ESLab ES-1 Alpha

General Headphone Discussion
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First and foremost I want to thank the Team at ES Lab for giving my self the chance to hear this headphone! While minimal, the overall presentation in person is stunningly polished. The grain on the wood storage box has both a nice feel and look to it, there’s even a pair of wood wings for the outer face of the cup which make the headphone lighter.

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20201012042607_IMG_20943000×2000 1.7 MB

Additionally there are two sets of pads, a “dark” pad with a fabric center and another set of pads without the fabric. For this review the Dark Pads were used as they removed some mid-range etch at the expense of just a little top end energy.

Overall Sound Signature
ES-1A has a slightly dark neutral sound with a rich harmonic presentation. I find it’s sound stage to be cohesive with good precision, it’s mid-range is rich with a little added body. High frequencies are a bit rolled off but don’t sound lifeless or lacking extension.

What impressed me the most was it’s overall speed and impact for low frequencies, it’s not to often I find a headphone with this much body AND slam that doesn’t come off a little sluggish at times.

Amplification and System Pairing
My current reference system includes a Bricasti M3 which runs exclusively on Networked Direct Stream for reviews, I pair it with a Mjolnir Audio CCS Modded SRM 007tA fed XLR input for Electrostats and my Modded APPJ PA 1502A SET for dynamic headphones.

Additionally my Koss ESP 95X has been modded with a Stax Pro Bias Adapter and Angle’d Hybrid Vesper Pads with the stock front facing Driver Foam removed.

More aggressive DACs and dry or linear solid state amplification would pair best with ES-1A. On my tube system I did find it a little soft tho I recognize this is partly due to the amplification. My CCS Modded SRM-007tA was picked to pair with 009 to help even out it’s hyper fast presentation. Regarding DACs, while I continue to find the Bricasti M3 to be un-compromising to my ears I understand not every one will be running such a source in their system.

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IMG_2063_X6000×4000 2.93 MB

That said I did prefer ES-1A with more aggressive or harder sources like the SMSL SU-9 over my own RME ADi-2, while the ADi-2 gave ES-1A slightly better detail and blackness I felt ES-1A was too round and the leading edge of sounds lacked a realistic edge.

With SU-9 the overall presentation was more natural, despite there being a bit less overall detail.

To get a feel for how ES-1A sounds I did take a moment to compare it with a few other headphones. Comparisons were done volume matched and will be listed initially with a Greater Than Rank ( x > y ). Details regarding the individual comparisons will follow as in some cases I felt there were qualities regarding an individual trait that were more different than simply better or worse. In those cases an equal sign ( = ) is used.

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20201010191032_IMG_2082_X6000×3681 3.42 MB

Relating to the low frequencies I’m listening for texture, body, and impact

  • Body
    • L700MKii > ES-1A > 009 > 95X
    • ES-1A > Elex > HD 800
  • Texture
    • 009 > ES-1A > 95X=L700MKii
    • ES-1A=HD800 > Elex
  • Bass Impact
    • ES-1A > 009 > L700MKii, 95X
    • ES-1A > Elex > HD800

Regarding the Mid-Range Frequencies I’m listening for richness, detail, and naturalness

  • Richness
    • ES-1A > 95X > 009 > L700MKii
    • ES-1A = HD800 > Elex
  • Detail
    • 009 > ES-1A = L700MKii > 95X
    • ES-1A = HD800, Elex
  • Naturalness
    • 009 = ES-1A > 95X > L700MKii
    • ES-1A > HD800 > Elex

Regarding the High Frequencies I’m listening for Response, so dark vs bright, Air, and Extension

  • Response
    • 009 > L700MKii > ES-1A = 95X
    • HD800 > Elex > ES-1A
  • Air
    • 009 > ES-1A > 95X = L700MKii
    • HD800 > ES-1A > Elex
  • Extension
    • 009 > ES-1A = 95X > L700MKii
    • HD800 > ES-1A > Elex

Regarding Sound Stage and Imaging I’m listening for Cohesion and Blackness, Size & Shape and Clarity

  • Cohesion being precise smooth movement within the audible space,
  • Blackness being how quite the trailing edge of sounds reaming before becoming indistinguishable from the noise floor

I find often times a headphone with an extremely black sound-stage is also equally cohesive and vice versa, tho “blackness” relates more to depth or far back into a room you can follow sounds

  • C & B
    • 009 > ES-1A > 95X > L700MKii
    • HD800 = ES-1A > Elex
  • Size & Shape
    • 009 > ES-1A = 95X > L700MKii
    • HD800 > ES-1A > Elex
  • Clarity
    • 009 > ES-1A > 95X > L700MKii
    • HD800 = ES-1A > Elex

Regarding the Presentation or qualities of the Envelope I’m listening for emphasis on either the;

  • Leading Edge so the attack and decay, emphasis here creates a perception of a “faster” sometimes more aggressive sound

  • Trailing Edge so the sustain and release, emphasis here creates the perception of a “slower” or laid back sound

  • Balance how the headphone presentations sound in relation to time domain regarding both the trailing and leading edges

  • More Aggressive

    • L700MKii = 009 > ES-1A > 95X
    • Elex > ES-1A = HD800

  • More Laid Back

    • 95X > ES-1A = 009 > L700MKii
    • HD800 = ES-1A > Elex

  • Balance

    • 009 = ES-1A > 95X > L700MKii
    • HD800 = ES-1A > Elex

Finally regarding Detail I’m listening for how audible and discernible transients are.

Regarding Dynamics I’m listening for how discernible both large changes in volume are, Macro Dynamics, and smaller changes in volume, Micro Dynamics

  • Detail

    • 009 > ES-1A > L700MKii = 95X
    • HD800 > ES-1A > Elex

  • Macro

    • L700MKii > 009 > 95X > ES-1A
    • HD800 = Elex > ES-1A

  • Micro

    • 009 > ES-1A = 95X > L700MKii
    • HD800 > ES-1A > Elex
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