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Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

Vruksha

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Actually I have both. I bought the E30 months ago and I took the L30 and D10s on the same day. I mainly use the D10s and my old D10 to connect to my two receivers using the coax out. Handy usb interfaces to the receivers as they don't have usb audio support.
Thanks, this is gonna be my first step into the dac/amp world. Is there any difference between the E30 and D10s sonically? I am curious since D10s comes with saber and E30 comes with ak.
About the L30, have you tried any sensitive iem's with the L30?
 

half_dog

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Thanks, this is gonna be my first step into the dac/amp world. Is there any difference between the E30 and D10s sonically? I am curious since D10s comes with saber and E30 comes with ak.
About the L30, have you tried any sensitive iem's with the L30?

I believe the big difference is related to input/output options and remote control - functionality. They are practically in the same category related to sound quality. If you don't need a RC, D10s may meets your needs. I talked about E30's noise, but it is on a completely unusual situation.
 

Vruksha

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Tested with 2 sensitivity in ears and the only noise I could hear was when L30 were in high gain and its volume maxed. The noise was coming from E30 (very, very faint noise), not from amp. With my Galaxy S9, no noise at all. This with no music playing.
So it seems like the L30 is the perfect choice for lo sensitive
 

half_dog

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So it seems like the L30 is the perfect choice for lo sensitive

JDS Atom, EL Amp II, Topping L30... They are in a level where is quite hard to hear any noise coming from the amp itself. L30 is above them technically speaking (I'm being gentle haha).
 

raif71

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Thanks, this is gonna be my first step into the dac/amp world. Is there any difference between the E30 and D10s sonically? I am curious since D10s comes with saber and E30 comes with ak.
About the L30, have you tried any sensitive iem's with the L30?
Since you ask nicely about the E30 and D10s sonically, what I'm going to say is that there is none, to cater to the objective people but subjectively ... ;). This is all I have to say about this subject for now. :D
 

Vruksha

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A
JDS Atom, EL Amp II, Topping L30... They are in a level where is quite hard to hear any noise coming from the amp itself. L30 is above them technically speaking (I'm being gentle haha).
An torn between L30 and Atom. I will using them for my IEM's now, will be getting a headphone in the future. Both seems like good option but whichever one suits my needs (to drive my low impedance gear without any hiss) will be the winner.
 

Vini darko

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A

An torn between L30 and Atom. I will using them for my IEM's now, will be getting a headphone in the future. Both seems like good option but whichever one suits my needs (to drive my low impedance gear without any hiss) will be the winner.
The l30 has lower noise floor and a lower gain mode than the atom so should be better with iem's.
 

JeffGB

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My L30 got quite hot at the first time it was turned on, after a little more than a hour reaching ~48ºC for a moment and than cooled down. After that it has been running warm, but not as my Dell G7 haha
Just did a quick measurement and it is running at 37ºC right now.


Maybe that was a batch which came out like this. Just to give you a reference: E30 (batch 2003) and L30 (2005) have a loose fitting. The E30 (2006) is okay. I had a D10 and D30 before and had no problem with their RCAs sockets.
Is this a valid test? The temperature measured on the L30 was 37c and you had your finger on the probe. Human body temperature is 37c. If it measured higher earlier, it's probably not an issue.
 

JeffGB

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Is anyone using the L30 as a preamp? I'm using a Heresy as a preamp now and have got noise problems that I can't solve, driving a Crown XLS 1500 power amplifier. I have used other preamps and haven't had this sever a problem with them. I know I can go to a balanced preamp/DAC and have it be silent because I have an older TEAC with volume control and balanced outputs that is dead quiet in the same installation. I just wanted a better DAC and then got the Heresy.
I'm wondering if the sensitivity to noise might be caused by the Heresy using a complex 8 opamp circuit for each channel, so I'm considering ordering an L30 to see if that is better. I also have an older headphone amp from Nuforce that is lower in noise even though it has higher gain than the Heresy, so I'm pretty sure it's not just the installation (I'm very sure the Nuforce doesn't measure anywhere near as low in noise as the Heresy).
 

fun

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My E30 and L30 arrived today. Everything works well, and very happy with the usabilities, functionalities, build and sound quality of the stack so far. No issue with the RCA sockets. Various cables that I have, including the braided Fanmusic cables that Apos included with the stack, fit just right. Temperature of the L30 stays at about 36C after using it for over an hour (measured using an infrared thermometer). E30 is about 34C. After months of research for a desktop audio setup, it's time to relax and enjoy music ;)
P9040037.jpg
 
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half_dog

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Is this a valid test? The temperature measured on the L30 was 37c and you had your finger on the probe. Human body temperature is 37c. If it measured higher earlier, it's probably not an issue.

I agree with you. It was a simple measuring just to get an idea how hot it is. I didn't take a picture, but my hands were around 33~34°C (I have cold hands). Anyway, I have held the probe for a few minutes to stabilize for each measurement - ambient, hands and L30. If it have got hot as those firsts measurements, it would showed on display. It's not a lab precision, but I think it gives us an idea...
 

solderdude

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My E30 and L30 arrived today. Everything works well, and very happy with the usabilities, functionalities, build and sound quality of the stack so far. No issue with the RCA sockets. Various cables that I have, including the braided Fanmusic cables that Apos included with the stack, fit just right. Temperature of the L30 stays at about 36C after using it for over an hour (measured using an infrared thermometer). E30 is about 34C. After months of research for a desktop audio setup, it's time to relax and enjoy music ;)
View attachment 81496

What was the temperature of the table top ? This should give the temperature increase. It matters if the room is 20 degrees or 25 degrees.
 

odyo

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What you guys think about ifi zen can ? $10 more, more power, it has balanced io, some analogue bass and 3d eq, discrete class a, very nice build. It's probably not as superb measuring as l30 but it should be audibly transparent. They say it's trickle down from $1700 flagship pro ican. Good competition. Eager to see measurements from Amir. Some nudes
4.jpg

Ifi have too much marketing bs though.
 

JohnYang1997

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What you guys think about ifi zen can ? $10 more, more power, it has balanced io, some analogue bass and 3d eq, discrete class a, very nice build. It's probably not as superb measuring as l30 but it should be audibly transparent. They say it's trickle down from $1700 flagship pro ican. Good competition. Eager to see measurements from Amir. Some nudes
4.jpg

Ifi have too much marketing bs though.
Ancient time performance. Only higher power with high impedance load. For HD650 with balanced cable then yes possible. But i still haven't seen one fully utilizes the power of L30.
 

fun

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What was the temperature of the table top ? This should give the temperature increase. It matters if the room is 20 degrees or 25 degrees.
Good point. I did a few more measurements last night and this morning. The room/desk temperature fluctuate between 26C and 28C, depending on whether the AC is running. The temperature of the L30 measured around 36C to 38C. So, I'd say an increase of around 10C is typical in my setup.

As a side note, I ran into a 'serious' issue with the stack, with audio dropping in and out, and eventually my Mac can't even detect the E30. It was quickly narrowed down to the USB cable that was provided with the E30. After replacing the cable, all is good so far. During initial setup, I did notice that the USB cable is very sensitive to touching (not with the one that replace it). So cable does matter after all :).
 

Vini darko

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What you guys think about ifi zen can ? $10 more, more power, it has balanced io, some analogue bass and 3d eq, discrete class a, very nice build. It's probably not as superb measuring as l30 but it should be audibly transparent. They say it's trickle down from $1700 flagship pro ican. Good competition. Eager to see measurements from Amir. Some nudes
4.jpg

Ifi have too much marketing bs though.
Lay out on those boards has a pleasing symmetry.
 

odyo

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Ancient time performance. Only higher power with high impedance load. For HD650 with balanced cable then yes possible. But i still haven't seen one fully utilizes the power of L30.
Amir measured the pro ican. It seems fine. Not superb like your l30 but not snake oil type of deceptive product. Measuring decent.

''Discrete class a'' thing interesting to me. Different approach. What do you think about that ? I don't know how power delivery works between amp and headphone. I guess headphone demands power from amp, amp delivers needed power with agility ? How it works with class a though :) Sorry for muddying the topic.
 

JohnYang1997

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Amir measured the pro ican. It seems fine. Not superb like your l30 but not snake oil type of deceptive product. Measuring decent.

''Discrete class a'' thing interesting to me. Different approach. What do you think about that ? I don't know how power delivery works between amp and headphone. I guess headphone demands power from amp, amp delivers needed power with agility ? How it works with class a though :) Sorry for muddying the topic.
I don't mind discrete. I don't like the notion of 'discrete class A'. Why manufacturers always put discrete and class A together. Class AB is more than fine. Discrete can achieve better performance than ICs. I like when it does and hate it when it doesn't.
 

Veri

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I don't mind discrete. I don't like the notion of 'discrete class A'. Why manufacturers always put discrete and class A together. Class AB is more than fine. Discrete can achieve better performance than ICs. I like when it does and hate it when it doesn't.
Any plans for your personal discrete amplifier projects? :p
 
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