Topping E30 _(Z Reviews)_ Almost Perfect..

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[SuenaTremendo]

HI Zeos, great review. The E30 is not always in pre amp mode, if you press and hold for 3 seconds the on/off button while the E30 is off it will switch to DAC mode. Greetings from Argentina.

[snl]

Happily running E30 on $10000+ home system (replacing older $1500 DAC)...quality digital becoming VERY cheap.
@Zeos - There is a SLEEP MODE win you didn't mention: SLEEP function allows auto-select input on wake...so any of my connected Spotify(optical), NAS(USB), CD(coax) sources start playing when E30 detects signal from sleep...haven't touched my E30 (DAC mode) once.

[SumGuyOnTheInternet]

i found this in a amazon return bin for 7 bucks and i just needed something to interface headphones to my xbox. now this has started my audiophile journey. thanks for the review!

[AaronMais]

You can disable the volume on this DAC. I have mine in my living room connected to my IOTAVX SA3, so no need for volume control. It's a great little DAC.

[helmuttemmen]

Hello Zeos,
I bought this because of your and Sandus recommendation .It sounds really great, i hear it with „King Tobby in the Echochamber“ you can hear every detail.
Thank you both, you and Sandu for this great review.
Best regards from Germany
It is the VW Beetle under the dac‘s, VW dac...must have.

[musicxxa]

Great budget dac. Endgame dac. I like how it looks (especially the silver one) but i personally prefer a wider case instead of deeper. I will buy this when it's stack amp counterpart release. Topping L30 probably gonna release next month. Endgame transparent, good looking, good functioning, godlike measuring dac amps. I think these are pinnacle of op amp based dac amp combo.

[b]

On two of my amps, I could not hearing much difference between the E 30 and the Modi 3 on Cornwall IVs. Connected to a nice tube amp, the base was much better and the trebles nice and clear on the E30. The filtering also made a difference when correcting for a little glassiness. Definitely better than the Modi 3 which I liked.

[AmesFornaldson]

Im using this DAC in pure DAC mode, Daphile with A30 (burson v5i dual) and Sony amplifiier with Yamaha speakers. Im going to love this E30 for the rest of my life. Its sounds really good.

[inspektahphizzl]

I love your reviews!
They are informative and entertaining at the same time!
Keep up good work mate!

[Qwizh]

Listening to this from my E30. Such a great DAC.

[joshy_bennett]

The X8 has a fixed rca out and a variable rca out. I was looking at it for my desk to pair with my swans and Jotunheim.

[ruvamsi]

Powering the unit with an external battery improved the sound quality greatly for me compared to the usb port on my TV and computer. I can't imagine Topping's own linear power supply could do any better.
My only negative for the E30 is the pre-amp functionality. Lowering the volume more than 5 decibels resulted in significant loss of dynamics. But I still use it in preamp mode to adjust volume mismatched tracks (so lower/raise just 1-3db) and the mute button, all around great remote: ergonomic, good range. I detected no loss in SQ between dac mode and volume all the way up in preamp mode

You can definitely hear the filters through quality speakers! And it's very apparent! Im surprised you didn't touch on DAC mode...makes a big difference in sound quality.

[jesushuerta]

No one mentions the Polarity issue in this model. Zeos in all the video use the Dac with optical input and he seems happy with the sound.Maybe not everyone would notice that issue.

[chrisf]

Enjoyed the review.
Slightly crazy guy but clearly knowledgeable.
Cheers

[addisson]

Good usb charged DAC for
car audio, I guess I nailed the implication.

[splaff]

Got mine from Apos Audio. Fantastic company to work with. They get it to you MAD quick from China or from their warehouse in Oakland, CA. Superb customer service. They were out of my color so they took $10 off the price and basically overnighted the shipping so i got it in like 2 days. The DAC is superb by the way. Love it

[BadMonkeyFinger_Audio]

Curious to know why you didn't disable the Pre to test the DAC. The DAC performs better in DAC mode, over PRE mode. However, I bought this DAC based on your and other's reviews, and had high hopes. But I must have been high when I had those hopes, because this DAC is mid-fi at best.

Sure, it's 'open-sounding' - very wide sound field, with very good separation/ imaging. It has bright and shiny sound. It can sound beautifully crystalline with the right recording, but overall, it's just too edgy and tipped up in the high end on my systems, which consist of Sugden, Exposure, and Sansui amps, with a variety of speakers, ranging from Epos ES14 to Rega Ela Mk1 to NHT SZ, to ADS 570/2, ADS470/2, Rega Ara, and Monitor Audios. In other words, I have a lot of equipment to use in my sampling, and this DAC was too edgy on all except the softest-sounding of my systems. In addition, the perceived brightness is exacerbated by a lean-ish midrange and lean upper bass. There's no 'substance' to the music. The performers seem flat (albeit clear and shiny); they simply have no depth to them - no three-dimensionality.

The Sanskrit 10th V2 was far warmer-sounding, with slightly rolled off treble by comparison, and tremendously more full-bodied presentation (attributable to the fuller-sounding midrange and overall bass).
Where the Sanskrit falls short of the E30 is in clarity; if the Sanskrit were to keep its smoothness and balance, but add a greater degree of clarity without compromising the former, it would be KILLER. But that's where bigger-ticket DACs come into play. For the money, the Sanskrit DAC shares some of the desirable characteristics with higher-end products, whereas the E30 is the current King of that 'mid-fi' sound (very clear, widely spaced, but edgy, a bit flat, and thin-sounding).

If I had to choose from one of these DACs, it would most certainly be the Sanskrit.

[joshuawright]

Great review Zeos. You also mentioned back in January that the ifi Zen dac was pretty awesome for $129. Which would sound better to you just based on DAC performance alone, the E30 or the Zen dac? I don't necessarily care for the headphone output on the Zen as I have an Emotiva A-100. I just need to know which would sound best. Thanks.

[masterxyr]

ever since I read about the inaudible super numbers this has on ASR, I thought that this is my dac to end all dacs. _only_ ever possible reason to get another is if I just want another one, for the sake of having two, or if I fall in love with the aesthetics and weight of something else.