Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[Vini darko]

Don't forget, it's a $140 amp. So, A90 would have more power both with balanced inputs (more voltage than RCA) OR balanced output (dual mono amplifiers used), and exponentially more power when combining balanced in + out. A90 is $500...

I feel some people are acting a little spoiled if you are using Arya, Susvara or LCD-4, surely you can afford a more expensive amp than the tiny L30? LCD-4 is US$3,995.00 for god's sake Susvara RRP even more expensive.

I keep thinking the same thing m8

 

[jkm]

The amp itself doesn't break a sweat at max volume. So feel free to max it out. Distortion will not increase.
Just checked. Your situation is not remotely normal.
What's your settings on equalizer APO?

This is how it looks in Peace.

And indeed, the amp doesn't distort. I just wish I could max out the power with some material. I can always add some sw preamp tho'.

there is something wrong with your setup. The amp isn't the issue. The L30 has more than enough juice to drive the HE4xx to dangerous levels. I have the 400i's. Essentially the same as the 4xx...and they ain't that hard to drive. I don't own the l30, but even the Fiio E10k drives the 400i to dangerous levels. The L30 isn't much different in power from the Heresy (which I do have) and it'll get the 400i to monstrously loud levels. With my setup running through Foobar and using Mathaudio with I believe Oratory's EQ settings for the 400i, i run the volume full in Foobar (using the wasapi plug in) I have the Heresy volume in High gain set at roughly 2 O'clock. Then, I have the volume in the E30 dac at generally -13 to -11 depending on the individual track gain and it's hugely loud. If I maxed out the Heresy, I'd have to turn the volume on the E30 down to probably -16 or something...

I don't mean to sound rude but if you do not even have the amp... Thanks for your input. And no one is arguing about the juice, I feel like I'm just not able to get that juice out of it.

EDIT: I think I'll go and buy a 3.5mm adapter to hook the amp to the SB AE-5 and see how it sounds.

 

[JohnYang1997]

This is how it looks in Peace.

View attachment 85571

And indeed, the amp doesn't distort. I just wish I could max out the power with some material. I can always add some sw preamp tho'.



I don't mean to sound rude but if you do not even have the amp... Thanks for your input. And no one is arguing about the juice, I feel like I'm just not able to get that juice out of it.

EDIT: I think I'll go and buy a 3.5mm adapter to hook the amp to the SB AE-5 and see how it sounds.

Do you have a multimeter by any chance? Try to measure the signal coming from the dac when playing pure sine wave. https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

This is how it looks in Peace.

View attachment 85571

And indeed, the amp doesn't distort. I just wish I could max out the power with some material. I can always add some sw preamp tho'.



I don't mean to sound rude but if you do not even have the amp... Thanks for your input. And no one is arguing about the juice, I feel like I'm just not able to get that juice out of it.

I know...which is why I'm suggesting that there is something happening to the signal before it's getting to the amp that is causing you not to get full performance out of the amp. I don't have the amp, but I have several that measure almost the same in terms of power output.

Would having the pre-amp in Peace set to 10 instead of maxed out at 30 be attenuating the signal to the dac?

 

[MechEngVic]

I bought a pair of Meze 99 Classics to hook up to the L30. HELLLLL YES!!!!!!!! So LOUD! So clean! A more full bass response which was missing with the Sennheiser HD300 Pro's. Very detailed even at low volume. Just been listening for a handful of songs so far but it's definitely a step in the right direction. Lack of bass, or overdriven muddy ear ripping bass is the bane of heaphonia, and these 99's are getting me closer to where I want to be. They have a forward-ish midrange which I like, being a horn speaker and tube amp aficionado. They are not perfect but they sound good, and are way more comfortable than the HD300 Pro's or any other headphone I own.

And of course the L30 continues to do no wrong.

 

[frogmeat69]

Your Topping stand is upside down,

 

[MechEngVic]

Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut?!?! Oh yeah. Will flip forthrightly. It's already slippery enough as it is, upside-down with sticky feet on the bottoms (tops) ...will have to get creative to keep it in stasis.

 

[Recopilatorio]

Hello friends.
I enjoy the pair formed by Topping E3 and Topping L3, paired with AKG K702 headphones to listen mainly to opera. But I have a question: is it better to use the +9dB gain and lower the volume or leave the amplifier at 0dB and increase the volume? Normally with 0dB I have the volume at 11 or 12 o'clock. Is there more distortion by raising the volume or increasing the dB?
Thank you very much.

__Greetings__

(english from google translator, sorry)

 

[JohnYang1997]

Hello friends.
I enjoy the pair formed by Topping E3 and Topping L3, paired with AKG K702 headphones to listen mainly to opera. But I have a question: is it better to use the +9dB gain and lower the volume or leave the amplifier at 0dB and increase the volume? Normally with 0dB I have the volume at 11 or 12 o'clock. Is there more distortion by raising the volume or increasing the dB?
Thank you very much.

__Greetings__

(english from google translator, sorry)

0dB gain with higher pot position.
In the dashboard, the L30 is set to 0dB with volume pot at max. So no distortion.

 

[Jimbob54]

Hello friends.
I enjoy the pair formed by Topping E3 and Topping L3, paired with AKG K702 headphones to listen mainly to opera. But I have a question: is it better to use the +9dB gain and lower the volume or leave the amplifier at 0dB and increase the volume? Normally with 0dB I have the volume at 11 or 12 o'clock. Is there more distortion by raising the volume or increasing the dB?
Thank you very much.

__Greetings__

(english from google translator, sorry)

Conventional wisdom is keep the gain as low as you need and turn the wheel as far as you need. Especially as going to highest gain might put the volume knob might put you in the 9 oclock position which some amps might experience channel separation.

I suspect with this amp it doesnt matter much either way but I would stick on 0db gain- more headroom to play with on the knob.

 

[Recopilatorio]

0dB gain with higher pot position.
In the dashboard, the L30 is set to 0dB with volume pot at max. So no distortion.

Conventional wisdom is keep the gain as low as you need and turn the wheel as far as you need. Especially as going to highest gain might put the volume knob might put you in the 9 oclock position which some amps might experience channel separation.
I suspect with this amp it doesnt matter much either way but I would stick on 0db gain- more headroom to play with on the knob.

Thank you very much, you are very kind for your answers.
Therefore, it is clear to me that it is preferable to have the gain at 0dB. I will do so.

__Saludos__

 

[FibonacciAudio]

Hey, I'm an audio noob and I'm looking for some advice
I have the JBL LSR310s subwoofer paired with the LSR305 powered monitors. I'm considering getting the Topping E30/L30 stack to power my Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro headphones properly. Currently I'm using a budget audio interface from behringer (with a very basic headphone amp) for my speakers and headphones. It works fine but I think I'm not really using my headphones to their potential. I have a few questions:

- Do you think the E30/L30 stack would be a good choice for my setup?
- I could just switch the PRE OUT switch from the L30 to change between my headphones and my powered monitors, correct?
- I used to have terrible humming from the LSR 305 montiors, when I connected it to my PC directly. Now I'm using a balanced TRS cables to connect the audio interface to the sub. The audio then passes through the LSR 310s sub to my LSR 305 monitors via XLR. Would I be fine with the Topping L30 if I just use RCA to TRS cables to connect the PRE OUT to my sub? I'm not sure if that could lead to humming again, since RCA is an unbalanced connection. I'm also not really sure if the loud humming had something to do with the connection being unbalanced...

I would greatly appreciate any input

 

[Atanasi]

- Do you think the E30/L30 stack would be a good choice for my setup?
- I could just switch the PRE OUT switch from the L30 to change between my headphones and my powered monitors, correct?
- I used to have terrible humming from the LSR 305 montiors, when I connected it to my PC directly. Now I'm using a balanced TRS cables to connect the interface to the sub. The audio then passes through the LSR 310s sub to my LSR 305 monitors via XLR. Would I be fine with the Topping L30 if I just use RCA to TRS cables, to connect it to my sub? I'm not sure if that could lead to humming again, since RCA is an unbalanced connection. I'm also not really sure if the loud humming had something to do with the connection being unbalanced...

Pre outs can be connected to powered speakers. However, if you have balanced inputs at your sub, it is better to use balanced outputs. It is not possible to know in advance if switching to unbalanced connections cause significant hum.

 

[FibonacciAudio]

Pre outs can be connected to powered speakers. However, if you have balanced inputs at your sub, it is better to use balanced outputs. It is not possible to know in advance if switching to unbalanced connections cause significant hum.

Thanks for the reply, makes sense.

 

[pbl]

What would be a proper way to connect the L30 to a mainboard/onboard sound?
I have a line out TRS connector.

Maybe i am adding a DAC later on, but not for now.
That would be best , i assume.

 

[MechEngVic]

Your Topping stand is upside down,

I fix.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Hey, I'm an audio noob and I'm looking for some advice
I have the JBL LSR310s subwoofer paired with the LSR305 powered monitors. I'm considering getting the Topping E30/L30 stack to power my Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro headphones properly. Currently I'm using a budget audio interface from behringer (with a very basic headphone amp) for my speakers and headphones. It works fine but I think I'm not really using my headphones to their potential. I have a few questions:

- Do you think the E30/L30 stack would be a good choice for my setup?
- I could just switch the PRE OUT switch from the L30 to change between my headphones and my powered monitors, correct?
- I used to have terrible humming from the LSR 305 montiors, when I connected it to my PC directly. Now I'm using a balanced TRS cables to connect the audio interface to the sub. The audio then passes through the LSR 310s sub to my LSR 305 monitors via XLR. Would I be fine with the Topping L30 if I just use RCA to TRS cables to connect the PRE OUT to my sub? I'm not sure if that could lead to humming again, since RCA is an unbalanced connection. I'm also not really sure if the loud humming had something to do with the connection being unbalanced...

I would greatly appreciate any input

There's a chance.
Firstly L30 itself can't cause the hum. It's fully isolated from earth. The E30 itself can also be isolated from earth from the isolated SMPS(phone charger). Issue is how you conn to the source. There will be no hum if you use toslink. For coax and usb there can be a chance to have hum.

 

[JohnYang1997]

What would be a proper way to connect the L30 to a mainboard/onboard sound?
I have a line out TRS connector.

Maybe i am adding a DAC later on, but not for now.
That would be best , i assume.

If you have 3.5mm output then you get 3.5mm to rca cable. If you meant 6.35mm TRS, then get 6.35mm TRS to rca cable.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

I fix.

View attachment 85940

You forgot to expound upon the night and day difference in sound quality!

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

You forgot to expound upon the night and day difference in sound quality!

At night the sound is darker, you need to EQ it to compensate for the lack of brightness