Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[Roland68]

I am pairing my L30 with zen air dac via RCA, which has a variable output voltage (max 3.3v from specs) depends on the volume knob and Power Match on/off,

I find that for 2v i need to turn on +9db vs 3.3v on 0db gain to get same volume with knob at 1pm position using my hifiman 400i for my usual listening volume

should i max everything out to get the 3.3v, or should keep it at standard of 2v?

I would always prefer the higher output signal and would forgo the additional amplification in the L30.

 

[Magma]

I have owned the Topping L30 and Topping E30 for a couple of years. I use them connected to my computer. Speakers and headphones are connected to them. I’ve generally been satisfied, but there has been a very annoying and serious issue for a long time: the sound starts to 'crackle' and eventually no sound is heard at all. I have to restart them to get the sound working again, and even that doesn’t always help. This issue occurs occasionally, and I haven’t noticed any pattern as to when the problem occurs. How can I fix the issue? I am really disappointed because of this issue, and I can’t recommend these unless the problem can be fixed.

(I don't have problems with any other audio device connected to my PC)

The L30 serial number starts with 2101, and the E30 serial number starts with 2104

 

[Roland68]

I have owned the Topping L30 and Topping E30 for a couple of years. I use them connected to my computer. Speakers and headphones are connected to them. I’ve generally been satisfied, but there has been a very annoying and serious issue for a long time: the sound starts to 'crackle' and eventually no sound is heard at all. I have to restart them to get the sound working again, and even that doesn’t always help. This issue occurs occasionally, and I haven’t noticed any pattern as to when the problem occurs. How can I fix the issue? I am really disappointed because of this issue, and I can’t recommend these unless the problem can be fixed.

(I don't have problems with any other audio device connected to my PC)

The L30 serial number starts with 2101, and the E30 serial number starts with 2104

Which of the two do you need to restart?

 

[Magma]

Which of the two do you need to restart?

Actually, I'm not sure. Usually, I turn off both. And the restart won't always fix the problem, sometimes it takes time until they work again.

I think I will test restarting only the amplifier or DAC and see which is the culprit.

 

[Roland68]

Actually, I'm not sure. Usually, I turn off both. And the restart won't always fix the problem, sometimes it takes time until they work again.

I think I will test restarting only the amplifier or DAC and see which is the culprit.

Do you turn off the devices using the switches or unplug them?

 

[Magma]

Do you turn off the devices using the switches or unplug them?

Switches. I think long time ago I took cables out of the devices but it didn't fix the issue.

 

[Roland68]

Switches. I think long time ago I took cables out of the devices but it didn't fix the issue.

Turning off by unplugging the devices should be more effective, but they should be left without power for at least 30 seconds to drain all the capacitors. Only pull out one plug at a time and be careful not to mix them up under any circumstances.

 

[Magma]

Turning off by unplugging the devices should be more effective, but they should be left without power for at least 30 seconds to drain all the capacitors. Only pull out one plug at a time and be careful not to mix them up under any circumstances.

There have been weeks and months where I have not used these. Yet the problem persists. Shouldn't capacitors be drained after weeks or months of being not in use and turned off?

 

[Roland68]

There have been weeks and months where I have not used these. Yet the problem persists. Shouldn't capacitors be drained after weeks or months of being not in use and turned off?

If you only turn off the front of the devices, they will continue to receive power and certain areas in these devices will not discharge.

You may need to describe the problem in more detail.
But in any case, you should proceed systematically and determine which component is causing the problem.

How do you power the E30? Perhaps the connection is not providing enough power?

 

[Magma]

If you only turn off the front of the devices, they will continue to receive power and certain areas in these devices will not discharge.

You may need to describe the problem in more detail.
But in any case, you should proceed systematically and determine which component is causing the problem.

How do you power the E30? Perhaps the connection is not providing enough power?

I think these worked well for months or even a year before the problem started. I'm not sure anyway since it's been a couple of years.

The problem happened again. I was using speakers connected to the E30 + L30 stack. It started to make a cracking sound and then a couple of seconds later all sound was gone. My monitor which has speakers plays sound normally when I switched to it - so the problem is in E30 + L30, not in the PC.

Note that when this happens the headphones connected to L30 + E30 are silent too. So the problem isn't in the speaker output; it affects both the speakers and headphones connected to the stack.

I don't think the issue is in power delivery. E30 is connected to the extension cord.

I took off the power cords from E30 and L30 and kept them disconnected for at least a minute. Let's see if it solves the issue.

 

[Roland68]

I think these worked well for months or even a year before the problem started. I'm not sure anyway since it's been a couple of years.

The problem happened again. I was using speakers connected to the E30 + L30 stack. It started to make a cracking sound and then a couple of seconds later all sound was gone. My monitor which has speakers plays sound normally when I switched to it - so the problem is in E30 + L30, not in the PC.

Note that when this happens the headphones connected to L30 + E30 are silent too. So the problem isn't in the speaker output; it affects both the speakers and headphones connected to the stack.

I don't think the issue is in power delivery. E30 is connected to the extension cord.

I took off the power cords from E30 and L30 and kept them disconnected for at least a minute. Let's see if it solves the issue.

Unplugging the power for a minute only resets the devices, so it only helps temporarily. The next time the problem occurs, I would first unplug the E30 for a minute and see if it works again. If not, try the L30 next.

What type of power supply does your E30 have?

 

[Magma]

Unplugging the power for a minute only resets the devices, so it only helps temporarily. The next time the problem occurs, I would first unplug the E30 for a minute and see if it works again. If not, try the L30 next.

What type of power supply does your E30 have?

Update. It's been 10 days since I disconnected power cables and kept them disconnected for over a minute. I haven't had a single issue since then! It's only 10 days, but this is noteworthy because that issue used to happen daily (and if I remember correctly many times a day).

So far so good. It seems that taking the power cables off from the DAC and amp did something that fixed the problem. Of course, it's only 10 days, but still it's a huge improvement. I hope it permanently fixed the issue.