Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[Vini darko]

Pftss you need at least a thousand watts for headphones

 

[solderdude]

It can provide 26.6Vpp = 9.4V which in 300 Ohm =290mW
The 250mW would be calculated from 50 Ohm load = 8.6V at the knee of distortion but without the 50 Ohm will be somewhat higher.

 

[koravei]

It can provide 8.6V which in 300 Ohm =250mW.

This is great, thank you for the information! But why the test here still shows 117 mW and is not corrected? If i feed L30 with standard 2V DAC output, could it reach these 250mW?

 

[Vini darko]

This is great, thank you for the information! But why the test here still shows 117 mw and is not corrected?

Test was done with 2vrms wich is real world input voltage. The higher numbers were achived with much higher voltage , 9vrms input, wich is silly and not a real world thing with single ended.

 

[solderdude]

The test clearly shows no clipping. This means the test 'stops' when it maximum output voltage is reached. The +9dB (2.8x) gain simply isn't enough to reach the max output voltage of the amp.
To reach max. output voltage (9V) on the +9dB setting you would need 3.2V input voltage (single ended)
This also means that when combining the E30 with the L30 you will never reach its max. output power it will stop at 5.6V in max. gain.

The 117mW in 300 Ohm at high gain means that the test voltage has only reached 2.1V.

 

[koravei]

The test clearly shows no clipping. This means the test 'stops' when it maximum output voltage is reached. The +9dB (2.8x) gain simply isn't enough to reach the max output voltage of the amp.

So the real output which i will take with standard 2V DAC is 120mW and the specifications are boosted advertising trick? Atom & Magni are really twice as powerful with the same 2V feed? If this is true, why everyone is super happy about this amp ... i am a bit confused.

 

[solderdude]

So the real output which i will take with standard 2V DAC is 120mW and the specifications are boosted advertising trick? Atom & Magni are really twice as powerful with the same 2V feed?

The 4.5x gain (+13dB) of the Atom will make it go louder than the L30 at max setting (4dB louder) when a 2V out DAC is used.
The Magni has 5.5x gain (+14.8dB)
Indeed with a 2.1V out DAC (E30) the L30 on max. gain can only reach 115mW peak levels when the DAC reaches 0dBFS.

Also the huge SINAD of the L30 (>121dB) will have dropped to (dominated by) the lower SINAD of the L30 (112dB).

 

[koravei]

Thank you, everything is clarified now L30 with these 115mW would it be powerful enough to feed well HD 600? I have read somewhere, that their maximum power is 200mW, if this is true, so there is still 85mW room to go ...

 

[solderdude]

That's max continous power rating. Music is anything but continuous so 2W short peaks in music can be handled.
With the 5.6V max. you can reach about 118dB peak which is very loud unless you also EQ the bass to Harman.

 

[koravei]

You really helped me a lot, thank you for this information! Recently i purchased L30 and while i wait for it to arrive, i find more and more information about it and about other amps + some theory and etc. At one point i started to doubt if it's good enough for my HD 600 for the money. I want to ask, is it much better to have Magni 3+ / Hersey / Atom, or the difference will be miniscule with these headphones? Is it worth it to cancel my order and pay around 140$ (including shipping to my area) for some of these 3 amps, or is better to stay with L30 which costs me the same?

 

[Yuno]

You really helped me a lot, thank you for this information! Recently i purchased L30 and while i wait for it to arrive, i find more and more information about it and about other amps + some theory and etc. At one point i started to doubt if it's good enough for my HD 600 for the money. I want to ask, is it much better to have Magni 3+ / Hersey / Atom, or the difference will be miniscule with these headphones? Is it worth it to cancel my order and pay around 140$ (including shipping to my area) for some of these 3 amps, or is better to stay with L30 which costs me the same?

Stop obsessing about output power, unless you want to go deaf none of this matters. I run HD600 on device that outputs around 200mW@300Ohm, I have to apply -9dB filter (this means volume is cut in half 3 times) in order to have decently usable volume knob, and even then I don't even go past 50% most of the time.
All of those amps will drive 99% of headphones to ear deafening levels and are audibly transparent.

 

[koravei]

Yuno, solderdude, you brought back the smile on my face , i can sleep well now Thank you for your time and nice explanations!

 

[Sukie]

I think there is a hint of "over-excitement" going on. The L30 looks like a great headphone amp for those who don't want/need a balanced set up. But, for most people with most headphones, the L30, the Atom and a number of other amps will sound the same. They'll all sound good.

When anybody worries that the L30 won't drive their HD-600s then we need a quick reality check!

 

[3125b]

Stop obsessing about output power

Totally agree.
I run my E30 at -6dB and my Atom at 1/3-1/2 volume setting with T90 and K702 (the K702 needs a bit more power than the T90, the HD 600 should be right in the middle). I haven't measured how much voltage that actually is, but way less than 2Vrms of course.
The only two reasons to need >6Vrms is either crazy low sensitivity headphones (like HiFiMAN Susvara or AKG K1000) or extreme EQ settings (wich will ruin the sound of most headphones anyway).

But, for most people with most headphones, the L30, the Atom and a number of other amps will sound the same. They'll all sound good.

Of course. The two advantages the L30 has (from my point of view) over the JDS/Schiit/etc. competition are the switch for pre/hp-mode and the -9dB gain setting (when paired with a DAC without volume control). Disadvantages would be the somewhat higher price and probably/maybe(?) the really bad repairability.

 

[adolchristin]

You really helped me a lot, thank you for this information! Recently i purchased L30 and while i wait for it to arrive, i find more and more information about it and about other amps + some theory and etc. At one point i started to doubt if it's good enough for my HD 600 for the money. I want to ask, is it much better to have Magni 3+ / Hersey / Atom, or the difference will be miniscule with these headphones? Is it worth it to cancel my order and pay around 140$ (including shipping to my area) for some of these 3 amps, or is better to stay with L30 which costs me the same?

I'm listening to DT1990 as we speak using the L30 set on the 0db gain mode with the pot around noon at a very comfortable volume with plenty of room to spare. "Headroom" is an extremely overrated concept in headphone amps; at least in my opinion.

 

[Veri]

I'm listening to DT1990 as we speak using the L30 set on the 0db gain mode with the pot around noon at a very comfortable volume with plenty of room to spare. "Headroom" is an extremely overrated concept in headphone amps; at least in my opinion.

That's because we are really spoiled with latest modern amps

 

[JohnYang1997]

What's the definition of headroom anyway...

 

[JohnYang1997]

Again and again. Unless you need more volume while on high gain max volume you don't need more gain. L30 can output 300mW to 300Ohm before clipping. You just need a bit more input voltage. Again, unless you are on max and still needing more, you don't need the gain.

 

[fieldcar]

What's the definition of headroom anyway...

 

[koravei]

Again and again. Unless you need more volume while on high gain max volume you don't need more gain. L30 can output 300mW to 300Ohm before clipping. You just need a bit more input voltage. Again, unless you are on max and still needing more, you don't need the gain.

You are absolutely right! How we can provide more input voltage if the DAC output is limited to 2V, just curious?