Same, that was what I was looking for
Is the 30 pro sterile or lean sound signature? Please describe sound signature;)
no, doesn’t sound too sterile as the A90,
on par with Jotunheim 2,
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Well this is interesting opinion, i bought su-9 and waiting for it, just because of curiosity, and thinking of amp to pair with it, i heard that SH-9 is not so good for SU-9 dac, it deserves better amplifier… And if A30 pro is not sterile and on par with Jotunheim 2 on sound signature i will buy it, im still waiting for more reviews or forum feedbacks, but very small amount of info. I wanted to order Jotunheim 2, and on schiit site 4-6 weeks delay specified. If A30 pro with sound quality and signature on par with flux fa-12s and Jotunheim 2 i will order it. I’m just worried that it is lean, sterile or digital sounding like L30 amp or something like this…
This is interesting i had to own previously fa-12s and it is far from sterile:) Maybe i will pull the trigger in a few days:) Maybe this will sound strange, but i prefer more colored sound of Asgard 3 to 12s, yes 12s has more resolution, but with Asgard 3 i just enjoy music more. I want to continue of looking of higher end headphone amp to replace the Asgard 3, maybe this topping a30 pro should give a try.
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I’ve had the 30pro stack about a week, and while my sample size of dac/amps is very small, I’m a happy boy.
I previously was using the FiiO K3, so this was a huge investment comparatively. The K3 is fairly neutral, but has an elevated noise floor. My super easy to drive 18ohm m1060c’s can hear the noise floor on low gain with the K3 cranked, and not playing anything. It’s not terrible and high gain makes it much easier to hear. The A30 pro is so quiet cranked at high gain that if there is anything I can’t tell the difference between my imagination and any actual sound(aka I can’t hear anything).
That ends what I can say soundwise is a fact about the stack. Here are other things that have stood out to me, although they are subtle and could just be placebo. Note separation/depth/whatever you want to call it is slightly better. On certain tracks I have a slightly easier time telling hearing the individual notes on something with a large number of fast notes. The other thing is that vs the FiiO K3 the highs are less sharp, aka when listening at similar volumes highs are slightly less shrill.
Back to facts, but not specifically sound related. The D30pro does a better job of switching from Foobar flac back to youtube/game audio. I’ll still have to close foobar then hit play on youtube videos, but with the K3 I had to turn the thing off and on again in order for it to work right. The dac also has a lot more inputs and balanced outs. On top of that the screen is a nice to have.
The A30 pro has a ton of power, to the point where I’ve literally never listened to music on anything, but low gain. When you flip the switch to turn it on/off there’s this delayed little click sound, and I love it. This has more outputs/inputs as well when compared to the K3.
Overall the sound of my headphones wasn’t dramatically different(they are all fairly easy to drive), but the extra headroom for future headphones and the feature leave this boy happy.
The one thing that I can say is worse is the heat output. The stack get pretty warm, not like burn your had warm or anything, but warmer than the K3. I’m not very experienced so this is likely normal, and just a nuance of such a huge upgrade over my old equipment.
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Has anyone directly compared the A30 pro and A90?
Fun fact the opa1656 was a relatively recent opamp that Texas instruments made and it’s a very high spec with low THD.
It was recommended to me by a TI engineer on diyaudio. The A30 uses 10 of these which is super interesting and makes me want to get it over an A90.
I use two of the 1656’s in my HPA-3B (beast), it pictured here with two Chinese oracle ii opamps. I usually run the opa1656 or burson v5i’s. This particular unit was modded with sparkos voltage regulators.
The HPA’s stand out feature is about double the power of a 789 @300/600 ohm. It also has a massive potentiometer and it works excellent with IEMs or hard to drive headphones.
In light of that the A30P really has me interested.
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I got the amp and it’s by no means THX sterile, It says on senzhenaudio website that if you use above 250ohm gear it goes full class-A, I dont have double of anything thats 250+ and actually only HD650 and DT990 pro(that I dislike on anything, acceptable with PEQ at best) so I cant really A/B it. got a pair of 58X but no DB meter to level match them. anyone know if its possible for this OP based little beast to go class-A :S I got it for IEM reasons and it fufilled that need gracefully.
Just turned on A30 pro, and get wow just straight from the box, powerful clean sound. I think price performance is very good. Will give it some time to burn in, and give it a listen later. Actually i did not expect that sound level from topping device.
But build quality a little bit weak, switches move to different sides, volume pot feels weak, not like absolute garbage, but i think you should carefully use it. One thing i wish it has more sub-bass in comparison to Asgard 3
Update: A30 pro gets hot only in 30 minutes after power up.
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The amp is worth it but D30 Pro is way too overpriced and underperforming considering SMSL M300 MK II exist for almost half the cost. M300 MK II uses AK4497 and also has tube mode.
M300 MK II supports up to 32bit/768kHz DSD512 (if that matters).
Seriously, what Topping was thinking?
I currently own su-9 and a30 pro, this week d30 pro will be delivered, i will share my impression,but i hear that d30 pro is more enjoyable and 3d than su-9, interesting…
Did you compare them side by side? Or your opinion based on measurements? Im not interested on this modern ultra high res formats, im interested in sound quality in pcm.
A30 pro amplifier is very good, and im very interested how it sounds with its own d30 dac
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I haven’t tried it.
I’m one of those people who believes all dacs sound the same. I have compared some dacs with the same amp using fast switch. Couldn’t hear a difference.
I thought I heard some differences in long term listening, though. Maybe that’s why some people are against fast switch. I took it as differences in my mood rather than the dac. You know, good day/bad day.
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This is actually a good point. I know that in my case I can hear a piece of music using the same gear and it won’t sound the same from one day to the next. This is definitely a limitation of the human machine.
Having said this, I believe that different DACs can process sound data in ways that produces a slightly different result, small as those differences may be.
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Has anyone tested A30 Pro against SMSL SP200? I want to order one but I’m not sure if it’s worth 60€ over the SP200 which has similar power and transparancy.
I’m mainly using DT1990 and Nighthawk carbon
Used to own the SP200 and now own a A30 Pro. A30 Pro is def worth it over the SP200. Sounds less sharp from memory. Way nicer volume potentiometer. The volume potentiometer in the SP200 is complete garabage. The volume knob/potentiometer that the SP200 uses feels loose and wobbly. A30 Pro also has much nicer chassis.
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Thanks, I’m gonna order the A30 Pro now
Doing side by side comparison su-9 and d30 pro, they don’t sound the same, sound signature very different, this is not my imagination, su-9 is flat and detailed, d30 pro much warmer and sounds more 3d dimensional, but in comparison feels like su-9 cleaner, but i think it is dac chip signature, no they dont sound the same! Just buy them and do the comparison by yourself:) Trust your ears and not someone opinion:) this is the only way to audio pleasure!
Su-9 is far from neutral, it is flat, detailed and very sharp, cant listen it loud!
D30 pro is not neutral, it is coloured sound, far from neutral, warm and comfortable even at loud volumes, but with a grain of salt, it lacks details in sound in comparison to su-9, bet feel more comfortable. I need some time with both. Su-9 shows all sound in front of you, with d30 pro you are in this soundstage.
Update: from my point of view A30 pro amplifier sounds better with su-9 dac, but d30 pro just right from the box, burn in?:))
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Cirrus Logic are quite “rare”, especially 4 of them. I’m not surprised about the different sound.
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Since this is not a true balanced amp, does it mean that it will not make a difference whether I use balanced or single ended input?
No. XLR balanced inputs provide more power then the RCA unbalanced. I use RCA unbalanced inputs with my A30 Pro because otherwise it will be too loud even in low gain.