- #TOPPING STACK VS SCHIIT STACK MANUAL#
- #TOPPING STACK VS SCHIIT STACK FULL#
- #TOPPING STACK VS SCHIIT STACK PORTABLE#
It also has a pre-amp mode that will work with active speakers and power amps where the remote will allow you to adjust the volume.īoth the E30 and 元0 offer quite a lot of versatility and combined as a stack they really offer a great basis for a wide range of uses. The E30 is not a very expensive DAC and yet offers a lot of versatility with USB, coax and optical inputs, alongside the RCA left and right channel outputs.
The back is where things get very interesting. The E30 has a clean look and the front is just a display with a touch area for on/off and switching to pure DAC mode (hold for 3 seconds). It makes for a very good looking stack that takes up little space on a desk. The body of both is made from aluminium and they are very small, only 10cm wide, 3.2cm high and 12.5cm deep for the E30 with the 元0 sticking out a little more because of the volume dial. The ones I had for review were both in black, but there is also a silver version and I believe a red and blue version should be coming too. The E30 and 元0 are both a very attractive looking and feel well built.
#TOPPING STACK VS SCHIIT STACK MANUAL#
Aside from that the 元0 is supplied only with a 6.35mm to 3.5mm adapter and the user’s manual and warranty card. I am not sure if there is a true UK plug option, but I saw a picture from someone in the UK who received an EU plug with UK adapter that was very poorly done, so for UK buyers it might be good to check on that beforehand. The 元0 does come with its own 15V AC adapter that you will need to make sure is suitable for your country. Lastly a user’s manual and warranty card. A USB cable is included for use with a USB source (for optical and coax you need your own cables) and a remote, which I think is pretty good at this price, but you also need it because there are only limited settings you can change directly on the DAC. I think most people will have multiple such plugs lying around anyway and should not be a problem. The E30 comes with a DC cable that will require your own 5V plug if you do not intend on running it from the USB port of your computer (which might not be the cleanest power supply). It doesn’t make for the most appealing pictures, so let’s move on to the content itself, which looks a lot better. Just simple white boxes (grey for the Fanmusic cables) with lots of foam protection to ensure safe transport. At this price I was not expecting a very elaborate unboxing experience and indeed it was all very straight forward and, importantly, sensibly packed. I received the E30 and 元0 along with a set of Fanmusic C003 RCA cables (US$29.99) to make for a complete stack.
#TOPPING STACK VS SCHIIT STACK FULL#
Violectric V380, Focal Elegia, Final D8000), but will hopefully be informative for people looking to move up and wanting good value for money instead of driving a dump truck full of cash to their local audio store. It might not be as glamorous as including comparisons to and pair ups with the high-end gear I had lined up (e.g.
#TOPPING STACK VS SCHIIT STACK PORTABLE#
Instead of comparing to gear at or above this price point, I decided to write it from the perspective of someone who might have a portable USB DAC/amp and wants to step up to a proper desktop solution. As a consequence of this, I had limited resources for proper comparisons and pair-ups and decided to turn this review around.
I did my best to arrange for headphones and a higher-end DAC/amp to provide some perspective on the performance of the E30/元0 stack, but even after repeatedly delaying this review those still did not arrive in time. This review is very much from the perspective of someone new to desktop gear and not hugely into analyzing specs and measurements. The pricing is very attractive at around US$270 combined and I was curious to see what sort of performance you would get at that price point.īig disclaimer here for the more technically savant and those fully into desktop gear. So, when I saw the opportunity, I was very keen to review the budget E30 DAC and 元0 headphone amplifier, which make up Topping’s ‘Hot Hatch’ desktop stack. Moreover, Topping seems to have a talent for developing equipment that offers great value for money. Topping is a Chinese company that was established in 2008 and specializes in desktop equipment such as headphone amplifiers, power amplifiers and DACs at very interesting price points. For quite a long time now I have been meaning to get into desktop gear alongside portable audio and when talking to people about what would be a good setup, the name Topping kept coming up again and again.
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