[stancorrected]

I agree with @guiffre

I haven't used a DAP ever but I've used the ES100 for a few months now with the CFA Lyra II, Andromeda, Sennheiser IE80S, and Westone W30 and I can't imagine anyone being disappointed in the quality of audio. I use it as a portable device of course and so I may not be listening as critically as I do when I'm at home with my HD800S and home setup but I think the ES100 brings my Andromeda's to near their full potential and that is wireless. It was also able to drive my HD800S and while not quite as well as it needs it was decent and more than loud enough for me.

I'm thinking of buying a pair of Andromeda's, and wondered about their characteristics/ sound signature when compared with the 800S. I'm new to IEMs, but I am familiar with the 650/ 800S both of which I use mostly with a Chord Poly/ Mojo. I bought an inexpensive pair of IEM's just to find out whether I could physically deal with the earpiece in, rather than over, my ears. I'm fine with that and I'm now ready to upgrade. I'm also interested in pairing the Andromeda's with the Earstudio (which I bought a couple of weeks ago) for more mobility/ convenience and keep the Mojo for more static locations like home or office. I would be interested in any thoughts you might have, or past experience that might be relevent.

 

[waynes world]

I'm thinking of buying a pair of Andromeda's, and wondered about their characteristics/ sound signature when compared with the 800S. I'm new to IEMs, but I am familiar with the 650/ 800S both of which I use mostly with a Chord Poly/ Mojo. I bought an inexpensive pair of IEM's just to find out whether I could physically deal with the earpiece in, rather than over, my ears. I'm fine with that and I'm now ready to upgrade. I'm also interested in pairing the Andromeda's with the Earstudio (which I bought a couple of weeks ago) for more mobility/ convenience and keep the Mojo for more static locations like home or office. I would be interested in any thoughts you might have, or past experience that might be relevent.

If iems end up not working out for you, make sure you also check out earbuds. They have really come a long way in the last few years, and it's amazing what kind of sound you can get for under $100 with them. The thread: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/unread

 

[antdroid]

hello guys, i am curently with no DAP anymore and i was evaluating this little gem.
Did someone of you tried it vs. some proper DAP in order to test the difference in quality ?
for example a Pioneer xdp 300 maybe...in wired and not..
i could use my Iphone x with aac or huawei p10 with aptx hd codec.

I've had a few lower-end DAPs such as the iPod, the Hidizs AP60/AP60 II, Cayin N3, and a few others. I sold them all after I got this unit. I think these actually sounds better than those entry level hifi daps. I haven't tried the $450+ range android DAPs though but I'm always tempted to - especially the Hiby R6. So far though, I am quite happy with the ES100. It sounds really good and is convenient.

I did use a cheapo AGPTEK $35 DAP on my last business trip because I was worried about battery life on my phone (not the ES100) but I switched back and forth between the two. The cheapo DAP wasnt actually all that bad, but limited my use of streaming services.

 

[antdroid]

I'm thinking of buying a pair of Andromeda's, and wondered about their characteristics/ sound signature when compared with the 800S. I'm new to IEMs, but I am familiar with the 650/ 800S both of which I use mostly with a Chord Poly/ Mojo. I bought an inexpensive pair of IEM's just to find out whether I could physically deal with the earpiece in, rather than over, my ears. I'm fine with that and I'm now ready to upgrade. I'm also interested in pairing the Andromeda's with the Earstudio (which I bought a couple of weeks ago) for more mobility/ convenience and keep the Mojo for more static locations like home or office. I would be interested in any thoughts you might have, or past experience that might be relevent.

If you wanted a true to fit Andromeda IEM to try out, the KZ ZS6 or KZ ZS5 are a copy-cat design of them. They have some significant treble and sibilance issues but otherwise actually sound good for very cheap. I have the green one which looks pretty close to an Andromeda. Haha.

 

[manukmanohar]

If you wanted a true to fit Andromeda IEM to try out, the KZ ZS6 or KZ ZS5 are a copy-cat design of them. They have some significant treble and sibilance issues but otherwise actually sound good for very cheap. I have the green one which looks pretty close to an Andromeda. Haha.

I have the ZS5 and have also tried Andromeda, ZS6. I found Andromeda to be a better fit, than ZS5. Are you sure that it has the exact same size ? ( i know shape is similar)

 

[antdroid]

I have the ZS5 and have also tried Andromeda, ZS6. I found Andromeda to be a better fit, than ZS5. Are you sure that it has the exact same size ? ( i know shape is similar)

No, I don't know if they are exact same size. They look like they have some slight geometry differences so that could affect the fit slightly.

 

[CardigdanWalk]

Finally got my ES100 and wow, just amazing. Every song puts a smile on my face with how the sounds, so thank you @wslee and everyone at Radsone!

Now a personal / strange request / cry for help from anyone. Does anyone know of any DIY neckband solutions that work with the ES100?

Something like this that would let me wind in my own cable, but could clip on the ES100 safe on one side? (This is the one PLUB did)

 

[antdroid]

Here's some short cables and recommendations:



Bottom Left

The bottom IEM is the Campfire Comet. It's attached to the Fiio RC-MMCX1s short MMCX cable. The cable is black braided, and is 60cm by default. It comes with a 3.5mm input jack. I snipped this off and soldered on my own 2.5mm 4-pole balanced jack using the standard soldering diagram for AK balanced. While doing this, I also cut off a bit of the cable to make it shorter. The cable comes with its own strap for tidiness and is overall not a bad cable. I paid $9.99 on amazon for it, but its currently out of stock from that third party dealer.

Top Left

The top left is the Unique Melody ME.1 planar magnetic IEM. It is using an already-made 2-pin short cable I found on "Chitty's Store" on AliExpress (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/cus...561.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.58744c4dQcLzwy). This cable comes with a single-ended 3.5mm jack, but again, I removed it and soldered on a 2.5mm balanced connector in its place. It's also a braided, copper/bronze colored cable with memory wire that actually isn't too bad.

RIGHT

The right side is the (in)famous KZ ZS6 IEM. The cable that it is attached to is a DIY one. I first purchased an already braided cable on "Chitty's Store" (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/diy...272.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.58744c4dQcLzwy) and then removed the 3.5mm jack and soldered on a 2.5mm balanced jack in it's place. I then found some 2-pin connectors (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Are...622.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.58744c4dQcLzwy) and soldered those on the Left and Right channels. This cable is a big springy but it works well and looks nice too.

 

[waynes world]

Here's some short cables and recommendations:



Bottom Left

The bottom IEM is the Campfire Comet. It's attached to the Fiio RC-MMCX1s short MMCX cable. The cable is black braided, and is 60cm by default. It comes with a 3.5mm input jack. I snipped this off and soldered on my own 2.5mm 4-pole balanced jack using the standard soldering diagram for AK balanced. While doing this, I also cut off a bit of the cable to make it shorter. The cable comes with its own strap for tidiness and is overall not a bad cable. I paid $9.99 on amazon for it, but its currently out of stock from that third party dealer.

Top Left

The top left is the Unique Melody ME.1 planar magnetic IEM. It is using an already-made 2-pin short cable I found on "Chitty's Store" on AliExpress (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/cus...561.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.58744c4dQcLzwy). This cable comes with a single-ended 3.5mm jack, but again, I removed it and soldered on a 2.5mm balanced connector in its place. It's also a braided, copper/bronze colored cable with memory wire that actually isn't too bad.

RIGHT

The right side is the (in)famous KZ ZS6 IEM. The cable that it is attached to is a DIY one. I first purchased an already braided cable on "Chitty's Store" (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/diy...272.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.58744c4dQcLzwy) and then removed the 3.5mm jack and soldered on a 2.5mm balanced jack in it's place. I then found some 2-pin connectors (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Are...622.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.58744c4dQcLzwy) and soldered those on the Left and Right channels. This cable is a big springy but it works well and looks nice.2

I should learn how to solder. My balanced cable from aliexpress may never show up, so being able to get it do it myself would be great.

Anyway, nice work!

 

[CardigdanWalk]

Here's some short cables and recommendations:



Top Left

The top left is the Unique Melody ME.1 planar magnetic IEM. It is using an already-made 2-pin short cable I found on "Chitty's Store" on AliExpress (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/cus...561.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.58744c4dQcLzwy). This cable comes with a single-ended 3.5mm jack, but again, I removed it and soldered on a 2.5mm balanced connector in its place. It's also a braided, copper/bronze colored cable with memory wire that actually isn't too bad.

RIGHT

The right side is the (in)famous KZ ZS6 IEM. The cable that it is attached to is a DIY one. I first purchased an already braided cable on "Chitty's Store" (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/diy...272.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.58744c4dQcLzwy) and then removed the 3.5mm jack and soldered on a 2.5mm balanced jack in it's place. I then found some 2-pin connectors (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Are...622.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.58744c4dQcLzwy) and soldered those on the Left and Right channels. This cable is a big springy but it works well and looks nice.2

Wow, thanks for sharing! Very useful.

I am wondering if I can buy a cheap Bluetooth neckband and rip out it’s insides but rewire with one of those cable solutions hidden inside!

Btw, for the two above (top and right) they have 0.78mm connector, do both fit and work OK with KZ IEMs. I was under the impression they used 0.75mm! Might have to get that chitty 2 pin (top left) one of it does fit!

 

[Lurk650]

Just ordered on Amazon. I have a Pioneer 300R but battery life can be annoying plus I just want another balanced out to compare with. If it works out I'll probably sell the 300R and maybe get a nice little budget dap with balanced out, maybe the HiBy R3

 

[Coconut Wireles]

I'm thinking of buying a pair of Andromeda's, and wondered about their characteristics/ sound signature when compared with the 800S. I'm new to IEMs, but I am familiar with the 650/ 800S both of which I use mostly with a Chord Poly/ Mojo. I bought an inexpensive pair of IEM's just to find out whether I could physically deal with the earpiece in, rather than over, my ears. I'm fine with that and I'm now ready to upgrade. I'm also interested in pairing the Andromeda's with the Earstudio (which I bought a couple of weeks ago) for more mobility/ convenience and keep the Mojo for more static locations like home or office. I would be interested in any thoughts you might have, or past experience that might be relevent.

I have to say I find the sound signature and tuning to be very similar to specifically the HD800S. In fact the Lyra II has a warmer vibe a lot like the HD650 as well. Of course both IEMs don’t have the soundstage or detail quite as much but I am really impressed with both.

They are hard to recommend at their respective price points but I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with the Andromedas. They may not be everyone’s cup of tea but only because some prefer coffee. They also have made an excellent pairing with the ES100 with every genre I throw at it. If I want a little more bass I can always EQ it in and it sounds great. Everything from classical, to classic rock, to hip hop, to pop sounds amazing on it with or without EQ.

I am very fond of the HD800S even though it may have sacrificed a hair more than I would have wanted it to from the high end to the low end. I also am a fan of the HD650’s for their warm silky, buttery chocolate sound. I am fond of the Andromedas and Lyra II in the same way. Im actually fearful of trying the Atlas because I’m sure I’ll like it and I’m just not ready to breakup with my Andromedas yet lol.

 

[Coconut Wireles]

Finally got my ES100 and wow, just amazing. Every song puts a smile on my face with how the sounds, so thank you @wslee and everyone at Radsone!

Now a personal / strange request / cry for help from anyone. Does anyone know of any DIY neckband solutions that work with the ES100?

Something like this that would let me wind in my own cable, but could clip on the ES100 safe on one side? (This is the one PLUB did)

I’d like to see Earstudio do something like this but a bit more refined.

 

[afico]

How does it sound with Zs6?

 

[egg1111115]

Hi! I just purchased this product.

Is there any way to make it so the buttons on the unit control the source volume instead of the analog volume? Having two ways to change the volume is kind of driving me crazy...

Also, any recommendations for shorter replacement cables for the Etymotic ER3XR (or ER4 since i think they're the same)? As it is right now using the ES100 and these headphones results in a lot of unnecessary cables.