Topping L30 xploding and taking headphones out

Discussion in 'All Points Bulletin / Be on the Look Out' started by M3NTAL, Dec 17, 2020.

  1. hottyson

    hottyson New

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    Last edited: Mar 1, 2021
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    LOL. You should have not written it in all caps and been a bit more nuanced?
     
  3. murray

    murray Friend

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    He's probably only 24 ("1997")
     
  4. 9suns

    9suns [insert unearned title here]

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  5. Mont789

    Mont789 Acquaintance

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    The dude been weird for ages like refusing to show proof that what drivers the ER4SR/XR & ER3XR/SE were using. When he was a common user on the Head fi Etymotic thread or at ASR.
     
  6. nylac

    nylac New

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    Ended up here while searching for a cheap DAC that can drive my AKG K7XXs to appropriate levels. The L30 seemed too good to be true :(

    Thought I'd add something. This whole Topping deal remembered me of the problems I've had with my European-made DAC. In short: a hiss that made it unlistenable (fixed by manufacturer by lowering the gain so that the line and headphone out level was lowered to 1.5V RMS which is a joke, even a puny FiiO E10K has an output level of 2.5V and it's USB-powered FFS), when powered there was no reception on ~1/3 of the TV channels (WTF? so much RFI for a DAC sounds like an achievement), the chassis-mounted XLR connectors were fitted upside-down which caused one of the rails of the balanced output buffer to short to the ground through a 1 ohm resistor), application notes for the TPA6120 (yeah, same as in the Topping) completely ignored (bad layout, lack of input buffers, feedback resistors too high etc).

    What's funniest is the amount of "attention" paid to the power supply, it ticked all the audiophile boxes because nowadays everyone needs to jack off to 20000 uF of PS caps even if 1/4 would likely do it: 2 separate transformers for analog/digital, huge electrolytics, discrete regulation.

    I absolutely hate this trend and I wonder who started it: why does every review need to show the insides? You can't judge electronics by the looks of a board, for most people the insides of their TV are not much different compared to a DAC.

    I think the audio field is absolutely unique in one way. There are no "boutique" TV, camera or phone makers. They would never ever get away with stuff like that. But any EE undergrad can make a working (read: doesn't explode at first power-on) DAC or headphone amp and this opens many possibilities. Who knows, maybe one day we'll have DACs that interfere with aircraft control. One can only hope.

    I stopped frequenting all audio forums many ears ago because I've become embittered. I only go to these places if I have a very specific problem like needing to upgrade a component. I know for a fact, from first hand experience that reviewers lie. Most of the times it doesn't have to do with money, it's about a we're-all-together-in-this mentality. Let's not start riots, everyone loses in the end.

    Oh and one more thing about ASR. They obviously worship 0,0000000000000001% THD even if they admit 0,1% sometimes doesn't matter but that place exists for a reason. The audio world went way, way too far with hand-wound resistors and all that crap that must cost a fortune, obviously. ASR is trying to fix a bad thing by replacing it with another bad thing.

    Wow, this turned out to be quite the rant.
     
  7. señorhifi

    señorhifi Friend

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    Hey nylac, if you're in EU the FiiO K5 (non pro version is what I have) is a great amp. I compared it recently to a Magni 3 (non "+") and liked the FiiO way more. Magni compresses the headstage, it really does. The FiiO in comparision sounds wider, also warmish and slightly less detailed. Both were able to move a K712 and a Sennheiser HD650. Second hand, you may find one under 100€.
     
  8. Marvey

    Marvey Super Friend

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    K5 on order. Will be up to bat. Sounds interesting.
     
  9. señorhifi

    señorhifi Friend

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    Oh hey cool, let's see what you think of it. As a side note, I had it now for 2 years and it has yet to blow up, so that's a plus!
     
  10. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    When in doubt... L30?

    I have nothing further to add.
     

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