[mhoopes]

1 ES100 arrives safe.
2 I am happy and love the product
3 nit-pickinng : for 99€ i did not expect this kind of Box.

Here’s a question we should all ask ourselves, when we’re out and about using a product: How much more would we like to spend above the current asking price for additional accessories and packaging?

Conversely, what would we sacrifice in the product to improve the unboxing experience?

[edit: I'd spend an extra $1 for them to use a double-flute kraft box. Mine arrived safely, but if I were eBaying this, I'd beef up the packaging a little.]

 

[499916]

I just order this on Amazon.. It sounds like a great product, but one thing I find strange about it is... When connected via USB you are limited to 16bit 44.1. That seems odd to me that it can stream 24 bit - but plugged in it is limited to 16 bit? That seems backwards to me and makes me think that it is actually up-scaling 16bit to 24bit. I'm looking forward to the high quality streaming but would of loved to be able to use it as a USB DAC plugged into my laptop and get 24 bit 'uncompressed' output.

 

[hamhamhamsta]

Well I guess put it this way

Would you rather pay $99 for current ES100 or pay $125-130 ES100 in a very nice Pelican box?

 

[Trapok]

Well I guess put it this way

Would you rather pay $99 for current ES100 or pay $125-130 ES100 in a very nice Pelican box?

A correct packaging doesn't cost more than 3$ in china.

 

[peter1480]

I agree it's very good at the price. There is no need for any more packing. No need for more plastic if it maked the ES100 heavier. It would be nice if the buttons were a bit esier to feel. It's already better the the Fiio offering (and I like Fiio products).

 

[waynes world]

You know your product is pretty good when one of the very few things worth nitpicking about about is the packaging

 

[shrimants]

so we got "packaging too minimalistic", "volume buttons kind of hard to feel kinda sorta sometimes but you get used to it pretty quick", "unit is overly lightweight to the point of feeling cheaply built even though it is absolutely crammed with name brand high end parts", and a couple minor usability tweaks/feature requests that can (and likely will) be fixed in upcoming future updates.

i flippin love this little boxydoo, guys.

 

[tuckers]

After about three weeks, my EarStudio has died. It turns on then shuts off in about 30 seconds. Even when charged fully. Luckily I am within my return window on Amazon. So I have another ordered.

 

[shrimants]

After about three weeks, my EarStudio has died. It turns on then shuts off in about 30 seconds. Even when charged fully. Luckily I am within my return window on Amazon. So I have another ordered.

more details, if you got them. does the app say anything or report any sort of error code? What does the LED do, if anything? Did you try a factory reset? Did you try a firmware update? Does the device even boot into DFU mode and stay booted or does it turn off then too? Does the device keep turning off if it is being used as a USB dac?

And here's one from left field: if you are using a balanced cable, can you verify the pinout of that cable?

Also, have you PM'd @wslee or tried to contact customer support? You're well within warranty.

 

[stancorrected]

A while back in this thread, I mentioned how delighted I was with the ES100 and the way it worked with my CA Andromedas.
I was using the unbalanced 3.5 mm output and the Litz cable supplied by CA.. Given the enthusiasm on this thread for using the balanced output, I bought a $25 Brainwavz 2.5 Balanced Earphone Cable with MMCX Connectors from Amazon to try out. I thought the sound was significantly worse, so much so that I thought the cable was either defective, or poor quality, or I'd got the settings somehow significantly wrong in the ES100 app.
Has anybody any thoughts or opinions on the settings side of things or the quality of the cable I bought, or whatever else might be going on?

 

[J The Killer]

A while back in this thread, I mentioned how delighted I was with the ES100 and the way it worked with my CA Andromedas.
I was using the unbalanced 3.5 mm output and the Litz cable supplied by CA.. Given the enthusiasm on this thread for using the balanced output, I bought a $25 Brainwavz 2.5 Balanced Earphone Cable with MMCX Connectors from Amazon to try out. I thought the sound was significantly worse, so much so that I thought the cable was either defective, or poor quality, or I'd got the settings somehow significantly wrong in the ES100 app.
Has anybody any thoughts or opinions on the settings side of things or the quality of the cable I bought, or whatever else might be going on?

I don't really understand the reason for a balanced cable for less than 2 meters. It would make sense if it is like 5+ meters where the signal quality may drop at longer distance and that too to an extent which maybe incomprehensible for humans. If I am missing something please enlighten.

 

[peter123]

I don't really understand the reason for a balanced cable for less than 2 meters. It would make sense if it is like 5+ meters where the signal quality may drop at longer distance and that too to an extent which maybe incomprehensible for humans. If I am missing something please enlighten.

Because some sources (the ES100 included) sounds better from the balanced output.

 

[stancorrected]

Because some sources (the ES100 included) sounds better from the balanced output.

And wslee supports that and that's why I bought the balanced cable to try out for myself. If I'm really pleased with the sound using 3.5 mm unbalanced, and 2.5mm balanced sounds worse, what factors might be in play here (cable quality, app settings, anything else?) that I should consider? I'm just looking for a bit of guidance, or pointers to what I might have missed to help me make my own mind up,

 

[SubMash]

Balanced is double voltage. You want that with high impedance headphones. Otherwise it's not enough volume. Also, it's significantly less stereo crosstalk and absence of ground noise.

I don't really understand the reason for a balanced cable for less than 2 meters. It would make sense if it is like 5+ meters where the signal quality may drop at longer distance and that too to an extent which maybe incomprehensible for humans. If I am missing something please enlighten.

 

[SubMash]

Bad contact (noise) or high cable resistance - skew of frequency response. It can't be anything else imho.

And wslee supports that and that's why I bought the balanced cable to try out for myself. If I'm really pleased with the sound using 3.5 mm unbalanced, and 2.5mm balanced sounds worse, what factors might be in play here (cable quality, app settings, anything else?) that I should consider? I'm just looking for a bit of guidance, or pointers to what I might have missed to help me make my own mind up,