Topping L30 II Review (Headphone Amp)

[Jimster480]

What are the headphones. Honestly I'm surprised that anyone answered your question, without this info.

It shouldn't matter too much as all 3 amps have enough power for most every headphone.

 

[Veri]

Are you sure your new l30ii amps wont explode like your older l30 amps? I will buy one soon if I find it safe.

Considering it's very close to the original design and power supply, just some changes to make it perform even better; safe to say it has the safety fixes the L30 non-first batches have had applied lol. Would be bad for the company otherwise.. obviously it is tested for ESD shocks.

 

[Imrealbeast]

I was thinking of buying an Element III after my schiit product was DOA and I asked for a refund but now I might buy topping L30 II and E30 II. Would there be any reason at all to spend $150 more for the Element? Headphones that will be used are Sundara and DT 900 250ohm. In the future I may get Aryas or some type of Audeze.

 

[Veri]

In the future I may get Aryas or some type of Audeze.

Yeah I'd get the L30 ii. Unless you really want the JDS Element knob, of course

 

[thecity2]

What are the headphones. Honestly I'm surprised that anyone answered your question, without this info.

Hifiman HE-4XX I got from Drop a few years back.

 

[Jimster480]

I was thinking of buying an Element III after my schiit product was DOA and I asked for a refund but now I might buy topping L30 II and E30 II. Would there be any reason at all to spend $150 more for the Element? Headphones that will be used are Sundara and DT 900 250ohm. In the future I may get Aryas or some type of Audeze.

The knob is cool. USA support & mfg also.
Has a screen on top too with menus of settings.

 

[raif71]

I did commented on several posts in the L30 thread on the low power I experienced from the amp when paired with E30 DAC and other DACs that similarly put out 2V. When paired with the mojo that has max 3V, only then did the L30 became alive. I was using the track Beethoven 5th/7th by Carlos Klieber DSD format . I actually maxed the volume @high gain but it didn't hurt my ears paired with E30 and using Senn hd600. I'm really looking forward to the L30II to pair with the E30. My E30 is fine, paired it with the Zen Can and I find nothing wrong with it.

Correction: Max the volume during mid gain, around 1 o'clock on high gain. I just tested the beethoven yesterday on the e30/l30 stack in anticipation of getting the l30ii arriving hopefully next week. Will compare the volume levels when it arrives. I'm expecting more headroom with the l30ii and will never need the high gain with said DSD track and using Senn hd600.

 

[AndreaT]

I could not resist. $ 149 w S&H included…for a SOA headphone amplifier! Yes, there is indeed human progress to higher and better, and the Topping L30 II rekindles me with this notion.

 

[Jimster480]

I could not resist. $ 149 w S&H included…for a SOA headphone amplifier! Yes, there is indeed human progress to higher and better, and the Topping L30 II rekindles me with this notion.

It is definitely amazing what can be had for a low price these days. A vast difference from 5 years ago.

 

[spalmgre]

I'm thinking of trying the L30II with my hi-sensitive bi-amped speaker drivers. The compression driver returns 110db/1W 1m and the JBL 10" 2123 driver does 101db/1W 1m.

This level of sensitivity is a serious issue as you easily hear all noise that the amplifier has. I like many others do use L-pad networks to attenuate the amplifier's noise. Typical attention is about 15db.

So the question that I'm asking myself is how does the L30II cope with loads at 8ohm level. I can see from Amirs measurement max voltage level 10Vrms at 32ohm. 6V at 16ohm and 3Vrms at 12ohm. So will there be enough juice at 8 ohm level?
The listening level is maxed 83 db and the compression driver is playing from 1kHz up. So there is very little energy in the music. The mid driver plays 200-1000Hz and there is of course more energy needed.

I think it can be worth the money 150€ to give it a try but I also welcome some thoughts from those of you who are into hi sensitive speakers.

 

[Vini darko]

I'm thinking of trying the L30II with my hi-sensitive bi-amped speaker drivers. The compression driver returns 110db/1W 1m and the JBL 10" 2123 driver does 101db/1W 1m.

This level of sensitivity is a serious issue as you easily hear all noise that the amplifier has. I like many others do use L-pad networks to attenuate the amplifier's noise. Typical attention is about 15db.

So the question that I'm asking myself is how does the L30II cope with loads at 8ohm level. I can see from Amirs measurement max voltage level 10Vrms at 32ohm. 6V at 16ohm and 3Vrms at 12ohm. So will there be enough juice at 8 ohm level?
The listening level is maxed 83 db and the compression driver is playing from 1kHz up. So there is very little energy in the music. The mid driver plays 200-1000Hz and there is of course more energy needed.

I think it can be worth the money 150€ to give it a try but I also welcome some thoughts from those of you who are into hi sensitive speakers.

I suspect it will put to much thermal load on the amp.

 

[spalmgre]

I suspect it will put to much thermal load on the amp.

Good point but that could be dealt with. I could add some heatsink. Or I could add an 8ohm resistor in series.

 

[tlr125]

just bought one, specs are awesome, no doubt, @JohnYang1997 could you help with approriate settings for using L30II with low sensivity (and low impedance) planars? i need to get maximum amperage from L30II in particular case, should i switch to high gain or leave it at mid-gain setting?
and i have HD800s also (it have a normal sensivity but high impedance), so i need a more voltage to drive it, wanna some advice for setting L30II properly (high gain i guess?)
does it have OPAmps or it's kind a TPA6102A-based AMP only?
should i use linear power supply with this one? is there any sense to use LPSU in terms of power from headphone output?

 

[Jimster480]

just bought one, specs are awesome, no doubt, @JohnYang1997 could you help with approriate settings for using L30II with low sensivity (and low impedance) planars? i need to get maximum amperage from L30II in particular case, should i switch to high gain or leave it at mid-gain setting?
and i have HD800s also (it have a normal sensivity but high impedance), so i need a more voltage to drive it, wanna some advice for setting L30II properly (high gain i guess?)
does it have OPAmps or it's kind a TPA6102A-based AMP only?
should i use linear power supply with this one? is there any sense to use LPSU in terms of power from headphone output?

You just set the game based on how much volume you want. Usually I try to keep the gain at the lowest setting where the volume pot is not at the bottom. I would say that planners are probably not going to work well with the lowest gain setting because it is actually a negative game for sensitive iems. Planars are current heavy so you would be looking at medium gain in my opinion.

 

[Ashimaru]

just bought one, specs are awesome, no doubt, @JohnYang1997 could you help with approriate settings for using L30II with low sensivity (and low impedance) planars? i need to get maximum amperage from L30II in particular case, should i switch to high gain or leave it at mid-gain setting?
and i have HD800s also (it have a normal sensivity but high impedance), so i need a more voltage to drive it, wanna some advice for setting L30II properly (high gain i guess?)
does it have OPAmps or it's kind a TPA6102A-based AMP only?
should i use linear power supply with this one? is there any sense to use LPSU in terms of power from headphone output?

I'm not John Yang, but I think he would say that you don't need to increase the gain if you have enough volume. And don't be afraid to turn the volume knob up. Distortion at L30 or L30 II will not increase when you turn the volume up.

 

[Jimster480]

I'm not John Yang, but I think he would say that you don't need to increase the gain if you have enough volume. And don't be afraid to turn the volume knob up. Distortion at L30 or L30 II will not increase when you turn the volume up.

Usually lower gain + higher volume = lower distortion & better channel matching.

 

[tlr125]

And don't be afraid to turn the volume knob up. Distortion at L30 or L30 II will not increase when you turn the volume up.

yeah i know, just interesting to know which gain setting is best for highest CURRENT output, sometimes high gain mode is for highest voltage and lowering the gain can give more current to low impedance headphones with low sensivity. Due to the specs L30II have 1400ma as maximum, which is really good, and i assume those numbers are for 16ohm or maybe even lower, just wanna know the gain setting used for measurement

 

[Jimster480]

yeah i know, just interesting to know which gain setting is best for highest CURRENT output, sometimes high gain mode is for highest voltage and lowering the gain can give more current to low impedance headphones with low sensivity. Due to the specs L30II have 1400ma as maximum, which is really good, and i assume those numbers are for 16ohm or maybe even lower, just wanna know the gain setting used for measurement

Well you can see that somewhat with Amir's graphs.

 

[raif71]

My unit already arrive at the local audio shop and the seller was kind to provide these two photos. Will only be able to pick it up next week. To those wondering the packaging ...

 

[RJO]

^Thanks for posting pics. I’m expecting mine next week and will be using it for an IEM because the Sabaj A20d I recently bought causes static noise at the output port whenever the jack gets plugged in. It doesn’t happen with my digital player; I’m hoping that it won’t happen here as well.
With that said, I’ll be using the DAC portion of the Sabaj and then bypass its HPA for this unit via rca.