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Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

Vini darko

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I felt the same with my L30 I bought within months of interval to make sure I got another batch... that bass rolloff is felt everytime. I wonder if there's an objective measurement that can highlight this glaring deficiency or are the headphones to blame.
Yeah i kinda agree. My t50rp do very good bass but not sub-bass off the l30. I use my objectively inferior speaker amps if I feel the need for sub-bass from them. The l30 is completely fine with all my dynamic phones though.
 

Jose Hidalgo

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Could somebody please (re)post the power consumption of the L30 in OFF mode? (not 'Idle' - Off !). If I remember well, it was said in this topic that the heavy power brick uses power all the time, even when the amp is turned off, and it's not negligible if the L30 remains plugged 24/7.

Same question for the E30, but in ON and STANDBY modes. In other words :
  • L30 in OFF mode : ??? watts
  • E30 in ON mode : ??? watts
  • E30 in SBY mode : ??? watts
Thank you.
 
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alekksander

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Could somebody please (re)post the power consumption of the L30 in OFF mode? (not 'Idle' - Off !). If I remember well, it was said in this topic that the heavy power brick uses power all the time, even when the amp is turned off, and it's not negligible if the L30 remains plugged 24/7.

Same question for the E30, but in ON and STANDBY modes. In other words :
  • L30 in OFF mode : ??? watts
  • E30 in ON mode : ??? watts
  • E30 in SBY mode : ??? watts
Thank you.

For L30 my measurement tool shows:
6.1 Watt when turned on (0dB, knob at 90%)
2.9 Watt when turned off
2.3 Watt power brick only (not connected to anything at the other end)

This values aren't high, but personally i use remote power switch between my audio components and power applet.
I don't have E30 to check.
 

SergeyPe

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Hello everyone. Been a silent reader of this thread for some time; but as a purchase of E30/ L30 stack is considered now, I have a question to John.
Based on the photos of L30 internals published here, the TPA6120a2 are cooled by the heatsink put on top of the chips. However as it is stated in the datasheet, "The TPA6120A2 incorporates an exposed PowerPAD on the underside of the chip. This acts as a heatsink and must be connected to a
thermally dissipating plane for proper power dissipation. Failure to do so may result in exceeding the maximum junction temperature that
could permanently damage the device.". I'm wondering if this (soldering the PowerPad to the thermally dissipation plane on top of the PCB) is done with L30?
 

JohnYang1997

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Hello everyone. Been a silent reader of this thread for some time; but as a purchase of E30/ L30 stack is considered now, I have a question to John.
Based on the photos of L30 internals published here, the TPA6120a2 are cooled by the heatsink put on top of the chips. However as it is stated in the datasheet, "The TPA6120A2 incorporates an exposed PowerPAD on the underside of the chip. This acts as a heatsink and must be connected to a
thermally dissipating plane for proper power dissipation. Failure to do so may result in exceeding the maximum junction temperature that
could permanently damage the device.". I'm wondering if this (soldering the PowerPad to the thermally dissipation plane on top of the PCB) is done with L30?
The heatsink is extra. The bottom is also soldered.
 

Jose Hidalgo

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For L30 my measurement tool shows:
6.1 Watt when turned on (0dB, knob at 90%)
2.9 Watt when turned off
2.3 Watt power brick only (not connected to anything at the other end)
Thanks :) That doesn't look like much. I thought I had read values up to 20 W or so. I must be mistaken.
I'm surprised by the power consumption when turned off or even power brick only. Wasn't there a way to reduce that to almost 0 ? :oops: The L30 doesn't have a remote sensor or a standby mode, so when it's off it should be... well, really "OFF", lol.
 

JohnYang1997

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Thanks :) That doesn't look like much. I thought I had read values up to 20 W or so. I must be mistaken.
I'm surprised by the power consumption when turned off or even power brick only. Wasn't there a way to reduce that to almost 0 ? :oops: The L30 doesn't have a remote sensor or a standby mode, so when it's off it should be... well, really "OFF", lol.
With SMPS it's possible. Not with transformers though. There's always current running through the primary side.
When plugged in there's microcontroller running, detecting supply input voltage, undervolt, overvolt, DC in.
 

raybies

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Loooong time lurker, 1st post.
The L30 went in to my desktop setup PC > miniDSP > SVS 3000 Micro|L30 > Headphones|DIY Class A Amp > DIY speakers.
@JohnYang1997 great little amp; mine has been very transparent, with the only negative a slight physical drag on the pot. Sorry the successful launch turned it to a PitA, but that's just the way things go sometimes.

On the headphone side, I use the Sundara's w/ https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/innerfidelity/innerfidelity_harman_over-ear_2018/HIFIMAN Sundara PEQ on miniDSP/L30 @ +9dB and it's the only one of my numerous headphone amps that's made me like the Sundara's previously fairly bland experience. Using Qudelix 5K (PEQ) > xDuoo TA20 > Sundara, doesn't exhibit the same <60Hz tightness and airy presence.
My speakers, MDR-Z1R's and Denon AH-D7000's don't show any character development, so transparent.

This is probably the wrong place to ask, audio purests n' all, but just in case @JohnYang1997 is still reading... is there any chance Topping might consider developing a DAC w/ 4ch out + PEQ + Delay + sophisticated DSP algorythms... a miniDSP killer? When I say sophisticated DSP I mean along the lines of psuedo dimentionality, staging, reverb... or if you could implement a DSP design engine like this https://moddevices.com/products/mod-duo-x/ that would be a dream come true, ie open source the DSP effects. The Mod duo x while for music creation has a lot of useful ideas ypu can apply to standalone desktop DACs/Amps, it also rocks my world.
All my DACs ~sound the same, so I only upgrade for DSP.

Anyway L30's a great little clean and transparent amp... great job!
 

JohnYang1997

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Loooong time learker, 1st post.
The L30 went in to my desktop setup PC > miniDSP > SVS 3000 Micro|L30 > Headphones|DIY Class A Amp > DIY speakers.
@JohnYang1997 great little amp; mine has been very transparent, with the only negative a slight physical drag on the pot. Sorry the successful launch turned it to a PitA, but that's just the way things go sometimes.

On the headphone side, I use the Sundara's w/ https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/innerfidelity/innerfidelity_harman_over-ear_2018/HIFIMAN Sundara PEQ on miniDSP/L30 @ +9dB and it's the only one of my numerous headphone amps that's made me like the Sundara's previously fairly bland experience. Using Qudelix 5K (PEQ) > xDuoo TA20 > Sundara, doesn't exhibit the same <60Hz tightness and airy presence.
My speakers, MDR-Z1R's and Denon AH-D7000's don't show any character development, so transparent.

This is probably the wrong place to ask, audio purests n' all, but just in case @JohnYang1997 is still reading... is there any chance Topping might consider developing a DAC w/ 4ch out + PEQ + Delay + sophisticated DSP algorythms... a miniDSP killer? When I say sophisticated DSP I mean along the lines of psuedo dimentionality, staging, reverb... or if you could implement a DSP design engine like this https://moddevices.com/products/mod-duo-x/ that would be a dream come true, ie open source the DSP effects. The Mod duo x while for music creation has a lot of useful ideas ypu can apply to standalone desktop DACs/Amps, it also rocks my world.
All my DACs ~sound the same, so I only upgrade for DSP.

Anyway L30's a great little clean and transparent amp... great job!
I wouldn't say any about DSP. But I would say there are still a lot more things to be done.
 

Vini darko

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Loooong time learker, 1st post.
The L30 went in to my desktop setup PC > miniDSP > SVS 3000 Micro|L30 > Headphones|DIY Class A Amp > DIY speakers.
@JohnYang1997 great little amp; mine has been very transparent, with the only negative a slight physical drag on the pot. Sorry the successful launch turned it to a PitA, but that's just the way things go sometimes.

On the headphone side, I use the Sundara's w/ https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/innerfidelity/innerfidelity_harman_over-ear_2018/HIFIMAN Sundara PEQ on miniDSP/L30 @ +9dB and it's the only one of my numerous headphone amps that's made me like the Sundara's previously fairly bland experience. Using Qudelix 5K (PEQ) > xDuoo TA20 > Sundara, doesn't exhibit the same <60Hz tightness and airy presence.
My speakers, MDR-Z1R's and Denon AH-D7000's don't show any character development, so transparent.

This is probably the wrong place to ask, audio purests n' all, but just in case @JohnYang1997 is still reading... is there any chance Topping might consider developing a DAC w/ 4ch out + PEQ + Delay + sophisticated DSP algorythms... a miniDSP killer? When I say sophisticated DSP I mean along the lines of psuedo dimentionality, staging, reverb... or if you could implement a DSP design engine like this https://moddevices.com/products/mod-duo-x/ that would be a dream come true, ie open source the DSP effects. The Mod duo x while for music creation has a lot of useful ideas ypu can apply to standalone desktop DACs/Amps, it also rocks my world.
All my DACs ~sound the same, so I only upgrade for DSP.

Anyway L30's a great little clean and transparent amp... great job!
Hi welcome. We keep asking for toys on dacs and topping keep procrastinating.
 

raybies

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LOL, like it's so easy to quickly develop... :rolleyes:
...if there's one thing I learnt 22yrs ago as a sw developer, there's only one thing better than doing it yourself, and that's getting 100's of people to do it for you.
API + ARM SoC + storage > DAC = happy days.

I think there's demand for DSP correction and effects, you know stuff you can actually hear and play with vs a 0.0000001 thd chg.

I generally can't even hear the difference between ESS, AKM, Burr-Brown and Cirrus signatures, although I tend to talk myself in to perfering AKM and and BB bcos everyone says they're warmer. But messing with attack, decay, delay, reverb, PEQ... never ending fun.
I haven't invested the time in FIR filters to know how to use them.
 

Veri

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I think there's demand for DSP correction and effects, you know stuff you can actually hear and play with vs a 0.0000001 thd chg.

I generally can't even hear the difference between ESS, AKM, Burr-Brown and Cirrus signatures, although I tend to talk myself in to perfering AKM and and BB bcos everyone says they're warmer. But messing with attack, decay, delay, reverb, PEQ... never ending fun.
I haven't invested the time in FIR filters to know how to use them.
IMO one can't really hear FIR filters. And yeah it's as you say, once you have a DAC and amp with enough (EQ) headroom, not much to go from there. I'm sure more value-oriented gear with DSP will come, but it's not quite yet around the corner. People are too impatient :D
 

raybies

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IMO one can't really hear FIR filters.
FIR Filters. Not sure about that... I can enter numbers in to my miniDSP and get TOTALLY messed up sound, wierd echoes, static, whole bunch of horrible sounds @ huge dB.
DSP effects have been pretty popular with Dolby and available on the PC for decades. My $1k Walkman has some DSP effects which I can't even tell are I/O.
I think the reason is "audiophiles" and their absolute disdain for DSP, while loving cables and conditioners. So in the prosumer market manufacturers are scared of implementing them to not scare off the persuit of pureness... hence the Pure button nearly ever AVR now has.
RME ADI 2 DAC has DSP functionality (PEQ, Bass/Treble, Loudness), but again very limited to not offend the audiophile.

Sorry for hijacking the thread, L30 is excellent.
 

Veri

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Does anyone Did Modification and much better detail in result ?
Since it uses Topping's NFCA (Nested Feedback Composite Amplifier), messing with resistors or op-amps will very likely result in instability. You could mess around upgrading capacitors but I'd be absolutely amazed if it would result in "better detail" ;)
 

solderdude

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Does anyone Did Modification and much better detail in result ?

What modification would that be ?

'detail' is in the 2kHz-8kHz range.
It is flat from below 10Hz to above 100kHz (within 0.1dB) so... below and above all headphones out there and certainly below and above the audible range. Even if you take that beyond extremes.

How would one go about getting much better detail ?
What would need to be modified to do that ?
 
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