[psikey]

I had the EarStudio ES100 which sounded awesome via my SE846's with LDAC & balanced but was underwhelmed with the build quality and usability of the controls. I paid £100 from Amazon with shipping before returning.

For half the price I'm certainly giving the BTR3 a go and got my preorder in with AMP3. Having balanced not worth double the price to me. Do you think this would also drive my HD660S headphones too? The ES100 did.

1x Fiio BTR3 Bluetooth Headphone Amp
Sub-Total: £54.99
Supersaver 2 - 4 working days (Postage to United Kingdom): £0.00
VAT@20% (included in price): £9.17
Discount Coupons:STAY10P: -£5.50

Total: £49.49

 

[SubMash]

I had the EarStudio ES100 which sounded awesome via my SE846's with LDAC & balanced but was underwhelmed with the build quality and usability of the controls. I paid £100 from Amazon with shipping before returning.

For half the price I'm certainly giving the BTR3 a go and got my preorder in with AMP3. Having balanced not worth double the price to me. Do you think this would also drive my HD660S headphones too? The ES100 did.

1x Fiio BTR3 Bluetooth Headphone Amp
Sub-Total: £54.99
Supersaver 2 - 4 working days (Postage to United Kingdom): £0.00
VAT@20% (included in price): £9.17
Discount Coupons:STAY10P: -£5.50

Total: £49.49

You going to have much worse experience since btr3 is single amp. 846 would have not enough current, so expect way more noise. 660 would have not enough voltage since no balanced output, so expect not enough volume.

 

[SubMash]

@FiiO - are you going to post device audio quality specs? Who cares what is the noise floor of amp when it has no headphones connected?

 

[FiiO]

@FiiO - are you going to post device audio quality specs? Who cares what is the noise floor of amp when it has no headphones connected?

Not sure what you want to need. Can the parameters in our website answer: http://www.fiio.com.cn/btr3_parameters

Best regards

 

[psikey]

You going to have much worse experience since btr3 is single amp. 846 would have not enough current, so expect way more noise. 660 would have not enough voltage since no balanced output, so expect not enough volume.

Its just to replace my really old Sony Ericsson MW600 which I use on my e-bike normally with just my old Klipsch X10i. No real reason to use my HD660S headphones with it as only use those at home anyway. My SE846's had no issue with the ES100/LDAC (to my ears) so not sure what your referring to with this either.

 

[FiiO]

I did get a response from Fiio, they said:

"Hi, firstly thanks for your purchasding the FiiO BTR3. Yes, we will release a new firmware for the BTR3 later. And you could upgrade it by yourself at that time. Actually the Android app is FiiO Music app, and we will add BTR3 option to that app later"

Yes, now the BTR3 option has not been added to the FiiO Music APP. The stable version FiiO Music APP may be released next month or so.

Best regards

 

[FiiO]

@JamesFiiO Thanks for clearing that up.

Does it support balanced mode via adapter such as Fiio L26?

No, the BTR3 doesn't have balanced output. Using the L26, could not active the balanced mode as well.

Best regards

 

[SubMash]

Not sure what you want to need. Can the parameters in our website answer: http://www.fiio.com.cn/btr3_parameters

Best regards

I miss THD limit with power outputs declared and I doubt how it's possible to get <0.3Ohm OI with this single amplifier. Also, knowing maximum RMS or Vpp voltage on the output would help. Again, I'm not interested in amp specs - they all available online . I'm interested in your device final results. It's not the same.

 

[FiiO]

noticed I didnt buy from the official tmall store, hope it goes ok anyway. Been waiting for this one since announced.

Edit..

does your 40cm mmcx work on other earbuds with mmcx?

Theoretically, the LC-3.5AS can work with other earbuds with standard mmcx port. You could have a try in the local store first if you can.

Best regards

 

[psikey]

Anybody know how the output power compares to the EarStudio ES100 3.5mm connection ?

 

[Vergil]

Anybody know how the output power compares to the EarStudio ES100 3.5mm connection ?

Well, the dude straight up declared the FiiO has worse quality because it's not balanced. Facepalm. Don't take him seriously. The SE846s are super easy to drive. Power won't be a problem. With high sensitivity IEMs I'd worry more about background noise.

 

[psikey]

Well, the dude straight up declared the FiiO has worse quality because it's not balanced. Facepalm. Don't take him seriously. The SE846s are super easy to drive. Power won't be a problem. With high sensitivity IEMs I'd worry more about background noise.

With the SE846's its the background noise that can sometime be an issue. With the ES100 it was dead silent but lots of background hiss with the old MW600.

I'm hoping this will drive my SE846's over LDAC as good as the ES100 did but with a nicer design, easier controls. Would be nice if it also had enough output power to drive my HD660S 150Ohm.

Anybody know where to get a decent short mmcx cable to UK? Seen someone had a custom one made from a US seller at 48cm length.

 

[SubMash]

Well, the dude straight up declared the FiiO has worse quality because it's not balanced. Facepalm. Don't take him seriously. The SE846s are super easy to drive. Power won't be a problem. With high sensitivity IEMs I'd worry more about background noise.

AK4376a lowest load impedance is 14.4Ohm.
Add something on a circuitry of btr3 and Fiio declares 16Ohm.
846 is going down to 5Ohm - that is anything but NOT "easy to drive".
Don't take that dude seriously - he doesn't know what he is talking about.

It's worse because it's single amp with same load specs as ES100, but ES100 is dual amp. Not because it's balanced.
One AK4376 can't drive 846 at a reasonable volume - it will be heavily saturated due to the current limiter in the amp.

ES100 is another league for any low or high impedance headphones. For medium impedance high sensitivity headphones, they MIGHT sound same, but I didn't see any device specs posted - only amp specs.

AK4376A Vrms is 0.61V rms, ES100 dual amp AK4375 is 2.26V.
Both those DACs are identical THD under 32Ohm load with 25mW, so ES100 is double current.

Aside of audio quality specs it will be a question of connection reliability, so let's see reviews. Other than that BTR3 certainly better from the price point of view.

 

[Vergil]

AK4376a lowest load impedance is 14.4Ohm.
Add something on a circuitry of btr3 and Fiio declares 16Ohm.
846 is going down to 5Ohm - that is anything but NOT "easy to drive".
Don't take that dude seriously - he doesn't know what he is talking about.

It's worse because it's single amp with same load specs as ES100, but ES100 is dual amp. Not because it's balanced.
One AK4376 can't drive 846 at a reasonable volume - it will be heavily saturated due to the current limiter in the amp.

ES100 is another league for any low or high impedance headphones. For medium impedance high sensitivity headphones, they MIGHT sound same, but I didn't see any device specs posted - only amp specs.

Balanced implies dual mono (dual amp as you call it) from start to finish. This can halve the resistance, which translates to a miserable 3dB gain. If the BTR3 cannot drive the Shure, then going balanced won't solve the problem.

 

[SubMash]

Balanced implies dual mono (dual amp as you call it) from start to finish. This can halve the resistance, which translates to a miserable 3dB gain. If the BTR3 cannot drive the Shure, then going balanced won't solve the problem.

Again, you not even reading my answer. It has nothing to do with balanced or not. SE846 doesn't need more voltage. It needs current. And a lot of it. Even ES100 is below specs. BTR3 is twice lower maximum current ability. Because it has only ONE amp.

P.S. Just if you don't know - ES100 works in dual mono and in tandem mode. So balanced or unbalanced - it can use both amps at the same time.

P.P.S. And anything high impedance needs voltage which single amp also can't provide.