[scotvl]

I just received my ES100, and I probably shouldn't say this without spending more time with it, but it's awesome



I managed to get the ES100 working as a usb dac on my windows 7 laptop, when using streaming programs such as Tidal (not HiRes), and it's coming across to the ES100 as 16bit/48khz. Sounds good to me.

But when trying to play a flac tune (16bit/44.1khz) though foobar 2000 I'm getting "Unrecoverable playback error: Unsupported stream format: 44100 Hz / 16-bit / 2 channels". Maybe there's a simple setup or configuration change I need to make somewhere, but if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears!

There's a couple of posts in this thread that might help with the foobar error you are having.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/amp.red...oobar_how_do_i_fix_this_unrecoverable/?espv=1

I wanted to ask if you had to pay any duty or taxes on the ES100. Mine is on the way to Canada from RADSONEs warehouse in LA via USPS so I'm crossing my fingers I won't have to pay brokerage fees at least.

 

[waynes world]

You have to use foobar plugin to change a frequency of audio to 48kHz.

Thanks! Found a resampler DSP here, and managed to get it installed, and I'm happily using the ES100 as a usb dac through foobar2000:
https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,67373.0.html

There's a couple of posts in this thread that might help with the foobar error you are having.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/amp.red...oobar_how_do_i_fix_this_unrecoverable/?espv=1

I wanted to ask if you had to pay any duty or taxes on the ES100. Mine is on the way to Canada from RADSONEs warehouse in LA via USPS so I'm crossing my fingers I won't have to pay brokerage fees at least.

Thanks also. And no, there were no nasty duty or tax surprises

 

[peter123]

Thanks! Found a resampler DSP here, and managed to get it installed, and I'm happily using the ES100 as a usb dac through foobar2000:
https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,67373.0.html



Thanks also. And no, there were no nasty duty or tax surprises

How do you find the overall sound quality?

I'm going to NYC by the end of the month and since I've misplaced my Elecom PAR500 (that I really enjoyed) I'm considering getting one of these when I've got the chance.....

 

[PantsUK]

Could anyone who has one of these things tell me the shipping dimensions of the package as it came? Thinking of using a service like borderlinx or similar to get one ahead of the UK launch..

Had a look on borderlinx works out to approx £35 to ship to the uk could do multiple at that price I'd have thought.

 

[m4rkw]

Yeah borderlinx is a bit pricey, i'm gonna go with asking an american friend to forward one on to me

 

[SubMash]

I've found another bug - if BT transmitter sends the mute command to ES - analog volume goes up to 100% after unmuting.
Pressing + or - volume once restores level to where it was - which is a strong indication of F/W bug.

Problem is that it could be enough to make a person deaf with very sensitive headphones which were pre-set to something like -40dBA before mute.
It's a real health risk bug.

I suggest in the app to add a setting that would define a maximum allowable volume and check the code that it always checks it.
Because it can happen by an accident as well.

 

[waynes world]

How do you find the overall sound quality?

I'm going to NYC by the end of the month and since I've misplaced my Elecom PAR500 (that I really enjoyed) I'm considering getting one of these when I've got the chance.....

Oops - did you go skiing in deep powder with it (like I did with my btr1)? Lol.

I've only listened to the es100 in BT mode for a few minutes, so I need more time with that. But initial impressions are that it has great SQ via my S7 (APTX) - as good and probably better than the Fiio BTR1 was (which I really liked).

The functionality of the ES100 is really amazing though with the android app - lots of settings to play with (let alone EQ if you're into that).

This morning I have been mainly using it in USB DAC mode off of my laptop (once I got foobar/48kHz sorted). My ears aren't golden enough to give very useful impressions, but imo it's better than the zuperdac which I really like. I almost wish I hadn't tried it in USB DAC mode though because now I might start feeling like I need to get one to stay devoted for my laptop.

Then again, it's very cool how, when using the ES100 as a USB DAC off of my computer, it can ALSO be connected to my phone at the same time (via BT) and controlled via the app, and/or used to take calls. And when it's time to get up and go for a walk, since it's already connected to my phone, simply unplug the laptop usb cable from the ES100, spark up a song on my phone and go with the same headphones/earbuds in place! Slick!

Anyway, the zuperdac and btr1 are the only similar gizmos I have to compare with, so I'm counting on you for your impressions once you get it!

 

[chinmie]

I just received my ES100, and I probably shouldn't say this without spending more time with it, but it's awesome

Took you long enough congrats man!
How is it compared to you Fiio?

 

[tim0chan]

I like to hear this, mine is on the way from Radsone warehouse in LA and I can't wait to hear it paired with my lg g6 over aptx hd. Does the g6 let you choose the codec or does it default to aptx hd and does it indicate what the connection is? Also are the volume controls locked together or do they act independently? Right now my g6 and Sony sbh50s volumes are locked together but my note 4s volume works independently of the sbh50.

Let's u choose between best sound and best performance which I assume is range. The volume is independent, es100 has its own analogue vol

 

[waynes world]

Took you long enough congrats man!
How is it compared to you Fiio?

Thanks! It's a bit hard to compare by memory because I no longer have my Fiio BTR1, but connected via BT to my S7 (aptx), I'd say that the ES100 is better (definitely as good as the BTR1 which makes me very happy). Throw in the app's control features and the longer battery life, and the ES100 is a winner (and that's even before taking into consideration the fact that the ES100 can also be used as a USB DAC, and can support APTXHD etc etc). I'm looking forward to doing some earbuds listening off of it!

 

[tim0chan]

An update on @SubMash tests, I tried the test and I can hear to around 18ish khz. The issue with the radsone seems to be around 17ish khz where synths are not reproduced properly. Need to listen more but it seems to be that it is played backwards? It seems to be only occuring at 17.5ish khz. Looks to be less of an issue by using the slow roll off filter on the dac and no oversampling plus DCT off.
I hope @wslee can advise us on this or maybe tell us when the next update for the firmware is coming

 

[antdroid]

I've found another bug - if BT transmitter sends the mute command to ES - analog volume goes up to 100% after unmuting.
Pressing + or - volume once restores level to where it was - which is a strong indication of F/W bug.

Problem is that it could be enough to make a person deaf with very sensitive headphones which were pre-set to something like -40dBA before mute.
It's a real health risk bug.

I suggest in the app to add a setting that would define a maximum allowable volume and check the code that it always checks it.
Because it can happen by an accident as well.

I tried to replicate this but I'm not sure if I am doing the same scenario you are. I made a call with the bluetooth, then while on the call, I pressed MUTE, checked the volume, then unmuted, and I didnt see any volume change in the app. Is this something that you're seeing the app too or just listening?

 

[veraideishal]

If you can hear running tones - it's aliasing. It's not supposed to be there (unless you pass blind test for above 17kHz). Aliasing is quite common in regular equipment. But it should not be part of HiFi and there are APTX receivers that don't have it. Plus in my case it's heavily overloaded - it's pretty much at 0dB volume - off-tones and cracks.

I have some misgivings about the Mosquito Test. Firstly, there’s no WAV download unless you donate, which means that most people are playing it through their browsers (and who knows what those are doing to the audio). I also have no idea what codec it is compressed with.

Secondly, in USB DAC mode on Windows, the ES100 is locked to 48kHz, while audiocheck.net claims all its tests are in 44.1kHz, which means that there is a sample rate conversion by Windows’ built-in audio mixer (in addition to whatever the browser is doing).

So, already, I cannot verify whether it is the program material, the audio player, the OS or the sink that is at fault when I hear something other than the mosquito tone.

For my setup (Microsoft Surface Pro 3, Windows 10 version 1709, Mozilla Firefox 56, ES100 USB DAC mode, PCM 16bit/48kHz) I can hear a sort of warbling in the mid-high frequencies as well as the mosquito tone (yes, I can hear it).

The warbling becomes more apparent (and ‘musical’) when I change from Sharp Roll-off to Slow Roll-off.

There is clicking unless I turn off HD Jitter Cleaner (to be fair, Radsone already warns that with certain Bluetooth sources, periodic clicking may happen. They should expand that warning to USB as well).

Thing is, I can still hear the warbling (but not the clicking) even on my normal USB DAC (HRT Microstreamer, 24bit/44.1kHz).

The more I dig, the more doubts I have about the functioning of my entire signal chain. Sigh.

 

[SubMash]

I tried to replicate this but I'm not sure if I am doing the same scenario you are. I made a call with the bluetooth, then while on the call, I pressed MUTE, checked the volume, then unmuted, and I didnt see any volume change in the app. Is this something that you're seeing the app too or just listening?

App stays same volume - it doesn't show mute at all. But after unmute it becomes full +6dBA while volume can show -30.

An update on @SubMash tests, I tried the test and I can hear to around 18ish khz. The issue with the radsone seems to be around 17ish khz where synths are not reproduced properly. Need to listen more but it seems to be that it is played backwards? It seems to be only occuring at 17.5ish khz. Looks to be less of an issue by using the slow roll off filter on the dac and no oversampling plus DCT off.

If you look at my spectrograms above - you can see there are harmonics going opposite direction to the original tone sweep. They are mostly lower volume than original tone, but at 17-18kHz even if you young - you barely can hear them, while 8kHz harmonics are quite easy to hear. So, yes, it plays backward. And since AAC doesn't have such problem - I still hope it's F/W bug that can be fixed.

I have some misgivings about the Mosquito Test. Firstly, there’s no WAV download unless you donate, which means that most people are playing it through their browsers (and who knows what those are doing to the audio). I also have no idea what codec it is compressed with.
Secondly, in USB DAC mode on Windows, the ES100 is locked to 48kHz, while audiocheck.net claims all its tests are in 44.1kHz, which means that there is a sample rate conversion by Windows’ built-in audio mixer (in addition to whatever the browser is doing).
So, already, I cannot verify whether it is the program material, the audio player, the OS or the sink that is at fault when I hear something other than the mosquito tone.

I don't have clicking influenced by jitter. If you listen for Mosquito test on a wired connection - there is no issue. As well as on AAC or some other receivers (like Nokia in my case). I also was checking from the phone where it plays 44.1.

I think, that it's a reasonable request to ask to improve frequency handling in USB DAC mode of ES100.
USB Audio 1 can hold up to 24 bit 96kHz, but it at least should have 44.1kHz output to avoid further noise introduction.

 

[Isloo]

I would be very grateful if someone who owns an ES100 could let me know if it has USB out as well? I am interested in getting one to connect to an existing DAC. Thanks.