What are some of the reasons that make it better than AD18?
The screen is nicer, it is much higher resolution
I like the auto screen off feature.
There are no pops when the amp is turned on
The EQ options are more usable to me, I don't know what the "tone" EQ setting is doing but it sounds a bit like a "loudness" EQ which is great to have. I didn't like any of the EQ presets on the AD18.
I THINK it sounds smoother to my ears, unfortunately I cannot directly compare to the AD18 as I no longer have it.
I prefer the remote control, feels much nicer in the hand.
I prefer the volume knob on the unit itself. My AD18 had a horrible volume knob that wasnt accurate at all, it would skip and jump between each notch. The A30 knob feels great to use.
I prefer the volume increments, the A30 goes much quieter than the AD18. Also Volume level 1 actually works!
Some negative points are:
There are some buttons on the remote that have no function. (like the AD18 too)
When you power off the amp, if using USB audio the USB device will completely disconnect, unlike the AD18 which remained as a connected device.
I noticed some oddities like for some reason the bass was set to default +10 and treble +8, although they weren't actually in effect until I nudged the settings. (So it seems the Preset EQ's are literally just that, they adjust the treble and bass, but if you set a preset EQ, and then open up the option for treble and bass, it will revert back to whatever bass or treble setting was manually set to last. For example, if I manually set my bass to -10, and then turn on the "super bass" preset, it will behind the scenes turn up the bass amount, but then if I navigate to the bass option and open it, it will show -10 AND set it to -10, rather than just show the preset value. I think the AD18 EQ presets were independent of the bass and treble settings but I could be wrong.)
Some weirdness with the windows driver detecting it as "Headphones"
I havent tested any other input source than USB so far.
Really enjoying it though, just feels more premium to me than the SMSL.