Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[Mr:River]

For your headphones, I would get L30+E30 combo and a 4.4 to 3.5/6.3mm adapter for use with it. Balanced separation generally should not matter audibly, it's mostly useful for dual mono amps = more power, which your headphones don't particularly need
PS you could also look into A50s stack which has 4.4mm output but overall it'll cost you more for possibly no real benefit. Up to you.

I am waiting for my L30 / E30 pair to arrive.
I will use with my HE400i, what benefit would I have buying this adapter from 4.44 to 3.5 / 6.3mm?

 

[Veri]

I am waiting for my L30 / E30 pair to arrive.
I will use with my HE400i, what benefit would I have buying this adapter from 4.44 to 3.5 / 6.3mm?

Oh no the L30 has no 4.4mm jack, so his current cable (of the other guy) would need an adapter to use it without changing or buying new cable. There is no benefit! Just to be able to use

 

[Fluxed]

For your headphones, I would get L30+E30 combo and a 4.4 to 3.5/6.3mm adapter for use with it. Balanced separation generally should not matter audibly, it's mostly useful for dual mono amps = more power, which your headphones don't particularly need
PS you could also look into A50s stack which has 4.4mm output but overall it'll cost you more for possibly no real benefit. Up to you.

Thanks that saves a fortune not going the A90/D90 route! my ATH msr7bs do have a normal 3.5mm cable and also a seperate balanced 4.4mm cable, so would it still be OK going L30/E30 without that 4.44 to 3.5/6.3mm adapter ?

I have no idea if there would be any additional sound quality benefit from using the 4.4mm balanced cable over the standard 3.5mm cable.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

I have both the Atom and L30 and I prefer the sound of the Atom paired with my favorite headphones

That's nice. However, the measurements of the two amps give no indication whatsoever that there should be any difference in sound at all. It's fine for you to think you prefer one over the other, but when it comes to making any sort of recommendations here, there really needs to be something more than just an unreliable subjective sound preference. Given the measurements, unless you've done some sort of blind A/B test comparing the two amps in which you've shown you can actually hear what you think you hear, stating that one sounds "better' than the other is at best meaningless and at worst potentially harmful info. If we were talking about one amp that was several hundred dollars more than the other and you claimed the more expensive one sounds better even though the measurements indicate they shouldn't sound different at all, someone might take that at face value and spend the extra money for no real reason at all. If you have a rational, provable reason for why two amps that measure like the Atom and the L30 might sound different from one another I'd be interested to hear it...

 

[Veri]

Thanks that saves a fortune not going the A90/D90 route! my ATH msr7bs do have a normal 3.5mm cable and also a seperate balanced 4.4mm cable, so would it still be OK going L30/E30 without that 4.44 to 3.5/6.3mm adapter ?
I have no idea if there would be any additional sound quality benefit from using the 4.4mm balanced cable over the standard 3.5mm cable.

If you have a 3.5mm one then sure, use that the 4.4mm connector will do nothing different when using it with a single ended amp. No worries.

 

[Fluxed]

If you have a 3.5mm one then sure, use that the 4.4mm connector will do nothing different when using it with a single ended amp. No worries.

My wallet thanks you

 

[Mr:River]

That's nice. However, the measurements of the two amps give no indication whatsoever that there should be any difference in sound at all. It's fine for you to think you prefer one over the other, but when it comes to making any sort of recommendations here, there really needs to be something more than just an unreliable subjective sound preference. Given the measurements, unless you've done some sort of blind A/B test comparing the two amps in which you've shown you can actually hear what you think you hear, stating that one sounds "better' than the other is at best meaningless and at worst potentially harmful info. If we were talking about one amp that was several hundred dollars more than the other and you claimed the more expensive one sounds better even though the measurements indicate they shouldn't sound different at all, someone might take that at face value and spend the extra money for no real reason at all. If you have a rational, provable reason for why two amps that measure like the Atom and the L30 might sound different from one another I'd be interested to hear it...

I would like to hear opinions from the most traditional L30 vs Amps owners on the market, such as the Lehmann class A - Little Dot MK dual mono etc.

Just curious as the L30 is a small box that does a great job against large amps of high capacitance etc.

Sorry if I write nonsense.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

I would like to hear opinions from the most traditional L30 vs Amps owners on the market, such as the Lehmann class A - Little Dot MK dual mono etc.

Just curious as the L30 is a small box that does a great job against large amps of high capacitance etc.

Sorry if I write nonsense.

Essentially, there's two possible situations.

1 - you have two amps that measure notably differently. For instance, the L30 measures neutral. It produces a flat frequency response with in-audible amounts of distortion. If you were to do a subjective listening test comparing it to perhaps a tube amp that produced a measurably non-flat frequency response and harmonic distortion levels that look like they might be audible, well it wouldn't be particularly surprising that you might hear a difference. Perhaps that difference would lead you to prefer one over the other. But it's not a particularly interesting revelation really since most of "us" - here at ASR that is - are not interested in components that add their own sonic character to the signal. We generally value neutrality like what the L30 provides. Therefore someone coming into this thread and suggesting that their favorite tube amp provides "better" sound than the L30 is probably barking up the wrong tree.

the 2nd option is two amps that both measure neutral such as the Atom and the L30. The measurements show that both amps are passing the signal through without coloring it in any way and therefore if we compare them at the same volume they should sound exactly the same. In this case then a person who wants to suggest there is something about the sound of one that is better than (or even different than) the other needs to provide something better than just a simple subjective listening impression which has been shown time and again to be hopelessly unreliable.

 

[Mr:River]

Essentially, there's two possible situations.

1 - you have two amps that measure notably differently. For instance, the L30 measures neutral. It produces a flat frequency response with in-audible amounts of distortion. If you were to do a subjective listening test comparing it to perhaps a tube amp that produced a measurably non-flat frequency response and harmonic distortion levels that look like they might be audible, well it wouldn't be particularly surprising that you might hear a difference. Perhaps that difference would lead you to prefer one over the other. But it's not a particularly interesting revelation really since most of "us" - here at ASR that is - are not interested in components that add their own sonic character to the signal. We generally value neutrality like what the L30 provides. Therefore someone coming into this thread and suggesting that their favorite tube amp provides "better" sound than the L30 is probably barking up the wrong tree.

the 2nd option is two amps that both measure neutral such as the Atom and the L30. The measurements show that both amps are passing the signal through without coloring it in any way and therefore if we compare them at the same volume they should sound exactly the same. In this case then a person who wants to suggest there is something about the sound of one that is better than (or even different than) the other needs to provide something better than just a simple subjective listening impression which has been shown time and again to be hopelessly unreliable.

If between Atom and L30 one of them presents a broader, dynamic sound, better image of a live orchestra for example, would that be a less neutral amp or particularity that the amp adds to the sound?

I don't know if I made myself understood, I haven't received my L30 / E30 battery yet, but I think it's amazing how small amps today face huge older amps and are also considered neutral.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

If between Atom and L30 one of them presents a broader, dynamic sound, better image of a live orchestra for example, would that be a less neutral amp or particularity that the amp adds to the sound?

I don't know if I made myself understood, I haven't received my L30 / E30 battery yet, but I think it's amazing how small amps today face huge older amps and are also considered neutral.

Again, if you have a rational explanation for why 2 amps that measure the same would sound different, please feel free to share it. What aspect of one of those two amps would cause one to present a "broader, dynamic sound" compared to the other? That's the sort of classic subjective description that almost always ceases to exist under blind test conditions...

 

[Mr:River]

Again, if you have a rational explanation for why 2 amps that measure the same would sound different, please feel free to share it. What aspect of one of those two amps would cause one to present a "broader, dynamic sound" compared to the other? That's the sort of classic subjective description that almost always ceases to exist under blind test conditions...

Do not.
I asked (SE) just an example of a case if one of them presents a broader sound, if that would make it less neutral than the other, why are they saying that neutrality is not adding anything to the sound ok, but amplitude would have nothing to do would you have neutrality?

 

[infinitesymphony]

If an amplifier "broadens" the sound, or in other words enhances the stereo image in some way, it would not be considered neutral.

 

[Mr:River]

If an amplifier "broadens" the sound, or in other words enhances the stereo image in some way, it would not be considered neutral.

Yes!!
That's what I wanted to know.
I'll wait for my pile to arrive and see how it does.

 

[frankh]

That's nice. However, the measurements of the two amps give no indication whatsoever that there should be any difference in sound at all. It's fine for you to think you prefer one over the other, but when it comes to making any sort of recommendations here, there really needs to be something more than just an unreliable subjective sound preference. Given the measurements, unless you've done some sort of blind A/B test comparing the two amps in which you've shown you can actually hear what you think you hear, stating that one sounds "better' than the other is at best meaningless and at worst potentially harmful info. If we were talking about one amp that was several hundred dollars more than the other and you claimed the more expensive one sounds better even though the measurements indicate they shouldn't sound different at all, someone might take that at face value and spend the extra money for no real reason at all. If you have a rational, provable reason for why two amps that measure like the Atom and the L30 might sound different from one another I'd be interested to hear it...

I did an A/B test and my ears hear the difference between both amps and I'd be damned if anyone else can't hear the difference because it's pretty obvious. I'm not one of those who judge an amp solely by measurements. Well, to be honest I purchased the L30 based on measurements alone because there's nowhere I can test the L30 from where I live. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that the L30 is a bad headphone amp, it's actually a very good headphone amp for the price but after comparing it with the Atom, the Atom just sounds better with my favorite headphones that's all. The only thing I prefer the L30 is the build quality, the Atom is all plastic housing whereas the L30 is aluminium.

 

[frankh]

I did an A/B test and my ears hear the difference between both amps and I'd be damned if anyone else can't hear the difference because it's pretty obvious. I'm not one of those who judge an amp solely by measurements. Well, to be honest I purchased the L30 based on measurements alone because there's nowhere I can test it from where I live.

Level matched and unsighted? I love my Atom too, but what you claim indicates something was likely either incorrect in your setup, or something was broken.

Yes, level matched and nothing was broken in my setup.

 

[raif71]

I did an A/B test and my ears hear the difference between both amps and I'd be damned if anyone else can't hear the difference because it's pretty obvious. I'm not one of those who judge an amp solely by measurements. Well, to be honest I purchased the L30 based on measurements alone because there's nowhere I can test the L30 from where I live. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that the L30 is a bad headphone amp, it's actually a very good headphone amp for the price but after comparing it with the Atom, the Atom just sounds better with my favorite headphones that's all. The only thing I prefer the L30 is the build quality, the Atom is all plastic housing whereas the L30 is aluminium.

I appreciate your "subjective" opinion. Thank you

 

[frankh]

I appreciate your "subjective" opinion. Thank you

I was just being dead honest with what I hear, nothing more and nothing less. I'm glad there are people in this world like you who appreciates "subjective opinion".

 

[BDWoody]

Yes, level matched and nothing was broken in my setup.

What do you believe accounts for that difference?
How did you set up the blind part?

 

[BDWoody]

I was just being dead honest with what I hear, nothing more and nothing less. I'm glad there are people in this world like you who appreciates "subjective opinion".

No one is questioning your honesty.

Subjective opinions without controls are...of limited value.

 

[raif71]

No one is questioning your honesty.

Subjective opinions without controls are...of limited value.

I regard highly people's subjective opinions though I know that that the experience would only be theirs and not necessarily be true to others.