[Shay820]

hi all
i buy the topping d30 dac (replace esi juli card)
the sound is superb clean and transparent !
i have one problem ,i can't turn the volume from the pc
its plugged via usb ,last xmos driver 3.3.40
with jriver xmos asio
the volume doesn't work not from jriver & pc
thanks shay

 

[Jimster480]

hi all
i buy the topping d30 dac (replace esi juli card)
the sound is superb clean and transparent !
i have one problem ,i can't turn the volume from the pc
its plugged via usb ,last xmos driver 3.3.40
with jriver xmos asio
the volume doesn't work not from jriver & pc
thanks shay

Why are you trying to adjust the volume on your PC?
You shouldn't be doing this with a DAC.
You should be adjusting the volume on your Amp/Speakers.

 

[ostewart]

My D30 review is up, chopped down from the joint A30/D30 review on my website:

https://www.head-fi.org/f/showcase/topping-d30.22500/reviews#review-18818

 

[Jimster480]

Its a pretty cool review but I think that punching all the way to the $500 class is a little much because some of the things you are including against it (like ifi products) are almost twice the cost if not more than that.

There are a number of options in the $250 total cost category now and even to go to the $350 cost can get you a number of "great" DAC + Amp Combos no matter if you decide to spend more on the DAC or more on the AMP.

Either way its nice to see someone elses review other than my own, especially on the A30.

 

[Eric Auer]

Based on what I've read on the 'net and now here at Head-Fi I decided to give the D-30 a shot.

$90 on the 'bay, Very affordable.

Looking forward to trying it out.

Eric

 

[garchy]

Hello friends,
I have read the 14 pages. I'm about to buy one. For the price little must be lost. I read in another forum that is a '' matagigantes '', kills giants, better than a Matrix Audio X-SABER Pro DSD DAC. Is it an exaggeration?

Some here think, I think, good relation quality / price. What do you say.

Good weekend.

 

[NTK1]

A30/D30 stack vs my current set up, Magni2+Dragonfly Black? Would it be worth it?

 

[ostewart]

Hello friends,
I have read the 14 pages. I'm about to buy one. For the price little must be lost. I read in another forum that is a '' matagigantes '', kills giants, better than a Matrix Audio X-SABER Pro DSD DAC. Is it an exaggeration?

Some here think, I think, good relation quality / price. What do you say.

Good weekend.

That is an exaggeration, but for the price the D30 is excellent.

Based on subjective opinion I prefer my JDS Labs EL DAC, but under that price you can't go wrong with the D30

 

[Jimster480]

A30/D30 stack vs my current set up, Magni2+Dragonfly Black? Would it be worth it?

You can go to the A30/D30. If you use IEM's or other low power headphones the A30 will make a big difference for you because you will have precision volume control.

 

[Jimster480]

So in comparing the D30 to my SMSL M8 I have to say that the one place I noticed that the D30 lacks is in voices.
Voices are recessed vs the M8, I'm not sure if its due to the internal filtering but its very noticable.
I have just been listening to my M8 for the last 5-6 weeks and I put the Topping D30 back on about a half hour ago.
As soon as I got to a song with alot of vocals (especially female Vocals) in my Discover weekly I noticed the vocals were recessed vs what i have been listening to.
I tried to turn the volume up but this doesn't make the vocals be at the same level as the rest of the music, its still recessed.

So I listened to the full song, plugged in the M8 again and am playing the song again now and its definitely recessed.

Now I'm not sure if the M8 has a more forward set of vocals or the D30 is recessed. This is just a comparison of the two.

For scientific purposes everything was the same and the M8 is in "Slow" filter mode. Now the D30 may be more flat or it may be recessed under flat.

But it is worth noting that the reason I took the M8 out of the box in the first place was due to voices being difficult to hear when I was watching the NBA finals on my computer.
I decided to "try" the M8 and basically I have left it since then.

I recently got a O2 Amp to compare to the A30 and they are virtually the same but the A30 has a greater degree of volume control with low power sources.

The headphones I am using are 1More Quad driver, Panasonic HD-10, Beyerdynamic DT770 16Ohm.

I have tested the same song with both amps aswell.

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

So in comparing the D30 to my SMSL M8 I have to say that the one place I noticed that the D30 lacks is in voices.
Voices are recessed vs the M8, I'm not sure if its due to the internal filtering but its very noticable.
I have just been listening to my M8 for the last 5-6 weeks and I put the Topping D30 back on about a half hour ago.
As soon as I got to a song with alot of vocals (especially female Vocals) in my Discover weekly I noticed the vocals were recessed vs what i have been listening to.
I tried to turn the volume up but this doesn't make the vocals be at the same level as the rest of the music, its still recessed.

So I listened to the full song, plugged in the M8 again and am playing the song again now and its definitely recessed.

Now I'm not sure if the M8 has a more forward set of vocals or the D30 is recessed. This is just a comparison of the two.

For scientific purposes everything was the same and the M8 is in "Slow" filter mode. Now the D30 may be more flat or it may be recessed under flat.

But it is worth noting that the reason I took the M8 out of the box in the first place was due to voices being difficult to hear when I was watching the NBA finals on my computer.
I decided to "try" the M8 and basically I have left it since then.

I recently got a O2 Amp to compare to the A30 and they are virtually the same but the A30 has a greater degree of volume control with low power sources.

The headphones I am using are 1More Quad driver, Panasonic HD-10, Beyerdynamic DT770 16Ohm.

I have tested the same song with both amps aswell.

I've got my O2 with my A30, the A30 has more output power, but the high impedance means it is not as good a reference amp as the O2

D30 / A30 will remain my office setup, and the OL DAC with O2 Amp is my home reference system, my Feliks Espressivo amp and EL DAC will remain my easy listening system

 

[Jimster480]

I've got my O2 with my A30, the A30 has more output power, but the high impedance means it is not as good a reference amp as the O2

D30 / A30 will remain my office setup, and the OL DAC with O2 Amp is my home reference system, my Feliks Espressivo amp and EL DAC will remain my easy listening system

I think it might have variable impedance.
Because according to the science that NwAvGuy provided, using high impedance outputs will surely cause a skew in sound either +/- depending on the frequency and headphone pairing.
But testing my A30 & O2 side by side from the same output with the same headphones I don't find any of that to be happening no matter which headphones I use.

I have the O2 hooked up to the RCA output of the A30 with it set to passthrough mode (meaning that the output is on regardless of what headphones are plugged in).

 

[ostewart]

I think it might have variable impedance.
Because according to the science that NwAvGuy provided, using high impedance outputs will surely cause a skew in sound either +/- depending on the frequency and headphone pairing.
But testing my A30 & O2 side by side from the same output with the same headphones I don't find any of that to be happening no matter which headphones I use.

I have the O2 hooked up to the RCA output of the A30 with it set to passthrough mode (meaning that the output is on regardless of what headphones are plugged in).

Some headphones are more prone to suffering consequences of high output impedance, like multi BA IEMs.

Some don't change much like the beyerdynamic T5p.

Might have to try tomorrow with some multi BA IEMs

 

[Jimster480]

Some headphones are more prone to suffering consequences of high output impedance, like multi BA IEMs.

Some don't change much like the beyerdynamic T5p.

Might have to try tomorrow with some multi BA IEMs

I've tried the 1More Quad drivers (my daily listeners) those have 3 BA.
And I've listened to many hours of my triple drivers (dual BA).
And my Panasonic RP-HD10 (18 ohm) and Beyerdynamic DT770 (16 Ohm).
None of them experience any difference from the A30's supposed 30ohm output impedance via 3.5mm.

 

[Reamonnt223]

Very interesting thread and thanks to all the very knowledgeable posters. I live in Ireland and currently use the ODAC but need another DAC for my main rig in attic. The topping DAC looks the job.
Will it work with Linux and where can I buy it from a trusted seller?
Thanks again
Ray