TOPPING E50 DAC: Closer Examination

I had just come off testing the JDS Labs Atom+ stack consisting of the entry-level Atom DAC+ and Amp+, and those in many ways come off as toys compared to the TOPPING E50/L50 stack. The E50, for example, is physically larger at 15.5 x 13 x 4 cm and significantly heavier at 445 g since the case is made out of aluminium alloy instead of ABS plastic. TOPPING also offers the E50 DAC in four colors—black, silver, blue, and red. The case gets a sandblasted matte finish that is cool to the touch, gets spotty with fingerprints which are easily wiped off, and feels anything but cheap. The Hi-Res Audio badge is part of the case itself, but the MQA sticker is thankfully just that, making it easy enough to remove. It is on the front where we see a large display, with the TOPPING logo and E50 marking on the left underneath a glass front panel. To the right of the display is the IR receiver port you want to aim the remote at, and a capacitive button to work through onboard menu. Another sticker on the side again shows this is the E50, and it can also be easily peeled off for a cleaner aesthetic.


The display and remote control combination comes in very handy for many things we will get into in more detail, but the crux of the TOPPING E50 is on the back. This is where all connectivity options are found, including input and output options alike, in addition to certification logos. The outputs are all on the left, with balanced (via 6.35 mm TRS) and single-ended (RCA) options. No interconnect cables are provided either, so you need to get your own set for the amp you pair with the E50. The RCA connectors come covered in silicone sleeves, and both sets have L/R markings for the channels, in addition to white/red RCA connector housings. The TOPPING E50 also supports coaxial and optical SPDIF inputs on top of the expected USB Type-B input the provided cable works with. No doubt, most people will use the E50 connected to a PC via USB for the digital to analog conversion, and rounding off the connectors is the 5 V plug for power with a 5 V USB power supply.


There isn't much to see on the bottom, with four small hemispherical rubber pads lifting the TOPPING E50 up and preventing scratches to the metal case. These also minimize slippage on the desk, although the added weight helps there too. After all testing was done, I attempted to disassemble the E50 for a close internal look. Things started simple enough with the three screws on the back, which had me better gauge the thickness of the aluminium used for the body. The PCB then slides out, but only so much because of the internal display connector going to the PCB via a ribbon cable. Now, I could certainly dislodge the cable, but putting it back in place would have been quite difficult, so I chose not to go any further.

Thankfully, just going as far as I had allowed for a closer examination of the primary components, including the connectors themselves. Notice how long and rugged the balanced TRS connectors are, which no doubt work well in conjunction with the TOPPING TCT1 TRS interconnects. TOPPING also has RCA cables in its product portfolio, named TCR2 and useful for single-ended connections to an amplifier, for example. We also see the XMOS U11690C2-,an XMOS XU216 USB bridge with the xCORE 32-bit 16-core microcontroller that has been used successfully for USB audio Class 2 implementations. It can pass up to 32-bit, 768 kHz PCM playback to the DAC, in addition to DSD64 to DSD512 native playback support and/or DSD64 to DSD256 DoP playback. Oh, the XMOS chip additionally provides MQA full rendering over USB for those who prefer it and use Tidal for streaming music. We also see an Altera (now Intel Altera) MAX II logic device, which TOPPING claims helps provide ultra-low USB jitter. More important, at least in my books, is the ESS Sabre ES9068AS 32-bit, 2-channel premium-class DAC itself, which gives the MQA rendering support we saw before.

Noting that the playback specifications mentioned thus far are for the USB digital input, the TOPPING E50 platform still holds up well in coax/optical input mode with up to 24-bit, 192 kHz PCM playback, DSD64 DoP, and MQA rendering. The rest of the E50 specifications are all more impressive, be it the THD+N of <0.0001%, SNR of 124 dB, and crosstalk of -130 dB, all at 1 kHz and on the single-ended output. Performance on the balanced output is even better, and the E50 outputs 2/4 Vrms on the single-ended/balanced output respectively, with an output impedance of 20/100 Ω for the same.