Radsone EarStudio ES100
Nov 2, 2018 at 6:01 PM Post #3,166 of 6,673
nice to know this can drive the R70X nicely

Love the CF cover. Can someone point me to a good place on eBay/Aliexpress where I could get one? Thx!

Ok, got the ES100 yesterday, today it goes back to amazon...

As such , the quality is not bad. Better than an average snapdragon-based smartphone. Worse than DFR. Unfortunately, pairing with my Fiio A5 was not that successful. Everything sounded somehow flabby and veiled.

On it's own, without an amp, the sound was warmer than an ipod touch 6th gen but overall about the same in quality. Some things sound a bit better out of ipod directly, some from ES100.

However, ipod pairs much better with the A5 than the ES100 does.

Sound quality of an ipod+A5, after a very minor EQ tweaking, is better than dragonfly red on it's own. ES100+A5 was noticeably worse.

Tests have been performed with volume-matched simultaneously playing sources (ipod and an ipad playing the same track) an a switch box, where DFR was used to compare other gear to it.

So, I'd say, if you have an Android phone - ES100 is a nice add-on. would improve sound quality a lot and add some comfort on top of it.

However, I was not looking for an absolute mobility, as I needed something that I can use indoors in a semi-mobile way. I was hoping an ES100 stacked with an A5 would give the best sound and convenience of fast switching between different sources (android phone, ipod, multiple ipads)... This didn't work out. I will continue using an ipod+A5 stack, and when I'd need a different source, I'd use a very mobile DFR for that.

On a side note, it's really surprizing how close ipod+A5 sound compared to the DFR. DFR has a slightly flabby bass and slightly more of it, ipod+A5 is a bit leaner, but provides a bit larger impact and dynamics. Even a difference in sound between an ipod and an ipad is more noticeable at a first listen, than a difference between ipod+A5 and a DFR. DFR always sounds a bit mellow in a direct comparison, ipod+A5 drive with more authority and sound more fun.

The ES100 can drive my Senns 6XX (300 ohm) without a problem, which means the amp is amazingly good for its size.

To my ears the ES100 is better than DFR (particularly with Dance mode EQ), and is much efficient, battery wise (DFR will drain your battery in no time).

ES100 also wins mobility in my book.
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 6:57 PM Post #3,167 of 6,673
Love the CF cover. Can someone point me to a good place on eBay/Aliexpress where I could get one? Thx!



The ES100 can drive my Senns 6XX (300 ohm) without a problem, which means the amp is amazingly good for its size.

To my ears the ES100 is better than DFR (particularly with Dance mode EQ), and is much efficient, battery wise (DFR will drain your battery in no time).

ES100 also wins mobility in my book.
ES100 blasts the DFR in mobility for me, no cable at all instead of the awkward arrangement the DFR requires. Plus the option to plug it in too. The signature is definitely smoother, and better adapted to use outside of home - the DFR is good but a stressful listen. I’m selling mine off this week-end.
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 7:02 PM Post #3,169 of 6,673
Love the CF cover. Can someone point me to a good place on eBay/Aliexpress where I could get one? Thx!



The ES100 can drive my Senns 6XX (300 ohm) without a problem, which means the amp is amazingly good for its size.

To my ears the ES100 is better than DFR (particularly with Dance mode EQ), and is much efficient, battery wise (DFR will drain your battery in no time).

ES100 also wins mobility in my book.

the DFR doesn't drain my phone 's battery too much, and the sound is a tad better for me (a bit more analytical and wider stage) but i can't stand the volume system and the awkwardness of it dangling from my phone while i was using it.

in the long run the ES100 is the better product because it is very very versatile and well put together.

I've sold my DFR (got the bluedac to replace it), but the ES100 is staying with me
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 7:11 PM Post #3,170 of 6,673
anyone take this to the gym? I'm soon-to-be set up gonna be A&K T8iE + balanced + ES100 but i get worry of the cable and ES100 won't hold on during workout

I don't take the ES100 to the gym too often (I have bluetooth headphones which work better for me in that noisy environment).

Having said that, I have my ES100 on my belt clip pretty much all day, every day, and it has withstood the beating (you can see evidence of the beatings below lol). The only problem is that I broke off the clip, but I retrofitted a Shanling M0 case/clip to do the job:

20181102_160735_resized.jpg

So I really don't think that it would be an issue to use the ES100 at the gym. As far as the cable goes, I'd wear it down your back so that it is out of the way and doesn't get hooked on anything.
 
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Nov 2, 2018 at 7:19 PM Post #3,171 of 6,673
anyone take this to the gym? I'm soon-to-be set up gonna be A&K T8iE + balanced + ES100 but i get worry of the cable and ES100 won't hold on during workout
Nice work-out set! What gym clothes do you use?

The ES100 can be clipped to a t-shirt collar and won’t budge during long handstand sessions for instance. The same is true when clipped to a belt thin or flat enough to allow the clip some grip.

What’s great about the ES100 is that it is so small it can fit inside usually useless pockets. For instance I often work out in swim shorts that look like these (over leggings). They have the tiniest pockets, made to fit a key. But the ES100 fits fine and secure in there (well, unless I sit down and forget it’s there :sweat_smile:).

The other question is, should the cable run under or over the t-shirt? Also what’s the length of your cable? Many people here seem to use very short cables (40 to 60 cm), which is a good idea but can be limiting depending on what you do at the gym. Actually what do you do at the gym? :smile:
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 7:33 PM Post #3,172 of 6,673
I don't take the ES100 to the gym too often (I have bluetooth headphones which work better for me in that noisy environment).

Having said that, I have my ES100 on my belt clip pretty much all day, every day, and it has withstood the beating (you can see evidence of the beatings below lol). The only problem is that I broke off the clip, but I retrofitted a Shanling M0 case/clip to do the job:



So I really don't think that it would be an issue to use the ES100 at the gym. As far as the cable goes, I'd wear it down your back so that it is out of the way and doesn't get hooked on anything.

good to know. I'm actually thinking if I can clip it onto my necklace. I work out at home so....shirtless (don't judge me....)

Nice work-out set! What gym clothes do you use?

The ES100 can be clipped to a t-shirt collar and won’t budge during long handstand sessions for instance. The same is true when clipped to a belt thin or flat enough to allow the clip some grip.

What’s great about the ES100 is that it is so small it can fit inside usually useless pockets. For instance I often work out in swim shorts that look like these (over leggings). They have the tiniest pockets, made to fit a key. But the ES100 fits fine and secure in there (well, unless I sit down and forget it’s there :sweat_smile:).

The other question is, should the cable run under or over the t-shirt? Also what’s the length of your cable? Many people here seem to use very short cables (40 to 60 cm), which is a good idea but can be limiting depending on what you do at the gym. Actually what do you do at the gym? :smile:

yeah the T8iE comes with a balanced one ~ 1m i think? it might be too long if I clip it onto my necklace. Probably have to use a cable tie or something

I just do 30' cardio and dumbbells lifts with pretty much just a short on. Too cold to go to gym lol
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 8:11 PM Post #3,173 of 6,673
good to know. I'm actually thinking if I can clip it onto my necklace. I work out at home so....shirtless (don't judge me....)



yeah the T8iE comes with a balanced one ~ 1m i think? it might be too long if I clip it onto my necklace. Probably have to use a cable tie or something

I just do 30' cardio and dumbbells lifts with pretty much just a short on. Too cold to go to gym lol
Oh yeah clipped to a necklace with maybe a tie for the cable, sounds fine. The ES100’s form factor means it is always possible to fit it somewhere somehow.
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 8:17 PM Post #3,174 of 6,673
anyone take this to the gym? I'm soon-to-be set up gonna be A&K T8iE + balanced + ES100 but i get worry of the cable and ES100 won't hold on during workout

I take it to the gym. As everyone who owns this device knows the clip is weak. I clip it to waistbands. I've had this thing dangling once or twice from getting-up after using the inclined leg press. Sometimes when im on the bike this happens, too. It's happened on bench but other than those few times its been great.

I just saw your other question. I'd run the cable under your shirt. You won't get caught on bars or other crap as you move about, but if you're working out naked, er "naked" then maybe around to your back.

I have a cable that makes it look like i have a chain wallet. I tuck a small section of the cable into my waiste band and we good to go.
 
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Nov 3, 2018 at 3:19 AM Post #3,175 of 6,673
The ES100 can drive my Senns 6XX (300 ohm) without a problem, which means the amp is amazingly good for its size.

To my ears the ES100 is better than DFR (particularly with Dance mode EQ), and is much efficient, battery wise (DFR will drain your battery in no time).

ES100 also wins mobility in my book.


Nothing really special there. There is even no amp there, the AK chip used is a combination of a DAC with a standard around 30mW headphone amp that delivers around 1Vrms. Any iDevice has a similar one, many Android phones also do. The only difference is - ES100 uses 2 of them, and can drive many cans balanced. This gives it enough headroom to drive HD6xx. DFR can do the same job single ended, means it will not require a ballanced cable. HD6xx are very efficient, they don‘t really need power, but because of their 300Ohm they need a bit more voltage than a usual mobile device. 2Vrms are giving them enough headroom, and both ES100 and DFR can deliver those - one in a balanced mode, another single ended.

On an android phone ES100 cannot be better than DFR by definition when paired over BT. It‘s not because of BT, it‘s because when using BT, there is no way to bypass 48kHz upsampling and not that good audio subsystem of android. Even if in the BT developer settings you change the BT sampling rate to 44.1 from 48 kHz, an android phone would first upconvert everything to 48kHz, process it, and then downconvert to 44.1kHz.

This upconversion alone reduces the quality a bit, smearing the 3d imaging.

This issue is not present when an iDevice is used as a source.

On the other hand, ES100 doesn‘t reach the resolution of DFR, but still sounds very pleasing, as I said. My hope was to get a best semi-mobile SQ with it, I couldn‘t get that, that‘s why I returned my ES100. For a different purpose (like yours) it would be clearly better.

As I said, I was not looking for absolute mobility, but wanted to get a best semi-mobile sound out of the combo that can fit into my pocket when I‘m indoors in my house.

So, for now I found this to sound best to my ears after many a/b tests with a switch box (transport is ipod touch, it‘s permanently attached to this stack):

E07CED98-A327-4146-AD7A-A54D74DC1B41.jpeg78950F88-BDB7-4C6C-89F5-0662C08C45B5.jpeg
 
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Nov 3, 2018 at 4:42 AM Post #3,176 of 6,673
Nothing really special there. There is even no amp there, the AK chip used is a combination of a DAC with a standard around 30mW headphone amp that delivers around 1Vrms. Any iDevice has a similar one, many Android phones also do. The only difference is - ES100 uses 2 of them, and can drive many cans balanced. This gives it enough headroom to drive HD6xx. DFR can do the same job single ended, means it will not require a balanced cable. HD6xx are very efficient, they don‘t really need power, but because of their 300Ohm they need a bit more voltage than a usual mobile device. 2Vrms are giving them enough headroom, and both ES100 and DFR can deliver those - one in a balanced mode, another single ended.

On an android phone ES100 cannot be better than DFR by definition when paired over BT. It‘s not because of BT, it‘s because when using BT, there is no way to bypass 48kHz upsampling and not that good audio subsystem of android. Even if in the BT developer settings you change the BT sampling rate to 44.1 from 48 kHz, an android phone would first upconvert everything to 48kHz, process it, and then downconvert to 44.1kHz.

Theory is one thing but reality is another. I regularly hear louder sound w/ my ES100 & balanced output; surely more than any other smartphone device I have (e.g iPhone Max, the new Huawei Mate 20 Pro, the latest LG and the latest Samsung Note 9) - That's a fact.

Moreover, most devices will likely struggle to drive my Pinnacle P1 to the max. But with the ES100 they will shine like the stars, and with a full-load power, nothing short.

It's probably something with their chip implementation, it feels a lot different from what I've experienced so far. Perhaps a little like the great Chord Mojo... less resolving though.

If your ultimate target is to listen indoors, go with the Mojo, hands down.
 
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Nov 3, 2018 at 5:05 AM Post #3,177 of 6,673
Theory is one thing but reality is another. I constantly hear louder sound w/ my ES100 & balanced output; more than any other smartphone device (and I have them all: The new iPhone Max, the new Huawei Mate 20 Pro, the latest LG and the latest Samsung Note 9) - That's a fact.

Moreover, most devices will likely struggle to drive my Pinnacle P1 to the max. But with the ES100 they will shine like the stars, and with a full-load power, nothing short.

It's probably something with their chip implementation, it feels a lot different from anything I've experienced before. Perhaps a little like the great Chord Mojo... less resolving though.

If your ultimate target is to listen indoors, go with the Mojo, hands down.

It‘s not a theory. It has 1Vrms single ended and 2 times of this if balanced - of course it‘s more powerfull...

Mojo is not an ideal thing people make it to be. It has a significant roll-off in treble, making it pleasing to the ear. Those are dirty tricks. Apart from that, it doesn‘t have a volume knob, and this is what I need - caring the stack in my pocket, i can still turn the volume up/down just using a volume knob of my A5. To do this with mojo, I‘d have to take it out of my pocket. Also, a replacement battery for mojo is around 200 Euro. I consider this usury and don‘t want to support a company doing this...
 
Nov 3, 2018 at 5:05 AM Post #3,178 of 6,673
There is even no amp there, the AK chip used is a combination of a DAC with a standard around 30mW headphone amp that delivers around 1Vrms.

I'm confused. isn't this contradictive?
 
Nov 3, 2018 at 5:15 AM Post #3,179 of 6,673
I'm confused. isn't this contradictive?

Why should it be? There is no dedicated amp, be it an op-amp or a more heavily integrated unit there. That AK chip is a typical integrated circuitry designed for smartphone use and wireless headphones, it‘s a tiny-tiny integrated chip combining a dac and a small headphone amp in one, typical low-fi with typical 30 mW output. But who cares, if it sounds good? All wolfson chips used in mobile devices were like that as well and sounded good :)

I just wouldn‘t call ES100 having a powerfull amp, because it doesn‘t :) It just has 2 standard integrated DACs, that for economical reasons also have in-built HP low-power outputs.

Dragonfly (red or black) on the other hand has a dedicated amp chip. Also not very powerfull, but still delivering more power than a fully integrated solution. But DRF is also not ideal, it's still a small hp amp there, that cannot dissipate enoough heat and hence is limited in it‘s current to only deliver around 50mW. To get past that yuo‘d need an output buffer, and here is where A5 delivers. 800mW into 32 Ohm....
 
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Nov 3, 2018 at 5:47 AM Post #3,180 of 6,673
It‘s not a theory. It has 1Vrms single ended and 2 times of this if balanced - of course it‘s more powerfull...

Mojo is not an ideal thing people make it to be. It has a significant roll-off in treble, making it pleasing to the ear. Those are dirty tricks. Apart from that, it doesn‘t have a volume knob, and this is what I need - caring the stack in my pocket, i can still turn the volume up/down just using a volume knob of my A5. To do this with mojo, I‘d have to take it out of my pocket. Also, a replacement battery for mojo is around 200 Euro. I consider this usury and don‘t want to support a company doing this...

It seems you have the audiophile syndrome - Nothing's ever good enough for you :)
 

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