Like always, you were not lazy and properly reviewed the damn box :) Everyone else seems to be tired from reviewing SMSL gear that honestly is so similar that I kinda understand the lack of enthusiasm once a new slightly different box cones out. All in all, if you have up to 500 whatever's (not dinars :) go for it and don't look back. If you have more, spend more and you will get more. But this goes for almost anything in life...
Thank you for always being honest and giving your best, straight impressions! That is why I always watch your content and take your recommendations into consideration 👍
Nicely Done. Appreciate you putting into perspective the balance of cost between gear to your headphones. I don't think that is talked about enough. Saving up for next headphone then gear to follow :) Thanks
This is a solid review. I'm surprised the e50/l50 hasn't made more of an impact with reviewers. I'd like something more than my JDS Atom stack, but still can't decide. The e50/l50 and the a30pro/d30pro are still alittle too similar which makes the added cost hard for me to justify.
I would check out the Schiit Modius & Magnius if you want a upgrade from the Atom. The power numbers on Schitt's amps are legit and verified unlike Topping amps and the tuning is closer to the Atom unlike Topping's dead neutral house sound.
I upgraded my L30 and E30 to A90 and D90SE stack just a couple of weeks before the L50 and E50 were announced. After the initial reviews, I was plagued with some buyer's remorse, thinking that I should've upgraded to the L50 and E50 instead. But after trying it out at the shop, I also came to similar conclusion to this review. It's a good stack, but not a giant killer.
Love all your reviews , unbiased i felt. I purchased the e50, l50 and ifi power supply on the back of your review. I would like more time spent on showing the different cables as i find them confusing
Great review, but it made me even more confused in what to buy... I have a Motu m4 as my DAC and I was aiming to buy the L30 2 that you also reviewed. But after watching this and seeng that this amp actually has TRS inputs which will work with my Motu M4 TRS outs (instead of using RCA) made me get even more unsure if I should aim for the L30 2. Would love some advice if possible specially since in some sites the L30 2 looks like a better amp, but numbers arent everithing... Thanks alot for your reviews and effort, keep it up!
I bought E50 DAC as my 1st audiophile device last week, it blown me away. Next step is to buy a speaker amp, was thinking about SMSL Da9 or Topping Pa5. Actually SMSL one is cheaper here and also has many positive reviews. But there is no review on Pa5 on RU-vid, I wonder how it will sound.
I have the SMSL SP200 Amp Looking at a Dac Was looking at the SU-9 EX5 and the E50. How is the amp on the EX5 and does the othere amps sound different then the thx sp200 or the A30pro with the EX5 as a Dac. Im using the Hifiman Ananda and going to get the Focal clear
Seeing that you seem to enjoy an overall neutral presented gear I highly recommend you to try Hifiman Sundara (with bias it is personally my favorite so far).
As someone who has been listening to music, using the best sounding equipment I can find/afford, for a long time - I have been pleasantly surprised many times over the years, by finding some piece of kit that isn't "supposed" to sound good i.e. it doesn't measure well in one way or another - but in fact it sounds better than the thing I had set out to buy. Topping is the latest company to go after the *Perfect Measurement* market. And I am fairly sure there is a reason why many people who listen first, to a variety of music, and then make their best judgment about how much they enjoyed the music - or not - tend to choose other equipment. Clean sounding is nice - but sterile and lifeless sound is not nice. Neutral sounding is nice - but cold and flat sound is not nice.
True that. Fortunately, both Topping and SMSL are fast learners and their current line of DACs sounds subjectivity nicer (fuller and more lively) than their earlier efforts that could be flat, lifeless, and grainy. I bashed Topping DX3 pro for that cause it deserved it. But E50 for example is a huge improvement.
you really confused amps and dacs several times in this video that it was cute. =) I wanted to get this stack so much but waited and when smsl sp200 got to drop for 160$ I bought that instead mostly because of internal power supply. (It is still on sale actually) and for dac, after you said those things about power supply I wanted to get something with a decent one. Now I'm eyeing sabaj d5, smsl m500, vmv d1se and loxjie d50. especially loxjie and sabaj are on sale right now for 370€ and 580€ respectively. d1se is 720$ and m500 420$. (these are the ones available on Amazon Turkey) anyway. Great review as always, thanks.
"Pretty neutral, speedy, quick sounding, highly detailed" - spot on, exactly how a good high fidelity audio equipment should sound. For professionals mixing, mastering or monitoring audio material it is exactly what it needs to be. Steve Guttenberg "audiophiliac" fans can look elsewhere in search of Walhalla of "dirty" and "coloured" sound. For those "pretious" people I would sell the Toppings L50 for at least 1000 dollars, just to spite them...😜
You're right. L50 is very good, yet it's not revealing the super small details in a recording. It just sounds "correct" and in that sense it's flawless.
Really? Topping L50 is exactly how it is supposed to be, as a true high fidelity equipment. If you think you don't hear some details in your music, you should check your hearing and your headphones equalisation curve.
I have the a30 d30 pro stack based on your review of it, and it's the best sound I have ever heard on anything I have ever owned. Wanted to ask, seeing that the e50 dac has a saber chip how would you say it would sound when paired to the a30 pro. I was considering buying the e50 to pair it with my a30 pro to get wider sound Stage. What are your thoughts on that pairing?
Wow, this is a really tough one. I feel that you would gain a bit of width by doing that, but also loose some of the depth. There is no easy answer and I'm hesitant to recommend any action in this case, sorry. 😐
Do you need to use a Balanced headphone when using the balanced input ports of the L50? I have a DAC that has only balanced trs out, but no headphones with balanced capabilities. I would like to know if I would be wasting my money looking for an AMP that can receive balanced inputs, as I only have the capabilities of using SE headphone ports.
Thanks for the review! Know the L50 is very powerful. But I’m in a dilemma on getting the E50/L50 vs D30/A30.. to be driving a LCD-3 pre-fazor headphone and an active monitor.. Seems you recommended the D30/A30 for my case…
The output is all single-ended (the balanced connectors are for convenience), but I remember Topping claims it is balanced all the way till the output stage. With their NFCA, probably it won't matter.
I haven't tried V2 but if it's similar to V1 then yes this a better sounding stack. However, Zen DAC is a DAC and AMP in one with a very good price. These are separates that cost significantly more if you need both a DAC and an AMP.
It isn't about needing in this hobby. You can power a sundara from a much cheaper amp. It is about wanting. How much do you want this amp? How much do you lust for this amp? Now that is the real question.
So which one sounds more correct, l50 or a30 pro? Also is it worth choosing a30 when using headphones such as hd58x and hd560s? (For pro use) Also, how can you explain top reviewers say it sounds the same like a30 and a90? Thanks!
I would stick with L50 for those headphones, it's perfectly good. Not sure that there would be much benefits of using A30 pro. Also, I don't know why other reviewers say what they say, but with higher end headphones, L50 can't completely match A30 pro.
@@iiWiReviews thanks alot! Would you say the same about a bit harder to drive headphones like hd600, hd6xx and hd1990? Also again, you said a30 is a bit darker and l50 brighter so who do you find more "correct"?
I think that you should feel the difference with those more easily. When it comes to the more correct one , that's tough, but I would say that L50 is touch more neutral to my ears, and A30 is a bit darker on top.
Bas i razmatram taj stack.. Samo topping stalno izdaje nove stvari kao na traci, ko zna koliko vremena ima dok ne izadje nesto bolje, tj upgrade... Good review btw..
To sto izbace novo ne znaci da je mnogo bolje. Trenutno su sve ove kombinacije dac+amp slicnog kvaliteta kao predhodne verzije. Dovoljno su usavrsili dizajn da vise i nije bitna razlika izmedju novih proizvoda i onih koje oni zamenjuju.
Yes, I definitely suggest E50/L50 stack over the older one. E50 is a superior DAC to D50s. And L50 has good enough single-ended out, with so much power, that it actually competes equally with A50s balanced out. And bear in mind that E50 has balanced outs, and L50 has balanced inputs. The only thing not balanced is the output to headphones.
@@iiWiReviews it does have rca outs that's what I can't work out it should be straight forward, I only just purchased the amp so I'm hoping the amp is fine
I haven't heard it. Ever since the whole Covid thing started, Schiit doesn't send USPS packages to my country and FedEx international shipping is way too expensive. So I simply put a hold on testing anything Schiit for now.
Well, I'm reading and answering as much as I have time. It's now over a hundred videos and half of them are still getting comments and questions. Sometimes if it's a tough question I leave it for later and sometimes forget about it cause it simply gets covered by new ones after few hours. Sorry if I missed one of yours.
@@iiWiReviews can I run this dac through my PC for games, so dac to mother board sound, motherboard to dac dac to amp headphones to amp would that work
