 -> l30 for headphones -> pre-out to speaker amp -> passive speakers.

Is this going to work? The bluesound has an analog/optical in so I thought an RCA to 3.5mm will go in there. So I won’t be using the DAC of the powernode 2i? Next question is - is that a waste? i feel like it might be….!

Why use streamer in the chain when you have the PC as source?
I recently bought L30 to combine with my E30, PC as music source. The way I have it is PC --- E30 --- Y splitter RCA 1 --- L30 --- Headphones
--- Y splitter RCA 2 --- Marantz PM6005 --- KEF Q 500
And I cannot be happier, working as intented, no audible distortions so far. Of course you can go the route you suggested via pre-amp out to poweramp, just remember to change the volume when switching to headphones on L30

 

[Wisenormsk]

Why use streamer in the chain when you have the PC as source?
I recently bought L30 to combine with my E30, PC as music source. The way I have it is PC --- E30 --- Y splitter RCA 1 --- L30 --- Headphones
--- Y splitter RCA 2 --- Marantz PM6005 --- KEF Q 500
And I cannot be happier, working as intented, no audible distortions so far. Of course you can go the route you suggested via pre-amp out to poweramp, just remember to change the volume when switching to headphones on L30

No good reason! It wasn’t the plan, I just couldn’t pass on the deal that came up for what appears to be a pretty good powerful amp (and I’m just moving into my gfs - with a few different rooms the powernode can be used it many different capacities in the future was the other part of the thinking - it’s very versatile).

With a y-splitter Is the signal getting sent at all times down both? So I’d have to make sure one or the other was turned off?

I had also thought about just having both routes seperately from pc but powernode has no usb in and I’m planning on actually going via usb hub for easy switching between home pc and work laptop!

 

[McLenin]

With a y-splitter Is the signal getting sent at all times down both? So I’d have to make sure one or the other was turned off?

Yes, that is my understanding, of course you can just mute one if you do not want it to be offline (at least I can do that with my integrated amp), but I leave it off when not used, and the same with the L30.
I have no usage experience with hubs, nor the RCA to 3,5mm so I cannot comment on that.

Edit spelling

 

[solderdude]

In some cases the splitter may not be the best idea. As mentioned when one of the amps is switched off distortion might increase.
You can simply try this. Listen to music in the DAC mode and no digital attenuation (so volume control done on the amps).
Have both amps switched on, dial volume down on the L30 and listen to the speakers. Then switch of the L30 and listen. When you hear no difference do it the other way around. Listen to L30 and repeat by switching off the amp. When the sound doesn't change it is no problem to use it this way.

Note that the volume control pot can is part of the issue here. In most amps the volpot is directly connected to the input. This means that when the volpot of the amp that is switched off is set to '0' there can't be any distortion increase audible in the other amp but when the volpot of the switched off amp is at max. position the story might change (a lot).

 

[Wisenormsk]

Thanks both - it’s going to be an adventure for sure! And all this just to have easy to reach physical volume knob / headphone input under my desk and a seamless way to switch between headphone and speaker!!

Another wrinkle is that I just found out that the topping D10S actually has optical out (pretty rare) so could go d10S -> rca to L10 + optical digital pass through to powernode. This would allow use of the powernode DAC. But then both are playing at same time and powernode isn’t really designed to be turned off…