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Echobox Audio Explorer impressions and discussion thread
Jul 2, 2017 at 12:48 PM Post #196 of 358
Jul 2, 2017 at 2:52 PM Post #197 of 358
further testing.
It sounds just fine with Roxannes from UAPP app.
In Tidal with the Roxannes there is slightly electronic noise occasionally, Did not hear this with the other headphones. Roxannes are pretty sensitive.
The Tidal connection is dog slow (even with normal streaming/file quality set) away from my computer room where the router is.. however, once it buffers it seems to run ok, but there are still occasional drop outs.

Bluetooth with the PXC 550 is decent until you get about 15 feet and two walls away. So it fails my "Can I vacuum the whole apartment with out the device in my pocket test?"
Took three tries to get it to pair with the 550, but has been solid since, as long as I stay within the signal limit.

Roon remote was working fine but there is a glitch where the font gets unreadable. A restart of the app fixed it.

Just had a weird instance where UAPP would not shut down even trying force it to stop, it would just start right back up. Might have something to do with adding the widget to the home screen, once I took it off there it shut down.
 
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Jul 2, 2017 at 3:34 PM Post #198 of 358
bearFNF said:
further testing.
It sounds just fine with Roxannes from UAPP app.
In Tidal with the Roxannes there is slightly electronic noise occasionally, Did not hear this with the other headphones. Roxannes are pretty sensitive.
The Tidal connection is dog slow (even with normal streaming/file quality set) away from my computer room where the router is.. however, once it buffers it seems to run ok, but there are still occasional drop outs.

Bluetooth with the PXC 550 is decent until you get about 15 feet and two walls away. So it fails my "Can I vacuum the whole apartment with out the device in my pocket test?"
Took three tries to get it to pair with the 550, but has been solid since, as long as I stay within the signal limit.

Roon remote was working fine but there is a glitch where the font gets unreadable. A restart of the app fixed it.

Just had a weird instance where UAPP would not shut down even trying force it to stop, it would just start right back up. Might have something to do with adding the widget to the home screen, once I took it off there it shut down.
Click to expand...
What's the relationship between UAPP and Tidal? Does UAPP host Tidal? Or is offline Tidal content playable through UAPP? I've never used it so I am unclear.
 
Jul 2, 2017 at 3:45 PM Post #199 of 358
UAPP has Tidal built into it but I have not used that. I have not tried the offline feature yet in any of my Tidal devices.
I tested both and mention it because the early unit had a marked difference in sound quality between using Tidal (streaming) and UAPP (internal music), some think it is due tot he WiFi??
I did not hear the electronic squeaking with UAPP (WiFi on), I only heard it occasionally with Tidal (streaming WiFi obviously on).

I just did another test that wont make many happy. the original unit has better WiFi reception and Bluetooth range is better, (passes the test I mentioned above).
Bluetooth did glitch at about 30 feet and four walls away but it made it (only one glitch/skip but still playing).

Next I may try downgrading the Tidal on the new unit and upgrading the Tidal on the old one and see what happens. Could be all the crap Tidal is pushing in the background that is causing the new one to be so slow?? Not counting on it.

But first its time for a motorcycle ride to get some fresh air. :)
 
Jul 2, 2017 at 3:57 PM Post #200 of 358
bearFNF said:
UAPP has Tidal built into it but I have not used that. I have not tried the offline feature yet in any of my Tidal devices.
I tested both and mention it because the early unit had a marked difference in sound quality between using Tidal (streaming) and UAPP (internal music), some think it is due tot he WiFi??
I did not hear the electronic squeaking with UAPP (WiFi on), I only heard it occasionally with Tidal (streaming WiFi obviously on).

I just did another test that wont make many happy. the original unit has better WiFi reception and Bluetooth range is better, (passes the test I mentioned above).
Bluetooth did glitch at about 30 feet and four walls away but it made it (only one glitch/skip but still playing).

Next I may try downgrading the Tidal on the new unit and upgrading the Tidal on the old one and see what happens. Could be all the crap Tidal is pushing in the background that is causing the new one to be so slow?? Not counting on it.

But first its time for a motorcycle ride to get some fresh air. :)
Click to expand...
Thanks. Ride safe.
 
Jul 3, 2017 at 12:22 AM Post #202 of 358
I upgraded the tidal on the old unit (it had 1.9.0) to the new version 1.16.9, there was a slight
downgrade in performance, but not too bad. A few hesitation in playback until buffering was done.

I also looked at my wIfi and did some optimization which might have helped.
I was able to get both units functioning better with HIFI setting in Tidal.

The new unit still had more buffering issues than the old unit, it was better than the first round of testing but still had some lag.
The WiFi Indicator would dip below full on the new unit when the old one was steady at full strength.
This indicates that the wifi is weaker on the new unit. shielding?
The old unit was just faster in refreshing and loading new tracks into the buffer.
Could memory also be a factor? Maybe, but its not the root I don't think.
More memory would sure help overall performance. but not the WiFi part.

The clicks between track are better on the new one, but at the expense of the WiFi performance.
 
Jul 3, 2017 at 1:02 PM Post #203 of 358
At the moment, my only portable player is my iPhone 6+; as long as the Explorer's audio quality is superior, I'll consider it a win.

Of course, it's not a contendor if it never arrives at my doorstep.
 
Jul 3, 2017 at 3:05 PM Post #204 of 358
I have a strange problem. A couple of seconds after I start a song (mp3, flac) a very loud beeping noise is heard. And it wont stop even if I pause the song. Need to turn it off. Cant listen to any songs on it. Haven´t tried tidal yet.
 
Jul 3, 2017 at 5:20 PM Post #205 of 358
Did it just start or is this the first time you tried it?

Metalboyy said:
I have a strange problem. A couple of seconds after I start a song (mp3, flac) a very loud beeping noise is heard. And it wont stop even if I pause the song. Need to turn it off. Cant listen to any songs on it. Haven´t tried tidal yet.
Click to expand...

I would email echobox and see if they can help.
 
Jul 3, 2017 at 10:08 PM Post #206 of 358
I've listened to the Echobox Explorer with my Grado GH1/G and the Finders. They both seem to have decent synergy.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the sound right out of the box, but that's a low bar. As long as a piece of gear doesn't actively sound bad and is able to bring out new aspects to the music, I'm guaranteed to not dislike it at the very least.

The standout feature to my ears thus far is the 3D soundstage. With the GH1's, especially, the music is fully enveloping, with plenty of space between instruments for details to resolve rather fully. The IEMs, of course, have a noticeably more collapsed soundstage, but it's still larger than they get with every other source on which I've listened. I still need to listen with my other headphones (LCD-2's and Layla's) and with benchmarking tracks, but I enjoy the sound so far.

The Explorer synergizes with my Grados well in another way:
AKA half the reason I chose the maple finish.
echo box + gh1.jpg
 
Jul 3, 2017 at 11:10 PM Post #207 of 358
hardbop said:
I've listened to the Echobox Explorer with my Grado GH1/G and the Finders. They both seem to have decent synergy.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the sound right out of the box, but that's a low bar. As long as a piece of gear doesn't actively sound bad and is able to bring out new aspects to the music, I'm guaranteed to not dislike it at the very least.

The standout feature to my ears thus far is the 3D soundstage. With the GH1's, especially, the music is fully enveloping, with plenty of space between instruments for details to resolve rather fully. The IEMs, of course, have a noticeably more collapsed soundstage, but it's still larger than they get with every other source on which I've listened. I still need to listen with my other headphones (LCD-2's and Layla's) and with benchmarking tracks, but I enjoy the sound so far.

The Explorer synergizes with my Grados well in another way:
AKA half the reason I chose the maple finish.
Click to expand...

I had not thought about that match with my GH1 so I have mahogany instead.
 
Jul 4, 2017 at 2:19 PM Post #208 of 358
Ha ha! I just got home from work to find a DHL package of a certain size and shape sitting on the kitchen table.
In the space of the time it took to say hello to my family and have a look at the package, I have been through:

- Surprise
- Confusion
- Incredulity
- Relief
- Trepidation
- Hope
- Fear
- Anger
- Acceptance
- Hope again

My wife says that if her new shoes don't fit that she'll send them back within the return period this time.

Damn, Echobox. You are certainly giving value for money! What a ride!
 
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