[rkw]

IHere is my question. From the following list of headphones, which one would most worth trying out in balanced mode?
Factors include:
- Likely to sound better in balanced mode than unbalanced
- Balanced cable would be relatively easy & cheap to acquire

I have easy to drive:
- Etymotic ER4XR
- EMU Teak
- HE400s

I have hard to drive:
- Audio Technica r70x

Definitely the ATH-R70x would benefit the most from balanced mode. It is 470 ohms and reviews say that it needs a good amount of power. I'd guess that the ES100 doesn't drive it adequately in single-ended mode, and just enough in balanced mode.

 

[Impulse]

I just got my es100 today from the $75 Amazon sale. Have been curious about this device for quite a while.

So far, I'm very impressed. SQ is excellent, and I love all the options in the very well designed companion app. Lots of fun experimentation & listening ahead!

This is the first device I've had that has a balanced output jack, so I'd like to give that a try.

Here is my question. From the following list of headphones, which one would most worth trying out in balanced mode?
Factors include:
- Likely to sound better in balanced mode than unbalanced
- Balanced cable would be relatively easy & cheap to acquire

I have easy to drive:
- Etymotic ER4XR
- EMU Teak
- HE400s

I have hard to drive:
- Audio Technica r70x

I'd also be grateful if you can recommend where to get a relatively inexpensive, fairly good, cable that would be compatible with the es100 2.5mm jack and one of my headphones.

Thanks!

I'm in the process of getting a balanced cable for my Massdrop Plus Universal IEM (and I very nearly bought the ER4XR instead btw! might still try them at point, I really enjoyed my Ety hf5)... They're my go-to choice when I'm on the go, as is the ES100, and I wanted a custom short cable anyway so it just made sense to try balanced.

I'm having ischa on Reddit build me an extension/adapter combo that adds length and converts to unbalanced 3.5mm... Your full size stuff might benefit more from going balanced, but are you gonna use it with the ES100 often? FWIW it should be fairly simple to get a balanced for any of them.

It would actually be slightly trickier for the ER4XR since they have a custom locking or custom keyed jacket around the MMCX connector IIRC, not everyone is gonna have that on hand but they're fairly cheap to get online if you're having someone do a custom job.

 

[burrrcub]

20% off right now on amazon once you clip the coupon

 

[highlightshadow]

Looks like a USA flash sale: 20% off http://a.co/fYx61fb

 

[benoe]

In the EQ can we set somehow the frequencies not just their db value? If not, is there any good way to "transform" per iem's eq data into ES100 eq settings?

 

[Julien]

Looks like a USA flash sale: 20% off http://a.co/fYx61fb

Says $99 for me. Mine has shipped, here today so too late for me. I did get the 'Add to Gift Card' discount so I'm close. Wonder if I'm not shown the price since I ordered already? Are others seeing $75 now?

 

[harpo1]

Says $99 for me. Mine has shipped, here today so too late for me. I did get the 'Add to Gift Card' discount so I'm close. Wonder if I'm not shown the price since I ordered already? Are others seeing $75 now?

You need to clip the coupon.

 

[atmosfearz]

Hello everyone, received ES100 today. It's really good, fits well to my Takstars Pro82, thanks @BenF for suggestion. (They are really similar: producing great sound for a small amount of money and both have some problems with a build quality). I believe this thing would be so awesome in a full metal design, It would be a little bit heavier and everyone knows that:
Weight is a sign of reliability. If it doesn't work, you can always hit him with it. (c) Boris the Blade

Haven't updated firmware yet but I got some random disconnects today.
Have to mention that It works well even through USB and I don't have any noises from my "noisy" PC.

 

[Impulse]

Says $99 for me. Mine has shipped, here today so too late for me. I did get the 'Add to Gift Card' discount so I'm close. Wonder if I'm not shown the price since I ordered already? Are others seeing $75 now?

Coupon box needs to be checkmarked (often takes two taps on mobile Chrome as of late, idk why), and then the discount shows up at checkout. The difference between this and a lightning sale or whatever is you can usually only use it once or buy one, hence why the call it a coupon. Still live for me...

I actually offered this to my sister who recently bought a pair of Q25 and she was like "nah I don't really need wireless"... SMH Guess I saved myself a Christmas gift.

 

[Impulse]

Hello everyone, received ES100 today. It's really good, fits well to my Takstars Pro82, thanks @BenF for suggestion. (They are really similar: producing great sound for a small amount of money and both have some problems with a build quality). I believe this thing would be so awesome in a full metal design, It would be a little bit heavier and everyone knows that:
Weight is a sign of reliability. If it doesn't work, you can always hit him with it. (c) Boris the Blade

I know that was partially tongue in cheek but it keeps coming up and I for one disagree. I don't need any more weight hanging from my shirt or collar at all, and a metal case with bad RF or a glass one for better RF isn't necessarily gonna make it more durable... Metal dents and scratches, and glass just shatters, neither absorbs an impact as well as plastic.

Maybe this has become a pet peeve of mine since it comes up across so many different hobbies (from headphones and phones to camera lenses even), but I really do think we've over fetishised the in-hand feel of metal to the point where it's often form over function. It could certainly have better feeling buttons even with the plastic build tho. Keep it plastic fantastic EarStudio!

 

[atmosfearz]

I know that was partially tongue in cheek but it keeps coming up and I for one disagree. I don't need any more weight hanging from my shirt or collar at all, and a metal case with bad RF or a glass one for better RF isn't necessarily gonna make it more durable... Metal dents and scratches, and glass just shatters, neither absorbs an impact as well as plastic.

Maybe this has become a pet peeve of mine since it comes up across so many different hobbies (from headphones and phones to camera lenses even), but I really do think we've over fetishised the in-hand feel of metal to the point where it's often form over function. It could certainly have better feeling buttons even with the plastic build tho. Keep it plastic fantastic EarStudio!

It's just a joke, but this plastic looks really cheap.

 

[Impulse]

I'll take it over some of that soft touch plastic that some people seem to love too... Sometimes it's hard to imagine how different materials react long term. I've had that rubbery plastic coating get all gunky and sticky on multiple pieces of electronics over the years, including a little Bluetooth receiver (Miccus BlueBridge or something like that) and my Ety hf5.

It's a royal PITA to clean up and scratch off, totally gross otherwise... I think it's the heat and the humidity here that breaks it down, oddly the similar stuff on my Nexus 5 fared far better. Guess there's different grades of it just like basic plastic itself.

 

[atmosfearz]

I really like how this thing works with USB + bluetooth. I connect it to PC (for most cases to watch movies and charge it), then If I want to listen to music I just open playlist on my phone, press play and ES100 instantly connects to the phone instead, and this works another way. Battery control shows correct numbers for me from 100% to 0% (1.4.2). Android applicaiton has a lot of useful things and works really good overall. Thanks developer(s) for the work: sometimes things are much harder than it looks.

 

[Double C]

Hi, I have a silly question here so my apologies in advance...but what would be the benefits of using this with one of the latest iPhones like the XS?

 

[kukkurovaca]

). I believe this thing would be so awesome in a full metal design,

That would have a negative impact on its ability to send and receive bluetooth signals. : )

Glass is an option for a more "premium" feel but I'm completely fine with the plastic. An improved clip would be nice, though.