[episiarch]

Hi, anyone knows the difference between this and the Shanling UP2 Bluetooth DAC?

When I heard a prototype BTR5 and a production UP2 this summer at CanJam London, the BTR5 drove my ER4S much more nicely than the UP2 did. (Single-ended in both cases.) I put this down to output power, as Etys benefit from proper amplification more than one might suppose. But whatever the reason, I thought BTR5 was excellent and UP2 was not quite there.

Again, that was just a prototype BTR5. I haven't heard a production one.

 

[English Gent]

When I heard a prototype BTR5 and a production UP2 this summer at CanJam London, the BTR5 drove my ER4S much more nicely than the UP2 did. (Single-ended in both cases.) I put this down to output power, as Etys benefit from proper amplification more than one might suppose. But whatever the reason, I thought BTR5 was excellent and UP2 was not quite there.

Again, that was just a prototype BTR5. I haven't heard a production one.

Thanks for info, my Shanling M0 drives my Shure SE846's very easily and has a great sound, but it is hard to handle, any touching of it in pocket changes something or skips tracks etc when being used as a Bluetooth receiver, so after more simpler device with quality sound, I gave up on tacking Chord Mojo around..lol

 

[crax1905]

Guys hello, hope you all well. I made an order ES100 MK1 on drop.com about 1 month, It didn't arrive to me yet. When It is in transit, I checked the website of Earstudio to get the latest firmwares and I saw and shocked because of seeing ES100 2nd version. I was looking for differences between 1st and 2nd version of ES100 on the forum sites, saw BTR5 and Qudelix 5K. I am about to get crazy to which one is better. For now, I am planning to sell ES100 that I ordered and purchase FiiO BTR5. What are your suggestions guys? Thank you.

 

[ClieOS]

Firmware: v1.04: https://bbs.fiio.com/note/showNoteContent.do?id=201910281104318430028&tid=16

Fixes:
1) Possible volume anomaly after swapping between 3.5mm and 2.5mm output
2) Other minor optimization

 

[Hisma]

@FiiO how come the BTR5 is unavailable on taobao? I am an expat living in China and I cannot order on aliexpress. On the fiio official store, the BTR5 shows as "unavailable". When will it be available for purchase in the local chinese market?

 

[ClieOS]

@FiiO how come the BTR5 is unavailable on taobao? I am an expat living in China and I cannot order on aliexpress. On the fiio official store, the BTR5 shows as "unavailable". When will it be available for purchase in the local chinese market?

The 1st pre-order has already been sent out a month ago, the 2nd pre-order will be sent out before the month's end, then the general release will follow. You're just being caught in between and you will have to wait for the general release to place an order.

 

[Marco Angel]

Guys hello, hope you all well. I made an order ES100 MK1 on drop.com about 1 month, It didn't arrive to me yet. When It is in transit, I checked the website of Earstudio to get the latest firmwares and I saw and shocked because of seeing ES100 2nd version. I was looking for differences between 1st and 2nd version of ES100 on the forum sites, saw BTR5 and Qudelix 5K. I am about to get crazy to which one is better. For now, I am planning to sell ES100 that I ordered and purchase FiiO BTR5. What are your suggestions guys? Thank you.

I have the Es100 and since the upgrade to the MK2 is only esthetic, i will keep it
Also, in paper, the BTR5 looks better but if you will use LDAC and EQ within the app, the eq will not work. and since the ES100 have an almost flawless EQ, im keeping it until new firmware for the BTR5 and comparisons between the ES100.
A good contender will be the Qudelix since will be more like the real upgrade of the ES100.

 

[archy121]

I have the Es100 and since the upgrade to the MK2 is only esthetic, i will keep it

Good thing than it’s only aesthetic.

 

[crax1905]

I have the Es100 and since the upgrade to the MK2 is only esthetic, i will keep it
Also, in paper, the BTR5 looks better but if you will use LDAC and EQ within the app, the eq will not work. and since the ES100 have an almost flawless EQ, im keeping it until new firmware for the BTR5 and comparisons between the ES100.
A good contender will be the Qudelix since will be more like the real upgrade of the ES100.

EQ makes the sound artificial, I won't use EQ so It isn't a problem for me. I would like to buy BTR5 but I am really confused. And why is Qudelix real contender of ES100? Please tell me your thoughts with supporting ideas.

 

[kukkurovaca]

EQ makes the sound artificial, I won't use EQ so It isn't a problem for me. I would like to buy BTR5 but I am really confused. And why is Qudelix real contender of ES100? Please tell me your thoughts with supporting ideas.

If EQ sounds artificial, you're either using a badly implemented EQ, or using bad settings. ES100's EQ is quite good. That being said, if you don't need/want EQ, the ES100 certainly has less of an edge over competing products for you.

The reason why people are looking to the Qudelix as the successor to the ES100 is that the main designer of the ES100 is now on the Qudelix team, so people expect that product may be what people want from a next generation of the ES100. Strictly speculative at this point, since the crowdfunding campaign for Qudelix hasn't even started yet.

 

[crax1905]

If EQ sounds artificial, you're either using a badly implemented EQ, or using bad settings. ES100's EQ is quite good. That being said, if you don't need/want EQ, the ES100 certainly has less of an edge over competing products for you.

The reason why people are looking to the Qudelix as the successor to the ES100 is that the main designer of the ES100 is now on the Qudelix team, so people expect that product may be what people want from a next generation of the ES100. Strictly speculative at this point, since the crowdfunding campaign for Qudelix hasn't even started yet.

No, EQ affects the sound's naturalness. An extraordinary attempt to adjust the sound. For instance, When you test an audio product, do you open EQ? You should don't open EQ. It doesn't reflect original sound characteristics when it's working, sorry.

Yes, I got informed about Qudelix before, we will see the product when it is sold in Feb. or March 2020. They will be funded at KickStarter.

 

[kukkurovaca]

No, EQ affects the sound's naturalness. An extraordinary attempt to adjust the sound. For instance, When you test an audio product, do you open EQ? You should don't open EQ. It doesn't reflect original sound characteristics when it's working, sorry.

Does changing earphone tips or pads also "affect the sound's naturalness"? How about using a tube amp? How about modding, or buying a modded headphone? Or using an Audeze IEM with their cypher cable or Reveal plugin?

All these things change the frequency response (some have other impacts on the sound as well), and none of them are "natural," nor is there anything particularly natural about playing about digital or analog audio to begin with. They all have their place IMO, but EQ has two great advantages: it can be targeted and controlled quite specifically, and it's quick and easy to toggle between EQ settings (or no EQ). Of course, nobody's forcing you to use it; if everything you own already sounds exactly as you want it, you're set. : )

But FWIW, when I test something new, I listen both with and without EQ. If something is already spot-on for my preferences, or quite close, that's great. But if it has good technical performance and I can adjust its tuning to be right for me...that's also great. Doubly so if it means I can get better performance for less money.

Anyway, this is all quite off topic, so apologies to everybody else.

 

[crax1905]

Does changing earphone tips or pads also "affect the sound's naturalness"? How about using a tube amp? How about modding, or buying a modded headphone? Or using an Audeze IEM with their cypher cable or Reveal plugin?

All these things change the frequency response (some have other impacts on the sound as well), and none of them are "natural," nor is there anything particularly natural about playing about digital or analog audio to begin with. They all have their place IMO, but EQ has two great advantages: it can be targeted and controlled quite specifically, and it's quick and easy to toggle between EQ settings (or no EQ). Of course, nobody's forcing you to use it; if everything you own already sounds exactly as you want it, you're set. : )

But FWIW, when I test something new, I listen both with and without EQ. If something is already spot-on for my preferences, or quite close, that's great. But if it has good technical performance and I can adjust its tuning to be right for me...that's also great. Doubly so if it means I can get better performance for less money.

Anyway, this is all quite off topic, so apologies to everybody else.

Tips, pads, cables affect in a physical way. Amp also affects the naturalness of sound but it is an hardware solution. But EQ in ES100 or BTR5 or Qudelix 5K is a software thing. Then Why are we buying DACs/DAPs to play songs, why don't we use EQ or new ROM on our smartphones instead of buying DACs or DAPs? We should listen to songs natural by using hardware solutions, not software and artificials.

And also note that You have to preset a EQ adjustment per song, you can't get good performance if it is always same preset. Do you alter your EQ preset per song/music you listen to? I wanted to warn you because you said above that "you might adjusted your EQ preset bad, that's why you don't use EQ."

 

[kukkurovaca]

Tips, pads, cables affect in a physical way. Amp also affects the naturalness of sound but it is an hardware solution. But EQ in ES100 or BTR5 or Qudelix 5K is a software thing. Then Why are we buying DACs/DAPs to play songs, why don't we use EQ or new ROM on our smartphones instead of buying DACs or DAPs? We should listen to songs natural by using hardware solutions, not software and artificials.

By that logic, you should only ever listen to vinyl or cassette tapes. Good luck getting a FLAC (or whatever your file type of choice) to play without using firmware and software ; )

As to why use EQ on the ES100 rather than on the phone -- that is back on topic, potentially. The nice thing about having EQ stored on the DAC is that it's more stable, portable, and flexible. I don't have to worry about apps that crash or how to set up EQ when using Tidal or whatever. And I can plug the ES100 into my work or home computer and have the same EQ preset without having to keep something like EqualizerAPO synced up between the two machines.

 

[crax1905]

By that logic, you should only ever listen to vinyl or cassette tapes. Good luck getting a FLAC (or whatever your file type of choice) to play without using firmware and software ; )

As to why use EQ on the ES100 rather than on the phone -- that is back on topic, potentially. The nice thing about having EQ stored on the DAC is that it's more stable, portable, and flexible. I don't have to worry about apps that crash or how to set up EQ when using Tidal or whatever. And I can plug the ES100 into my work or home computer and have the same EQ preset without having to keep something like EqualizerAPO synced up between the two machines.

We should stay away software solutions as far as possible. If we can use vinyl or cassette or cd, we should use them.

And don't forget to adjust EQ preset per song/music; trouble, big trouble.