Radsone EarStudio ES100
Dec 3, 2019 at 6:14 PM Post #5,762 of 6,673
@radsone : I picked up the ES100 MKII on the Black Friday sale. Thank you! I am loving them on both balanced and unbalanced earphones, but there are some glaring flaws that I hope you will address with an app or firmware update. I am running firmware version 2.0.2

(1) There must be a setting to prevent the ES100 from rebooting when plugged in to USB to charge and when removing them from the charger: I want to be able to plug the ES100 in for a quick charge and remove them from charge a little later all without having my music interrupted. It seems it should be possible to update the smartphone app and firmware to support this. The rebooting when plugging in or disconnecting is really annoying.

(2) Why does this have a micro USB type B socket and not a type C socket? This is just silly - Type C is the current standard for mobile devices and the ES100 having a micro B socket basically forces me to carry an extra cable everywhere to charge the ES100's tiny battery that runs low after only a few hours of listening. Please chance the socket in the next version to USB Type C!

(3) Please include a larger battery in the next version of the ES100, even if this means making the device slightly larger. It is just too small now, especially when listening on high-impedance headphones. I think a minimum 50-60% increase in battery capacity would be sufficient.

(4) The app and firmware should allow the user to specify a specific maximum battery charge level and maximum discharge level in the battery care setting. I want to be able to strictly limit charging to, for example, 75% and discharging to 25% in order to maintain the health of the extremely small battery. The user should have more control over the charging and discharging limits, and this should be possible to do with an app and firmware update for the MKI and MKII

(5) There is some kind of problem with my ES100 where the battery indicator in the app registers a much higher charge when the ES100 is connected to a charger and the charge immediately drops about 20% on the battery indicator as soon as the ES100 is removed from the charger. I wanted to charge my ES100 only to 75% (as I said above), so when I reached 75% on the battery indicator in the app I removed the ES100 from the charger. The battery indicator on the app immediately dropped to 55%. Now, because of this, I am not sure of the actual charge state of the battery; is it 75%, 55%, or something in between. Please fix this with a firmware/app update!

(6) Fully parametric equalizer should be available in the app. It would be great if number of bands, specific frequencies, Q factor and gain can be controlled in the app. Actually, the current equalizer in the app is good enough for me now, but many other users have expressed a desire for a fully parametric equalizer, so this comment is mostly for them.

Thank you for listening to my concerns and keep up the great work!

~ Jon
 
Dec 4, 2019 at 11:37 AM Post #5,763 of 6,673
Point #1 is by far the most infuriating thing. I had my gym headphones in and popped the ES100 off the charger so I could toss it in my jacket pocket and hey how about that suddenly my music stopped playing through my headphones.
 
Dec 4, 2019 at 12:45 PM Post #5,764 of 6,673
Point #1 is by far the most infuriating thing. I had my gym headphones in and popped the ES100 off the charger so I could toss it in my jacket pocket and hey how about that suddenly my music stopped playing through my headphones.

Yes, I totally agree that my "point #1" is the most annoying issue. It also seems like it should be very easy to fix by simply modifying the app and/or firmware. There just needs to be an additional setting not to shut down or reboot the ES100 unless the power button is pressed or the battery reaches it's lower charge limit. @radsone , are you listening?

Also, I believe that I was mistaken in my "point #5" - the discrepancy between the battery charge level when plugged in vs. when unplugged seems to be because I have the battery care mode active - this makes the battery indicator show a higher apparent charge level when plugged in, so that when the battery indicator gets to 100% and stops charging, the actual charge is closer to 80%. I do find this confusting, however, and I wish that @radsone would just have the battery indicator show the actual charge level and stop charging at 80% (I also wish they would add precise user control over the lower and upper charge limit as I mentioned in "point #4" in my earlier post.

Overall, @radsone has made a great device, and I am confident that they are listening to user feedback and will correct all these issues in MKIII or with firmware/app updates.
 
Dec 4, 2019 at 11:22 PM Post #5,765 of 6,673
There should definitely be a battery setting to "don't change the power status when plugged in or unplugged"
I plug it in to charge, no need for it to turn on. I unplug it to throw in a bag for later, there is no reason for it to turn on.
Otherwise, this thing is near-perfect.
 
Dec 4, 2019 at 11:24 PM Post #5,766 of 6,673
There should definitely be a battery setting to "don't change the power status when plugged in or unplugged"
I plug it in to charge, no need for it to turn on. I unplug it to throw in a bag for later, there is no reason for it to turn on.
Otherwise, this thing is near-perfect.

I think everyone agrees with this. The BTA10 for the M50x has the same type of behavior though too. It's definitely odd and not convenient at all.
 
Dec 4, 2019 at 11:55 PM Post #5,767 of 6,673
So, after a long wait...I finally have obtained a Mk1 version. For anyone who hasn't followed my posts in other threads (ie. KZ thread); let me give you a brief history. Like many other members here on headfi, I kept seeing this device mentioned in many threads over the past year and recd highly. This past summer I decided to buy one on Amazon.ca. When I received it, there was a problem with the 2.5mm balanced output jack immediately, so I sent it back after only 1 day. There was no option for replacement, only refund. After I returned the device and got my refund, I needed the money for other expenses and my plan was to repurchase the ES100 the following month. When the following month came; the device was no longer available on Amazon.ca. I could still get it on Amazon.com, but at a higher price plus shipping (all in USD$) so I decided to bide my time and wait till it came up again on the Canadian Amazon site. I checked many sites including Ebay and Aliexpress but I couldn't find anything that was the same price as the original $129 CDN shipped as on Amazon.ca. So I waited until last week, when this device was finally again on sale on Amazon.ca for the Black Friday sale. Originally, my expected delivery date was Dec. 5th, but was changed to Dec 2nd, because of Prime membership and free 2 day shipping. On Dec. 2nd, I got notification from Amazon that my item was delivered at 10:05 AM. I received that notification at 10:27 AM. I was home at the time, so I opened the door to my apartment (I live in a house that has 2 apartments and a small business at the front of the place...all units have a separate door that goes straight out to the street...no hallways or anything), expecting to see the package at my door or on my porch. Nothing was there. I went to the front of my building where my mailbox is, thinking maybe the delivery person put it there. No package. Finally, I went to the business out front and the lady who owns it told me the guy tried to deliver it there, but she instructed him to go down towards the back (my apartment is classified as "rear apartment") and indicated the 4 steps that go to my place. He never came and worst of all, he scanned my package as being delivered when it was not. After much communication with both Amazon.ca and Canada Post, I finally received my ES100 today. After much screwing around trying to get the firmware updated and connecting to my S8+...it's finally working! And man, does it ever sound great! Only used it for 20 minutes with KZ ZS10 PRO in balanced mode, but wow! It's bluetooth and it's every bit as good as my Fiio Q1MK2 dac/amp stacked via USB. I will definitely need to have more time with it (and use different iems with it) before I can give further impressions...but so far, I can tell that this thing is really good sounding and worth the hype.
 
Dec 5, 2019 at 12:01 AM Post #5,768 of 6,673
Trying not to get too attached to it, since I bought it for my son as part of his birthday gift.
 
Dec 5, 2019 at 6:21 AM Post #5,770 of 6,673
Dec 5, 2019 at 10:08 PM Post #5,772 of 6,673
I consider purchasing ES100. A question to its users: how long does it take to fully charge the battery? Is it possible to charge up connecting to the phone? Is it then very slow?

It takes a couple hours from my experience. Not terrible, but not super quick either. I usually charge mine up while I sleep, or go to work, or out to the store or something.
 
Dec 6, 2019 at 1:38 AM Post #5,773 of 6,673
I think your son is going to get a gift card... just saying...
Nope...just gonna buy one for myself next month. Absolutely love how this thing can make almost everything work and sound good. This is a seriously good piece of kit and an absolute bargain at its price. I'm blown away by how great this sounds. It's hard to keep in mind that this is a Bluetooth device. SQ is on par with many portable dac/amps and less cumbersome.
 

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