Ah my bad, I think itās worth the extra cash over a d10 if you are looking to buy a dac and donāt have one, but that being said if you already have a d10 and donāt need the features, I would just stick with the d10, the e30 will be an upgrade but not a large one unless you really need a variable volume out
3 Likes
Hello,
is not meant badly what Iām saying now.
But comparing the D10 with the E30 is a bit thin.
The Chip Saber against Akm alone are very different tonally.
Apart from the electrical circuitry, which may be almost similar, I would go one step further against that, because the capacitors and Wima could be different again.
Not to forget that the D10 is also a bit older.
I understand that there are some users who say Tonal hear the differences.
Which would also be the case between Fostex Ho A3 and HpA4Bl.
I also say that they are very different from each other.
The simple reason is that the Hp A3 has an Akm and the HpA4BL a Burr Brown with Sharp off and Roll off function.
The end was that I just liked the Hp A3 better, although it didnāt have the technical sophistication like the HpA4BL.
But the fidelity of the Hp A3 was more authentic for me and then also the personal emotions.
Thatās why I always like to enjoy cross-comparisons with caution. The shot can also backfire like the Sp200 for example.
It is not everyoneās taste, and in the end had to garner a lot of criticism, but rightly from the manufacturing alone.
A comparison with the old Akm chip like now the Fostex Hp A3 or other Akm chip devices might be more interesting, as well as the current chip that can be bought as a finished Dac / amp against the E30 and different headphone amplifiers such as Schiit vali2, herasy magni 3 +, Rupert neve, liquid Spark, Loxjie.
You may also get a good and cheap combo.
Personally, I have to say.
I listened to all the chips and tested them for a long time.
In the end I judged that the Akm and Cirrus logic are very suitable for headphones.
I find the Esabre chip very good for stereos as well as for older ones. Models as an upgrade are very, very good, where they get the warmth and fire where they are needed, where I feel too sharp and too cold for headphones, and the contours are just too cold for me, it just doesnāt pick you up from the emotions .
I would put the Burr Brwon almost as unusable, which I think is the worst of all, because you donāt necessarily feel a foundation where you say yes it is, and would be for someone who is not satisfied with anything.
But just my personal assessment others say something else because you feel and hear something else.
I mean they do sound close from memory, they are both well implemented chips, but I think the change to akm benefited it from a headphone AND speaker perspective (at least quickly testing on my desk speaker setups). They kinda just made a higher quality product overall imo. I donāt think having a different dac chip makes them that different of a product (the d10 and e30), they aim for the same performance, being a more transparent sound with good objective performance, and think they both serve that role well. I mean personally from my experience itās all implementation and less of the chip, thatās how you determine your final sound, and when you use a similar design but with a different chip, it yields some similar aspects. You can tell the switch from ESS to AKM, but that being said itās really not night and day, itās just a higher quality product with more features for a bit higher price imo. I donāt have a d10 to test in front of me, but I do have alot of experience with it, but of course having it in front of me would be more ideal.
3 Likes
Now testing with a proper pairing being the magni heresy and the e30, with a variety of headphones, this is pretty slick for the price if you want something clean, clear, powerful, and somewhat neutral. The d10 and heresy could get a bit harsh at times, and with the e30 it now seems to be more controlled, and also I think presentation has improved vs the d10. Itās almost a slight w to the sound where the d10 was a bit brighter, but the filters can do some more fine tuning on the e30. This is a fairly enjoyable combo and def something that works well together
Now paring with the liquid spark, it is equally enjoyable lol, but I actually think the d10 would be a bit more balanced pairing from memory. The d10 added a tad of extra treble energy that helped with the slight smoothness and roll off of the treble in the liquid spark, the e30 is a bit more weighty sounding and still has good treble, but does emphasize more of a warmer thicker sound (which can be good if you enjoy that of course), both are fairly great pairings though and this is also worthwhile too.
Aight, Iām done now lol
9 Likes
well that was an announcement 
.
Since I do not want to contradict you because your experience of various equipment is certainly designed higher than mine 
.
Even if your first impression was that it could be similar to the D10, it usually doesnāt fool you when it comes out of your belly, it definitely works for everyone Point of view could change again, or others who bought it could not say anything else.
I definitely donāt think he looks bad.
The variety of connections is there.
The technical options too.
And only 5 volts to drive is also something that you can work with and possibly get something out via Psu or directly on the PC.
I like it.
and I thought about that too, but Iāll wait a bit if I decide to.
I never like to buy the first series of a product that first saw the market, also because of the teething problems.
Iām looking forward to further reports 
So I see there is now a SMSL Sanskrit 10th MK2 that also now uses a 4493, and I wonder how they would compare, I would assume they would sound kinda similar and both have solid features. They pretty much have the same features actually
3 Likes
I really hope one of these single ended budget dacs get mqa eventuallyā¦ as far as I can tell this is non existent in the market
The ifi zen dac a good pick if you want that, I actually have one hooked up besides my other dacs lol
1 Like
Iāve been considering purchasing it again tbhā¦ it was fidgety but its the only option and I also liked the soundā¦ youāre using it as a dac?
The issue is the licensing fee, it makes it far more difficult to include on a low priced DAC.
1 Like
Pretty much yeah, mqa is legit just drm with extra steps
2 Likes
IMO itās a dac first device, real nice warmer sound if you are into that. If you check my profile you can see how itās hooked up
yeah Iāll probably give it another shotā¦ I sort of feel like Iām collecting dacs thoughā¦ this hobby really gets ya
Ah I def feel like Iām collecting dacs lol, fortunately I have limited myself by my setup since I can only support up to 6 dacs with my current switcher setup
and people say ādacs donāt matterāā¦ psssh
Itās moreso that you want to put your focuses moreso on the headphones and then amp before your dac (assuming you have a decent dac) in a budget setup, in the higher end the dac starts to matter way more imo
1 Like
Things you only read in an audiophile forum. Lol.
Enjoy 
Edit: Inb4 someone tells you about ātheseā cheap switchersā¦
Ah yeah the switches are mid tier switches, but they do the job well. I have thought about expanding with more dacs and switchers but I already have some fairly high tier ones and am pretty content with them. I so have space for more amp expansion but I already have 15 amps on the desk in the switcher setup lol, so I think Iām most likely done there too
Time to move into desk 2 lol (unlessā¦)
Edit: it would be fun to build a switching setup with budget references, might be something I do in the future
3 Likes
And a youtube channel? 
1 Like
Nah, no reviews lol, just for my own sake of enjoyment, if I was to do reviews I would have started long before I joined this forum 
3 Likes