[Soaa-]

@Soaa:

Both of them.

FYI,
If you check the circuit diagram of below example,
http://www.fiio.net/en/products/76
you will find the SWITCHER.
Every device supporting both 3.5 and 2.5mm output has the switch IC.
But the problem is that the semiconductor switch IC has some resistance even when switched ON, which called R-on.
Eventually, the output impedance gets higher, and it distorts and degrades the sound quality.

ES100 DualDrive Technology has NO switch IC,
and two AK4375a delivers twice much current at half output impedance.

Thanks and Regards,
WS

Right, I remember seeing that in the docs on the EarStudio page. Thanks for publishing those, by the way, super interesting stuff!

I'm trying to learn as much as I can about the ES100 and the DAC inside it, and came across your kickstarter comment where you (Radsone) wrote that the AK4375a has an output impedance of 8-10 ohms, and that DualDrive lowers it to 4-5 ohms. Which number is correct?

 

[newtophones07]

OK I am curious, does this device output perfect bitrate (without the typical android native SRC up sampling first) 16/44 from TIDAL android app, through a smartphone Bluetooth connection? I am not that clear how this could potentially work through bluetooth and still offer full sound bandwidth.

 

[PiSkyHiFi]

OK I am curious, does this device output perfect bitrate (without the typical android native SRC up sampling first) 16/44 from TIDAL android app, through a smartphone Bluetooth connection? I am not that clear how this could potentially work through bluetooth and still offer full sound bandwidth.

My understanding is that the native Android sample size and rate is 24 bit 48KHz since Android 5.0, this is mainly because of mixing. It is a way to ensure that 16/44.1 sounds don't lose anything when mixed.

I think using default eq within Android is a bad idea, although I'm not sure if this situation has changed, but I think the default 5 band internal eq seems to be rather low quality - I don't use it at all.

To pass 16/44.1 through bluetooth currently, all bluetooth is lossy, so really you have codecs like AptX HD and LDAC, which are lossy, but use higher sample size and rates than 16/44.1, which is an effective way to send high quality audio.

Because it's lossy, it's not going to guarantee bit for bit 16/44.1, but if the original was mastered into a higher bit rate, the quality will be superior to 16/44.1.

So, Tidal will be close to bit for bit down AptX HD or LDAC, but maybe not quite, yet, still excellent quality.

Then there's the analog stage, which for anything equivalent to CD or better, is vital to representing good quality effectively.

 

[zolom]

Regarding the above, I could not find any Bit-Perfect settings in the Tidal android app.
A way to set Bit-Perfect for Tidal (HiFi, HiRez) is by using Tidal via the UAPP application, there set it to Bit-Perfect. I Guess Bit-Perfect then only applies to real USB Audio connectivity to an external DAC, while it cannot be fulfilled with BT.

 

[wslee]

Right, I remember seeing that in the docs on the EarStudio page. Thanks for publishing those, by the way, super interesting stuff!

I'm trying to learn as much as I can about the ES100 and the DAC inside it, and came across your kickstarter comment where you (Radsone) wrote that the AK4375a has an output impedance of 8-10 ohms, and that DualDrive lowers it to 4-5 ohms. Which number is correct?

@Soaa:

Yes, I did.
At that time, AKM(Asahi Kasei Microdevices) engineer gave me the information AK4375a provides 8~10 Ohm output impedance.
But no explicit specification in the datasheet.
I was not sure about that, and I estimated output impedance by measuring the voltages across 16, 32, 300, 600, ..., ohms loads using Audio Precision Equipment.
After having simple math, I got the estimated output impedance around 1-Ohm.

I guess your concern is how ES100 performs with low impedance units
because the output impedance seems to be much more critical to those units.

FYI,
Please refer the test result with AK70 Hi-Fi DAP, page 8 to 10.
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/fb72a4_48ff552d02de42ef9e2d5041c3fe29ee.pdf

According to the ak70 manual, AK70 provides 2-ohm(3.5mm) and 1-ohm(2.5mm) output impedance.

Anyway, ES100 provides the better THD+N than AK70 to the same 16-ohm load, and that will explain many things, I think.

Thanks and Regards,
WS

 

[Soaa-]

@Soaa:

Yes, I did.
At that time, AKM(Asahi Kasei Microdevices) engineer gave me the information AK4375a provides 8~10 Ohm output impedance.
But no explicit specification in the datasheet.
I was not sure about that, and I estimated output impedance by measuring the voltages across 16, 32, 300, 600, ..., ohms loads using Audio Precision Equipment.
After having simple math, I got the estimated output impedance around 1-Ohm.

I guess your concern is how ES100 performs with low impedance units
because the output impedance seems to be much more critical to those units.

FYI,
Please refer the test result with AK70 Hi-Fi DAP, page 8 to 10.
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/fb72a4_48ff552d02de42ef9e2d5041c3fe29ee.pdf

According to the ak70 manual, AK70 provides 2-ohm(3.5mm) and 1-ohm(2.5mm) output impedance.

Anyway, ES100 provides the better THD+N than AK70 to the same 16-ohm load, and that will explain many things, I think.

Thanks and Regards,
WS

Thank you for the explanation! It's a bummer that AKM quoted you a spec that is poorer than the actual performance. Glad you measured it!

Indeed I'm planning to use the ES100 to drive multi-BA IEMs, which are very sensitive to source impedance. The Massdrop Plus IEM gets bassy and loose with source impedance > 1 ohm. It's not so much an issue of THD+N but rather frequency response shifts.

 

[waynes world]

@wslee, I lost my fiio btr1. So instead of simply kinda wanting the es100, I now NEED IT lol. So I'm looking forward to it being sold in Canada

 

[wslee]

Thank you for the explanation! It's a bummer that AKM quoted you a spec that is poorer than the actual performance. Glad you measured it!

Indeed I'm planning to use the ES100 to drive multi-BA IEMs, which are very sensitive to source impedance. The Massdrop Plus IEM gets bassy and loose with source impedance > 1 ohm. It's not so much an issue of THD+N but rather frequency response shifts.

@Soaa:

I hope ES100 would match well with your IEMs, and I'm looking forward getting any feedback from you sooner or later.

 

[wslee]

@wslee, I lost my fiio btr1. So instead of simply kinda wanting the es100, I now NEED IT lol. So I'm looking forward to it being sold in Canada

@waynes world:

Sorry to hear that.
We're working on it, and it will be available in Canada next week.
Thanks and Regards,
WS

 

[Daveed84]

@wslee

What is the return policy for the device, in particular if ordered from Amazon? Is there a return policy?

Thanks

 

[p50kombi]

@wslee

What is the return policy for the device, in particular if ordered from Amazon? Is there a return policy?

Thanks

Maybe ask that question on Amazon?

 

[Daveed84]

Maybe ask that question on Amazon?

The seller is active in this thread, and other people have expressed interest in knowing the official policy as well. Also the item is being sold on the Amazon marketplace, not directly by Amazon itself. So asking here seems appropriate

 

[kolbo]

Update: Got my balanced cable, and am very happy so far.
Source: Apple 7, Apple music
Headphones: CA Andromedas
Current settings:
HD Jitter Cleaner: on
Using balanced connection, 1x voltage
No equalizer
DCT off
Digital filter on Short Delay Slow Roll-Off
Over sampling 2x

 

[redogfizbal]

I was thinking about buying this thing, but I’m almost positive it would drive me insane with all the available settings.

 

[waynes world]

@waynes world:

Sorry to hear that.
We're working on it, and it will be available in Canada next week.
Thanks and Regards,
WS

Awesome WS! Thanks.

Btw, I PROMISE not to go skiing (and wipe out) in deep powder with the es100 clipped onto to me like I did with the btr1!