Topping L30 II Review (Headphone Amp)

[staticV3]

Should I also check the output on my headphone amp also?

You could if you're curious.

What you could to is play some music on your DAC->L30 II->ATH-R70x and adjust the volume to your preference.
Then without touching the volume, plug out the headphone, play the 60Hz tone, and measure the voltage at the Amp output (requires something like this to get to the contacts):


Using that voltage, the R70x's sensitivity, and the average and peak dBFS level of the music that you used to set your preferred volume, you can now calculate the average and peak SPL of your audio system.

It's also possible to double-check your Amp's gain this way and make sure it's up to spec.
Simply measure the DAC's output voltage, then the Amp's output voltage with the knob turned all the way up, in whatever gain you'd like to test.
Then do 20*log10(Vout/Vin) and you get the gain in dB.

For all of these tests, please make sure that there's no replay gain etc. turned on in your music player. All audio should be played as-is, without any automatic volume adjustment.

 

[Trickle2x2]

Is it safe for my headphones to run the this amp in high gain mode? I can also get appropriate listening levels on the mid gain mode, but while I’m in high I don’t have to turn it up nearly as much.

 

[staticV3]

Is it safe for my headphones to run the this amp in high gain mode? I can also get appropriate listening levels on the mid gain mode, but while I’m in high I don’t have to turn it up nearly as much.

Ideally you should use the lowest gain that you can and the volume knob turned up as high as you can for comfortable volume.
Increase the gain only if even with the knob at max, it's still not loud enough.

 

[Trickle2x2]

Ideally you should use the lowest gain that you can and the volume knob turned up as high as you can for comfortable volume.
Increase the gain only if even with the knob at max, it's still not loud enough.

Is there any reason to use a lower gain over a high gain as far as safety goes for the headphones? Is it just a noise floor thing?

 

[staticV3]

Is there any reason to use a lower gain over a high gain as far as safety goes for the headphones?

Lower gain is safer in that should you fat finger the volume knob, there's no risk of damaging your hearing or your headphones.

There's also no advantage in using a higher gain, if the lower gain is enough to get sufficient volume.

 

[oscar_dziki]

Josh has just published his amp tier list...
And in the "S" category (superb, supreme, whatever) we can find... the A90 and the A90d.

Ok, but I highly doubt that he could tell A90 from E30 II in a blind test. I can't see any point in such reviews anymore.

 

[Mark S.]

Does the RCA pass-through work with the amp powered off? ETA >> maybe a dumb question since it has a headphone/preamp selector, I guess that'll be a 'no'.

 

[Rja4000]

Does the RCA pass-through work with the amp powered off?

There is no Pass Through

 

[xowny]

im using this with my scarlett solo as the dac, would i get a better/cleaner sound swapping the scarlett for the motu m2/m4? i couldnt find any info regarding this units capabilities as dacs, quality wise, sorry if this was already brought up, cheers.

 

[Trickle2x2]

So when comparing my Topping L30 II to my JDS Labs Atom + with both using high gain I noticed that they both have relatively the same volume levels with the Topping maybe being a touch louder when I am matching them at about the same 12 o’clock position and so forth. With the L30 II having more power I figured it should be much louder when matching the volume wheel. Should I send my unit back, possible issue? I do not have the test leads to measure the amps output.

 

[Ahmonge]

So when comparing my Topping L30 II to my JDS Labs Atom + with both using high gain I noticed that they both have relatively the same volume levels with the Topping maybe being a touch louder when I am matching them at about the same 12 o’clock position and so forth. With the L30 II having more power I figured it should be much louder when matching the volume wheel. Should I send my unit back, possible issue? I do not have the test leads to measure the amps output.

The position of the volume control has little to do with the maximum power of the amplifier, except that, by turning up the volume, there will be a position where maximum power is reached and distortion will rise sharply.

When comparing two amplifiers of different power ratings, they may both give similar volumes at the same volume control position, but the position at which maximum power is reached may differ between the two. Also, the power response curves with respect to volume control position are not the same for all amplifiers. It should also be noted that if one amplifier gives twice as much maximum power as the other, the difference in perceived volume is only three decibels, which is a relatively low value.

 

[staticV3]

im using this with my scarlett solo as the dac, would i get a better/cleaner sound swapping the scarlett for the motu m2/m4? i couldnt find any info regarding this units capabilities as dacs, quality wise, sorry if this was already brought up, cheers.

though we don't have APx measurements of the Solo, we do have some of the 2i2: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...rlett-2i2-audio-interface-gen-3-review.10187/

Luckily, the DAC section is idential between the two according to Focusrite's specs, so what you see in the 2i2 review DAC-wise, should apply to your Solo as well.

However, Amir has only measured the 2i2's TRS Line outs as proper Balanced outputs whereas plugged into an L30 II, you'd be discarding the Cold signal, which depending on the design of the DAC, can affect the output signal negatively.

 

[half_dog]

So when comparing my Topping L30 II to my JDS Labs Atom + with both using high gain I noticed that they both have relatively the same volume levels with the Topping maybe being a touch louder when I am matching them at about the same 12 o’clock position and so forth. With the L30 II having more power I figured it should be much louder when matching the volume wheel. Should I send my unit back, possible issue? I do not have the test leads to measure the amps output.

A potentiometer (pot) of an amplifier is similar to a car throttle, you might have 700hp in a car but you will only get it all with a full open throttle. The pot limits how much of signal from the source (DAC, pc, dongle) will feed the circuit of the amplifier (in the case of L30 II).

 

[Trickle2x2]

At approx. 60% level setting, High gain, feeding it with 2V, I get around 4.6V output at 300 Ohm
If we get the same on 470 Ohm, that's 45 mW
Or 115dB SPL if we trust AT specs.

It's pretty possible the AT starts to distort badly at such level.
Same for your ears.
But the L30 II, as per Amir's measurements, would have distortion at or below -115dB at that level.

I'm afraid I have no clue.

This is what Audio Technica said about impedance matching
Hello,



I would not necessarily agree with that statement. Impedance is the amount of resistance in the signal between the two components. Similar to holding your finger over the nozzle of a water hose, this can cause a stronger water stream however too much can not be optimized. You are trying to properly match the voltage between the two and the “ideal” matching is to have the headphones be 8 – 10 times that of the headphone amp.

 

[skam22]

I think I'd buy this to enhance the audio quality of my current setup.
From TV RCA out > amp RCA input > amp headphone out > powered speaker RCA in

 

[staticV3]

Impedance is the amount of resistance in the signal between the two components. Similar to holding your finger over the nozzle of a water hose, this can cause a stronger water stream however too much can not be optimized. You are trying to properly match the voltage between the two and the “ideal” matching is to have the headphones be 8 – 10 times that of the headphone amp.

I don't agree with this. Unlike pinching a water nozzle, increasing the output impedance can never lead to a "stronger water stream".
Any output impedance greater than 0Ω represents an (admittedly load dependent) internal loss in signal strength.

In the same stroke, your headphones should have 8x the impedance of your headphone output or greater! Any increase in damping factor is a net gain.

I'm genuinely concerned that Audio Technica Customer Support is giving their customers such poor information.

 

[Trickle2x2]

I don't agree with this. Unlike pinching a water nozzle, increasing the output impedance can never lead to a "stronger water stream".
Any output impedance greater than 0Ω represents an (admittedly load dependent) internal loss in signal strength.

In the same stroke, your headphones should have 8x the impedance of your headphone output or greater! Any increase in damping factor is a net gain.

I'm genuinely concerned that Audio Technica Customer Support is giving their customers such poor information.

Not to mention I can not get any info on the one amp they recommended to me on its output impedance, so who is to say it isn’t the same as the Topping L30 II. I’ll stick to my Topping as I’ll probably be trying IEM’s also in the future.

 

[bitonio]

Hi ASR fellows,

For those of you considering to buy the Topping L30 II and scrubbing these pages, here are my insights after about a year of use.

I have a limited experience on headphone amps, I went into the balanced rabbit hole and decided to step out of it, hence this little performer.
I won't comment the sound, for me it is as good as it can get, no perceptible noise even on my CIEMs. It is extremely transparent, very revealing of the Mojo2 precision.

What I like:

• All physical buttons are at the front. A nice change from my previous amp a Schiit Jot.
• They provide a 6.35mm to 3.5mm adapter in the box
• Very small footprint: takes really a limited space in your desk
• Gain switch is handy when handling all kind of source or headphones/earphones
• The unit turns on and can be used very quickly, the relay kicks in within 1-2s max (also a nice change from previous amp)
• The front power on LED is not too bright
• The unit is small and lightweight, and the feet keeps the unit in place on the desk

What I don't like:

• The volume knob feels poor
  • aligned with the price of the unit but it really doesn't feel good,
  • when your turn it you feel it need a few degrees before it actually change the volume
  • you don't see the mark, a white line/dot would have been nice, I need to fix that with some tape
• Bulky power adapter (brick) which won't fit in most powerstrip
• Power cable is short
• Slight L/R channel imbalance at low volume

Worth to be noted:

• The unit runs a bit hot, but nothing crazy compared to other desktop amps.

For this price point, you probably don't have many options: Schiit Magni+, JDS Lab Atom+
Good single ended headphone amp are not so common, not sure what would be an actual upgrade from this little guy! Something with a real knob for sure!

 

[Ahmonge]

Good single ended headphone amp are not so common, not sure what would be an actual upgrade from this little guy! Something with a real knob for sure!

Perhaps A30 Pro? My unit has a good volume knob that allows for very fine adjustments

 

[Rja4000]

Hi ASR fellows,

For those of you considering to buy the Topping L30 II and scrubbing these pages, here are my insights after about a year of use.

I have a limited experience on headphone amps, I went into the balanced rabbit hole and decided to step out of it, hence this little performer.
I won't comment the sound, for me it is as good as it can get, no perceptible noise even on my CIEMs. It is extremely transparent, very revealing of the Mojo2 precision.

What I like:

• All physical buttons are at the front. A nice change from my previous amp a Schiit Jot.
• They provide a 6.35mm to 3.5mm adapter in the box
• Very small footprint: takes really a limited space in your desk
• Gain switch is handy when handling all kind of source or headphones/earphones
• The unit turns on and can be used very quickly, the relay kicks in within 1-2s max (also a nice change from previous amp)
• The front power on LED is not too bright
• The unit is small and lightweight, and the feet keeps the unit in place on the desk

What I don't like:

• The volume knob feels poor
  • aligned with the price of the unit but it really doesn't feel good,
  • when your turn it you feel it need a few degrees before it actually change the volume
  • you don't see the mark, a white line/dot would have been nice, I need to fix that with some tape
• Slight L/R channel imbalance at low volume

Worth to be noted:

• The unit runs a bit hot, but nothing crazy compared to other desktop amps.

For this price point, you probably don't have many options: Schiit Magni+, JDS Lab Atom+
Good single ended headphone amp are not so common, not sure what would be an actual upgrade from this little guy! Something with a real knob for sure!

I'd add to the drawbacks:
Enormous "plug in" power supply.

And to the benefits:
This thing just sounds great and loud (when needed).