Radsone Earstudio ES100 Bluetooth DAC & Amp Review

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No jitter test?

 

[Berwhale]

Wow that is actually quite appealing. Does it work with iphone/ipod touch?

It supports AAC, so I guess so (I have an aversion to Apple kit since being forced to support Mac Classic's in the '90's )

 

[Berwhale]

Now I want a pint of best.

I've been on the Longman APA tonight: https://www.longmanbrewery.com/beers/american-pale-ale/

 

[amirm]

No jitter test?

Ah, forgot to post:

 

[Jimster480]

It supports AAC, so I guess so (I have an aversion to Apple kit since being forced to support Mac Classic's in the '90's )

I only have an ipod touch because it works with all car USB ports.

 

[metal571]

I got one of those. It's super convenient and sounds just fine on LDAC, but I wouldn't use it to drive something like an LCD4. Because yeah, I tested that, and while it gets to a normal volume it really doesn't sound that great, hah.

 

[Damian]

I’m surprised about the recommendation, I found the Apple dongle works better. I was looking for portable amplification but it wasn’t able to drive an LCD 2 Closed, lacking impact and dynamics a lot. Tested with Andromeda as well and at least I don’t notice a big difference with Balanced cable, it is just more hassle as then I cannot simply connect it to other 3.5 sources without switching again the cable.

The app was last updated 9 months ago also, looks like a discontinued product.

Too much hype on this and still I don’t understand the recommendation :/

 

[bidn]

Thank you, Amir, for this test, which many, incl. me, were hoping for.
Could you please:

- Clarify whether the SINAD was measured with the single-ended 3,5mm output or with the balanced 2, 5 mm output?

- If it was measured with the single-ended 3,5mm output, could you please also measure the SINAD with the balanced 2, 5 mm output?

- Would it be possible to perform the 50 mV test?

Thank you again,
bidn

 

[amirm]

- Clarify whether the SINAD was measured with the single-ended 3,5mm output or with the balanced 2, 5 mm output?

3.5mm output.

 

[Alfie]

In the new Fiio M5 review Z let them to copulate

 

[Berwhale]

It also works with a Shanling M0 outputting to a Radsone ES100. I'm calling this one 'The Beast with 2 DACs'...

 

[Severian]

Would the clipping at max still occur via Bluetooth? If so, how many clocks to get to -4dBFS?

When you use it via Bluetooth, the app will tell you precisely what the output voltage is. If I recall correctly (I don't have it on me at the moment), the voltage that Amir ended up testing it at corresponds almost exactly to the output voltage when the analog gain is set to 0.0dB. I use my ES100 as a Bluetooth DAC and this is where I've always set the volume at. The analog gain will go higher and maxes out around 1.7 volts over the unbalanced output. This is necessary to get maximum power from the headphone amp.

I've found that the ES100 is great as a wireless DAC feeding a real headphone amp at my desk at work, or portable with IEMs.

Systemwide EQ with LDAC on an Android phone is the real killer feature here IMO.

 

[Alexander Gödde]

The ES100 has worked nicely in everyday use for me. Battery life is good, I like having more control buttons, the app is nice to play around with - and the EQ genuinely useful. It's hiss-free with any of my IEMs. Power is nothing to write home about, but sufficient for my normal on-the-go usage and the IEMs or fairly efficient headphones I'm using there. Build quality is so-so - the paint on mine is rubbed off in places. I'm not bothered by that, but others may well be.

 

[Severian]

I would love it if Radsone released, say, an ES200 at a slightly higher price point the same feature set and app but with a better DAC chip, larger battery, and more output.

I purchased their HE100 IEMs on the strength of the ES100 and I've been enjoying them quite a bit. I'm not generally an IEM guy so I don't have much basis for comparison, but they seem well worth the price. Good company.

 

[Berwhale]

I would love it if Radsone released, say, an ES200 at a slightly higher price point the same feature set and app but with a better DAC chip, larger battery, and more output.

I purchased their HE100 IEMs on the strength of the ES100 and I've been enjoying them quite a bit. I'm not generally an IEM guy so I don't have much basis for comparison, but they seem well worth the price. Good company.

The CTO of Radsone has moved on to another company...

https://www.qudelix.com/

Head-Fi thread...

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-qudelix-5k-thread.914628/

I notice that the forums have gone live on the Qudilex website in the last day, unfortunately there's nothing on there yet (apart from my reply to the 1st post )

 

[bellyofthebizd]

it should be compared with Shanling M0 and Up's to see which one deserves to be named king of the bluetooth amp dac

 

[bidn]

@amirm Wow finally! I don't know if WS Lee contacted you or not recently but he left Radsone and is started working at a different company making a similar, but improved product:

Well, I resigned my duty as a CTO at Radsone, earlier this year.
And I officially found a new corporation with my colleagues in April this year, named Qudelix, Inc.

Currently, we, Qudelix, are developing a new advanced Bluetooth DAC/AMP with the latest platform and technology including Qualcomm QCC512x, AK4377a and TI OPA1622.
https://www.qudelix.com/5k-dacamp

Now, we're at the design verification phase testing the engineering samples.

The following project schedule would be:
October - Kickstarter campaign
November - Indiegogo campaign
January 2020 - Mass Production & Release

I hope you can check our new project and let us know any feedback or comments, homepage, question, specification whatever they are.

Please check our website for more information and let us know any feedback or comments.
https://www.qudelix.com/5k-dacamp
https://www.facebook.com/qudelix/

This new product looks pretty interesting. I was surprised they went with 2.5mm instead of 4.4mm though.

Thank you very much, Antdroid, for this information,
I didn't now or had forgotten about Qudelix. I appreciated the highly technical, nice and quick replies of wslee, the creator of the ES100 and its app, very much on the Head-Fi thread (before he was punished by Head-Fi staff for posting messages while not paying for this -- manufacturers have to pay if they post messages on Head-F)i.

Re. Sony's 4.4.mm,
I think it is too big for such a tiny device, and that the 4.4 mm plugs are too heavy for such ultra-lightweight portable solutions (in general because the other plug formats have such a huge installed base and are de facto standards, they will remain, so I think that Sony's 4.4 mm mostly complicates things by adding a fourth form factor in addition to the three ones already established).

 

[Nathan Raymond]

I’m surprised about the recommendation, I found the Apple dongle works better. I was looking for portable amplification but it wasn’t able to drive an LCD 2 Closed, lacking impact and dynamics a lot. Tested with Andromeda as well and at least I don’t notice a big difference with Balanced cable, it is just more hassle as then I cannot simply connect it to other 3.5 sources without switching again the cable.

The app was last updated 9 months ago also, looks like a discontinued product.

Too much hype on this and still I don’t understand the recommendation :/

Apple dongle isn't really the same thing - I use the ES100 primarily as a BlueTooth adapter for headphones, i.e. it turns any of my wired headphones into a wireless set (which IMO is much better than buying BlueTooth headphones). I see the ES100 being able to work as a DAC as a bonus feature, not a primary feature, and I don't use it as a replacement for the Apple dongle.

If the iOS/Android app works and doesn't have any bugs, why would they need to update it? Strange statement to say that just because something wasn't updated in the last few months "looks like a discontinued product". Radsone has been good about issuing firmware updates for the ES100 (they added BlueTooth 5.0 compatibility with the v2.0 update) and they've done a good job of listing exactly what is updated/changed with each release. Considering they also include white papers for download, they seem to support their product a lot more than most companies do these days.

 

[Berwhale]

Re. Sony's 4.4.mm,
I think it is too big for such a tiny device, and that the 4.4 mm plugs are too heavy for such ultra-lightweight portable solutions (in general because the other plug formats have such a huge installed base and are de facto standards, they will remain, so I think that Sony's 4.4 mm mostly complicates things by adding a fourth form factor in addition to the three ones already established).

I agree that you'd struggle to fit the 4.4mm socket in something the size of the ES100, but it would be stronger than the 2.5mm plug...

 

[folzag]

Along the lines of this product, do folks have recommendations for a small, high-quality, dedicated Bluetooth DAC? I'm thinking of something reasonably akin to a Chromecast Audio except Bluetooth.

I tried both an Eskin and TaoTronics model from Amazon a couple years ago and was sorely disappointed by both. The Eskin leaked mains hum like a mosquito in a tent.