UAndy
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2004
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Now a week with a lot of music-listening has gone by. It clarifies the performance more than on the initial report.
Volume-level: What I did wrong at first was listening too loud with the ES3. This is quite logical when beeing used to the UE10, because they deliver a lot of bass- and lower mid-pressure which in turn caused me to be used to a rather strong sound pressure. This is different with the ES3. I did not feel the loudness so much since the mid-bass pressure level is less aparent with them. That does not mean that they cannot play loud - they do, but they do it in a more uniform level throughout the entire frequency spectrum. Always when I started a listening session I opened the volume too much, then I became tired of the somewhat bright sound and turned the volume down a little. That was still rather loud but was distortion-free and very exciting.
Burn-in: Actually I thought that burning-in is nonsense. But it can be that the high-drivers needed a little of that. When listening too loud the highs were sometimes rather rough - depending on the source material. Especially on the right side that was audible. Now after one week it has improved.
Comparison to UE10: The UE10 are less transparent. That might sound strange to those owning them (like myself) but it actually is so. Now that does not at all mean, that the UEs sound dull - they don´t, but there is definitely a frequency-area which is less represented by the UE10. It is within female voices, lower to mid guitar notes and saxophone. That in turn makes listening with the ES3 such an absolute exciting experience. It is hard to describe. (Should there be anyone who owns AKG K1000 she/he will know what I mean.) It is the enormous ability of the ES3 to transmit the lifelikeness of dynamic music to the listener.
Equalisation: After one week I took out the 120 Ohm resistor and tryed the ES3 directly on the headphone-out: Terrible! It was almost like listening to a tin-can. So any of you owning the ES3 use the 120 Ohm (in-line) resistor. All my tests are based on that. I have tryed the Ety cable (some 40 Ohm ???) but that doesn´t fit due to their unique pin layout. (different diameter to prevent + - mismatch). Meier-Audio still sells the Oelbach 120 Ohm adapter.
Decay: The dacay is a bit less aparent - as is with other high-speed phones. There has always to be a sacrifice to speed and definition.
Further thoughts: The ES3 is for me is a great step forward to perfection. I never had a headphone/IEM with the ability to perform such a speed and lifelikeness throughout the entire frequency spectrum. It is such a joy listening to drum beats, electric guitars, violins and voices! That kind of performance can only be sensed with the K1000, but not in such an effortless way throughout the spectrum. The only thing that keeps it out of beeing the ideal phone is the tendency to slightly harsh highs at excessive levels. I can live with that, especially considering that too loud levels should be avoided.
I hope to have described the ES3´s performance a bit clearer for you.
Greetings from Germany
UAndy
Volume-level: What I did wrong at first was listening too loud with the ES3. This is quite logical when beeing used to the UE10, because they deliver a lot of bass- and lower mid-pressure which in turn caused me to be used to a rather strong sound pressure. This is different with the ES3. I did not feel the loudness so much since the mid-bass pressure level is less aparent with them. That does not mean that they cannot play loud - they do, but they do it in a more uniform level throughout the entire frequency spectrum. Always when I started a listening session I opened the volume too much, then I became tired of the somewhat bright sound and turned the volume down a little. That was still rather loud but was distortion-free and very exciting.
Burn-in: Actually I thought that burning-in is nonsense. But it can be that the high-drivers needed a little of that. When listening too loud the highs were sometimes rather rough - depending on the source material. Especially on the right side that was audible. Now after one week it has improved.
Comparison to UE10: The UE10 are less transparent. That might sound strange to those owning them (like myself) but it actually is so. Now that does not at all mean, that the UEs sound dull - they don´t, but there is definitely a frequency-area which is less represented by the UE10. It is within female voices, lower to mid guitar notes and saxophone. That in turn makes listening with the ES3 such an absolute exciting experience. It is hard to describe. (Should there be anyone who owns AKG K1000 she/he will know what I mean.) It is the enormous ability of the ES3 to transmit the lifelikeness of dynamic music to the listener.
Equalisation: After one week I took out the 120 Ohm resistor and tryed the ES3 directly on the headphone-out: Terrible! It was almost like listening to a tin-can. So any of you owning the ES3 use the 120 Ohm (in-line) resistor. All my tests are based on that. I have tryed the Ety cable (some 40 Ohm ???) but that doesn´t fit due to their unique pin layout. (different diameter to prevent + - mismatch). Meier-Audio still sells the Oelbach 120 Ohm adapter.
Decay: The dacay is a bit less aparent - as is with other high-speed phones. There has always to be a sacrifice to speed and definition.
Further thoughts: The ES3 is for me is a great step forward to perfection. I never had a headphone/IEM with the ability to perform such a speed and lifelikeness throughout the entire frequency spectrum. It is such a joy listening to drum beats, electric guitars, violins and voices! That kind of performance can only be sensed with the K1000, but not in such an effortless way throughout the spectrum. The only thing that keeps it out of beeing the ideal phone is the tendency to slightly harsh highs at excessive levels. I can live with that, especially considering that too loud levels should be avoided.
I hope to have described the ES3´s performance a bit clearer for you.
Greetings from Germany
UAndy
