Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[dgnzcn]

Pleasant listening.

The reason I asked was I wanted to find out how much the difference could be compared to the realtek s1200a motherboard sound chip. My e30-l30 set has not come to me yet, I do a comparison test when I arrive.

 

[companyja]

It really depends on how it's implemented, the realtek chips by themselves are perfectly fine, most of the time the downfall of onboard audio is poor amplification and very high output impedance. My advice is, don't expect a huge noticable difference especially at lower volumes, but it should give you peace of mind, more than enough power to run at any volume you want, and upgradability if you want to pick up a harder to drive headphone in the future.

These things are also so small, the pictures really don't prepare you how miniscule they are in person. As you can see my focusrite solo is way larger, and that thing's tiny itself

 

[dgnzcn]

It really depends on how it's implemented, the realtek chips by themselves are perfectly fine, most of the time the downfall of onboard audio is poor amplification and very high output impedance. My advice is, don't expect a huge noticable difference especially at lower volumes, but it should give you peace of mind, more than enough power to run at any volume you want, and upgradability if you want to pick up a harder to drive headphone in the future.

These things are also so small, the pictures really don't prepare you how miniscule they are in person. As you can see my focusrite solo is way larger, and that thing's tiny itself

Thanks for your opinions, i will use it with K612 Pro, it has 120 Ohm.
I was hoping the sound difference would be large compared to the realtek s1200a built-in sound with e30+l30.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

I of course ordered the cable correctly to go from E30 to the L30 as the arrow points, othewise my audio would be reversed

Seems that anything can be reversed these days :

BTW, if you really don't believe in directional cables (and you shouldn't), just plug them backwards. Be a rebel.

 

[companyja]

BTW, if you really don't believe in directional cables (and you shouldn't), just plug them backwards. Be a rebel.

If Audioquest does it that means it's real

The cables are quite funny though, the material and thickness is exactly like a clothes iron, I don't know how much power they expect to pass through these cables to require this much shielding and material

EDIT: After a little while I can say that the combo sounds larger than life, I'm confident my headphones are driven to their potential. But the volume knob really knocks the experience down a whole lot, it's such a disappointment every time I adjust the volume, feels like a cheapo $10 device. It wiggles and it's weirdly bumpy sometimes, like it's scraping against something at the back. I imagine it's because they had to remove the knob to modify the 2012 boards for ESD protection, and then putting them back in is never as good as the first fit. I hope people who get 2101 models and onwards have better luck with their pots. The hefty metal pot of the Scarlett Solo below is a million times better, smooth and stable.

 

[GGroch]

......the RCA cables my seller sent as a sweetener for the stack has those directional arrows on them (at least that's what I assume they are). That was kinda funny

On unbalanced cables like this, the arrows usually indicate that there is an RF shield wrapped around the outside of the 2 signal/ground conductors. This shield is soldered to the common/ground of the RCA plug at only one end, the source end. I do not know enough about shielding and noise to know if this matters or not, but the arrows are not there to tell the electrons which way to travel.

That is a sweet looking cable to have been thrown in for free.

 

[threni]

If Audioquest does it that means it's real

The cables are quite funny though, the material and thickness is exactly like a clothes iron, I don't know how much power they expect to pass through these cables to require this much shielding and material

EDIT: After a little while I can say that the combo sounds larger than life, I'm confident my headphones are driven to their potential. But the volume knob really knocks the experience down a whole lot, it's such a disappointment every time I adjust the volume, feels like a cheapo $10 device. It wiggles and it's weirdly bumpy sometimes, like it's scraping against something at the back. I imagine it's because they had to remove the knob to modify the 2012 boards for ESD protection, and then putting them back in is never as good as the first fit. I hope people who get 2101 models and onwards have better luck with their pots. The hefty metal pot of the Scarlett Solo below is a million times better, smooth and stable.

It's sort of hard to believe they've damaged a knob removing it once. Surely there's some way of removing it one more time and fixing it somehow? If the wobble/scrape is deep within the pot it sounds like it's not just a loose knob.

 

[mocenigo]

Well, the transformer of my replaced L30 just exploded.

 

[Veri]

Well, the transformer of my replaced L30 just exploded.

Exploded ????? Exploded how. Needs details

 

[mocenigo]

Exploded ????? Exploded how. Needs details

Yes I am trying to understand what happened. I had it on for a few days, listening music without trouble. Today I moved the audio system to a different place so I switched it off. When I turned the L30 on again, after a few seconds I heard a loud muffled "pop", and saw smoke exit from the transformer. The breaker for my room switched and upon turning on I saw that also the varistor in my power distributor tripped. So apparently the transformer shorted. It stinks in here.

I am sorely fed up with the QA on this product and I am starting to be scared by my D90 as well - will it destructively fail as well? Probably not, it is a one+ year old product and there are no such stories. But I should have bought an OKTO research or an RME... after the problems with Gustard this should teach me.

 

[mocenigo]

Yes I am trying to understand what happened. I had it on for a few days, listening music without trouble. Today I moved the audio system to a different place so I switched it off. When I turned the L30 on again, after a few seconds I heard a loud muffled "pop", and saw smoke exit from the transformer. The breaker circuit for my room ripped and upon turning it back on I saw that also the varistor in my power distributor burned. So apparently the transformer shorted. It stinks in here.

I am sorely fed up with the QA on this product and I am starting to be scared by my D90 as well - will it destructively fail as well? Probably not, it is a one+ year old product and there are no such stories. But I should have bought an OKTO research or an RME... after the problems with Gustard this should teach me.

 

[iec 60318-4]

Well, the transformer of my replaced L30 just exploded.

When did you buy it? The L30 is now completely excluded from my headphone amplifier consideration list.

 

[dgnzcn]

Yes I am trying to understand what happened. I had it on for a few days, listening music without trouble. Today I moved the audio system to a different place so I switched it off. When I turned the L30 on again, after a few seconds I heard a loud muffled "pop", and saw smoke exit from the transformer. The breaker for my room switched and upon turning on I saw that also the varistor in my power distributor tripped. So apparently the transformer shorted. It stinks in here.

I am sorely fed up with the QA on this product and I am starting to be scared by my D90 as well - will it destructively fail as well? Probably not, it is a one+ year old product and there are no such stories. But I should have bought an OKTO research or an RME... after the problems with Gustard this should teach me.

Sorry, what is your exploding Topping L30 serial number?

 

[jannek]

I'd like to know it also the transformer was replaced or if it was the one from the pre2012 unit. Replacements only were done for the amp itself, IIRC?

 

[mocenigo]

I'd like to know it also the transformer was replaced or if it was the one from the pre2012 unit. Replacements only were done for the amp itself, IIRC?

Yes it was the old one - they replace only the amp, not the transformer.

 

[mocenigo]

Sorry, what is your exploding Topping L30 serial number?

The L30 did not explode. I also have no way to tell whether it works, but it does not smell funny. The wall plug type transformer burned. The L30 itself is a modified 2012xxxx, it came as a replacement for an older unit and it has the grounding fix.

 

[dgnzcn]

The L30 did not explode. I also have no way to tell whether it works, but it does not smell funny. The wall plug type transformer burned. The L30 itself is a modified 2012xxxx, it came as a replacement for an older unit and it has the grounding fix.

Is there an adapter issue for L30 as new right now?

 

[companyja]

Nobody can know but the adapter hasn't changed at all - when mine blows up I'll let you know

Very unfortunate, I'd definitely ask for a replacement even if you don't intend on using the L30 anymore

 

[Vini darko]

Well, the transformer of my replaced L30 just exploded.

Eeeeek

 

[Vini darko]

Can we conclude that the L30 and E30 are kinda cursed? Both threads are well over 4k posts. Out of those 8k what percentage are related to problems I wonder ~60% ?