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Topping L30 II Review (Headphone Amp)

Rate this headphone amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 13 3.0%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 9 2.1%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 33 7.7%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 373 87.1%

  • Total voters
    428
I am very happy with the headphones already - just trying to ensure I wasn’t leaving any performance on the table due to the HP out power.


I was thinking about this, but unfortunately don’t have any other equipment. Have decided to try out the L50 and if that doesn’t improve anything, no amplifier will be fine for me. FWIW, I had someone blind test and they agreed that HP out directly was better than line out with amplifier - they described the former as much clearer which I agree with.

It’s just fascinating that an amp would make the sound worse so maybe you’re onto something and the unit was just bad or the 2i2 just doesn’t play nice with going to RCA/unbalanced outputs. At worst I would’ve expected equivalent performance, but the slightly worse sound is what’s confusing here.
FWIW, I also have a 4th gen 2i2, and for some reason the HP out on that sounds "sweeter" and more flattering than all my other amps. Maybe not technically better, but sweeter. It could be a similar thing you're experiencing with your 2i2. - While you may be happy with your Arya's, do you have any other headphones to compare with? I also suspect that a different pair of headphones will help. I hear more information/detail/dynamics on my pad rolled M50x's than I do on my Arya's.
 
Either you need a HP amp, or you don't. If you don't hear an improvement with the L30 II, and don't need the extra clean power for more volume in your phones, then you don't need an extra HP amp. The L50 sounds exactly like the L30 II, and these are some of the most clean/transparent/powerful HP amps available. With the L50, you'll have a better, pro audio connection with balanced TRS cables and passthrough for your speakers, but that's about all you'll notice. A different/better DAC may improve things a tiny bit, but I'm not sure you'd even notice the difference with a different DAC. You also have to take your headphones into account. Depending on how they synergise with your dac & amp, and how much detail your ears are able to extract from them, this also makes a difference. I have Arya Stealth's but I never use them for music production or critical listening (I rarely use them at all, actually). However, I do know that my Stealths sound better to me when I use them with a Ifi Zen Can amp (as opposed to a L30/L50) and that's because that amp has a bit of crosstalk & distortion that makes the headphones more pleasant to listen to, and here at ASR, crosstalk & distortion in an amp could be considered lousy performance. Maybe different headphones is what you need. It really does depend on what you are trying to achieve.
Update on this as the L50 just came in - it's better. Soundstage is wider and everything sounds clearer and more well defined. Looks like the problem then with the 2i2 to L30 II was the balanced to RCA, rather than balanced TRS to TRS that the L50 can provide. That being said, 2i2 can still power Arya Organics as they already sounded great FWIW, just leaving a bit of sound stage on the table. Appreciate the help all.
 
Just leaving a bit of sound stage on the table. Appreciate the help all.
You are aware then that on ASR, people don't really believe in amplifier sound stage? I sure didn't notice it between L30 and A90 o_O
 
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