EarSonics ES3 In Ear Headphones Review

Buy on Amazon

EarSonics ES3 Pros&Cons

Pros

  • Incredibly well-designed
  • Comfortable
  • Removable cables
  • Lightweight

Cons

  • Somewhat veiled sound signature
  • Doesn’t look/feel premium
  • Not the most accommodating design for tip-rolling

EarSonics ES3 Specs

  • Impedance: 31.5-Ohm
  • Drivers: Triple BA (3-way crossover network)
  • Frequency response: 10-20000 Hz
  • Sensitivity: 116 dB/mW
  • Cable connection: 2-pin

Packaging

The ES3’s packing is somewhat minimal, but in a good way. A silver outer sleeve proudly displays the “ES3” logo on the front, as well as some basic specifications on the back. Once the sleeve and box lid are removed, you’re presented with the ES3 and carrying case. The display style is simple, but admirable. The foam surround serves to protect the ES3, and gives a more premium impression.

What’s in the box?

  • ES3
  • 2x Pairs of comply eartips
  • 4x Pairs of silicon eartips
  • Cleaning tool
  • Carrying case
  • Use manual
     

Accessories

Not a whole lot is included with the ES3. Other than the 6 pairs of eartips, you also get a little cleaning tool (useful for removing earwax from the eartips and nozzle), as well as a pretty basic carrying case.

The included carrying case is a bit of a disappointment. At this price-point, one would expect something more premium to protect your shiny new pricey investment. Heck, even the Pinnacle P1 (which costs less than half of the ES3) features a classy leather case. Ok, perhaps that’s an unfair comparison, as the Pinnacle P1 has broken quite a number of bang-for-buck barriers.

 Read: Westone W80 In Ear Headphones Review

Design:

Let’s not beat around the bush; the ES3 is well-designed, really well-designed. It’s quite possibly the most comfortable IEMs that I have personally tried.
Let’s keep in mind here that EarSonics is a French company. The French are synonymous with cheese, wine, and grainy black-and-white films about a guy smoking a cigarette. However, when it comes to well-engineered products, the French aren’t the first nation which comes to mind; that association is usually reserved for the Germans. After all, over the last 20 years the Le Mans 24-hour Race has been won by the Germans no less than 16 times, whereas a French team only managed to win it once back in 2009. Although, it should also be noted that the French have taken every single World Rally Championship since 2004….so perhaps this isn’t the best analogy to use. Fine, whatever.
Anyways, getting back to the ES3. In this case, EarSonics were very clever when they designed the ES3’s housing. You’ll notice that the housing, just before the nozzle, features a rather strange notch (cut-out). This isn’t some sort of weird design element dreamed up by a baguette-crumb-covered, Beret-wearing lunatic; but rather a stroke of pure genius.

This space was specifically designed to accommodate the ear’s Tragus (the flappy, bubbly bit at the entrance of the ear canal). This results in a pair of IEMs that fit so incredibly comfortably, you’d almost swear that they’re custom made, rather than regular ol’ universals.

As for the housing material, the ES3’s housing is entirely made of shiny black plastic. Personally, this seems to make them look a little cheap. Gloss black looks great on pianos (which is why it’s often called Piano Black), but on housings/enclosures for electronics it’s often used in an attempt to make cheap products look more premium. Unfortunately, it’s been done so many times that it now seems to have the opposite effect.
The housings also features the silver “ES3” logo (with “ES” on one housing, and “3” on the other), which will be boldly visible when being worn.

The only other real design flaw seems to be that the nozzle does not have a barb (hump) to hold eartips in place. This isn’t a problem for the included tips as their tubing is smaller than the outside of the actual nozzle, so the eartips sit quite snugly. This can be a problem, though, when you need to use some third-party tips. More on that shortly.

Sound

With IEMs, using the correct eartips is exceptionally important. Not only does this greatly affect comfort, but it also has an impact on the sound signature. If you’re not getting a proper seal, the bass response will suffer, whilst the higher frequencies can extend to an unpleasant or even outright sibilant degree. Equally important, however, is the actual design of the eartip.
Anyone who has ever dipped their toes in the world of homemade CIEMs will know what effect acoustic-tubing length and diameter has on the sound signature of a BA. A smaller diameter tube serves to elevate the bass region and lower the treble, whereas larger diameter tubing does the opposite. As such, choosing the appropriate tubing is incredibly important in order to “correct” the sound signature evenly, rather than simply making it swing one way or another. The same holds true for IEM eartips.

In the case of the ES3, getting the correct tips proved to be rather challenging. As far as the stock tips are concerned, the silicon tips can give you a good seal, but they don’t help what seems to be an inherent flaw in the ES3’s sound signature.
Whilst the ES3 certainly offers above average clarity and linearity, there is just something missing; mid-bass response. As such, the sound doesn’t necessarily feel overly flat, but rather just a bit hollow. This makes it seem to lean more towards the analytical side of the spectrum, as opposed to the musical side. It is just as though it lacks some soul and character.
Instrument separation is acceptably good, as can usually be expected from BA setups. Vocals are smooth, but a bit pushed back, almost giving a sense of coming from behind your head, whilst higher frequency details are all present, but somewhat veiled.

Of the included tips, the Comply tips seem to address this issue the best, although they do seem to affect the rest of the upper registers unfavourably. Third-party tips such as the Spinfits are fantastic for seal and comfort, but they affect the upper frequencies even more than what the Comply tips do, whilst increasing the bass response a bit too much as well. This is obviously great for bassheads, but for anyone who prefers a more even and balanced sound signature, the Spinfits simply won’t do. Other third-party tips such as the JVC Spiral Dots or Sony Hybrid tips might very well prove to work perfectly for the ES3, but, unfortunately, we did not have these available to test this idea.

As previously mentioned, the lack of a barb on the nozzle will limit which tips can be used with the ES3. You might find some tips which truly bring the ES3 to life, however, if the tubing diameter of the tips don’t sit tightly enough on the ES3’s nozzle, they’ll pop off when you remove the ES3 from your ears.

 Read: V-moda ZN In Ear Earphones Review

Value

Whilst the fit and comfort is absolutely incredible, at the end of the day, we are still talking about a set of IEMs. To some, sound quality is more important than anything else, to others, the fit and comfort is just as important as the sound quality. As such, the ES3 is a tough nut to crack in terms of value. At an asking price of 399 Euros (roughly $420), trying to justify this cost whilst taking into account the ES3’s sound signature and sonic quality is proving to be rather challenging.

However, we did relay our impressions of the ES3’s sound to EarSonics, at which point they suggested that the ES2 would be more fitting towards our sound preference. This would be great, as the ES2 is 100 Euros (roughly $105) cheaper than the ES3.
This does perhaps pose the question, then, “What is the purpose of the ES3? What need is it trying to satisfy?”. Perhaps it was just for the sake of being able to offer a triple BA package? We’re really not sure, to be perfectly honest.
At no point do we wish to relish in an arrogant assumption, or otherwise imply, that we are the Alpha and Omega of authority regarding what the definition of excellent sound is. However, being able to compare products to other products below, within, and above given price groups does help to evaluate a product’s relative worth (value).
As such, it may very well be that with the right set of eartips, the ES3 turns out to be something glorious, but it seems that this may involve extensive and laborious trial and error.

Rating

The NO BULL rating system is designed to take as many aspects of the device into account as possible. As such, we have a basic rating, as well as a final rating. The basic rating rates the product purely as a high quality portable audio device, and is generally a good indicator of how it stacks up to its rivals in terms of standard features and specs. The final rating, however, grants bonus points for any extra features and specs that aren’t quite as common, and is a great way to judge the product as a complete package.


Packaging
Look and feel: 7 / 10

Included Accessories
More than 3 pairs of eartips included: YES
Protective case: YES

Build
Quality control: 10 / 10
Seems durable: YES
Microphonics: 7 / 10
Comfort: 10 / 10

Sound
Relatively balanced signature: –
Soundstage: 7 / 10
Detail retrieval: 7 / 10
Sibilance: 8 / 10
Instrument separation: 7 / 10
Isolation: 8 / 10
Hiss: 8 / 10

 

Portability
Small size: 9 / 10
Relatively low power required: 8 / 10
Weight: 9 / 10

Value
Competitive price-point: –
Relative value: 6 / 10

Basic Rating: 7.9

Bonus points
Removable cables: YES
Number of cables included: 1
Premium cables: –
Pairs of eartips above 3 pairs: 3
How premium the case looks and feels: 2 / 5
Battery life above 8 hours: –
Bluetooth: –
Apt-X: –
Volume/remote controls: –
Metal body: –
Interchangeable filter system: –
Premium look and feel: –
Use of exotic materials: –
Bluetooth connection quality: –
1/4” adapter included: –
Cable management: –
Aircraft adapter: –

Final Rating: 8.3

 

Many thanks to EarSonics for sending us the ES3 for review!

Check Samma3a Earphones Shop.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *