Introduction

The beginning of this year saw our first TOPPING product review in the form of a two-in-one stack consisting of the E50 digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and and the L50 linear headphone amplifier. Priced under $500, and offering free RCA interconnects if purchased as a combo from the likes of SHENZHENAUDIO, this set quickly became a commercial success by simply providing lots of clean power, and a feature-rich transparent DAC. At the same time, TOPPING is known for it's value-oriented products at different price ranges, and I wanted to see what the budget-oriented offerings are like.


The E50/L50 stack is newer, meant to be an upgrade to the original E30 DAC and L30 amplifier that came out to a bang, in more ways than one. Unfortunately there was a design flaw in the amplifier, whereby some units not only suffered from electrostatic discharge and stopped working with fireworks, but said fireworks could also short out the headphone output, taking plugged in headphones with it. TOPPING was quick in rectifying the issue, but needless to say, I figured an updated version was coming out sooner rather than later. What I did not expect was a whole new model, with a different DAC too! Such is the relentless march of progress in the audio source world emerging out of China, and thanks to SHENZHENAUDIO again for providing review samples of the all-new TOPPING E30 II DAC and L30 II amp to TechPowerUp! We begin with a look at the product specifications, which I have taken directly from the respective TOPPING product pages, since there is much to report. Click on the respective thumbnail twice for the full-size image.

Specifications

TOPPING E30 II DAC:


TOPPING L30 II Amplifier: