[peter123]

Does the ess sound good ?

The ESS will sound as good as it's implementation is.

 

[darmanastartes]

I've got the btr5 and the es100, the app is what makes them different, also fiio eq doesn't work in ldac or USB dac which is very disappointing.

Yeah, the big draw for me is system-wide EQ over LDAC through the Qudelix app. I knew Fiio's EQ doesn't work outside of their music player app, and I figured it wouldn't work with USB, but it doesn't work using LDAC?

 

[dnaimad]

Does the ess sound good ?

It sounds great in the AP80, better than the Shanling M0 which also has the ES9218P, so yes implementation is everything. It's refined and transparent, indistinguishable from my Topping D10.

 

[acygni]

Not sure if you guys know but they have opened their own forum on their home page:
https://www.qudelix.com/forum?t=1572122614622
We may want to bring the conversations to them.

 

[mhoopes]

I’m not terribly concerned about an amp/DAC sound “signature” if a 20-band parametric EQ is on offer, and non-EQ’d LDAC with my Sony Blu-Ray and the FiiO FA7 would be a non-starter for me. Just keep the latency low enough, please - hopefully the RF signal quality will be equivalent to, or better than the ES100. We already know about FiiO’s compromises to satisfy the metal-body fan boys out there.

 

[C_Lindbergh]

Well if they keep the Max. 21 hours battery time i'm happy, I had the ES100, used it extensively for more than a year and the battery got really bad near the end.

I rather have 21 hours battery than 9 hours (BTR5) just because of an OLED screen that you'll barely use..

 

[ClieOS]

Well if they keep the Max. 21 hours battery time i'm happy, I had the ES100, used it extensively for more than a year and the battery got really bad near the end.

I rather have 21 hours battery than 9 hours (BTR5) just because of an OLED screen that you'll barely use..

All good and well, but you also need to consider that they are probably not tested under the same condition - simply by changing the test load, BT codec as well as the output voltage (which results in different output power), you will end up with very different battery run time. Unless they are tested in similar condition, the two numbers are more apple to orange and need to be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[Cevisi]

All good and well, but you also need to consider that they are probably not tested under the same condition - simply by changing the test load, BT codec as well as the output voltage (which results in different output power), you will end up with very different battery run time. Unless they are tested in similar condition, the two numbers are more apple to orange and need to be taken with a grain of salt.

I think the 21h is for the lowest settings

 

[acygni]

All good and well, but you also need to consider that they are probably not tested under the same condition - simply by changing the test load, BT codec as well as the output voltage (which results in different output power), you will end up with very different battery run time. Unless they are tested in similar condition, the two numbers are more apple to orange and need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Both of them have disclaimer that reads "3.5 unbalanced with AAC" somewhere for the "up to" battery time they listed.

 

[ClieOS]

Both of them have disclaimer that reads "3.5 unbalanced with AAC" somewhere for the "up to" battery time they listed.

...and that's the only piece of info we have, but not enough. What are the test load? Pure resistive or real world? 32ohm or 16ohm? What is the output voltage (or power)? 5mV, 50mV, 500mV or 1V? All of these need to be considered on both sides (or at least they need to be fairly close to each other) when comparing their number. On a side note, will love to see also the THD+N and SNR into those load, but that's probably too much to ask.

 

[acygni]

...and that's the only piece of info we have, but not enough. What are the test load? Pure resistive or real world? 32ohm or 16ohm? What is the output voltage (or power)? 5mV, 50mV, 500mV or 1V? All of these need to be considered on both sides (or at least they need to be fairly close to each other) when comparing their number. On a side note, will love to see also the THD+N and SNR into those load, but that's probably too much to ask.

I believe at least one of them also includes 32ohm in their disclaimer. It may be the minimal standard they go by. As for the power output is there even an user operable setting for that? They do list THD+N and SNR in their specs but not sure if the 5k has it finalized yet

 

[ClieOS]

I believe at least one of them also includes 32ohm in their disclaimer. It may be the minimal standard they go by. As for the power output is there even an user operable setting for that?

A standard for most testing usually is a pair of 32ohm resistors. Good for keeping things simple but generally not a real simulation of the real world usage as headphone also has induction and capacitance. I think FiiO might be using their own IEM during playback test as they usually did on the past. Not sure about the 5K as I didn't find anything on it. You can't control power output, but it is related to voltage output. If you also have the info on THD+N and SNR, it will give a fairly good picture on how the device is performing in general.

 

[acygni]

The most concerning aspect for me is availability for the 5K given they are already going into the switching hardware and delaying hole. I followed the BTR5 for a whole year just watching them posting about delay after delay.

 

[ClieOS]

The most concerning aspect for me is availability for the 5K given they are already going into the switching hardware and delaying hole. I followed the BTR5 for a whole year just watching them posting about delay after delay.

BTR5 is really in the market, hopefully it won't be long for 5K to hit Kickstarter as well.

 

[C_Lindbergh]

I'm glad the Qudelix 5k will support muilti point!

"1. Yes, 5K will support the multi-point connection." From the forum.

That's one of the reason i'll prob stick with BT dac/amp instead of true wireless earbuds for a while more.