Radsone EarStudio ES100
Jun 23, 2020 at 8:18 PM Post #6,196 of 6,674
Howdy. Can someone confirm or deny weather the es100 mk2 that i just bought can competently run HD650. I picked one up for some IEM’s (and am really happy with it) and now im considering ordering a 2.5mm cable for the HD650. Anyone on here actually use that setup and feel it’s adequate? Im seeing mixed and confusing reports.
 
Jun 23, 2020 at 10:51 PM Post #6,197 of 6,674
Howdy. Can someone confirm or deny weather the es100 mk2 that i just bought can competently run HD650. I picked one up for some IEM’s (and am really happy with it) and now im considering ordering a 2.5mm cable for the HD650. Anyone on here actually use that setup and feel it’s adequate? Im seeing mixed and confusing reports.

I usually use it with my Meze 99s, but have a set of hd6xx that I haven't used in awhile but will test out tonight
 
Jun 24, 2020 at 12:12 AM Post #6,198 of 6,674
Howdy. Can someone confirm or deny weather the es100 mk2 that i just bought can competently run HD650. I picked one up for some IEM’s (and am really happy with it) and now im considering ordering a 2.5mm cable for the HD650. Anyone on here actually use that setup and feel it’s adequate? Im seeing mixed and confusing reports.

OK... I don't have balanced cable for hd6xx so listening SE.

In double current mode it reports that volume goes over 100db so gets plenty loud.

I am using the acoustic eq to boost the bass but bring the treble down slightly - flat sounds a little flat to me :), but I'm used to the 99s, which I tune down on the bass and is more v shaped than the 6xx.

Definitely is 'adequate' :) has good tone for vocals on things like pentatonix and strings. I would say bass is adequate also but lacks a little slam and clarity, which can be a characteristic of the tuning for these cans (I'm not a bass head, but do like tight, accurate bass, which is why I eq out the mid bass hump in 99s, which otherwise seems to me to bleed over into the mods and gets a bit bloomy)

Compared to my Schiit Vali 2 I find the es100 does not bring out the best of the hd6xx - but still is enjoyable and pleasurable - maybe slightly fatiguing in the treble for me (even with eq down a touch)

I have the Hd6xx as reference cans to compare to other peoples impressions as so many people have them, and while the mids can be amazingly beautiful, I've never loved, loved, these cans - so keep that in mind...

But overall I'd say I get about 95% of what I get on the Vali 2, so quite workable.

I'd expect you would get slightly better results with balanced. (I just compared SE to balanced on 99s again)

I do like balanced better with es100 on my 99s - I notice better sound stage, a little deeper and wider and better imaging compared to SE with those... Not night and day, but noticeable... It doesn't jump out right away, but from balanced to SE the sense I have is that there is just a little bit missing and slightly more muddy/congested sound.

YMMV and all that of course, but hope that helps...
 
Jun 24, 2020 at 1:28 AM Post #6,199 of 6,674
YMMV and all that of course, but hope that helps...

Well thanks for going through the trouble. I’ll go ahead and order the cable and try for myself. I seems hard to imagine this little guy can adequately power a 300 ohm pair of headphones but ive seen it mentioned by a few people that they have done it so i’ll give it a shot.

I’d love to hear from anyone else who has used this combo balanced for any length of time. Guess it doesn’t matter since I’m going to buy the cable and try it out anyway but I’m still curious.
 
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Jun 24, 2020 at 1:55 AM Post #6,201 of 6,674
Howdy. Can someone confirm or deny weather the es100 mk2 that i just bought can competently run HD650. I picked one up for some IEM’s (and am really happy with it) and now im considering ordering a 2.5mm cable for the HD650. Anyone on here actually use that setup and feel it’s adequate? Im seeing mixed and confusing reports.
There is no straight answer. Everybody agrees that the ES100 cannot drive the HD650 with the authority of a good desktop amp, but each person has a different view about whether it is "good enough" for them. Have you tried the HD650 on the ES100's 3.5mm output? If you don't have a 3.5mm headphone cable, there are inexpensive adapters such as https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078X85LFS. It would give you a close enough idea about what to expect before springing for the balanced cable.
 
Jun 24, 2020 at 2:48 AM Post #6,202 of 6,674
Well thanks for going through the trouble. I’ll go ahead and order the cable and try for myself. I seems hard to imagine this little guy can adequately power a 300 ohm pair of headphones but ive seen it mentioned by a few people that they have done it so i’ll give it a shot.

I’d love to hear from anyone else who has used this combo balanced for any length of time. Guess it doesn’t matter since I’m going to buy the cable and try it out anyway but I’m still curious.
While I don't have that exact combo, it might just sound good balanced. I have the Jubilees and although they're only half the impedance of the 650s, they're still not low. They sound great balanced on the ES100, not at all good single ended. The only small adapter I have that will drive them unbalanced and sound good is my new Quidelix 5k. It also has enough power to make my AKGs shine (which aren't high ohm but still need power).
 
Jun 24, 2020 at 10:38 AM Post #6,203 of 6,674
If you don't have a 3.5mm headphone cable, there are inexpensive adapters such as https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078X85LFS. It would give you a close enough idea about what to expect before springing for the balanced cable.

Yes i thought of this and i know i have an adapter around here somewhere and honestly prolly should have tried that before ordering, but the few things i could find from HD650 owners using this was that running them balanced on this little guy made a big difference so that steered me away from messing with that. .

While I don't have that exact combo, it might just sound good balanced. I have the Jubilees and although they're only half the impedance of the 650s, they're still not low. They sound great balanced on the ES100, not at all good single ended. The only small adapter I have that will drive them unbalanced and sound good is my new Quidelix 5k. It also has enough power to make my AKGs shine (which aren't high ohm but still need power).

Thats helpful thanks. From what ive read and what you guys are confirming Im hopeful the tradeoff of any minor shortcomings will not be too great for the benefit I am looking for of mobility for casual listening/watching, etc.

Found a decent looking cable for a really good price so it wil be worth a try. If it sounds good maybe ill post on here. Thanks yall.

...whether it is "good enough" for them.

Yes this.... i guess we will see. thanks.,
 
Jun 24, 2020 at 10:57 AM Post #6,204 of 6,674
Yes i thought of this and i know i have an adapter around here somewhere and honestly prolly should have tried that before ordering, but the few things i could find from HD650 owners using this was that running them balanced on this little guy made a big difference so that steered me away from messing with that. .



Thats helpful thanks. From what ive read and what you guys are confirming Im hopeful the tradeoff of any minor shortcomings will not be too great for the benefit I am looking for of mobility for casual listening/watching, etc.

Found a decent looking cable for a really good price so it wil be worth a try. If it sounds good maybe ill post on here. Thanks yall.



Yes this.... i guess we will see. thanks.,

Ran the HD58x and HE4xx using inexpensive Aliexpress balanced cables and was happy with the results. You should be fine as long as your not listening to Death Metal at 105DB.
 
Jun 24, 2020 at 4:43 PM Post #6,206 of 6,674
Interesting. I got a balanced cable for my Jubilees today and I can't hear any difference between balanced and unbalanced.
Sorry you are not hearing difference. Monday I got a silver balanced cable for my Etymotic er3se. I was hoping for some noticeable difference. The difference for these iems was very noticeable. Blacker silent background, stronger punchier dynamics and a bit more space around instruments and voices. I don't know why the balanced amp is more impact for some and not so much for others. but for the Etymotics, it is balanced all the way, no questions asked.
 
Jun 24, 2020 at 5:59 PM Post #6,207 of 6,674
Balanced has more power on the ES100. Even when not considering the separate grounds (which I think also makes a difference), the greater power makes a noticeable difference for SQ for me. I listen balanced on most of my headphones and IEMs that support it, and I've replaced the cables. Same on my R5. There are only a few sets with fixed cables that I don't have the option on. There are only a few things I have which don't seem to scale with more power, sometimes dramatically.
 
Jun 25, 2020 at 12:21 AM Post #6,208 of 6,674
Ok next question... Watching movies on my ipad using the ES100 MKii for audio and when i pause or scrub forward or backward, the tracking goes off considerably. Have to restart the Prime Video app and to get it back in sync.

Is there a setting I need to change on this thing? Buffer size or maybe this “jitter” thing maybe?
 
Jun 25, 2020 at 3:35 AM Post #6,209 of 6,674
Ok next question... Watching movies on my ipad using the ES100 MKii for audio and when i pause or scrub forward or backward, the tracking goes off considerably. Have to restart the Prime Video app and to get it back in sync.

Is there a setting I need to change on this thing? Buffer size or maybe this “jitter” thing maybe?
If you are nice and close to the source I.e. the distance between the ES100 and your phone/laptop, you can certainly reduce the buffer size to get the audio to sync up better.
You just need to stop the bt feed first.
The fact that you need to restart Prime is odd though as that points to the audio sync changing due to the app. Give the buffer size a try (set to 1 to start with) and that should help a lot
 

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