[jasonb]

Yes, but I mean how does this happen? In unbalanced mode, extra current is added by putting another DAC in parallel. But in balanced mode, all I can think they could be doing is pumping more juice out of the same number of DACs.

Maybe it's bridging the two?

 

[Slater]

Yes, but I mean how does this happen? In unbalanced mode, extra current is added by putting another DAC in parallel. But in balanced mode, all I can think they could be doing is pumping more juice out of the same number of DACs.

The very last line says that the only difference is the voltage limit. So I read that as there’s a 1.6V voltage limiter that is normally in operation, and when you enable 2x balanced mode they raise and/or remove the voltage limit.

But only the engineers who designed it would know for sure. And it’s my understanding that person has left Radsone and started Qudelix.

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

What's everyone's experiences with the RMA process for an ES100? I need to RMA mine and just shot an email.

 

[jasonb]

I've been using my ES100 with my Q701 since Friday. This is pretty great! Sounds awesome, has plenty of power for the low to moderate volume levels I listen at, and its super nice using my Q701 wirelessly. Using with my Pixel 3a, the LDAC codec, and Google Play Music. I'm sure Google Play Music is the bottleneck here, and not the LDAC Bluetooth codec, but everything sounds great to me. I cleaned up the wiring a little bit too, and I think this looks pretty good.

 

[G_T_J]

Yeah, for me the combo ES100 and RE-600 sounds amazing - reminds me of my HD650 signature and overall sonic impact.
It's still great through Spotify Premium (highest quality - 320 ogg) but through UAPP (bit perfect mode) playing my FLACs, the experience extincts to another level! It's something I'd eagerly play to a non-aidiophile to prove them how wrong they are...

 

[Outpost 31]

I tried to listen to this guy in USB DAC mode plugged into macOS. I noticed that whenever there is a gap between tunes or you stop one to change to another there's a clear fade in effect instead of instant full level volume when you start playing again. Does anyone know how I can change this?

It happens in iTunes as well as in youtube. Not always though, there has to be a certain amount of silence between two events, almost as if it went into standby and then resumed with that freaking fade in. It's also not happening with any other output. I'm confused.com.

I bought an ES100 today to use with my laptop, iPhone and iPad, and immediately noticed similar behavior when I connected it to my Windows laptop. I experienced the fade-in effect when skipping songs using Foobar2000, despite the program's fade settings being set to not behave like this at all.

I decided to test playing some songs using VLC, and the fade-in effect wasn't there. Strange. I closed both Foobar and VLC, then reopened VLC and tried skipping through the same songs. Now VLC was exhibiting the fade-in behavior like Foobar2000 was before. What the heck? So I opened Foobar again, and guess what? The fade-in effect was gone.

Completely baffled by all of this, I decided to reboot the laptop and see if maybe that would somehow rectify the problem. Not only did it not, but now, without any programs open, system sounds fade-in when triggered. If I open Foobar2000, system sounds no longer fade in.

I would have suspected that this is some sort of strange Windows issue if not for the posts I've quoted above. This very much seems like a bug or "feature" of the ES100 itself when used as a USB DAC, regardless of whether the computer runs Windows or macOS.

I've looked over the iOS control app for the ES100 and found no evidence of a setting for this behavior.

I should mention, I never experienced anything like this when using the FiiO Q1 MkII DAC/amp that I was using for the past 10 months with the same laptop.

Does anyone have any clue how to solve this problem, or should I just email Radsone about it?

Edit: I should have mentioned, my ES100 is running the latest firmware.

 

[Slater]

I bought an ES100 today to use with my laptop, iPhone and iPad, and immediately noticed similar behavior when I connected it to my Windows laptop. I experienced the fade-in effect when skipping songs using Foobar2000, despite the program's fade settings being set to not behave like this at all.

I decided to test playing some songs using VLC, and the fade-in effect wasn't there. Strange. I closed both Foobar and VLC, then reopened VLC and tried skipping through the same songs. Now VLC was exhibiting the fade-in behavior like Foobar2000 was before. What the heck? So I opened Foobar again, and guess what? The fade-in effect was gone.

Completely baffled by all of this, I decided to reboot the laptop and see if maybe that would somehow rectify the problem. Not only did it not, but now, without any programs open, system sounds fade-in when triggered. If I open Foobar2000, system sounds no longer fade in.

I would have suspected that this is some sort of strange Windows issue if not for the posts I've quoted above. This very much seems like a bug or "feature" of the ES100 itself when used as a USB DAC, regardless of whether the computer runs Windows or macOS.

I've looked over the iOS control app for the ES100 and found no evidence of a setting for this behavior.

I should mention, I never experienced anything like this when using the FiiO Q1 MkII DAC/amp that I was using for the past 10 months with the same laptop.

Does anyone have any clue how to solve this problem, or should I just email Radsone about it?

Edit: I should have mentioned, my ES100 is running the latest firmware.

Try setting the following settings (in the app) to off, and then see if the problem goes away:

DCT
Crossfeed

Also disable the HD Jitter Cleaner.

 

[Crandall]

Try setting the following settings (in the app) to off, and then see if the problem goes away:

DCT
Crossfeed

Also disable the HD Jitter Cleaner.

So, personally, I have had these settings disabled for a while, and I've noticed that when connected via USB to a PC, the first track I play on spotify/foobar will always fade in. After that though, it usually doesn't fade again unless audio over bluetooth from my phone takes over momentarily and then switches back to the USB audio.

 

[Outpost 31]

Try setting the following settings (in the app) to off, and then see if the problem goes away:

DCT
Crossfeed

Also disable the HD Jitter Cleaner.

So, personally, I have had these settings disabled for a while, and I've noticed that when connected via USB to a PC, the first track I play on spotify/foobar will always fade in. After that though, it usually doesn't fade again unless audio over bluetooth from my phone takes over momentarily and then switches back to the USB audio.

Yeah, no change in behavior with those settings off.

I've noticed that if I have no programs open that could be playing audio, and I open a video, the audio on the video will fade in, just like with the music programs. It's clear that this is not an OS or software issue, and is 100% caused by the ES100, and there seems to be no way to change this behavior. I'm kind of surprised so few people have noticed this, but it's safe to assume most people are using the ES100 with their phones and not as a USB DAC for their computer.

I've emailed Radsone about this. Maybe they can confirm this is simply how the ES100 operates and there's no way to change it. Not sure if a firmware in the future could alter it.

 

[jasonb]

I use my ES100 with a Pixel 3a over Bluetooth and use the Google Play Music app and when I skip songs it quickly fades in as well. It doesn't bother me, but it definitely does it.

 

[Slater]

Yeah, no change in behavior with those settings off.

I've noticed that if I have no programs open that could be playing audio, and I open a video, the audio on the video will fade in, just like with the music programs. It's clear that this is not an OS or software issue, and is 100% caused by the ES100, and there seems to be no way to change this behavior. I'm kind of surprised so few people have noticed this, but it's safe to assume most people are using the ES100 with their phones and not as a USB DAC for their computer.

I've emailed Radsone about this. Maybe they can confirm this is simply how the ES100 operates and there's no way to change it. Not sure if a firmware in the future could alter it.

I use my ES100 with a Pixel 3a over Bluetooth and use the Google Play Music app and when I skip songs it quickly fades in as well. It doesn't bother me, but it definitely does it.

I wonder if it’s some behavior that was added to act as an amplifier soft start of sorts. Basically to prevent popping or some other unwanted behavior that some amps/DAPS suffer from.

 

[moisespr123]

USB Audio devices usually go into idle mode if no audio is being played. The Fade In may be due to the ES100 getting out of idle mode.

 

[stuck limo]

Has anyone tried using (chaining) the ES100 USB > DAC? I had the brilliant idea of tethering the ES100 as a wireless, digital source to a portable DAC, but then I realized it probably would not work. But I don't know for sure since I don't have my DAC on hand.

 

[Chupi383]

Has anyone tried using (chaining) the ES100 USB > DAC? I had the brilliant idea of tethering the ES100 as a wireless, digital source to a portable DAC, but then I realized it probably would not work. But I don't know for sure since I don't have my DAC on hand.

It wouldn't work. The ES100 doesn't have a digital output. It can only output balanced or unbalanced analog audio, both of which are directly connected to the DAC outputs with no components in between.

 

[stuck limo]

It wouldn't work. The ES100 doesn't have a digital output.

That's exactly what I thought. Thanks for the confirmation.