[Mach3]

Glad you mention that. That should just about extinguish my thirst for ever hearing a Sony R10. If I can't listen to rock on a headphone what's the point? Lol

It a pitty the OG is so rare now and the price keeps climbing. Most people will never get the chance to hear it.
Luckily ES Lab comes along and Boommm.... ES-R10 priced below Sony current flagship MDR-Z1R.

Forgot to mention in my comparison of the R10 and the eR10, that before I received my eR10.
I had a chance to purchase the MDR-Z1R at less than half price about $850 USD.
Current owner was so happy to sell it even at that price. I ask why he was selling it and what was he upgrading to.
He kept on avoiding to answer my question.
I took the bullet anyway as I thought it so cheap, worst case I just sell it. I had already heard many impression and review.
From people who I generally have the same listening preference. So I didn't have high expectation of them to start off with.
Seeing that it was so cheap I though it would be great to grab a pair and when the eR10 arrive I would do a comparison.
Oh boy, even before the eR10 arrive, it wasn't good, bass was like it was forced down to your ear canals, treble was strange, it wasn't super detailed but it sounded harsh.
When the eR10 arrived, it sealed the deal and I sold it straight away to fund the R10.
eR10 is much much better in sound and price compared to the MDR-Z1R, makes me wonder how on earth did the same company make the Z1R and R10.
Both are so so different, I remember seeing the youtube video when I was hyping up myself to get the Z1R.
In the video, they said they use the experience gain from R10 to make the Z1R. What the heck, fooled me.
I'm thinking when I heard the Z1R, what on earth where they smoking? no where near the same tuning.

@purk is gonna kill me, but on hearing the OG R10 again (re-foamed), and given my music preferences (lots of harder rock, progressive, power metal etc)...I definitely prefer the ES-R10

Foam from ES Labs? Strange if it is, my R10 sound pretty good with rock too.

 

[kiling92]

It a pitty the OG is so rare now and the price keeps climbing. Most people will never get the chance to hear it.
Luckily ES Lab comes along and Boommm.... ES-R10 priced below Sony current flagship MDR-Z1R.

Forgot to mention in my comparison of the R10 and the eR10, that before I received my eR10.
I had a chance to purchase the MDR-Z1R at less than half price about $850 USD.
Current owner was so happy to sell it even at that price. I ask why he was selling it and what was he upgrading to.
He kept on avoiding to answer my question.
I took the bullet anyway as I thought it so cheap, worst case I just sell it. I had already heard many impression and review.
From people who I generally have the same listening preference. So I didn't have high expectation of them to start off with.
Seeing that it was so cheap I though it would be great to grab a pair and when the eR10 arrive I would do a comparison.
Oh boy, even before the eR10 arrive, it wasn't good, bass was like it was forced down to your ear canals, treble was strange, it wasn't super detailed but it sounded harsh.
When the eR10 arrived, it sealed the deal and I sold it straight away to fund the R10.
eR10 is much much better in sound and price compared to the MDR-Z1R, makes me wonder how on earth did the same company make the Z1R and R10.
Both are so so different, I remember seeing the youtube video when I was hyping up myself to get the Z1R.
In the video, they said they use the experience gain from R10 to make the Z1R. What the heck, fooled me.
I'm thinking when I heard the Z1R, what on earth where they smoking? no where near the same tuning.

the dynamat used inside the zelkova, together with the new magnets give more linearity to the R10 mod.
doing so your r10 adapts to any musical genre.
the bass of the r10 stock pushes away rock and harsher musical genres due to the excessive lack of bass rumble.
it remains however how surprised I am to hear about its replica the es r10 ... is it possible that it has 90% of the original? if so, why use a 200-year-old zelkova if the result remains the same? is the three-dimensionality of the clone the same as the original?

Foam from ES Labs? Strange if it is, my R10 sound

 

[Mach3]

the dynamat used inside the zelkova, together with the new magnets give more linearity to the R10 mod.
doing so your r10 adapts to any musical genre.
the bass of the r10 stock pushes away rock and harsher musical genres due to the excessive lack of bass rumble.
it remains however how surprised I am to hear about its replica the es r10 ... is it possible that it has 90% of the original? if so, why use a 200-year-old zelkova if the result remains the same? is the three-dimensionality of the clone the same as the original?

Externally they are the same, internally, not sure haven't open them to check.
ES-R10 wood is Zelkova, just don't know where it came from.
Best you direct these question to Benson the creator @bwck2000

 

[justanut]

the dynamat used inside the zelkova, together with the new magnets give more linearity to the R10 mod.
doing so your r10 adapts to any musical genre.
the bass of the r10 stock pushes away rock and harsher musical genres due to the excessive lack of bass rumble.
it remains however how surprised I am to hear about its replica the es r10 ... is it possible that it has 90% of the original? if so, why use a 200-year-old zelkova if the result remains the same? is the three-dimensionality of the clone the same as the original?

The density of that 200 year old wood probably accounts for that 10%...

 

[BassInYourSpace]

Hello everyone! Since my eslabs es-r10 have arrived a day early, it only makes sense to make a new thread so as not to derail the hifiman r10 thread. I have already opened up the box and listened to these headphones. What do I have to say about it? Spoilers below.

Ok so the box is simple and easy to open. But here's the thing. While the hifiman he-r10d headphones themselves were a pain to pull out of the box, the es labs wooden box was difficult to remove from the cardboard outer box. I had to open the bottom and push it through the top. The box made me work for it lol. Contents include the headphones, an xlr cable and a blue cloth under the headphones within the palownia wooden box.

So how's the build? Substantially better than the hifiman one. Pads feel comfy, no screws coming loose, no odd sounds. It only feels a little heavier than the hifiman he-r10D. The headphones require no adjustment since it uses a suspension strap which reminds me of my stax 007. While I was a bit worried it might be a tight fit, it actually fits on my head just fine. Its clamp is also alot comfier than the hifiman one which presses on my temples. The eslabs r10 pads are not deep so they feel a bit like an on-ear headphone. The quality of its components while generally lightweight feels more substantial and of better quality. Feels less like a toy, more like product you'd expect costing over $1k as one should expect.

So the moment everyones been waiting for. How's it sound? I think that since I have never heard an original r10 and I see myself as not a fanboy of either sony or hifiman even though I have no issues with the sound of either brands products I feel that I might show some neutrality vs if a fan of either brand had these headphones in their possession.

With that said, the eslabs shows immediate potential. When comparing the hifiman he-r10d to my zmf atticus I had complained about how sounds resonate and appear lifeless. The he-r10d while trying to be transparent fails to control reverberations, showing a lack of refinement. Also the stage was not really wider than the Atticus. Another issue with the he-r10d was the lack of weight behind each sound. The reverberation of sounds reflecting off the cheap cups cause notes to expand too much and the sounds begin to smear or bloom too much, but at least its imaging was good enough to pick out each sound.

Right out the box, the es labs offering solved all of my issues vs the he-r10d.

What the eslabs does better:
-sound is a little wider.
-distant sounds do not shrink, they maintain similar or the same size as images appearing in the center.
-control of reverb is far superior and since the sounds are tighter and not echoing onto one another, there is a improvement in clarity which leads to a better appreciation of the details of the sound. Notes begin and end with superior decay, so a better sense of speed and rhythm. This leads to a more exciting and engaging/addicting sound reminding me a bit of my zmfs. Not similar in sound signature or presentation mind you, but in how it grabs my attention like my zmfs. In other words it makes me care about listening to the music.
-Presentation has a glass appearance to it just like the he-r10d, but the eslabs r10 presents sounds with more weight and emotion. It's still significantly thinner than my warmer Zmf Atticus but thicker than the hifiman he-r10d.
-since reverbs are under control, the bass has a noticeably pronounced punch, dare I say it has a feeling of speaker like tactility and a bit of a three dimensional snap to it.
-the sound is more forward and a hair brighter.
-sounds are more effortless due to the refinement and control of how sounds bounce about the cups.

So the zelkova wood on the eslabs r10 seems to be better than the cherry wood on the he-r10d. I read online that the he-r10d would use pinewood but the cups on my pair look more like the cherry cups on the he-r10p. The use of wood on the es labs headphone seems to work with its driver vs the he-r10d which sounded like its wooden cups were working against the efforts of its drivers. The wood on both headphones are light weight and glossy smooth to the touch.

If you look at my profile I have a number of wooden headphones to compare the es labs r10 to. Mostly zmfs, but I do have a fostex th900 pearl white limited, an audio techinca w11jpn and a klipsch hp-3. But first I'm going to finish burning in my he-r10d to 200hrs, then start burning in my es labs r10 to the same 200hrs. So every few weeks I'll try to compare the r10's to other woodies.

So far the es labs offering has proven to be of greater value on build and sound.

More to come, eventually...

Product page:
https://www.eslabhk.com/product-page/es-r10-closed-back-dynamic-headphone

Price varies because it's priced in Hong Kong dollars.

Quick link to comparisons
Es-r10 to th900 mk2 limited pearl white
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/es-...a-discussion-impressions.962569/post-16866130
Es-r10 to Atticus (also an explanation of the wood)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/es-...a-discussion-impressions.962569/post-16867870
Es-r10 to Verite Closed Leopardwood
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/es-...a-discussion-impressions.962569/post-16873239
Es-r10 to Focal Stellia
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/es-...a-discussion-impressions.962569/post-16875397
Es-r10 to Abyss 1266 Phi TC by rsbrsvp
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/es-...a-discussion-impressions.962569/post-16879451
Es-r10 to sony mdr-r10 by protoss
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/es-...a-discussion-impressions.962569/post-16894802

Reviews by other users
arturo71
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/es-...a-discussion-impressions.962569/post-16871766

Fantastic review!! I’ve been eyeing these for some time and have yet to hear a single negative opinion. I just took advantage of ZMF’s “Hot Cup Summer” so my headphone budget is officially gone for… a while. But hear are very high up on my “want to demo” list.

Enjoy!!

 

[omega1990]

Fantastic review!! I’ve been eyeing these for some time and have yet to hear a single negative opinion. I just took advantage of ZMF’s “Hot Cup Summer” so my headphone budget is officially gone for… a while. But hear are very high up on my “want to demo” list.

Enjoy!!

Thanks for the message. It's a great headphone. To me it's probably my favorite compliment to my zmf's because its frequency response is the opposite of my zmf's. Where my zmf's are more relaxed, warmer and at times darker; the es-r10 is brighter, airier and spacious. Both my zmf's and es-r10 sound great together. I think the upcoming atrium closed will probably be a fantastic complimentary can to the es-r10 since the atrium also has a biocellulose driver. If you like the looks and sound of wooden headphone and want an opposite in sound signature to a zmf, I can't think of a better headphone than the es-r10, at least for me anyway.

Also I gotta update my initial post with all the later comparisons I made and the reviews other users have posted. I guess what helps is that we managed to add lots of comparisons and comments about getting the most out the es-r10 that can help others decide if they want it or not. I'll definitely add a comparison to the atrium closed which I think is being aimed for an end of the year release.

 

[Mach3]

@kiling92 As you can see externally the cup are the same.
When I get the chance to open the ES-R10, I will take photo 2 compare the 2.
Being more dense in grain, I'm guessing the Sony cups are closer to the core of the tree.

 

[BassInYourSpace]

Thanks for the message. It's a great headphone. To me it's probably my favorite compliment to my zmf's because its frequency response is the opposite of my zmf's. Where my zmf's are more relaxed, warmer and at times darker; the es-r10 is brighter, airier and spacious. Both my zmf's and es-r10 sound great together. I think the upcoming atrium closed will probably be a fantastic complimentary can to the es-r10 since the atrium also has a biocellulose driver. If you like the looks and sound of wooden headphone and want an opposite in sound signature to a zmf, I can't think of a better headphone than the es-r10, at least for me anyway.

Also I gotta update my initial post with all the later comparisons I made and the reviews other users have posted. I guess what helps is that we managed to add lots of comparisons and comments about getting the most out the es-r10 that can help others decide if they want it or not. I'll definitely add a comparison to the atrium closed which I think is being aimed for an end of the year release.

Ooooh, nice! Yeah I would imagine that’s a great pairing. My Kennerton GH50-JM has always been the Yin to my ZMF Eikon’s Yang, but I just picked up a B+++ Stabilized Verite Closed today so there’s about to be a new king of the castle ‘round these parts.

 

[GREQ]

Being more dense in grain, I'm guessing the Sony cups are closer to the core of the tree.

It's more likely to do with the angle/profile of the cut and the speed at which the tree grew.
Even two cups from the same tree can look different.

If you look at the cups from a direct side profile, the Sonys were more likely cut as if you were looking down through the length of the trunk of the tree.
The ES-R10 cups appear to be more askew, perhaps even horizontal, which would make the rings appear elongated.

 

[purk]

@purk is gonna kill me, but on hearing the OG R10 again (re-foamed), and given my music preferences (lots of harder rock, progressive, power metal etc)...I definitely prefer the ES-R10

More power to you brother. I listen to more acoustics, jazz, vocal, pop, classical, and some classic rock and the OG R10 is definitely my cup of tea.

 

[protoss]

@purk
@mulveling

And I'll pick the L3000 over those those two

 

[Mach3]

@purk
@mulveling

And I'll pick the L3000 over those those two

In that case I'll trade you your R10 for my L3000

 

[protoss]

In that case I'll trade you your R10 for my L3000

LOLOLOL

okay okay, I'll take my statement back...

"Back doors, lights off, hugging the R10, I'm sorry...."

 

[Mach3]

Kinda like comparing Lamborghini (L3000) to a Bugatti (R10).
Sure the Lamborghini is awesome but ain't no Bugatti.

 

[purk]

@purk
@mulveling

And I'll pick the L3000 over those those two

For rock or heavy metal….the L3000 can do a better job!