I also could not decide between BTR3 and ES100
so in the end my wife uses the less complicaed, better build and weaker Fiio
I like the nerdy ES100 with dedicaed controls for volume, skip and back, etc
The app is good
The first unit died after 2 weeks.
The second one runs daily with no problems since about 10 months
What I use it for is only BT with LDAC codec.
We often pair BTR3 and ES100(+ifi xDSD or Marshall MID BT on Ears) to a Android Phone with Dual Bluetooth
So we can listen to the same podcast, book or music and each one can regulate his own volume. I love that feature - ok you loose LDAC because of bandwith with Dual BT, but you gain fun with a solution - sharing is caring - you can use open back hf or weak isolating iems and talk with normal voice with silent background music - for example without disturbing neighbours at night sitting in the garden…
Way better than a “good” BT speaker
In Munich we used to have “panda partys” in a club I worked years before …
Every guest got a headphone and could run around and dance to the same music the dj played -quite strange to come to a wild raving summer party and outside no noise except footsteps hard breathing while dancing… some people chatting with each other -inside it was even weirder because the normal light show was running and the crowd danced with hf on in silence
That’s a great way to share music and headphones. It really brings in a social aspect that is often missing due to the very nature of our hobby.
I think it’s fantastic that you can share your passion with your wife. My wife has no interest in my audio hobby. She still thinks that 1 set of headphones/iem is all you’ll ever need. Still love her though.
Oh it was not easy
first I told her all the specs stuff that I was in- not interested at all
I asked her to listen- yeahh nice but not totally blown away… like the DT 1990s with first the balanced pads- kind of agreed with “her” Bruno Mars 24k Album sounded fat, fast and bright. But on her small head the 1990s are a bit to big. Not her size ok- bought the Sennheiser 660s and later 58x and Koss Portra Pro + Yaxi Pads and that is her thing. Warm, laid back with a nice stage. These also fitted better on her small head
But she did not pick up herself one of them and connected it to our stationary DAC/Amp or her Fiio BTR3
So I thought about how I can get her used to it.
I came up with an idea. What is if we listen to a book instead of music? So we talked about our next books for holiday. We drive quite often from munich in the south of Germany to the eastern see in the north and like to listen to some funny books.
So I unpacked all the HF, in Ears and the BT dongles at the beach and instead of using a crappy BT speaker with the strong wind and people around us, we kept listening to the books for hours. Later in the evening we sat at our hotel outside after dinner and kept on listening to the books
Slowly I started here and there asking her to unpack the audio stuff and connect things while taking pictures- so she had to do it on her own.
That was last year in April
Now it’s totally normal.
My wife is most of the time in home office and goes out on her own with our dog while I am in my office. So she is out for hours and has fun listening to music, Podcasts and books with the Fiio BTR3 and her Koss Porta Pro or the 58x
She is not yet into inEars but I work on it
With photography it was similar
She has an eye for it but is not interested in the specs
Most of the time she shoots with her phone
The heavy full frame DSLR with heavy Glas on it was not her thing
So I bought for me a third camera with smaller glas
So I had to change less often lenses
Asked to change lenses for me or dial in another iso setting, change shutter and put on a Flash… while I took pictures from our dogs
and I kept on explaining why I need those settings
She had the camera with all dialed in and started shooting herself
Now she picks up the Cam on herself and goes with it for a walk. She can dial in flash on a stand and can edit pictures how she likes them since years
That’s a great back story. I’ve come to the conclusion that on the whole (not all women, I am just generalizing) women don’t seem to get the same buzz that we men do out of specifications and hardware. There will obviously be exceptions but it just my understanding. Crikey I hope I don’t come across as sexist.
At least my wife just wants things to work and that’s enough for her.
it’s sure not the best sounding device on earth
the practicality is cool and the app is fun
the updates are still coming
the dedicated buttons for play/pause, next/last and volume are hard to find on a LDAC and balanced supporting micro device, with a microphone, I can wear around my neck without feeling it
but yes… I want now a nice DAP for the winter time, now that I wear a jacket and am able to put it somewhere
Just bumping this topic to say that when I upgraded to my first post-headphone jack iPhone (from the 6 to the X) I was surprised at how crappy the 3.5 dongle sounded. I’m thrilled with the ES100 having an EQ and driving whatever I want to use. Also got the bonus of being able to to connect to Apple TV and watch whatever I want on my best cans without disturbing the family at night.
The Hidizs H2 is a Bluetooth receiver with a single 3.5mm output. It normally retails for $64.99. Despite being relatively inexpensive, the H2 has a variety of shortcomings, including broken USB-C implementation, non-functional NFC, average battery life, and an uncompetitive companion app.
Did anyone ever look at the BTR3k (the updated BTR3 with balanced and a few more goodies)? I got one on AliExpress 11.11, and really love it so far running 2.5mm balanced out of my iPhone on AAC (albeit, into fairly low-range fun IEMs like Dunu Titan S and CCA CRA+). Wondering how it compares to the ES100 or whatever has come more recently. I really like this form factor, now that Roon ARC is a part of my life on my iPhone.
- you can use open back hf or weak isolating iems and talk with normal voice with silent background music - for example without disturbing neighbours at night sitting in the garden…
