Both my units only spent 20 hours in the burn-in pit and my ears are far from being "sophisticated", so I am not sure if it's fair to give any impression but anyway if you really want it, you have to take it with a large pinch of salt. Moreover, in the DT3 manual, it mentions 100-200 hours of burn-in requirement, so I guess the number should apply to ES as well.
In a nutshell, ES emphasizes more on treble while DT3 on bass. So, if you like bass, choose DT3, if you like treble, choose ES. DT3 sounds like L shape while ES ... an inverted L shape. Am I making any sense? Personally if I have to choose, I would choose DT3 for I find the treble on ES is a bit too bright for my ears with many of the test tracks* used below:
- Oye 2014 (Santana with Pitbull from Corazon album)
- Umbria (Yello - Touch Yello)
- I can see the future (Incognito - No Time Like The Future)
- Freedom Jazz Dance (Alain Caron - Le Band)
- How was it for you? (Gare Du Nord - Lilywhite Soul)
Specifically on Oye 2014 (which recording is far from perfect), cymbals on ES were unbearable and sound artificial. So playing tracks without cymbals or where cymbals are not dominant, ES is fine. For examples:
- Hard to be soft (Paula Cole duet with Ivan Lins - Courage)
- Spanish Harlem (Rebecca Pidgeon - Chesky The Ultimate Disk)
- If I could Sing You Blues (Sarah Kay - Chesky The Ultimate Disk)
- Correnteza by Ana Caram from Chesky The Ultimate Disk)
On Correnteza, which is purely accoustical (vocal with cello, guitar, shaker and African Tambour), DT3 rendered the African Tambour remarkably well, while the sound of this tambour on ES was barely audible.
So yes, ES and DT3 have different signatures. Choose depending on your taste of music. My recommendation however is to buy both. Since both are very affordable, why not buy both?
* Note: These are either 16-bit FLAC files or up-sampled 64 bit 320kbps MP3 files.
Source: LG G3 with Neutron app (volume at 45%-60%)
Amp: SMSL SAP5 amp (volume set at max)
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