Radsone Earstudio ES100 Bluetooth DAC & Amp Review

[tential]

It sounds like the ES100 is just about scraping by with the P1's, plus I'm not sure if you listen at the same volume I do. Berwhale's comparison was based on the numbers of two difficult to drive IEM's and on the face of it should be pretty valid. I mean I plugged the numbers in myself and they do suggest the unit has enough oomph, even if I was sceptical after living with these things for a while. It's not an apples to apples comparison but it was helpful and appreciated. The Tin P1's just happen to be a black hole when it comes to energy, they're a wonder of the universe. I genuinely don't understand why these things suck so much power before they do their best work.

You have confirmed my suspicion though, it's why I've held off buying an ES100 for so long. I'm not sure Tin's numbers are correct either, or at the very least they're not representative of reality. I said in a previous post that I was running the P1's at -13db on "extreme power" from the RME. I was using them earlier and was actually at -5db, which is just insane for an IEM (maybe RME need an "insane power" setting!). It was loud but not uncomfortable, I don't think I run any of my full sized headphones at that power and it would kill most IEM's. Considering the RME can put out 1.5w per channel I'm not really sure where to turn for proper portable amplification. Maybe the Q5S as you say, although I was hoping for a smaller option - I'm not sure which dongle you mean. I'm definitely relectant to buy one of those multiwatt monsters as they're pushing the definition of portable!.

E1DA 9038S
This is much stronger than the es100. That's the next thing to try.
But now that you say the rme is That powerful and you still turned that up.... Jesus.. This is a blackhole. I thought it might just be a desktop iem... And this is confirming it. Is your setup is that turned up, then that confirms my original gamble when I bought this set. Shame. But well it is what it is. Give the dongle a shot though. It's a good price and amazing power. I don't really understand it, but I trust amir.

 

[JustPoo]

Thanks guys. The chap running the RME at -10db into the 789 at 11 o'clock on gain 2, outputting balanced, does roughly tally with my experience, although I am pushing them harder (more like - 7db and 12-2 o'clock). I'm not sure what that equates to in terms of extra power. The ES100 does seem capable of getting them to the point where other people are happy, but there's not a lot left in the tank and it might not cover the difference as I seem to like a bit more oomph. I guess I'm wary of redlining it and either having nowt in reserve or not getting there at all. I don't really want to use Amazon's return system as a way of testing stuff, even if they are tax dodging gits.

I was looking at the E1DA the other day, it looks like a fine unit, props to the creator. The only concern I have is the power needed to get it going. There's been a few people saying it won't work directly from their phone, other say it will but it shreds their battery, which of course it would if I'm sticking gigawatts into the flipping P1's. There's others who have to use it with a cable splitter and a battery pack - that's not out of the question but it's not exactly streamlined. It'd be a great solution for a laptop though.

I don't know, I feel like I've derailed the thread enough now. This is about the ES100, not "find me an amp for the P1's"!. So I'll shut up before I become that guy. Hate that guy. Thanks very much for your help, especially my fellow Paul, I'm on the scent and have more of an idea where I need to go. Which may well be nowhere but roughly 2m from a desktop amp

 

[bravomail]

I gave up on bluetooth after learning about latency - videos be unwatchable. USB DAC on tablet does not allow for charging. So headphoneless tablets/phones be damned and their creator should burn in hell!

 

[Soniclife]

I gave up on bluetooth after learning about latency - videos be unwatchable. USB DAC on tablet does not allow for charging. So headphoneless tablets/phones be damned and their creator should burn in hell!

Does this unit support the low latency codec?

 

[JustPoo]

No, just APTX-HD, LDAC etc. I believe you can lower the buffer to reduce latency, provided you have a good signal, but it doesn't support APTX-LL.

 

[Soniclife]

No, just APTX-HD, LDAC etc. I believe you can lower the buffer to reduce latency, provided you have a good signal, but it doesn't support APTX-LL.

Shame. Also a shame the os / app cannot sync automatically based on reported latency of the chain. No good for games but good for video.

 

[JustPoo]

It is a shame. It's such a common frustration that I don't know why more apps don't offer lip sync adjustment, or even system wide as you suggest. Automatic would be the dream, but I'd take just manual control for now. I mean it's not just restricted to Bluetooth latency issues, there's plenty of content out there that isn't synced properly for whatever reason. I like to use Kodi as it's so easy to offset the audio and subs (upto 10s as standard for audio, 60s for subs) but obviously it can't play and stream everything.

Lack of APTX-LL in headphones and receivers seems to be the norm,. I guess with the ES100 they designed it primarily for music but for such an otherwise fully featured device it seems an oversight. Maybe we'll see it in the ES200. From the Qudelix site their forthcoming 5K will support all codecs, including LL. And hopefully it comes with a power bump too!.

 

[Berwhale]

If you're worried about Bluetooth latency with the ES100 when watching video on a tablet, then just plug it in. The ES100 works as a USB DAC as well.

 

[tential]

Thanks guys. The chap running the RME at -10db into the 789 at 11 o'clock on gain 2, outputting balanced, does roughly tally with my experience, although I am pushing them harder (more like - 7db and 12-2 o'clock). I'm not sure what that equates to in terms of extra power. The ES100 does seem capable of getting them to the point where other people are happy, but there's not a lot left in the tank and it might not cover the difference as I seem to like a bit more oomph. I guess I'm wary of redlining it and either having nowt in reserve or not getting there at all. I don't really want to use Amazon's return system as a way of testing stuff, even if they are tax dodging gits.

I was looking at the E1DA the other day, it looks like a fine unit, props to the creator. The only concern I have is the power needed to get it going. There's been a few people saying it won't work directly from their phone, other say it will but it shreds their battery, which of course it would if I'm sticking gigawatts into the flipping P1's. There's others who have to use it with a cable splitter and a battery pack - that's not out of the question but it's not exactly streamlined. It'd be a great solution for a laptop though.

I don't know, I feel like I've derailed the thread enough now. This is about the ES100, not "find me an amp for the P1's"!. So I'll shut up before I become that guy. Hate that guy. Thanks very much for your help, especially my fellow Paul, I'm on the scent and have more of an idea where I need to go. Which may well be nowhere but roughly 2m from a desktop amp

Something like a m0(fiio m6) +battery+splitter+dongle. Wouldn't be the most elegant, but you could bind them together somehow to fit and be a decent setup. Either way, it's a small initial investment to see if it works for you or not (the dongle) so it's not a bad option.

I'd also wait for the hiby r6 pro to be tested too. That has been said to have a lot of power, but I haven't seen tests yet so I wait. It's $550 though which is a lot and it's a dap.

I think it's good to have alternatives talked about so people know what to do if the es100 doesn't serve a certain purpose. I use it with my tfz no. 3 all the time and love it. I'll be getting an ap80 to use it with my pc soon(and any other dap I eventually get). For any easy to drive iem, this in balanced, I only use the first 1/10 of volume on es100. So now I know I only need a lot more power for big headphones and iems like the p1 which are just insane and I don't think possible to be driven to full potential in a mobile unit(I could be extremely wrong about this part though). The hiby r6 pro seems like the best mobile candidate, from my pure speculation, to have OK power output, but well people raved about the es100 and I really expected more output along the lines of the e1da. After seeing that device.. I'm sad. Maybe he can make one that does close to, 1w(or half+) and I'll just use a hiby r5 as a transport with a dongle for and amp/dac.

 

[Crandall]

FYI, Radsone is releasing another USB DAC product in the next few months.

https://www.facebook.com/radsoneinc/posts/2735999876410860

 

[Veri]

FYI, Radsone is releasing another USB DAC product in the next few months.

https://www.facebook.com/radsoneinc/posts/2735999876410860

Neat. Hope ASR gets it for review

I do like the design.

 

[isabido]

Hello friends! It is my first post in this forum, I met you after seeing comparisons of ES100 vs UP2. Fantastic reviews.

I am a user of an Iphone XS with the lighting adapter and u Etymotic ER3SE. I was looking for something more dynamic since I think this adapter has very very short power.

I was surprised that the Apple USB-C adapter is capable of giving 31mw (I always understand that there is talk of 31mw + 31mw per channel), a pity that is not the same case as in its Lighting version.

I was not too excited to use DAC / AMP bluetooth, I would not like to lose "quality". I had seen the fiio q1 mk2, but it is too big.

Any recommendation? Thanks in advance.

 

[JustPoo]

From what I can see from the cost/performance of other usb dongles (my keyboard always corrects that to dingles!) you really might be better off with one of these ES100s. It kicks their arse in terms of power and features and with the Apple codec I don't think you're gonna notice a drop in quality, particularly on the go. You could even run it wired as a dac if you wanted, it's pretty small. It's half the price (and currently £70 on Amazon) of dongles that don't even approach its output or features. It won't quite push my P1s but your Etymotics will be in heaven.

 

[isabido]

Thanks for the answer, I only use spotify so I understand that the codec aac will not be a limitation. I was honestly surprised by the 31mw of the apple usb-c dongle is just what I needed to handle my etymotic. Anyway I think that UP2 is one step ahead of this ES100, much more powerful.

 

[JustPoo]

I wasn't familiar with the UP2, I just looked it up and it does seem to put out enough from its single ended port. If you go balanced with the ES100 it'll put out close to 100mw at 33ohm, but 67mw from the UP2 is more than enough for your sensitive IEMs. How are the Etymotics BTW? I recently bought some cheap sleep earphones that rely on deep insertion. I've been really surprised how well they perform so was wondering if a pair of Etymotics would be the natural progression.

On a tangent back to my P1's - I saw a video by a chap who used a variety of different portable amps to try to drive them. He used seemingly arbitrary numbers of 150mw, 250mw and 500mw for bare minimum, enough, and ideal to have, which seem to tally with my experience. The ES100 didn't drive his properly, he's ended up using an Xduoo XD-05. I'm looking at getting the 1w per channel Xduoo XD-05 Plus with the new Pro Bluetooth module that handles all the latest codecs. It's such an extreme solution for these IEMs it's absurd, but it looks like a great unit for all of my headphones so a worthwhile buy. Much easier than packing a desktop amp/DAC when I travel!

 

[Berwhale]

On a tangent back to my P1's - I saw a video by a chap who used a variety of different portable amps to try to drive them. He used seemingly arbitrary numbers of 150mw, 250mw and 500mw for bare minimum, enough, and ideal to have, which seem to tally with my experience. The ES100 didn't drive his properly, he's ended up using an Xduoo XD-05. I'm looking at getting the 1w per channel Xduoo XD-05 Plus with the new Pro Bluetooth module that handles all the latest codecs. It's such an extreme solution for these IEMs it's absurd, but it looks like a great unit for all of my headphones so a worthwhile buy. Much easier than packing a desktop amp/DAC when I travel!

You could swap the P1's for some Shuoer Tapes...

I'm very tempted to buy some, must resist!...

£120: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07YCF8BK5/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_4?smid=A166SV9QJZG8W0&psc=1

 

[Crandall]

@amirm Would you be able to measure whether the DCT filter this device advertises has any effect?

 

[JustPoo]

You could swap the P1's for some Shuoer Tapes...

I'm very tempted to buy some, must resist!...

Don't resist.... I didn't!. They're fantastic, although a little hot in the treble for me so I gave them a tweak. Detail wise they're definitely in the same league as the P1s, but otherwise a very different experience. I must admit that having proper sub bass is a bit of a revelation after the P1s, even though the P1s take a nice EQ bump down low they don't get close to the more V-shaped Tapes. They're more like a complementary pair of IEMs than straight up competitors or replacements, I wouldn't be without either of them now. Do....not....resist!. Buy em both, buy em all!

 

[Berwhale]

I gave up on bluetooth after learning about latency - videos be unwatchable. USB DAC on tablet does not allow for charging. So headphoneless tablets/phones be damned and their creator should burn in hell!

That's why I bought one of these instead... https://en-uk.sennheiser-outlet.com/shops/detail.php?product_id=3338

 

[JustPoo]

The link doesn't work for me, I'd be interested to see what it is. For low latency stuff I thought I had it sewn up. I know, I'll just link my two aptx-ll transmitter/receivers and I'm golden. Except I'm not, cos it doesn't default to low latency and I have no way of forcing it, at least on these devices. I remember reading an interesting article about Bluetooth codecs, I learned a few things. Hang on, wait right there..... I'm back. Miss me?. Here it is:

https://m.habr.com/en/post/456182/