First off, I want to clarify that I am not asking which is better, as I know these are different products used for different situations. I just want to know how someone might compare the ES100 to the Fulla 2.
I am a senior in high school, and my AP calculus teacher (who got me into audio stuff in one conversation) upgraded his Amp and DAC set up (as well as the headphones) at school. My teacher let me take the Fulla 2 he was using home so I could borrow it for some time, since it would supposedly just collect dust. I am not entirely sure why, but he must like me and want to help me get a jump-start into the world of audio.
I was also interested in the ES100, since I also want to be able to listen to music on the go (I do a lot of mt music listening on the go). I was wondering how it sounds compared to the Fulla 2 (be as descriptive as you are willing to be please). I assume they can drive the 58X just fine, but I’d still like to know some people’s input/opinion.
Soon I am planning to get the Sennheiser 58X Jubilee’s as a starter headphone (B/c they are not too expensive and pretty easy to drive among other things), and maybe some IEM’s (also, any suggestions on good starter ones?). As I said, I will have the Fulla 2 to use at home until the end of the school year, but I am interested in knowing if I should get the ES100 for portable use and if it is adequate for home, or if it may make more sense to get a Fulla 2 of my own at the end of the year?
Thanks for reading, I know this may be a little hard to follow, any advice is appreciated! Also, I am glad to be a new member here!
The ES100 is going to be the better choice for iems, since it will have a lower noise floor then the fulla 2. I would say if you want to look at a desktop dac/amp combo, the fiio k5 pro would be worth the extra 50 usd since it is really nice sounding with more power and a better unit overall then the fulla imo
Fulla 2 is “fine” as a DAC/amp goes, but it is limited to 16/44.1 and pretty limited in power. It does work OTG, which is nice, but the only real advantage it has over the ES100 is the knob. ES100 is better by a big margin at everything else.
Really? I didn’t know that, that is very interesting. Thank you so much for that, I really appreciate that suggestion!
Would you say then, in that regard, the ES100 would be a good starter DAC/AMP I could use with IEM and 58X both at home and on the go until I can afford a dedicated DAC/AMP (separate or stack preferably) at home?
If you want only one device that you use for both home and around town, ES100 should be good until you’re ready to invest in something to keep at home. Good news is that “entry level end game” starts at $200 with Topping D10 and JDS Atom stack.
TBH I also find schiit stuff kinda dynamic range compressed a bit, and it’s not something that I prefer for sure. The new asgard 3 is a great price with good features and doesn’t really suffer from the compression issue that much anymore
Is that what it is? Sheesh, they should definitely do an update then. My company owns a jotunheim so I might whip that out and give it a spin tomorrow.
Well that’s what it sounds like to me, but I don’t know if it would be picked up in measurements. Audio gd stuff is the same way but actually a bit more compressed as the schiit products for me as well (at least their headphone amps are). I kinda think of audio gd and a fair bit of the older and current schiit stuff having plenty of power but lacking in finesse
DAC/Bluetooth receiver. My likely source is my phone, so a wireless connection would be very convenient. In a pinch the ES100 can also become a USB DAC. It’s a less than ideal solution, but it has the advantage of being quite cheap as I already have the amp and the ES100; all I’d need to buy would be a 3.5mm to RCA cable.