Topping L30 Linear Headphone Amplifier

dankthropod

New Head-Fier
Fantastic desktop headamp at that pricepoint
Pros: Price
Powerful beast (Can drive my hungriest cans, the he400se, perfectly)
Clear sound
Cons: Somewhat lacking in richness, but nothing bothersome for that price-point.
Disclaimer:
1. Take my opinion as a grain of salt, it may vary from yours.
2. I may be wrong
3. I have not tried all the amps in the world.

I tested this amplifier as it was meant to be tested, accompanied by its sibling, the topping e30 DAC. This pairing makes a quite pleasing stack, that complement each other quite nicely. This item was bought for 110 euros, so I will be comparing it to other amplifiers at that price-point. In total, the full combo cost me 220 euros. But does being affordable means making too many compromises? Let’s dig into this review and find out.

BUILD
The amp and dac both look very well built. They are made of aluminium and have a very premium finish. The front is covered in some acrylic glass that looks very modern and exclusive. Impressive overall.

FEATURES
In the front you can see two switches, a 6.35 mm jack, and a volume knob Did I mention that for 110 euros you have the luxury of using it as a preamp, and an amp? Sadly both outputs cannot be used at the same time, but it is still very neat. You can select this using the first switch. Using the second switch, you can select the gain mode, +9db, 0db or -9db. Using headphones I like to keep mine at 0 or 9db, but -9 is pretty useful for extremely sensitive headphones, like some iems. In the back, we can see a pair of RCA inputs and another pair of RCA outputs.

TECHNOLOGY
The topping L30 uses amplifier modules found in topping's flagship amplifier, the A90. This amp can easily drive low impedance headphones. Output impedance on headphone out is less than 0.1 Ohm. In preamp mode, output impedance is as low as 20 Ohm.

The maximum power output is 3.5 W @ 16 Ohm, which is pretty good for our budget L30. Although in practice I achieved less, since realistically average DACs can only output 2W of power. But this is more than enough to drive many different cans.

SOUND
I'm relatively knew to the audio space so I'm not especially good at describing how something sounds, although I'll try my best.

The sound is clean but a little bit too analytical for my taste. The bass is fast. It's deep and starts and stops at the correct time. It can sound punchy and exciting if it requires so. Dynamics are something this amp excels at small and large scale changes feel so rich and natural.

CONCLUSION
I will give this amp the highest honour I can bestow, and that is keeping it and using it as my daily driver. This amp has surprised me a lot, and in a nice way. It is amazing for its price, and I hope more people can join this really cool hobby thanks to amazing brands like topping and schiit putting out stuff like this.
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Aibo

Head-Fier
Hardly beatable bang for the buck
Pros: - Clear and incisive sound
- Plenty of drive
- Value
Cons: - Somewhat lean presentation won't suit all
Topping L30 is the most affordable head-amp in the brand’s lineup and its overall design and dimensions are meant to perfectly match their capable entry-level DAC Topping E30. But does being affordable means making too many compromises? Let’s dig into this review and find out.

Build
Topping L30 is made mostly of aluminum that comes in black or silver finish. The front panel is black on both versions though and it’s some sort of acrylic glass that looks slick. If I were to nitpick, I’d prefer for the pointer on the volume knob to be a little more visible. Aside from that the unit is built and finished to high standards.

Features and Connectivity
There’s two switches, a 6.35 mm headphone jack, and a volume knob in the front. In the back, we find a 15 VAC power connector, a pair of RCA inputs, and a pair of RCA outputs. Volume knob controls the level on both headphones out and RCA output, and this means Topping L30 can be used as a preamp. That said, you can select either headamp or preamp mode, but both outputs can’t be deployed simultaneously.

Topping lets you select a gain level in three steps, meaning you have a choice between -9 dB, 0 dB, and +9 dB. The first one can be useful if you have a tendency of using high sensitive earphones, for example, but most users will probably keep it on 0 or +9 when paired with bigger cans.

Topping L30 06.jpgTopping L30 05.jpg
Technology
The Topping L30 features Ultra-High Performance NFCA modules, using the same NFCA (Nested Feedback Composite Amplifier) module from the brand’s flagship A90. High output current drive capability is supposed to allow L30 to drive low impedance headphones with ease. Output impedance on headphone out is less than 0.1 Ohm. In preamp mode, output impedance is as low as 20 Ohm, which Topping claims to be widely suitable for various devices.

The maximum output power of L30 is respectable 3.5 W @ 16 Ohm, but only if the unit is fed with 3.0 V on its input. Given that most DACs provide a line signal of around 2.0 V, we’re realistically looking at somewhat lesser numbers. But worry not, there’s still plenty of power to go around.

Sound
Topping L30 sounds clean and precise. The bassline is fast and well behaved. It can go deep when needed but it starts and stops quickly. Midbass is again very well controlled if not slightly restrained even, leaving a lot of room for crisp and open midrange. As a result, vocals and instruments are clear, precise, and nimble. Tone texture is revealed to a very satisfying level too. The highest spectrum feels well extended, it’s not only digging plenty of details but also a respectable amount of air from the recording. Listening to This Land Is Your Land by The Avett Brothers in high resolution paints the picture of fine details and husky vocals L30 is capable of.

The soundstage is pleasantly wide and relaxed. Thanks to a healthy clean power, dynamics is respectable too and Topping L30 can sound punchy and exciting when needed.

Tone body and rich timbre, on the other hand, is not something this amp particularly excels at. L30 strikes fast and precise, but the tone also decays rather quickly, making for an exciting but somewhat analytical listen.

Topping L30 04.jpg
Comparison
JDS Labs Atom – aging budget amp can’t really match the newcomer. L30 offers crisper edges, better drive, and livelier sound overall. Atom built quality also leaves a lot to be desired. I believe the Atom needs a refresh if it wants to stay competitive.

Schiit Magni 3 – is another excellent amp with an equally impressive build. Its sound signature is on the slightly warmer/fuller side, which might suit some listeners better. L30 kicks back by being more revealing and airier in the upper register. If you’re looking to make a neat-looking DAC/AMP stack coming from one brand, Topping has the advantage in form of E30, which is a more capable DAC than Modi 3 is.

(If you’re asking why not compare it to Magni 3+ or Heresy, simply because I haven’t had a chance to try them yet.)

Conclusion
Topping L30 is well specced, well built, and well sounding product. It’s powerful, incisive, and very lively sounding. I’d steer away from pairing it with overly bright headphones as L30 is somewhat lean sounding itself, but other than that it’s hard to argue this is anything but a very capable entry-level amplifier.

...

The unit was sent for a review by HiFiGo
My other reviews: https://iiwireviews.com/
My video review:

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Wiljen

Headphoneus Supremus
Topping L30 - A90 technology for a lot less.
Pros: Very versatile, great power, extremely clean, small footprint
Cons: None worth considering
Topping-L30-front-800x445.jpg


Disclaimer: Not too long ago, I reviewed the Topping E30 DAC, their new budget dac offering and more recently the introduced its partner the L30. Hifigo offered me an L30 to try out and I accepted quickly. Topping has been making some great stuff lately and the recent E30 and D90 reviews I had done left me thinking the L30 should be no exception. I have no affiliation with Topping or Hifigo, nor have I received any compensation beyond the unit itself for this review. If you have an interest in topping, check out their website or to purchase your own L30, check out Hifigo.


Unboxing:
The L30 comes in a small lift-top box with the topping name on top and the model name on the side along with Topping’s address. If you weren’t already familiar with what you were getting, the box would do little to encourage a purchase and is very obviously more about transport than marketing the product. Inside the box a small closed cell foam surround protects the unit and keeps it separate from the power supply and 3.5 to 6.3 adapter. The kit does not include any RCA cables so you’ll need at least one pair to complete the hookup process and I’ll advise that you use lightweight cables as the unit is small and light and will slide around if something particularly heavy is attached. I had criticized the USB to barrel connector power cable of the E30 but no such criticism is needed here. I’ll cover more details as we go, but suffice it to say, if anything, this time the power supply is overbuilt at nearly the same size as the unit.



Build:
The L30 shares the casing with the E30 DAC and is designed to create a small desktop stack. The shell is brushed aluminum anodized in your choice of black or silver. I ended up with a silver E30 and a black L30 so have seen both options and to my eye the brushed silver looks slightly better as the black is a matte finish and looks a touch more industrial. The Face of the L30 has two three-position switches on the left, then the 6.3mm headphone jack, followed by the volume knob on the far right. The Volume knob is not a power switch as the left most switch handles those duties. Also, the volume knob has good weight and feel and makes fine control easy. In this regard I like the L30 better than the recent SMSL products I have tried and the Monoprice THX. One gripe, there is no LED or indicator that power is on on the front face so you just have to know that if the left switch is in the middle or upper position the unit is on, if it is in the lower position the unit is off. The Rear face has two sets of RCAs, the left pair is input, while the right is for the pre-amp output. The only other connection on the rear plate is the 15V DC female jack for power connection. The bottom of the case does have feet installed to keep it from scratching other surfaces and help prevent it sliding around. The unit is extremely lightweight so is best placed in an area where it isnt subject to bumps and bangs as it will move easily.











Internals:
Not too long ago, Topping introduced a new flagship Amplifier the A90 and a lot of what started there has found its way down the budget ladder and into the L30. The L30 uses a voltage-current hybrid feedback architecture that started out in the A90 as well as their nested Feedback model. Capacitors are all Nichicon made and you can tell from the photos it is well heat-sinked where it needs to be. Another thing worth noting is that there are no socketed op-amps or removable parts internally so those interested in op-amp rolling will want to look elsewhere. The stats on the L30 had to be calculated by amplifying the noise created by the amp by a factor of 100 so it was detectable on the APX555b and then dividing the output by 100 to come up with the final number. While the validity of this methodology is somewhat debatable, what isn’t is any amp that is so low noise that it cannot be measured by standard equipment has to be thought of as pretty amazing. When it costs $139, even more so. THD is roughly 0.00007% while still being able to push 3.5 Watts into a 16Ω load.



Any amplifier is only as good as the power it is fed and this is one place the attention to detail that Topping is putting into its products is very evident. The power supply is a wall-wart but not the typical switched model that we see almost everywhere today. This supply is heavier than the unit itself and is a full-blown transformer we’d expect to find in a more expensive model. I spend a lot of time commenting on how budget products can be improved by improving the power they are provided. In this case, the supply that comes with the L30 is as good as I have seen in an external power supply provided with any product below $500 and certainly is not the limiting factor for the L30.



Functionality:
The L30 is both a headphone amplifier and a pre-amp depending on how it is set. The face has two 3-position switches that control modes. The left most switch if off in the lowest position, headphone amplifier in the middle position, and pre-amp in the upper position. The other switch is for gain and offers -9.9dB for use with sensitive IEMs, 0dB for use with high impedance in ears or fairly high sensitivity cans, and finally the top position is +9.5dB for those hard to drive cans that need a bit of extra push. I was able to use my Magaosi K5 on low gain with no hiss, and my He6 on high gain with some headroom (admittedly not a ton, but some). This is about as versatile as one could hope for in any amp let alone a budget one. Output impedance for headphone mode is listed at <0.1Ω.

In pre-amp mode, I paired the L30 with a couple different sets of powered monitors, first the Kanto YU4. The YU4 are a mid-priced set of near fields with excellent mids and top end, but limited bass depth. The L30 did a nice job of providing a unified volume control for the YU4 and worked well when paired to the E30 as a compact office desk system. The second set of powered monitors was the Elac Navis (borrowed). These are much larger and more powerful floor standing speakers with 300W worth of amplification per speaker. When the E30/L30 were paired with these, there was no lack of bass and the sound was well defined and clean. In a blind test, I think I’d have trouble telling the difference in my Bel Canto and the E30/L30 pairing. It should be noted that output impedance is 20Ω when using the RCAs for the pre-out.

Sound:
About the best thing one can say about an amplifier is that it contributes nothing to the sound and the L30 comes very close to that. There is no range that is pushed to the front, nor are there any gaps or recesses where anything has been de-emphasized. I was glad to see Topping eschew the Bass Boost circuits and gimmicks and focus on the fundamentals of building a good amplifier. What you do get is a very clean, colorless sound with no hiss or hum with my most sensitive in ears (when on low gain) and an amp that can power my most power hungry cans when on high gain without breaking up or introducing notable distortion to do so. I’ve heard some comments regarding the L30s ability to handle fast passages and have to say I found no such problems with the L30 and wonder if maybe those impressions were more due to either the dac feeding it or the headphone it was feeding as I tried to make it mis-step and could not using several different sources and headphones. Overall what I got was clean, well detailed and textured sound with nothing that shouldn’t be there.

Comparisons:
Some time back, the L30 would have stood alone at the price point and it still fits nicely in the lowest realistic tier for performance headphone amps, but with the JDS Atom, Schiit Heresy, and Monoprice Liquid Spark it’s hardly alone. A quick compare of these three gives you the lay of the land.

JDS Atom
  • Size and shape are similar although the Atom is slightly shorter and wider and only available in black.
  • About 1/3 the power of the L30 with a maximum output of 1 watt into a 32Ω load and only 2 gain levels 1x and 4.5x. (Gain is hard to compare due to dB on one and x on the other. To my ear the high gain on the Atom is split the difference between the mid and high on the L30 so probably roughly 6 dB).
  • the Atom does offer both 3.5mm and RCA inputs.
The atom is arguably better for iems as it offers finer control due to its lower output power. On the flip side, the Atom runs out of juice for big planars and low sensitivity dynamics much sooner than the L30 and does not offer near as much headroom for the more power hungry cans.

Schiit Heresy
  • The Heresy is even smaller than the Atom or L30 but only by roughly an inch in depth as it is rectangular vs the square of the other two. The Heresy is only available in Red/Black an aesthetic that is a bit polarizing.
  • The heresy offer 2.4 Watts of output power with 2 gain setting. One one hand, the Heresy is as capable as the L30 for driving big cans, On the other, The L30’s lowest gain setting makes at a better option for sensitive IEMS.
  • Switches on the Heresy on the reverse of the unit making it slightly less convenient than the L30.
The Heresy is roughly equal to the L30 when powering large headphones and is capable of putting up equally impressive statistics, but lacks the flexibility to handle sensitive iems that the L30 offers. As a side note, I prefer the volume adjustment on the L30 as well as the heresy lacks a little weight and makes it harder to have fine control.

Liquid Spark
  • The Spark is most similar to the Heresy in shape but is a bit more stylized with sloped edges rather than simply being a box like the other three. Color is a gunmetal grey only.
  • Output on the Spark is closer to the Atom than to the other two as it pushes just over 1 Watt into a 50Ω load with two gain options.
  • Switches for gain and power are on the front face along with the headphone jack.
The Spark is slightly more potent than the Atom, but nowhere near the L30 or Heresy at the top end so again will run out of headroom much sooner on heavy cans. Here again the sparks volume control knob lacks a bit of heft and makes fine adjustment a bit more difficult.

Thoughts/Conclusions:

The Topping L30 enters the budget amplifier field at a time when the consumer has more options than ever before and better measuring products than ever before. All four of the amplifiers I mentioned in my comparisons post impressive measurements, will power damn near anything at least reasonably well, and cost less than $150 shipping and taxes included. You could do a lot worse than any of the four. That having been said, none of the other three can match the versatility offered by the L30 as it was dead silent with sensitive IEMs like the Atom, was able to drive the He6 like the Heresy, and covered all the territory in between equally well. For the time being, the Topping L30 has grabbed the top spot in the budget amplifier field and may well hold onto it for awhile as it is hard to imagine anyone coming out with something much more versatile or much less expensive without having to cut corners that hurt the product. The L30 is an amazing product by itself and when paired with the E30 DAC is a monster combo in a mini-stack package. Highly recommended.
E
erem59
Rather rhetorical question (I hope), but before buying, I would like to be sure - is the RCA output controlled (adjustable) with volume knob on front plate (in preamp mode)?

Makiah S

Sponsor: EarMen | HeadAmp
Member of the Trade: Bricasti Design
Formerly known as Mshenay
Topping L30 - Budget King
Pros: Clean Cohesive Envelope
Flat Tonality
Gain Stage Options
Precise Volume Control
Cons: Lacks Nuance of TOTL Designs


In a world with so many options and ever decreasing levels of distortion one has to ask what separates the many acceptable solid state amplifiers from the truly great! There's a dozen designs that all push the lower limits of measurable distortion, all of which falls far below our human threshold of hearing.

To explore that concept I figured it would be worthwhile to start by having a set standard for absolute greatness, and I'm happy to say the Bricasti M3 with Headphone is exactly that for me. After years of reviewing and Hi-Fi show demo's, press exclusive listens it is the only product offering that long awaited greatness I've been hunting for! With a truly amazing solid-state amplifier and top of the line DAC in tow I feel fully equipped to explore and discover what separates solid state amplification. In the entry level market segment. I'll be primarily reviewing the Topping L30 Linear with comparisons to SMSL SP200 and the JDS Labs ATOM.

Some factors at play will be;
  • Gain Stage & Options
  • Total Power Output
  • Build Quality
  • Sound Quality
In the entry level point of the market I feel the combination of these four things to be the deciding factor. An a shout out to the Appos Audio Team for shipping L30 out to myself for review! I always enjoy both their customer service and timely shipping.

Build Quality
Each of the products in this review are well manufactured, no sharp or sloppy seams in the chassis, good action on the knobs and switches alongside sturdy input and output jacks.

SP200 is the heaviest and most robust, however it houses a portion of it's PSU within it self. Atom and L30 both have external switching power supply units so their considerably lighter. From a build stand point I enjoy having an internally housed PSU so I'm able to just use a PWC-143 IEC C13 connector. The PWC-143 IEC C13 is the trapezoidal "computer power cable" connector I'm confident most all of us are familiar with.


I also like that SP 200 has dual 3 XLR input and 4pin XLR output despite technically being a single end'd amplifier. Bonus points there, how ever sadly SP 200 falls short in one crucial area...Volume Pot or volume knob!


The potentiometer and attached knob on SP200 are... soft and flimsy. Honestly there's as much precision when adjusting the volume either. Matching was a bit hard as I usually couldn't get SP200 dialed in to L30 and Atom... rather I had to set SP200 and adjust the other two to match it.


The undisputed champion however for Knob Feel in this review has to be Topping L30. Good weight and a buttery smoothness with just the right amount of resistance make L30's knob feel just right. Tho L30 has another advantage when it comes to volume adjustments in it's three different gain stages.



Build quality is good, I found no deficiencies with how L30 is built and operated. Each of the switches have good action and all the input and output jacks are solid without any wiggle.


JDS Labs Atom is the lightest and it sits kinda in a unique spot for a few reasons. Firstly, it's volume pot isn't as nice as L30 but it's a step up from SP 200. Also the Power switch is built into the Vol Pot! While not every one will enjoy this as I do, I found it's resistance for an "on switch" to be good. I experienced no issues with accident power cycling. I also liked the feel of Atom's buttons more so than the metal switches on the other two units. So functionally it has a different feel and operation to it which some may enjoy more.

Sadly tho in some systems or stacks I found Atom to weigh too little, so much that it was often at the mercy of heavier RCA Inputs that needed a slight angle in their routing.

Power and Gain Stage
Power and Gain are as follows for each amplifier;
  • SP 200
    • 3W x2 into 32ohms
    • 440 x2 mW into 300 ohms
    • 220 x2 mW into 600 ohms
    • With Two Gain Stages at
      • +6dB (Low-gain)
      • +18dB (High-gain)
SP 200's high output power is well suited for difficult to drive headphones like Hifiman HE 6 or vintage dynamics like older AKG K series open backs. In many cases tho I felt it had too much gain for really smooth precise volume control with the myriad of sensitive and low impedance cans on the market today.
  • JDS Labs Atom
    • 1W into 32ohms
    • 502 mW into 150 ohms
    • 125 mW into 600 ohms
    • Two Gain Stages at;
      • 1.0x
      • 4.5x
I enjoy Atom's gain options as it's allows for use with more sensitive headphones while maintaining good precise volume control and it the same precision is available for harder to drive dynamics. I will mention with some of my low sensitivity Planar-Magnetic headphones ATOM often ran out of steam and had some negative impacts on their sound quality. More modern Planar's like the Hifiman HE 4XX and Audeze LCD X did fine!
  • Topping L30
    • 2.3W x2 into 32ohms
    • 280 x2 mW into 300 ohms
    • Three Gain Stages at
      • -9 dB
      • 0 dB
      • +9 dB
Finally! A buttery smooth volume knob and three different gain stages!!!! This advantage of having additional options for gain stage really allows us as listeners to have very fine precise volume control. That and enough gain is always better for overall sound quality, excessive gain is never beneficial.

Overall I feel only L30 has enough suitable options for gain to cover the widest variety of headphones. Atom does better with lower impedance headphones and SP 200 excels with lower sensitivity and/or higher impedance headphones. But neither of these amps provide correct amplification for as many loads as L30 does. Correct being neither to little power nor too much gain for the given load and source material being listened to.

Sound Quality
The listening chain for this review was as follows;
  • jRiver Network Output into;
    • Network input Bricasti M3 [Direct Stream DAC] output into;
      • SP 200 via XLR
      • L30 via RCA
      • JDS Labs Atom via RCA
I also picked a single track I was familiar with for each headphone to gauge the amplifiers performance.
  • Pistol Annies - Lemon Drop
    • Picked for the Audeze LCD 2 PreFazor
  • System of a Down - Mind (Vinyl Re-Issue)
    • Picked for Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Closed
  • Alice in Chains - Rotten Apple
    • Picked for HD 600
  • Rob Wasserman: Duets - Ballad of Runaway Horse Sung by Jennifer Warnes
    • Picked for Ether CX
  • Lisa Hannigan - Sea Saw
    • Picked for AKG K501
For this review subjective comparisons and all listening was volume matched.

To establish my base point I did some listening with my 2012 PreFazor LCD 2.2, I chose this headphone as it's a bit more demanding from an amplification stand point than most newer modern Planar magnetic headphones in it's price bracket. Additionally it's shining quality is a powerful, clean and detailed low frequency presentation. Tho when under driven it's bass quality diminishes.
That said, technically M3's headphone amp is only "$500" I say that in quotes as it's unavailable separate from the DAC. Thus it does not exist separate of M3 and has a unique relationship of being built to function directly with/from M3. That said, I didn't find any of the "entry" level amps to match M3h's staging, detail or overall presentation.

But that's no knock again'st them as again M3's Headphone Amp is built specifically to and for M3's unique balanced topology. Still tho I will admit as of lately I have not really enjoyed my LCD 2 PreFazor as I feel when it's under-driven it's not really better than the the current production Audeze LCD 2 Classic Open with Vegan Pads.

However on a truly top of the line amplifier the legacy LCD 2 Prefazor out performs it's replacement!

Still before focusing on how the budget amps compare to one another, allow me to take a moment to examine a single transformative benefit that the top of the line solid state implementation brought to one of my favorite headphones!


"Lemon Drop" by the Pistols Annies features one of the best recorded Kick Drums I've heard. The sheer impact and weight captured and mixed into the track is stunning. LCD 2 PreFazor's appeal to me is it's powerfully realistic WEIGHTY low end and on a lot of amplifiers and systems it's some what lacking.
So when I'm listening to a track and honing in on the low frequencies I'm focused on two things;
  • Impact
    • Composed of Body and how the Attack and decay of the envelope are presented
  • Detail
    • Both how much texture is discernible both in the sustain and release of lower frequencies
Plenty of systems capture and recreate detail, but each struggles with impact differently. Even with M3 as a DAC L30, SP 200 and Atom all failed to present enough force on the attack and a clean enough transition thru the envelope and sustain to recreate that kick drum in a truly realistic way. While none of them sounded "fake" they all lacked about a half second on the release, and this lack of resolved force on the tail end of the kick drum is what makes it genuinely REAL for me!

With amplification that can allow the driver to fully recreate that wave form as M3h does, the PreFazor LCD 2 proves it's worth and provides a realistic immersive low end response.

As a whole, each of the budget amps lacked the cohesion and overall level of micro-detail and discernment M3h brought. There were many occasions where M3h resolved just an extra few moments of sound on the tail end of both vocalists, drum kits, brass instruments and more. The presence of these added final moments are the kind of nuance top of the line amplification brings to most quality transducers or headphones.

Moving on, readers of my content in the past may remember my frustrations with the JDS Labs Atom and my own Pre Fazor LCD 2. For this review I chose only to compare L30 and SP200 again'st Atom with my HD600 and my AKG K501. I found ATOM had NO subjective advantages over L30 with planar magnetic headphones. Given how close the two are in price I felt it's exclusion to be justified.


What I like about "Rotten Apple" as a track is the tone of the guitars. There's a very bluesy feel to both the 6 string lead, back up and bass guitar tracks. With some amplifiers there's a noticeably dry fatigue that can be present on these guitar mixs, additionally the vocals feature some over-dubbing to create both a unique tone and texture. I can't say there's only one lead vocalist as I hear two distinct voices in the mix. I also enjoy the overall position of the bass and drums within the mix with the drums placed distinctly back in the mix and often panning from left to right.

For low frequencies I found L30 had both the best detail and most defined attack. SP200 and Atom where both rounder in the sense that there was some exaggeration on both the decay and sustain of those low frequencies.

The kick drums and bass guitar also had way to much body on both SP200 and Atom for my tastes, enough that these instruments lacked a sense of impact, impact that was present on HD600 with L30.

Regarding the mid-range frequencies I will admit I enjoyed Atom's softer presentation. It help de-emphasis the slight bit of shout HD 600 has and really maximized the natural tonality of the headphone. However this also made it difficult to discern or hear the distinction between the two over-dubbed voices in "Rotten Apple." SP 200 some how overemphasized them enough that the harshness really took away from the "bluesy" feel of the vocal track. There was too much rasp and emphasis on breath without sufficient body from their chest.

I found Topping L30 to yet again perform best here as well, it maintained excellent body without sacrificing tone or discernment.

At the top end I'll admit SP 200 took the lead. It presented high hats with excellent extension, that slightly more defined release helped create a more convincing sense of width and space within the track. Tho there was sometimes a slight clash between the harsh shout and emphasized breathing in vocals again'st the drums. Topping L30, while not having quite as much extension, proved it self far more cohesive having better nuance! Yes at times it was not as extended, but created a more cohesive space despite not having as much perceived width. I also felt ATOM had this strength as well.

Despite costing almost twice as much I was a bit disappointed to find SP200 didn't really prove it self advantageous over the Topping L30... an the JDS Labs Atom while respectable, didn't quite keep up with L30 either. For users of 300 Ohm Dynamic Headphones I'd strongly recommend spending the extra $39 for Topping L30 over something like the JDS Labs Atom.


Lisa Hannigan's "I Don't Know" has both her rich vocals layered atop an excellent performance of strings and brass. Double Bass, Guitar and Violin are all present here alongside a well mic'd drum kit. The double bass in particular can sound distant and thin when there's not enough voltage present to drive K501 properly.

The AKG K501 has both 120 ohm resistance and a lower sensitivity of 94 dB/mW, this combination makes K501 a bit more difficult to drive compared to a lot of more modern headphones. I ran L30 on it's +0 setting, SP200 on Low Gain and Atom on it's High Gain setting.

While listening particularly to that double bass I felt only L30 had the right mix of body and punch. SP200 had a lot of impact and PUNCH but lacked any kind of dynamic contrast and came across as mostly a blurred kind of thud. Less like a large stringed instrument and more like some one beating on a drum sort of, granted the THUD had some weight and force behind it but not much definition.

Atom while having better definition still couldn't quite bring enough body and umph to the sound of it, L30 again proved to have the best mix of both definition and body.

Moving on into the mid-range I was shocked to say that L30 lacked a bit of discernment here. There is a distinct texture to the bowing of the Violin right after Lisa's vocals come into the mix. It's quiet but the musician sustains a single note but there's a tiny bit of vibrato that can be heard. However with K501 and L30 on +0 that slight shift in tone or the vibrato just comes off as noise? More of a sort of buzzing or humming than a discernible shift in the sustained note. SP 200 proved to be a touch better in this regard but not by much, interestingly enough I enjoy Atom the most for this portion of the track. It was a touch airy but still allowed that discernment to be evident plus that slightly smooth presentation of Atom helped the Brass Instruments maintain a proper timbre.

At the top end I found SP200 had the best extension, the drum kit in particular was more defined with more nuance and dynamic contrast.


I love this piece of music this rendition sung by Jennifer Warnes features what is essentially a duet of her voice and a double bass. However there is a plethora of smaller, quieter sounds in the background. A ever constant but quiet stringed instrument strummed rapidly, background vocalists who occasionally harmonizer with Jennifer and a cello that creeps into the track ever so quietly from time to time.

Starting with that beautiful double bass, with L30 set to -9 dB I found it performed best. Noticeably round but with acceptable definition. A good mix of body and texture, I found Atom (1.0x Gain) was too soft with too much body and SP200 (+6 dB "Low" gain) was a tad too hard with over-emphasized texture. The envelope as a whole was more even with L30 than either other amplifier for Ether CX.

Moving onto the Mid-Range I again found L30 had the best presentation, again SP 200 was a bit too hard. Some texture in both vocals and strings overshadowed finer details and Atom was a touch too soft, that big beautiful double bass simply had too much decay and I couldn't quite discern as much with it over-shadowing the mid range. I feel a lot of these advantageous may have to do with L30's lower gain output when I switched into +0 gain and volume matched I started to have similar issues with an uneven envelope and excess texture.

At the Top End I found L30 to be a touch rolled off missing some finer detail but SP 200 put emphasis on the more prominent "sssss" sounds in Jennifer's Vocals. Atom actually did the best up top!


My rip of System of a Down's "Mind" is pulled off a vinyl system I know from a ripper whose system I feel is clean enough to review with. What I like is the track is mastered much better on Vinyl than previously on CD. Dynamic Range is right at 9 dBs. I prefer to have at least 10 but for a Nu Metal band this is pretty great, I'll also add this is a track I like to listen to at an average of 86 dB's so peaks of around 90 dB's and as low as 82. Given it's a fairly quiet rip I find I usually need a touch more POWER to get the listening level I enjoy. There's also a touch of low level noise off the Vinyl it self that is sometimes masked on less resolving amplifiers.

The track it self features a hard hitting bass riff, Serj's beautiful complex and unique vocal tone, fast guitar shred and really explosive drums. That and it alternates between quiet and LOUD passages often! Just the sheer aggression of the song as a whole really makes an excellent track for testing I feel! When under-driven Aeon 2 Closed presents underwhelming dynamics and excessive bass bloat taking away from the the overall high energy aggressive feel this track has.

Starting with the bass, it's just such a nasty riff. The release of each of the low notes extends all the way out until the next strum hits, there's a metallic sharpness on some of the higher notes that really plays nicely again'st the sheer power and weight of those lowest lows.

That said, given that I enjoy this track a little louder I've got the gain of L30 set at (+0) and SP 200 still on it's low (+6) and this is one track where SP200 proves to have better definition and nuance. It maintains that power longer as each note is released, and hits HARDER at the start of each attack. L30 is in this instance the slower less defined amp. Atom again has no real say here as it's a slow soft mess when I push the volume up with this track and load.

Now regarding the vocals and guitar I did find L30 to once again take the lead. It rendered a more even mixture of Serj's rasp and the chesty depth in his voice.

On the top end I did prefer the slight lack of extension on L30, it masked enough of the rip's noise to have the same perceptive extension as SP 200 which had some issues with perceptive detail given how the more discernible noise also detracted a bit from extension and shimmer of the high hats themselves.

Concluding Thoughts
At only $139 I really feel Topping's L30 lands it self as the true king of entry level solid state amplifiers. It's three optional gain stages and overall power output allowed it to handle a wide range of headphones well. An while it's no giant killer nor replacement for a truly top of the line solid state amp, I feel overall L30's even presentation and detail are more than enough to allow a lovers of music to simply sit back, listen and enjoy!
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Viper Necklampy
Viper Necklampy
Incredible detailed review, congrats! Am i the only who find the higher gains more spacious and powerful, maybe thin ner sounding with all these great measuring amps? I have L30 and E30 right now, even tho i don't have EL8 Titanium back, with cheap headphones it seems it present a spacier or more distant presentation, with better imaging. Like it have more power.
I didn't liked SP200 at all compared to thx aaa 789, because the bass was overwhelming and with lacking resolution, mids was recessed and lacking resolution too. Atom was right. even better than sp200 for me, by some, mostly in resolution.

536129

Head-Fier
Topping L30 amp 😀😍🔥
Pros: Sq , power , build , cost
Topping L30 Review 📻😍🔈

Amazing clean power for the price

Excellent sound quality

Excellent build quality

Quality inputs and outputs

Smooth volume dial

Runs cool for an amp , warm to the touch

💯 recommendation
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