Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[gino1961]

No problem, I also plan to use it for a long time. I can't "upgrade" every half a year out of boredom. Two months without complains so far. Hope you will receive a great working unit.

Same here. The fact that this unit has a selectable gain is very interesting also for line level duties. They could use the same internals put them in a bigger enclosure and add a remote controllable volume with a selector and they will end with a TOTL ultra high-end line preamp.
When i saw this plot i could not believe to my eyes ... this looks like the Audio Precision alone. Astonishing achievement.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...phone-amplifier-audio-measurements-png.77393/

 

[Lucco]

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.

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.

@Veri, @SJ777 and @jharismaiden . Thank you very much for your advices.
I just pulled the trigger on the Topping E30/L30 and I am very happy with my decision. As a noob, it really doesn't make any sense for me to wait for a product to launch as I can buy an excellent product available right now. In the future, if I feel the need, I will consider upgrading, but not now.
Considering the review of more experienced people, I think the Toppinp E30/L30 + Sennheiser HD 600 is a great start to my HiFi journey.

As soon as the Topping E30/L30 arrives, I will post some pictures here and make a (noob)comparison between Fiio BTR5 + Sennheiser HD 600 and Topping E30/L60 + Sennheiser HD 600. hahaha

For 300 ohm HD600 i recommend zen dac + zen can stack with balanced cable. Very good stack and good value.

@odyo . Thank you very much for your advice too.
I pulled the trigger on the Topping E30/L30, because I got free shipping and an excellent discount at 11.11.
But, anyway, I have a friend who has this ZEN stack and I will try to do some blind A/B tests as well.

 

[gino1961]

2.5k for L30

Hi ! first of all my sincere congratulations for the excellence of your product
I am currently waiting to receive my unit
Out of curiosity may i ask you why the choice of an input impedance this low ?
Thanks a lot and kind regards, gino

 

[broondan]

Hi ! bought one and now waiting to receive it next week. Now i am a little anxious for this issue. I wonder if anyone else has experienced a channel unbalance
This of the low quality pots looks to be a very common problem. Maybe using an external attenuator could be a solution

I don't think you should worry. My issue appears to be isolated and it was very obvious my unit had become defective. I've just received my replacement unit and everything is great again.

 

[gino1961]

I don't think you should worry. My issue appears to be isolated and it was very obvious my unit had become defective. I've just received my replacement unit and everything is great again.

A great news indeed ! ... i was thinking that this level of electrical performances were not possible. And also with unbalanced connections usually more noisy than balanced ones. Impressive. This is complete transparency

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

May I ask why you bought 2xCombo?

 

[thin bLue]

Hi ! first of all my sincere congratulations for the excellence of your product
I am currently waiting to receive my unit
Out of curiosity may i ask you why the choice of an input impedance this low ?
Thanks a lot and kind regards, gino

most of headphones and IEMs can perfectly driven @ low gain

also it's input impedance increasing to 7.5K @ low
and L30 can handle quite high voltage input with low gain setting so, S/N ratio goes up

 

[gino1961]

most of headphones and IEMs can perfectly driven @ low gain
also it's input impedance increasing to 7.5K @ low
and L30 can handle quite high voltage input with low gain setting so, S/N ratio goes up

Hi thank you very much for the kind explanation.
gino

 

[kkeretic]

View attachment 92803

Please can you briefly explain how you do lossless duplication in foobar (which plugin do you use)? Thanks.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Please can you briefly explain how you do lossless duplication in foobar (which plugin do you use)? Thanks.

File > Preferences > Playback > DSP Manager > Convert stereo to 4 channels
Press on the "+" sign to move it from the "Available DSPs" column to the "Active DSPs" column.
Done.

That duplicates channel 1 to channel 3, and channel 2 to channel 4.
You can check by just playing a file and watching the Peak Meter or the VU Meter.

 

[kkeretic]

File > Preferences > Playback > DSP Manager > Convert stereo to 4 channels

Thanks, I would never have thought of this.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

foobar is an amazing piece of software. The more you look into it, the more things you discover it can do.

 

[gino1961]

Hi ! L30 arrived ! and i have a question on an issue that is worrying me very much
i am attaching a pic of the AC-AC adapter i got with the amp
On top there is written ... OUTPUT: AC 15V
I have measured around 19VAC at the AC plug .... i guess because here we have around 230VAC
Is there a limit for the max VAC value that can be supplied to the amp without damaging it ?
Moreover i have also opened the adapter ... it is very nice ... but the output wires going to the amp look a little thin to me. I am always obsessed by possible bottlenecks for the current ... i love thick wires a lot.
Of course i have no clue about the amp current draw.

 

[Veri]

Hi ! L30 arrived ! and i have a question on an issue that is worrying me very much
i am attaching a pic of the AC-AC adapter i got with the amp
On top there is written ... OUTPUT: AC 15V
I have measured around 19VAC at the dc plug .... i guess because here we have around 230VAC
Is there a limit for the max VAC value that can be supplied to the amp without damaging it ?
Moreover i have also opened the adapter ... it is very nice ... but the output wires going to the amp look a little thin to me. I am always obsessed by possible bottlenecks for the current ... i love thick wires a lot.
Of course i have no clue about the amp current draw.

I'm using this exact one also on 230VAC power, haven't measured dc plug though but supplied psu works fine with my L30 in any case.

 

[eric00886]

Hi ! L30 arrived ! and i have a question on an issue that is worrying me very much
i am attaching a pic of the AC-AC adapter i got with the amp
On top there is written ... OUTPUT: AC 15V
I have measured around 19VAC at the dc plug .... i guess because here we have around 230VAC
Is there a limit for the max VAC value that can be supplied to the amp without damaging it ?
Moreover i have also opened the adapter ... it is very nice ... but the output wires going to the amp look a little thin to me. I am always obsessed by possible bottlenecks for the current ... i love thick wires a lot.
Of course i have no clue about the amp current draw.

Need not to worry about it.

L30 has voltage regulator design and it's filter capacitor is 35V. Than,

1. AC 19v is unload and will be lower when loaded.
2. AC 19 to DC is about 26v and is lower than L30's filter capacitor.

 

[gino1961]

I'm using this exact one also on 230VAC power, haven't measured dc plug though but supplied psu works fine with my L30 in any case.

Hi ! thanks a lot !
Kind regards, gino
P.S. sorry ... i meant 19VAC at the AC plug of course ... i am getting mad with this ac/dc ... they shook me all night long

Need not to worry about it.
L30 has voltage regulator design and it's filter capacitor is 35V. Than, 1. AC 19v is unload and will be lower when loaded...

a sign of being a little undersized ? any room for improvement ? imhe the bigger the transformer the better. The current flow is less impeded

2. AC 19 to DC is about 26v and is lower than L30's filter capacitor

Hi ! thank you very much. Do you mean that 19AC become 26DC inside the unit ? Great. It was what i wanted to understand. How high VAC the unit can take without issues.
Kind regards, gino

 

[jasonhanjk]

I have measured around 19VAC at the AC plug .... i guess because here we have around 230VAC
Is there a limit for the max VAC value that can be supplied to the amp without damaging it ?

When you draw 1 amp, you will get 15VAC.

 

[gino1961]

When you draw 1 amp, you will get 15VAC

Hi ! thanks a lot for the very helpful advice. Ok ... i have opened it. It looks too small ,,, very very nice but small.
I would like better a little oversized one ... let's say a 50VA unit for instance

 

[Veri]

That will not sag under load at all ...

It's just a little L30 yeah, if you want crazy power amp you'll want upcoming A30 Pro (or A90) ...

 

[gino1961]

It's just a little L30 yeah, if you want crazy power amp you'll want upcoming A30 Pro (or A90) ...

Let me elaborate ... i hear a very clean sound but a little lacking in power in the bass ? by the way ... i am using these
https://www.amazon.it/Sennheiser-HD...ser+hd201&qid=1605263229&sr=8-5&tag=slhyin-21
but the same feeling also with other HPs
could it be a break-in issue ?