Topping L30 II Review (Headphone Amp)

[tlr125]

Does a P50 make sense in conjunction with the E30/ L30?

nope, can't be used with L30 since it's a DC supply unit

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

Oh, I totally overlooked that.
L30 II is supplied with 15V AC...

 

[bleagh]

Hi,
I am trying to understand why the SINAD rating is better than the Distortion vs Power...?
For example, the SINAD rating is just over 121 dB (2 volts in/2 volts out, doesn't say the loading...?).
But the Distortion vs Power seem to max out around 116 dB at BOTH 300 ohm and 32 ohm (2 volts in/ 2 volts out, so the very end of the green Med Gain on the graphs).

Why is the SINAD 5 dB better than the noise and distortion graphs?

Thanks

 

[Imrealbeast]

I just received both the Topping L30 II and E30 II. Its my first amp/dac and I'm pairing it with Sundaras. I have some noob questions if anyone can answer them. I get the volume I want at about 12-3 o'clock on medium gain and 9-12 o'clock on high gain also all on 0 dB on the E30. Should I have the E30 on 0dB or should I put it to something like -5 dB and just turn the volume up on the amp? Also what would be the difference between me listening on medium vs high gain? Have had the amp on for about 45 minutes and its only slightly warm by the way everyone.

Edit: Amp has been running for about 5 hours or so. It is still only slightly warm, almost room temp
Also I don't know if it's just some type of placebo but high gain sounds slightly better

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

I watched the understanding dynamic range video again, and wonder if it wouldn't even be beneficial for the dynamic range and the SNR,
if I left the volume control in its ideal position (fully turned up),
and controlled the volume with the Neutor Player as already mentioned?!

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

Only thing missing is the headphones...

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

Heard few minutes with the HE-4XX.
Absolutely fantastic sound.
Ultra clean, gigantic dynamics.

However, I got 2x an error message on the E30 II:

Topping E30 II DAC Review

Does this new version use more power than the original E30 at 96khz 32bit and higher?

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Ashimaru]

I just received both the Topping L30 II and E30 II. Its my first amp/dac and I'm pairing it with Sundaras. I have some noob questions if anyone can answer them. I get the volume I want at about 12-3 o'clock on medium gain and 9-12 o'clock on high gain also all on 0 dB on the E30. Should I have the E30 on 0dB or should I put it to something like -5 dB and just turn the volume up on the amp? Also what would be the difference between me listening on medium vs high gain? Have had the amp on for about 45 minutes and its only slightly warm by the way everyone.

Edit: Amp has been running for about 5 hours or so. It is still only slightly warm, almost room temp
Also I don't know if it's just some type of placebo but high gain sounds slightly better

Set the E30 II volume at 0dB or DAC mode. L30 II at mid gain, and adjust volume at L30 II for ear comfort.

 

[Ashimaru]

I watched the understanding dynamic range video again, and wonder if it wouldn't even be beneficial for the dynamic range and the SNR,
if I left the volume control in its ideal position (fully turned up),
and controlled the volume with the Neutor Player as already mentioned?!

Same answer as above and setting your Neutron player/phone at full volume. But if you're far away from the device, I'd prefer to set the E30 II in preamp mode and adjust the volume using the remote for ear comfort.

 

[staticV3]

Max Richter - Cradle to the Grave

Nice (from youtube). That's almost full scale 28 Hz.

Here's the spectrogram:

And Audition's amplitude statistics:

So yeah, definitely slightly illegal at 00:58 and 1:04. I'm a bit suprised that YouTube's algorithms didn't catch the clipping.

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

Same answer as above and setting your Neutron player/phone at full volume. But if you're far away from the device, I'd prefer to set the E30 II in preamp mode and adjust the volume using the remote for ear comfort.

I'm sitting close to it.

Yesterday, I realized once again,
that there's really no more convenient way to control the volume,
than using the smartphone's volume buttons.
Not only that.
The more information I gather, the more I come to the conclusion,
that it should also be qualitatively, the best way, to control the volume.
"Deactivate" the analog pot, i.e. turn it up fully, and control it digitally in the player.

 

[Ashimaru]

I'm sitting close to it.

Yesterday, I realized once again,
that there's really no more convenient way to control the volume,
than using the smartphone's volume buttons.
Not only that.
The more information I gather, the more I come to the conclusion,
that it should also be qualitatively, the best way, to control the volume.
"Deactivate" the analog pot, i.e. turn it up fully, and control it digitally in the player.

Lowering the volume digitally will reduce the dynamic range. That's where the analog volume function, can keep the dynamic range high. The data from your music has been properly converted to analog, then volume changes in analog way so you will get the best sound quality. But it's okay if you are more comfortable using the volume of the phone. Just do it.

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

This is not correct, also the analog volume control influences the dynamic range.

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

...The data from your music has been properly converted to analog, then volume changes in analog way so you will get the best sound quality...

I also see this differently.
As clean as the digital volume control is, no analog potentiometer in the world can be.
Amir's copy of the L30 II had a difference of up to 0.7 dB between the left and right channels.
That is certainly audible.

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

In the manual of the Adi 2 pro I found some interesting information on the subject.
From this I found many more arguments for the digital volume control.
Owners of an E30 II / L30 II combination have it good, because they have the choice:
digital or analog

 

[Roland68]

This is not correct, also the analog volume control influences the dynamic range.

How is that supposed to work?

 

[Ashimaru]

I also see this differently.
As clean as the digital volume control is, no analog potentiometer in the world can be.
Amir's copy of the L30 II had a difference of up to 0.7 dB between the left and right channels.
That is certainly audible.

impressive, you can hear a difference of 0.7dB

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

Depending on which frequency range we are talking about, the answer is: of course.

 

[Ashimaru]

This is not correct, also the analog volume control influences the dynamic range.

If you lower the volume in an analog way, the noise will also be reduced.
Meanwhile, if you lower the volume digitally, the noise will not be reduced. That's why the SNR/Dynamic range will decrease when you lower the volume digitally.

But I can't prohibit from using digital volumes. Just use it for your convenience

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

I have discovered an old whitepaper from Wolfson.

There you can read that actually a reduction of the resolution (lower SNR), is generated by quantization errors.
While the SNR remains constant with an analog volume control.

However I ask myself, in how far one with the Neutron player, which works internally with 64 bits, I dither activated, and the signal with 32 bits, and 384 kHz to the converter sends...

In addition, there is probably a publication in, Zwicker: Psychoacoustics,
Although according to the ear is not able to notice the lower resolution because the signal also becomes quieter.

Well, listening quietly is nothing for me anyway...

I just wonder then why Amir measured only 100 dB dynamic range at the output of 50mV?