Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[sane4sure]

Just received my L30 and am comparing it with the Zen Can that is currently partnering my E30. First impressions are very favourable. Will listen to more genres over the rest of the weekend before deciding which one stays in my bedroom system.
Source is a BlueSound Node 2i and headphones are Beyerdynamic Amiron Home.

 

[Pdxwayne]

Just received my L30 and am comparing it with the Zen Can that is currently partnering my E30. First impressions are very favourable. Will listen to more genres over the rest of the weekend before deciding which one stays in my bedroom system.
Source is a BlueSound Node 2i and headphones are Beyerdynamic Amiron Home.

Node2i headphones jack not good, am I correct?

 

[sane4sure]

Node2i headphones jack not good, am I correct?

Yes, you are correct. On first listen it seems ok but it soon becomes apparent that the Node 2i is definitely a better source than the headphone jack shows. Upgrading to the Zen Can was a revelation.

 

[cheap mechanic]

The output power measured is about 50% compared to Topping's spec. Am I missing something here?
View attachment 77403

what about if the source voltage is just 1V? can someone test this?

 

[FireLion]

Anyone ran a Argon or T50 on this?

 

[Yankes123]

Can anyone explain why is the amp power so low vs the specs? Does this mean if I want to run DT990 600ohm this will not 100% properly drive them and Atom AMP will have 2x the power? (I'm just confused that the on paper results are so off the results we have here) Thanks!

 

[Vini darko]

Can anyone explain why is the amp power so low vs the specs? Does this mean if I want to run DT990 600ohm this will not 100% properly drive them and Atom AMP will have 2x the power? (I'm just confused that the on paper results are so off the results we have here) Thanks!

It's a input voltage thing. Amirm measusured at 2V input and Topping measusred at 3V input. Since most sources output 2V Amirm's result is more comparable to other devices.

 

[FedHal]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and I'm just getting started in the world of audio with headphones. I have read a lot here about dacs and amps, in my country (Argentina) it is very difficult to get these equipments because of the current economy. I decided for the topping stack (e30 + l30), I got it about a month ago and I was very happy with it, using it with my takstar pro 82.

Today I am very sad, I will tell you about the situation:
Today I was listening to music normally, enjoying my match topping stack + takstar, in a moment of the night I leave them connected and I go to dinner. After spending about 30 minutes or so I return to my room and find the smell of burning (I thought the worst and it was), I find that my takstar had the right driver very hot and came out a very very ugly smell of burning right there. I smell l30 and it didn't seem to have much smell, and by the touch it had the usual temperature (not very high, I don't have to measure it). I quickly disconnected everything, just in case. Then, I find that the volume knob was stuck, with a little force I could unlock it, but it was left with a strange movement, I didn't have it before. The dac e30 was fine so I checked it. I touch the drivers of the takstar and the right one was melted.
Now I'm afraid of connecting anything again, I don't know what the problem will be.
I attach photos.

Anyway, I am very sad. With what it cost me to get these equipments...

I bought the takstar through Aliexpress in January, I just saw that I have 1 year warranty, so I guess I can use it.

I bought the topping stack in Shenzhenaudio, I have them since a month ago and so far I had no problems, if I was afraid of the temperature that raises the l30, I put a cooler under it to help and it was. But now this happened, I don't know what to do!

Any similar experiences here?

Sorry if it's misspelled, I'm using a translator.

 

[Yankes123]

It's a input voltage thing. Amirm measusured at 2V input and Topping measusred at 3V input. Since most sources output 2V Amirm's result is more comparable to other devices.

So if I buy the Topping L30 and E30 combo (for DT990 600ohm) it will actually run at a different voltage than in the tests? Will this have drastic effect on the sound quality? Will it power DT990 600ohm or should I take E30 + Atom AMP instead? BTW why measure DACs at a different Voltage than the specs one (I'm assuming that when I buy it, IT will have a higher voltage for daily use?)

 

[sane4sure]

Just received my L30 and am comparing it with the Zen Can that is currently partnering my E30. First impressions are very favourable. Will listen to more genres over the rest of the weekend before deciding which one stays in my bedroom system.
Source is a BlueSound Node 2i and headphones are Beyerdynamic Amiron Home.

OK, the verdict is in. The Zen Can has been moved aside and the L30 gets to stay. I thought it would be a close call but the L30 is so clean and accurate and has none of the bass bloat and slightly muffled high end that I was getting from the Zen.

The E30/L30 stack must surely be one of the biggest bargains for headphone listeners out there!

Oh yes, just as a slight aside, iFi what were you thinking when you decided to fit those little silver buttons that rattle annoyingly everytime the Zen Can is moved or even touched?

 

[Doodski]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and I'm just getting started in the world of audio with headphones. I have read a lot here about dacs and amps, in my country (Argentina) it is very difficult to get these equipments because of the current economy. I decided for the topping stack (e30 + l30), I got it about a month ago and I was very happy with it, using it with my takstar pro 82.

Today I am very sad, I will tell you about the situation:
Today I was listening to music normally, enjoying my match topping stack + takstar, in a moment of the night I leave them connected and I go to dinner. After spending about 30 minutes or so I return to my room and find the smell of burning (I thought the worst and it was), I find that my takstar had the right driver very hot and came out a very very ugly smell of burning right there. I smell l30 and it didn't seem to have much smell, and by the touch it had the usual temperature (not very high, I don't have to measure it). I quickly disconnected everything, just in case. Then, I find that the volume knob was stuck, with a little force I could unlock it, but it was left with a strange movement, I didn't have it before. The dac e30 was fine so I checked it. I touch the drivers of the takstar and the right one was melted.
Now I'm afraid of connecting anything again, I don't know what the problem will be.
I attach photos.
View attachment 94093
View attachment 94094
View attachment 94095
Anyway, I am very sad. With what it cost me to get these equipments...

I bought the takstar through Aliexpress in January, I just saw that I have 1 year warranty, so I guess I can use it.

I bought the topping stack in Shenzhenaudio, I have them since a month ago and so far I had no problems, if I was afraid of the temperature that raises the l30, I put a cooler under it to help and it was. But now this happened, I don't know what to do!

Any similar experiences here?

Sorry if it's misspelled, I'm using a translator.

Sorry to see your loss.
I have not seen any people here that complained about burned voice coils in their headphones when used with the Topping L30.
I suggest you test the DAC to see if it works properly.
Then test the L30.
Be careful that you don't burn anymore headphones.

 

[Veri]

Then, I find that the volume knob was stuck, with a little force I could unlock it, but it was left with a strange movement, I didn't have it before.

My guess is that you somehow locked the Topping L30 in an unsafe position. With my personal L30 this is impossible, but your knob might have a problem. Contact the seller and ask if you can return it and get a new L30, is what I would do. Use your photo evidence.

 

[solderdude]

I too have fried a Takstar (and HP50) driver. This is really easy to do as it is about 50mW peak rated and 20mW in continous power.
I destroyed them by playing a sweep at 100dB SPL.
To destroy the driver (silently) means that there would need to be at least 0.7V DC on the driver.
The amp is output DC protected and I assume below 1V. (@JohnYang1997 knows)
Another way is that in your absence the system made a continuous sound from the source.
Did the amp get unusually warm from the start ?

When it was DC (you can check the output with a voltmeter) then the amp is the cause.
It could also be possible that something else happened causing a loud 'sound' in which case it is bad luck.
The amp is way too powerful for this headphone. The Takstar should not be driven with peaks above 1.5V and about 114dB peak is the max. it can handle.

 

[Veri]

Did the amp get unusually warm from the start ?

Problem is that the L30 gets pretty comfortably warm by itself. One could call normal operation "unusually" warm when it's really fine.

The amp is way too powerful for this headphone.

This seems to be the most probable explanation. And yet there's still people complaining L30 is not powerful enough upcoming A30Pro will be capable of burning through a lot more headphones.....

 

[infinitesymphony]

I too have fried a Takstar (and HP50) driver. This is really easy to do as it is about 50mW peak rated and 20mW in continous power.
I destroyed them by playing a sweep at 100dB SPL.
To destroy the driver (silently) means that there would need to be at least 0.7V DC on the driver.
The amp is output DC protected and I assume below 1V. (@JohnYang1997 knows)
Another way is that in your absence the system made a continuous sound from the source.
Did the amp get unusually warm from the start ?

When it was DC (you can check the output with a voltmeter) then the amp is the cause.
It could also be possible that something else happened causing a loud 'sound' in which case it is bad luck.
The amp is way too powerful for this headphone. The Takstar should not be driven with peaks above 1.5V and about 114dB peak is the max. it can handle.

Wow, that's scary. Are there many other headphones with similar limitations or is this an outlier?

 

[wasnotwasnotwas]

So if I buy the Topping L30 and E30 combo (for DT990 600ohm) it will actually run at a different voltage than in the tests? Will this have drastic effect on the sound quality? Will it power DT990 600ohm or should I take E30 + Atom AMP instead? BTW why measure DACs at a different Voltage than the specs one (I'm assuming that when I buy it, IT will have a higher voltage for daily use?)

The e30 is 2v output. You will get the same results as in amir's tests. The spec sheet is based on 3v input which many dacs don't actually output. It will drive the dt990 no problem.

 

[solderdude]

Wow, that's scary. Are there many other headphones with similar limitations or is this an outlier?

Most IEM's and a LOT of sensitive headphones that play loud directly from a phone may have a very low power rating.
When you look through this table in the power rating column you can look for power ratings between 20mW and 50mW.
This list is only for on and over-ear headphones.
I always suggest to use such IEM's or headphones with an inline attenuator. This will also give a much better volume control range when driven from powerful amplifiers.

 

[solderdude]

So if I buy the Topping L30 and E30 combo (for DT990 600ohm) Will this have drastic effect on the sound quality? Will it power DT990 600ohm

You will be able to reach 110dB SPL peak which is loud. The max the DT990 can safely do is 114dB. It is a notoriously voltage inefficient headphone.

 

[Yankes123]

The e30 is 2v output. You will get the same results as in amir's tests. The spec sheet is based on 3v input which many dacs don't actually output. It will drive the dt990 no problem.

To be honest, Topping's specs seem a bit unfair then :| thanks

 

[Veri]

There's a bunch of DACs that can do 2.2-2.3V. Gustard X16 can do up to 3.3V. Mojo and Qutest can do 3V IIRC.

I'm currently using a Radial 1:1 transformer and driving my L30 from a full balanced 4V signal works very well and goes extremely loud, in this scenario I never need High gain so I don't think any of this is really necessary.