Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[Jose Hidalgo]

Stocks of black/silver E30 can be used by replacing them with red/blue casings with demand. At the very least, this could be done by Topping, right?

THANK YOU. Finally somme common sense. That's what I'm talking about.

 

[Veri]

Why? To keep some of their customers happy.
Once I went to a fast food. The burger took longer than the fries (for whatever reason - maybe a machine was broken, maybe it was beyond their control) so the fries were a bit cold. So they gave me two portions of fries: the old one and a new one. All that without me even asking anything. They weren't forced to. It's called a spontaneous gesture. It keeps customers happy. It's sales 101.

Demanding it however makes one sound awfully entitled. Topping is still a business and not a charity. As it stands, the new variants are likely to be postponed.

 

[Sukie]

THANK YOU. Finally somme common sense. That's what I'm talking about.

That's not what you're talking about. @raif71 is talking about using existing red and blue cases and "filling them" with the contents of existing black and silver cases. This would mean that one unit is sent out. You're talking about a black or white unit being sent out and then a free case being sent out as well.

 

[Sukie]

Why? To keep some of their customers happy.
Once I went to a fast food. The burger took longer than the fries (for whatever reason - maybe a machine was broken, maybe it was beyond their control) so the fries were a bit cold. So they gave me two portions of fries: the old one and a new one. All that without me even asking anything. They weren't forced to. It's called a spontaneous gesture. It keeps customers happy. It's sales 101.

Slipping you a few extra fries or a free drink here and there is an industry standard in catering. Providing you an extra case because a factory fire has destroyed a load of chips is hardly the same thing. Of course you're free to ask. So why not do that and see how Topping respond?

 

[raif71]

That's not what you're talking about. @raif71 is talking about using existing red and blue cases and "filling them" with the contents of existing black and silver cases. This would mean that one unit is sent out. You're talking about a black or white unit being sent out and then a free case being sent out as well.

Yup, Topping should be thinking out of the box

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

That's not what you're talking about. @raif71 is talking about using existing red and blue cases and "filling them" with the contents of existing black and silver cases. This would mean that one unit is sent out. You're talking about a black or white unit being sent out and then a free case being sent out as well.

It IS what I'm talking about. It's about adapting to a new situation (even if it's not your fault) and satisfying customers (which should always be a priority). Don't tell me what I'm talking about. As a Sales Manager for the last 20 years in multi-million (million to billion) high-tech projects, I surely know what satisfying customers is about. Do you ? Do terms like SLA mean anything to you ? You would be surprised at the things a company can do to satisfy another business entity.

But of course B2C is a whole another story. C's generally have no means of demanding anything, even if the C's as a whole represent enough as a big B. Which is the reason for companies like Massdrop to exist in the first place. If a C was ordering, say, 1000 stacks from Topping, you can be sure that Topping would be delivering them in blue (like the 6XX), red, pink or green if he asked to, with a nice custom logo to top(ping) it all.

Anyway, this whole color+AKM story looks bad right now, so I guess I'll just order my stacks on 11.11 and forget about this. At least I'll get a nice discount (about 150$ vs. the regular price for 2 stacks + cables). Hey, for that price I could even have them repainted to my liking !

 

[Sukie]

It IS what I'm talking about. It's about adapting to a new situation (even if it's not your fault) and satisfying customers (which should always be a priority). Don't tell me what I'm talking about. As a Sales Manager for the last 20 years in multi-million (million to billion) high-tech projects, I surely know what satisfying customers is about. Do you ? Do terms like SLA mean anything to you ? You would be surprised at the things a company can do to satisfy another business entity.

But of course B2C is a whole another story. C's generally have no means of demanding anything, even if the C's as a whole represent enough as a big B. Which is the reason for companies like Massdrop to exist in the first place. If a C was ordering, say, 1000 stacks from Topping, you can be sure that Topping would be delivering them in blue (like the 6XX), red, pink or green if he asked to, with a nice custom logo to top(ping) it all.

Anyway, this whole color+AKM story looks bad right now, so I guess I'll just be ordering my stacks on 11.11 and forget about this. At least I'll get a nice discount (about 150$ vs. the regular price for 2 stacks + cables). Hey, for that price I could even have them repainted to my liking !

You were proposing a different solution to the one proposed by @raif71, as I have previously stated. Your response to his post said "that's what I'm talking about." But as your solution was different, that was not what you were talking about. I wasn't telling you what you were talking about, I didn't need to. You told me what you were talking about.

If you meant that Topping should offer a solution based upon flexibility (an idea that is common to your solution and @raif71's solution) then I apologise.

However, none of this matters in the slightest as you've reached a reasonable conclusion.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Your response to his post said "that's what I'm talking about."

Yes But you certainly know that "that's what I'm talking about" is a very popular expression, right ? That's why I was using it : to show my agreement with raif71. It wasn't meant to be taken word by word.

Yes, my point was merely to remain flexible (as much as reasonably possible) in order to satisfy consumers, that's all.

With that said, I have an important question. If I buy my two E30/L30 stacks on AliExpress, will there be any difference vs. the same stacks ordered, say, on Amazon or Audiophonics, given that I live in France ? I'm thinking about the AC bricks. Would they have a EU plug by default ? Would they have a chinese plug + a separate EU adapter ? How does this usually work ? Thank you.

 

[onslash]

Mine just arrived. First impression after a few AB sub bass sounds abit more authoritative than on the atom. Might be placebo , since its not blind ab test. I'm using aeon flow open planar magnetic headphones with 13 ohms impendance. Build quality wise its pretty amazing for the price, a bit of volume knob wiggle but all is good. The unit is significantly warmer than the atom, probably 40c. what temperature rating does the capacitors have? @JohnYang1997

 

[odyo]

@JohnYang1997 Am i the only one who is asking for all in one device ? A proper version of monoprice thx 788 dac amp with eq or reasonably priced rme adi. How hard is it ? Is pcb limiting factor ? What are the technical challenges ? Cost challenges ?

E30+L30+parametric eq+digital volume control with screen+preamp switch like L30+decent psu.

Really lots of people looking for one decent box to do all the job. Not everyone upgrading amps dacs.

 

[Veri]

@JohnYang1997 Am i the only one who is asking for all in one device ? A proper version of monoprice thx 788 dac amp with eq or reasonably priced rme adi. How hard is it ? Is pcb limiting factor ? What are the technical challenges ? Cost challenges ?

EQ / 'reasonably' priced RME ADI-2 would mean for Topping to invest a lot in software. They are mostly a hardware company. So it's not something easy for them to get into. Also, to be perfectly honest, considering all the ADI-2 can do, it is already reasonably priced

 

[Lucco]

I am thinking of buying the Topping E30/L30 for my Sennheiser HD 600, but I am considering the possibility of waiting for the Topping A30 Pro launch.

Considering only the SE output, will the A30 Pro be better than the L30?
Regarding the price, will the A30 Pro have a price range between L30 and A50s?

 

[Deleted member 18309]

I am thinking of buying the Topping E30/L30 for my Sennheiser HD 600, but I am considering the possibility of waiting for the Topping A30 Pro launch.

Considering only the SE output, will the A30 Pro be better than the L30?
Regarding the price, will the A30 Pro have a price range between L30 and A50s?

I don't have experience with that headphone, but I imagine many here would tell you the L30 is more than enough in terms of objective performance. I tested it briefly before returning it and I think it could power just about anything.

From what little we know about the A30 Pro (read through this thread: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-a30-pro-news.16487), it seems that it will be a different circuitry and will have more power. It will have it's own internal power supply. There will be no preamp feature. Topping has replied someone on Facebook saying the price will be more than that of D50s/A50s I think (it's somewhere in that thread I linked). I recall @JohnYang1997 saying somewhere that, in terms of power output, it's being designed with DT880 600ohm in mind (though this may not be in the thread I linked).

 

[Lucco]

I don't have experience with that headphone, but I imagine many here would tell you the L30 is more than enough in terms of objective performance. I tested it briefly before returning it and I think it could power just about anything.

From what little we know about the A30 Pro (read through this thread: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-a30-pro-news.16487), it seems that it will be a different circuitry and will have more power. It will have it's own internal power supply. There will be no preamp feature. Topping has replied someone on Facebook saying the price will be more than that of D50s/A50s I think (it's somewhere in that thread I linked). I recall @JohnYang1997 saying somewhere that, in terms of power output, it's being designed with DT880 600ohm in mind (though this may not be in the thread I linked).

Hello Friend.

Thank you very much for your excellent answer and excellent explanation. This is a great summary of all the rumors about the A30 Pro .

I was worried about buying the L30/A30 and, a few weeks later, finding out that the A30 Pro (with a better performance and a similar price) was launched. But on second thought, as I just started my HiFi journey and I still don't have much experience, I think the best option for me at that moment will be the E30/L30, it seems to be the best value for money nowadays.

 

[Veri]

I was worried about buying the L30/A30 and, a few weeks later, finding out that the A30 Pro (with a better performance and a similar price) was launched. But on second thought, as I just started my HiFi journey and I still don't have much experience, so I think the best option for me at that moment will be the E30/L30, it seems to be the best value for money nowadays.

A30 Pro probably won't be launched super soon, in any case. With the sales going on right now, it's an ideal time to jump into an E30/L30 stack Sennheiser HD600 won't need the extra power from A30 Pro in any case.

 

[Deleted member 18309]

A30 Pro probably won't be launched super soon, in any case. With the sales going on right now, it's an ideal time to jump into an E30/L30 stack Sennheiser HD600 won't need the extra power from A30 Pro in any case.

@F.L.N. I agree with this. If you are starting out, I think it's a good idea to start with a "beginner" headphone/speaker set up instead of worrying too much about "future proofing" or going for the best because it is unlikely you know what you like/want as a beginner. If you end up down the rabbit hole like many of us do, it's likely you'll try different headphones and speakers and end up having different needs are you go along. Thus, the thing you bought to "future-proof" your set up will need to be changed anyway. Plus there will always be "something better", so you'll never be done if you're always eagerly waiting for the next cool thing.

This is just my experience, anyway. If I could give the me of 9 months ago some advice, I'd ask him to just buy a simple "beginner" stack that didn't cost much while trying to figure what qualities he looks for in audio products. I'd also ask him to not obsess with power, because while I am happy with the sonic characteristics of my Asgard 3, I am not even using it to its full capability. You honestly don't need anything more powerful than something like an Atom or L30 unless you have one or more insanely power-hungry headphones.

 

[Sukie]

I was worried about buying the L30/A30 and, a few weeks later, finding out that the A30 Pro (with a better performance and a similar price) was launched. But on second thought, as I just started my HiFi journey and I still don't have much experience, so I think the best option for me at that moment will be the E30/L30, it seems to be the best value for money nowadays.

Definitely go for the E30/L30 unless you want additional features not present on that stack, e.g. Bluetooth or balanced out on DAC, balanced in and out on HPA.

When new stuff comes out we all get excited, but the great thing about this forum is that people don't jump on the "it sounds so much better than anything that's gone before" bandwagon. Most of the time people are excited about the engineering and how well-engineered products are coming down in price. There are genuine gaps in the market (why can I add a Raspberry Pi to a great DAC and the whole thing come in at about £170 whilst an all-in-one network streamer costs SO much more?). But with DACs and HPAs like the E30/L30 you're getting something that, in terms of SQ, really can't be added to.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Could somebody please answer this before I buy blindly tomorrow? Thank you.

If I buy my two E30/L30 stacks on AliExpress, will there be any difference vs. the same stacks ordered, say, on Amazon or Audiophonics, given that I live in France ? I'm thinking about the AC bricks. Would they have a EU plug by default ? Would they have a chinese plug + a separate EU adapter ? How does this usually work ? Thank you.

 

[Sukie]

Could somebody please answer this before I buy blindly tomorrow? Thank you.

I know this issue came up earlier in this thread. Apparently Topping do supply region specific plugs for the L30 (no need for the E30 as it's a USB power cable and you can add your own plug). The problem is that some people didn't receive the correct plugs. @JohnYang1997 may be able to comment further?

 

[Veri]

With that said, I have an important question. If I buy my two E30/L30 stacks on AliExpress, will there be any difference vs. the same stacks ordered, say, on Amazon or Audiophonics, given that I live in France ? I'm thinking about the AC bricks. Would they have a EU plug by default ? Would they have a chinese plug + a separate EU adapter ? How does this usually work ? Thank you.

Besides the obvious no-hassle 2-year EU warranty you get when buying from audiophonics (or other retailer like hifistudio79), it should end up the same; when buying they should send US plug to US customer, EU plug to EU customer etc. But with super big sales like 11.11 sale, sometimes mistakes do happen..