[gocam]

Cool, thanks. I'll look into the Fiio.

I also have both the XB10 and the ES100, paired

Well, I`d say if you need more battery life and EQ - go for it!

Soundwise....no.
Imo they are very, very similar. The XB10 sounds just very slightly more pronounced in the low end and a bit softer in general. But the difference is very small and more a question of taste I guess - I would see neither as an upgrade to the other.

Designwise I prefer the XB10 - the ES100 is quite ugly in my opinion. Both are plastic though...

The BTR3 impressed me the most out of the bunch of small BT devices. It not only looks and feels a lot better, also the sound is more layered and refined. At least this is what I hear (of course I only talk about nuances..). If it just had an EQ and balanced output...

I also have both the XB10 and the ES100 and find the latter a big improvement for me, using Pixel 2 XL sending Tidal Hifi tracks via LDAC (vs AptX-HD on the XB10). I agree the XB10 has a bit better form factor, but not by far - it's mount is better for a backpack or lapel, and it has a lock which I liked, but the buttons on the front I never worked out how to use in all the time I had it, the battery life is fairly poor also.

Sound-wise, I do appreciate the Equalizer when listening via BT on the go (regardless of the source), but regardless whether on or off I find the sound more engaging overall - I use some fantastic T-Peas Altone 200's mostly for listening, but the other revelation for me is using this thing as a desktop DAC on my Mac with my SH HD-580s that I upgraded with a balanced cable. So I cycle to work using BT and my earbuds, then when I get there I plug in the unit to my mac where it charges, and also where it works as a 24 bit desktop DAC for my SHs. Fantastic !

So for me it's a big upgrade over the XB10 which I did love. And it replaces a series of other DACs I had used before either on desktop or on the go - such as e.g. the Explorer 2 which also has MQA support but which I find myself not using so much any more so I have this single tiny audio processing box.

Oh also I will say it has way better consistent connection than the XB10 to my phone -

-G.

 

[Darkestred]

Well, I`d say if you need more battery life and EQ - go for it!

Soundwise....no.
Imo they are very, very similar. The XB10 sounds just very slightly more pronounced in the low end and a bit softer in general. But the difference is very small and more a question of taste I guess - I would see neither as an upgrade to the other.

Designwise I prefer the XB10 - the ES100 is quite ugly in my opinion. Both are plastic though...

The BTR3 impressed me the most out of the bunch of small BT devices. It not only looks and feels a lot better, also the sound is more layered and refined. At least this is what I hear (of course I only talk about nuances..). If it just had an EQ and balanced output...

Damn. You think so with the BTR3 vs ES100? I have both and i thought the BTR3 sounded a bit tighter in the bass and possible more pronounced in the highs. Then i switch to the ES100 and i don't know. Then i do a back-to-back and i can barely tell the difference. One day the BTR3 seems to have better bass presence and then the ES100 does. Then i went from Aptx-HD to LDAC and while i dont know if i hear a difference (maybe slightly). I had only listened to LDAC from the BTR3 - now i am on the ES100 and it sounds fantastic. I have officially given up. Both are great.

 

[Hanesu]

Haha...that once more shows how subjective our beloved hobby is.
We all hear things differently and there are a lot of factors that influence our hearing (btw, in my post I was only trying to express little nuances that I hear, as written)...

Anyway, I think it is safe to say that:

All three devices sound decent for what they are ( tiny but very practical bluetooth devices!) and
switching to another one of them (if you already have one) only for sound reasons maybe does not
make too much sense.
Nevertheless...
- ES100 has the best feature set and best possibilities to tweak the sound when needed.
- Fiio has the best build quality, haptics (and maybe design, too), ES100 maybe feels the cheapest.
- only XB10 and ES100 have balanced out.

Let`s hope for a future device that combines all positive aspects!

I also have both the XB10 and the ES100 and find the latter a big improvement for me, using Pixel 2 XL sending Tidal Hifi tracks via LDAC (vs AptX-HD on the XB10). I agree the XB10 has a bit better form factor, but not by far - it's mount is better for a backpack or lapel, and it has a lock which I liked, but the buttons on the front I never worked out how to use in all the time I had it, the battery life is fairly poor also.

Sound-wise, I do appreciate the Equalizer when listening via BT on the go (regardless of the source), but regardless whether on or off I find the sound more engaging overall - I use some fantastic T-Peas Altone 200's mostly for listening, but the other revelation for me is using this thing as a desktop DAC on my Mac with my SH HD-580s that I upgraded with a balanced cable. So I cycle to work using BT and my earbuds, then when I get there I plug in the unit to my mac where it charges, and also where it works as a 24 bit desktop DAC for my SHs. Fantastic !

So for me it's a big upgrade over the XB10 which I did love. And it replaces a series of other DACs I had used before either on desktop or on the go - such as e.g. the Explorer 2 which also has MQA support but which I find myself not using so much any more so I have this single tiny audio processing box.

Oh also I will say it has way better consistent connection than the XB10 to my phone -

-G.

Damn. You think so with the BTR3 vs ES100? I have both and i thought the BTR3 sounded a bit tighter in the bass and possible more pronounced in the highs. Then i switch to the ES100 and i don't know. Then i do a back-to-back and i can barely tell the difference. One day the BTR3 seems to have better bass presence and then the ES100 does. Then i went from Aptx-HD to LDAC and while i dont know if i hear a difference (maybe slightly). I had only listened to LDAC from the BTR3 - now i am on the ES100 and it sounds fantastic. I have officially given up. Both are great.

 

[Lurk650]

Well, it won't be the Shanling Up2 as they confirmed they won't be having balanced out.

That's a no for me, dawg.

 

[peonist]

In this time update, I'm really appreciate for macOS AAC wireless setup according to macOS Bluetooth Codec of Application Notes (which was in radsone.com/earstudio) Had some difficulties in terminal commands, but it really worked!!

Now enjoying AAC streaming from my iMac.. it shows definitely better sound than SBC or aptX indeed and it seems more stable.

 

[highlightshadow]

Well, it won't be the Shanling Up2 as they confirmed they won't be having balanced out.

That's a no for me, dawg.

Didn't they kinda take a subtle swipe at ES100 in their latest update about chipsets.... claiming that they would rather have one very good amp/dac chip than 2 mediocre ones for their justification on single unbalanced output.

 

[Ocelitgol]

Didn't they kinda take a subtle swipe at ES100 in their latest update about chipsets.... claiming that they would rather have one very good amp/dac chip than 2 mediocre ones for their justification on single unbalanced output.

Yes they did lol
But I take that as a good thing. Competition benefits consumer

 

[AmusedToD]

Anyone willing to sell the Earstudio ES100 please drop me a message.

 

[SubMash]

Yes they did lol
But I take that as a good thing. Competition benefits consumer

And it's a BS. Because both chips same price and newer version is only better without load - switching off amp section if load is low...

 

[highlightshadow]

And it's a BS. Because both chips same price and newer version is only better without load - switching off amp section if load is low...

Well, we don't know what chipset they're planning to use - so potentially could be a significantly better one than in either es100/btr3 - but since they're claiming to come in under their other unit's price i guess that doesn't leave them much room.
From what i understand the CSR qualcomm chip is quite expensive on its own

 

[cobhc2013]

Anyone willing to sell the Earstudio ES100 please drop me a message.

Where do you live?

 

[AmusedToD]

Where do you live?

Already bought one from another user here, but thanks.

 

[cobhc2013]

Already bought one from another user here, but thanks.

My response was more to ask why you weren't able to buy one from a shop. I thought they were freely available?

 

[AmusedToD]

My response was more to ask why you weren't able to buy one from a shop. I thought they were freely available?

I was able to buy off US Amazon, but didn’t want to pay the full price plus shipping plus duties and customs (it would amount to over $160). So I figured buying used would be much cheaper for me. I live in Serbia.

 

[cobhc2013]

I was able to buy off US Amazon, but didn’t want to pay the full price plus shipping plus duties and customs (it would amount to over $160). So I figured buying used would be much cheaper for me. I live in Serbia.

Ah okay, that's fair enough. Just wondered, glad you got it sorted.