Topping E30 Filters

[imral3]

It took me a week or so to really like my E30. I've used it on several really nice systems, and it's always sounded great; nobody has commented that it hurt their ears. I'm not sure if it had to break it, but it def. took a few days. How long did you let yours break in?

Not a huge believer in break-in for electronics. However, listened for at least 8 hours over the course of two days. Was so, so fatiguing and caused much discomfort. Severe lack of bass, fullness and body. Again, this is just me, my ears and my system.
I didn't listen in pure DAC mode, as I wanted to use it as a pre with volume control. This may or may not have made a difference.

 

[gvl]

Okay, last change... E30 out and Schiit Audio Modi 3 back in. I really wanted to like it but, the Topping has literally been hurting my ears for the last two days.
Enjoy the musics if you can!!
Ray

Ask someone to change the DACs and see if not knowing which DAC is playing helps with the pain.

 

[imral3]

Ask someone to change the DACs and see if not knowing which DAC is playing helps with the pain.

Already boxed and ready for return. And sadly, I don't know a single person who would know how to do that. Crazy, huh?

 

[BassLake]

Everyone's ears and expectations are different. I didn't like the E30 on its own but I put a FX Audio Tube 01/Voskhod 6J1P-EV after it and love it. Smooth and spacious.

Filters? Don't hear a damn bit of difference between them. 60 years of age no doubt has a lot to do with it.

 

[imral3]

Everyone's ears and expectations are different. I didn't like the E30 on its own but I put a FX Audio Tube 01/Voskhod 6J1P-EV after it and love it. Smooth and spacious.

Tried the FX Tube-01 with GE 5654's but, the FX just adds too much noise to my system. And yes, I have a Pyramid power supply. Lol. Also tried a Suca Audio Tube T1, same noise issue. This both with the Pyramid power supply and the FX/Suca supplied wallwarts.

 

[imral3]

Tried the FX Tube-01 with GE 5654's but, the FX just adds too much noise to my system. And yes, I have a Pyramid power supply. Lol. Also tried a Suca Audio Tube T1, same noise issue. This both with the Pyramid power supply and the FX/Suca supplied wallwarts.

After typing this "out loud" I was determined to eliminate the hum caused by the addition of the FX into my system. Luckily I have that figured out now. IMHO it won't change what I was hearing using the E30 in preamp/DAC mode. YMMV and I hope it does!

 

[59volvo]

if you use the digital volume control - It can reduce the sound quality
https://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/Intro/SQ/VolumeControl.htm

 

[buddyboy1]

If you have a PHASE BUTTON on your DAC.....that is a noticable change in sound..Denafrips...Ares 2.......I also have the E30 and I like 1, 4 and 6 the best.....

 

[Stereotyper]

if you use the digital volume control - It can reduce the sound quality
https://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/Intro/SQ/VolumeControl.htm

I've listened to a friend's E30 and there is definitely a difference between Pre and DAC modes. DAC is better. That being said this DAC's chip lacks treble and sounds slightly muffled compared with ESS chips... which in turn some people find too bright. It's a question of personal preference.

 

[gvl]

DAC is just louder, not better, because volume is the only difference between the pre and DAC modes. The DAC mode is simply pre at max volume.

 

[Stereotyper]

DAC is just louder, not better, because volume is the only difference between the pre and DAC modes. The DAC mode is simply pre at max volume.

That's what I used to think about USB-powered DAC's but it turns out there is more than one reason why DAC mode is preferable unless you really need it as preamp (which I assume is not often the case) or absolutely want to use the (very basic) remote to control volume. This must also be quite rare since most people would prefer to use their main amp/receiver's own remote for that purpose. No, the main reason DAC mode sounds better is not just 100% vol. on a permanent basis. There is also the fact that turning on DAC mode shuts down power to Pre circuitry and many display items, instead it just displays info about the digital stream. Since it is USB-powered the unit has to make do with a meager 5w which is split between DAC and Pre circuits but setting it to DAC only diverts all available power to the DAC section. Not only allows more room to DAC operation but also reduces EMI inside the tiny unit housing two sperate circuits. With IC's there are several ways to keep EMI at bay but the two most common ones are shutting down unused resources and/or using high-insulation material on a device's main board. The former is the simplest and cheapest approach. It's like onboard audio on a desktop when you use an external USB DAC. If you neglect to switch off onboard audio in UEFI the sound from your DAC is degraded since the USB connectors for the case's front end usually lie right along HDA circuitry which is -sometimes dramatically- affected by EMI-induced distortion. I would assume same principle applies to any IC board. The Pre shutdown in DAC mode on the E30 is by design.

 

[gvl]

There’s no Pre circuitry on the E30, the Pre mode is just setting registers on the DAC chip to attenuate volume digitally inside the chip. There’s no difference apart from the volume level.

 

[Stereotyper]

There’s no Pre circuitry on the E30, the Pre mode is just setting registers on the DAC chip to attenuate volume digitally inside the chip. There’s no difference apart from the volume level.

Depending on implementation the chip itself is a multi-layered IC. It's not because it's physically tiny that a register consumes no resources, think of CPU's and chipsets. What I read in a serious review is that Pre mode hampers DAC to a point, but they didn't mention percentage figures and such. Again let's go back to desktop motherboards, this time focusing on the GPU that is imbedded in most of them. When you install a PCIe GPU (graphics card) the power and resources used by the embedded GPU are returned to the CPU. It must be the same principle. That being said, like I mentioned in a previous post the difference in performance between modes is not that dramatic.

 

[Christofff]

I also have the e30 ll and finally the filter 4 is working well with my speakers.