[mhoopes]

Hd650 is somewhat not loud enough at maximum voltage. And with 846 you need really low resistance cables while most balanced cable is 10x higher than they should be. Balanced still useful to remove ground noise issue and increase channel separation. I have to use 1x balanced voltage mode (can't hear any difference of 1x or 2x voltage) and -23dB analog volume with -6dB preamp to use 846.

When you say -6 dB preamp - where do you adjust that on the ES100? Is that the source volume?
Also, what gauge and length wire are you using for your balanced cable? Last I checked, 28 AWG wire was about 0.064 Ohms/ft, 24 AWG 0.026 Ohms/ft.

 

[SubMash]

When you say -6 dB preamp - where do you adjust that on the ES100? Is that the source volume?
Also, what gauge and length wire are you using for your balanced cable? Last I checked, 28 AWG wire was about 0.064 Ohms/ft, 24 AWG 0.026 Ohms/ft.

I raise high frequencies 6dB, so EQ preamp is set to -6 to avoid clipping. Stock 846 cable is 50mOhm one direction, so it's thicker than 24AWG. It's a good idea to keep it below that. With ES100 you can have cable shorter, so can use 24AWG, I guess.

 

[mhoopes]

Thanks! I forgot about the EQ preamp. Just getting to know this device. Global EQ is a revelation when dealing with moderately colored earphones such as the FiiO F9...and today, the FH5. Got LDAC “Sound Quality” (990 Kb/s) going with my Sony UBP-X800, and was able to drop the ES100 buffer down to 25% of max without any drop outs, so far. Latency was pretty good while watching Netflix on it.
[Edit: I saw LDAC has a fixed buffer length, so my fiddling didn’t affect that. Perhaps the Sony is compensating for the latency.]

 

[C_Lindbergh]

Another update!

Version 1.3.2 (July 25, 2018)

v1.3.2.zip (Download)
- Fixed a bug on L/R trim volume
- Changed the Analog Volume Min. to -60dB (for high sensitivity IEM)

Also the app got this update:

Output level Estimation Added

 

[SubMash]

Cool. Few problems:
1. In volume trim both channels marked as "R" - one of them is "L", but which one?
2. 1x voltage and 2x voltage modes give the same output volume. I don't see it's limiting anything...
3. Volume estimation doesn't take into account EQ preamp or source volume. It would be good if app can try to get back from ES100 factual Vrms and calculate peak and 1-second average volume.
4. With LDAC defaulting to 96kHz it's not possible to use 4x oversampling, but button is active, so what it does than?

Another update!

Version 1.3.2 (July 25, 2018)

v1.3.2.zip (Download)
- Fixed a bug on L/R trim volume
- Changed the Analog Volume Min. to -60dB (for high sensitivity IEM)

Also the app got this update:

Output level Estimation Added

 

[shrimants]

Hello,

Strongly considering this product but i have a few concerns.

1) output impedance - my IEMs are only 10 ohm, and im reading mixed things about output impedance on balanced vs unbalanced output. What is the final verdict? is it 2 ohm out of unbalanced and 1 ohm out of balanced? or 1 ohm out of both? Seems like a damping factor of 10 vs 5 is kind of a big deal, and i'm considering the Fiio BTR3 instead.
2) is there any option for a "mute call" functionality? I'm on conference calls A LOT, and I like to be able to mute myself when i'm not speaking. My bluetooth headset has a dedicated mute button, but my regular android mic cable generally lets you mute if you press and hold the play/pause button. I prefer a single press to mute and a hold to end call, but usually its implemented the other way around.
3) does this work as a USB dac out of android and out of regular PCs?

 

[Jearly410]

@shrimants

The output impedence is ~1ohm unbalanced and <1ohm balanced. It works great with my Andro which has 4ohm impendence in the bass region.

 

[SubMash]

Hello,

Strongly considering this product but i have a few concerns.

1) output impedance - my IEMs are only 10 ohm, and im reading mixed things about output impedance on balanced vs unbalanced output. What is the final verdict? is it 2 ohm out of unbalanced and 1 ohm out of balanced? or 1 ohm out of both? Seems like a damping factor of 10 vs 5 is kind of a big deal, and i'm considering the Fiio BTR3 instead.
2) is there any option for a "mute call" functionality? I'm on conference calls A LOT, and I like to be able to mute myself when i'm not speaking. My bluetooth headset has a dedicated mute button, but my regular android mic cable generally lets you mute if you press and hold the play/pause button. I prefer a single press to mute and a hold to end call, but usually its implemented the other way around.
3) does this work as a USB dac out of android and out of regular PCs?

Never tried mute, but OI advertised as 0.5Ohm in all modes except one that is used for battery saving purposes on unbalanced connection.

It would be good if @wslee can test output impedance curve from frequency and put on website...

 

[Marco Angel]

Guys, is there a way to activate google assistant (google now) in the es100? Havent found how

 

[PiSkyHiFi]

Guys, is there a way to activate google assistant (google now) in the es100? Havent found how

You can tell Google Assistant to listen for "OK Google" via Bluetooth headsets, it has limitations though, like not doing anything if your phone is locked.

 

[shrimants]

usually if you hold play/pause (except while in a call) it activates google assistant. Still pretty iffy though, mine seems to require me to say OK Google twice or to hold play/pause on a mic/remote cabled headphone twice. The first time, it spends a while unlocking itself and google assistant times out. the second time it works perfect.

can someone give it a try? hold play/pause, see what happens?

holding play/pause on a wired mic during a call mutes the call, does this functionality already exist? Is there any hope of getting it remapped so play/pause during a call will mute and press/hold of play/pause will end call?

 

[rafaelo]

3) does this work as a USB dac out of android and out of regular PCs

1) yes for PC is working fine although this is NOT an Asynchronous implementation. Some people care some do not. I care and I hope in future devices wslee will do a nice asychronous implementation as well.
2) out of iPad or iPhone with the adapter is working absolutely fine and the sound is great as always with the iOS software
3) yes but with the usual caveats. Needs usb audio pro app and a good otg cable for the best quality, so suboptimal with Spotify etc. I am not fan of android usb audio anymore.

As the inventor already said this is a Bluetooth optimised device but can play out of usb as well.

 

[rafaelo]

Academically speaking, I am the least qualified person to say given that everything else is equal, balanced should sound better than unbalanced. I have no clue.

I just listen the inventor of this device in this thread which according to my understanding said my device works much better with balanced, buy just a simple cheap balanced cable.

It was not easy and I could not find an extremely cheap balanced cable but for a UK hand made one I decided to give around 40 £. And I can say as a consumer the difference is more than justifying the price especially for power hungry cans such as HD6XX and HE4XX. If the difference is because of these + 6db of balanced I do not know, it may well be.

And paradoxically enough and contrary to massdrop claims this 4xx I find it so much harder to drive than the HD6XX. First of all, much to my surprise this HD6XX seems a bit different than the hd650 I had on loan in the past. And I have a feeling that I need a power station to drive properly the 4xx planars. No way out of the phone as it was claimed and I feel I am not getting the full potential out of any of my power sources I am afraid.

 

[shrimants]

theoretically speaking, there should be 0 difference between balanced and unbalanced. realistically speaking, they are essentially 2 completely different circuits, and the balanced circuit has a lot more current/power available (generally speaking) to drive the headphones as needed.

remember that he4xx is driven by current (planar) and dynamic drivers are driven by voltage differential. usually it is harder (or at least less common) to provide current than it is to provide a voltage diff. at least, thats my extremely limited understanding of it.

also remember that this is a portable device we're talking about and neither the he4xx nor the hd6xx are portable friendly cans. For something like that, i think i'd go with a dedicated high powered portable amplifier (fiio q5, for example) and give that q5 a line level input signal from a bluetooth device.

 

[shrimants]

also, i just want to say HUGE props to @wslee for being in here and answering technical questions. To me, having a technically inclined first party person answering questions and standing by their product is a massive quality indicator that is often overlooked. I cant put into words how much i appreciate the effort going not only into the product but into the support behind the product. Fiio does the same, and I find myself strongly inclined to go to them as a company first, and I will likely be doing the same for Radsone as their product line increases. Especially in this day and age where its difficult if not impossible to get anything more than a canned response from a company.

thank you so much for what you're providing this community.