Topping L30 II Review (Headphone Amp)

[anderl1962]

no more answers to my question?

 

[Badunn]

Hi all

First post. Great fascinating website but costing me money in new hardware as I’m now realising how I been duped buying a chord mojo (and to a lesser extent Ifi Zen Dac v2) having just purchased a Smsl c200. The improvement was astounding. Night and Day. Black and White. I could go on. So good in fact I bought two (and convinced a friend to buy one, just with the superlatives I used)

Anyhoo - will I benefit from adding the L30ii? I use Monoprice 1060c headphones (open back mod) and listen to flac files from my laptop.

Yes would be a good answer if improvement to be yielded. No would be a good answer as it saves me money.

Baz

 

[staticV3]

@Badunn do you find yourself turning up the C200 to full volume and still missing loudness? Then adding an L30II might be worth it.
Otherwise, there's nothing to be gained from adding a more powerful Amp.

 

[Badunn]

There’s no volume issue. I’m trying it eek out every last ounce of detail / performance. The c200 creates such a wonderful layered sound its been a revelation. It blew the chord mojo just right out the park.

I have been looking at the option that balanced headphone output may yield something but tbh the more I read the more confused I get… and that balanced headphone output is maybe no more than snake oil.

Baz

 

[Roland68]

no more answers to my question?

Unfortunately, you can only try it out to see if it works. The Topping L30 II has a gain of 16.5dB, which could be enough for your headphones.
The Cyrus Quadro is still one of the old devices that work with about 0.2 volts. Today's headphone amplifiers expect at least 2 volts, or more.

May I ask what you use the Cyrus Quadro for and what sources you have?

 

[staticV3]

the more I read the more confused I get… and that balanced headphone output is maybe no more than snake oil.

A differential headphone output has value on battery-powered or USB-powered Amps where you're limited by power supply voltage.
On mains-powered Amps, there's no advantage.

 

[Badunn]

You’ve just saved me a little bit of money…kudos to your goodself!

 

[amanieux]

You cannot do that. You neither can, nor even want to.

The same way that you don't need to post four times in a row asking about it.


Both stupid and bad.

ok i got the memo i wanted to have confirmation from multiple persons because it seems i am not the first idiot to think about using a headphone amp for speakers in a near field configuration as it requires super low power. are there speaker amps designed exclusively for near field ?

 

[VintageFlanker]

(the closer you are, the less room reflections matters and the more details we hear )

That is inaccurate. Many speakers aren't optimal for "super nearfield" (what distance are you talking about, BTW?) nor they have the adequate directivity profile to perform as such.

You want nearfield listening, buy speakers designed adequately. If "super nearfield" is 30cm, then this doesn't make sense: just use headphones.

 

[amanieux]

That is inaccurate. Many speakers aren't optimal for "super nearfield" (what distance are you talking about, BTW?) nor they have the adequate directivity profile to perform as such.

You want nearfield listening, buy speakers designed adequately. If "super nearfield" is 30cm, then this doesn't make sense: just use headphones.

i am not sure what speakers are designed for near field but i tried, 3", 4.5", and 5.25" speakers and all these are more pleasant to my ears in super near field than my headphones or iems at the same price bracket

the advantage of super near field (1 to 2 feet) with speakers over headphones is that you get almost the same level of details but a more natural and transparent sound stage with crossfeed and hrtf instead of the typical "inside your head" headphones/iems stage, not to mention that headphones pads tend to get hot after some time or iems tend be uncomfortable inside our ears for long listenings. i am curious about the downsides of super near field, as nothing is perfect there must be some downsides other than speakers on a desktop taking much more space than headphones/iems.

 

[anderl1962]

@ Roland68:
Good morning,
i´m using the Cyrus Quattro as my pre-amp. It services my turntable and the bluetooth from my laptop, also Cd and Radio from the Quattro. So i can change how loud it should be with the remote control from the Quattro, because the amp Mission Cyrus One is without remote control.

My sources are:
Pre-amp: Cyrus Quattro
Amp 1: Mission Cyrus One ( old version from the 1980´s )
Amp 2: Tube amp Fezz Audio Alpha Lupi
Amp switch: Dynavox Amp-S
Turntable: EMT 938 with TSD 15
Record Cleaning Machine: Hannl Micro with round brush
Bluetooth: receiver: Audioengine B1
Loudspeaker: Opera Simpy 2015
Headphone: AKG-K490NC

Oh gerade gesehen Du bist in Kölle? Dann können wir ja deutsch reden, grins. Ich habe 15 Jahre in Remscheid und Radevormwald gelebt. Lebe jetzt seit April 2022 dauerhaft ( hoffentlich, grins ) in Thailand.

Gruß
Andreas

 

[solderdude]

Hi Andreas,

The K490C combined with the L30-II in high gain setting with its volume full open and volume controlled by the Mission will work fine.
Your headphone can reach 120dB SPL peak on this setup so impressively loud levels.
It will work because of the very high sensitivity of the AKG (117dB/V) and the gain setting in H (16.5dB) is high enough for the 240mV output of the Quattro.

 

[anderl1962]

thank you for your answer, so i do it.

 

[A_T_O_M_I_C_Rooster]

I just purchased a Dan Clark Aeon RT Closed set of headphones. Can anybody please tell me if this is of sufficient quality and power to drive these headphones? If not, can you please recommend a headphone amp under $800.00 that can suffice?

 

[Veri]

I just purchased a Dan Clark Aeon RT Closed set of headphones. Can anybody please tell me if this is of sufficient quality and power to drive these headphones? If not, can you please recommend a headphone amp under $800.00 that can suffice?

Did you read the listening tests? This amp should work just fine for your Aeons~ (given a nominal 2Vrms DAC input).

 

[spalmgre]

did you give it a try ?

My initial post was about using the L30 II as compression driver amplifier in a active set up.

No not yet but I’m still in the process. The PA5 did steal my interest but that is a overkill for my need of 0, 5-2w range. Must take a look at the L30 II once more.

 

[Papaya_X]

Hey, I'm looking for some advice !

I'm wondering which one of the "good" and "cheap" headphones amps I should take :

- This Topping L30 II , which is clearly stunning - 149€
- Sabaj A10h - 73€ , seems very good and cheap for SE needs
- Sabaj A20h - 115€ , cheaper than L30 II but it has balanced output, screen, resistor volume knob...
- Topping L50 , with balanced output and quiet similar to L30 II - 165€
- Any other product under 250€ ?

Note : I need to drive Beyerdynamic 250 Ohms and I plan in the future (not especially soon) to upgrade to other potentially better headphones like Hifiman Ananda or something under 800€

 

[Veri]

@Papaya_X Note that L50 just features balanced inputs and a balanced output connector but is not actually balanced power-wise.
If you will be using IEMs too, the L30 II is a no brainer for its low gain. If no, the Sabaj A20h is stupid good for 115€..

 

[okok]

some original L30 exploded, does L30 ii suffer from that too

 

[staticV3]

I just purchased a Dan Clark Aeon RT Closed set of headphones. Can anybody please tell me if this is of sufficient quality and power to drive these headphones? If not, can you please recommend a headphone amp under $800.00 that can suffice?

The L30II can output about 6.8Vrms into a 13Ω load (Aeon RT Closed) before clipping.
That's enough for a little over 114dB SPL peak at 425Hz.
For reference, 110dB is "fairly loud", 115dB is "very loud".