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Echobox Explorer Digital Audio Player
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Echobox Explorer Digital Audio Player
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Product Description
A portable digital audio player that looks like a flask, the Echobox Explorer fits comfortably in your pocket for easy use on the go. It’s handcrafted from your choice of wood types and equipped with the highest specs, including the highly regarded TI Burr-Brown 1792 DAC and a powerful 300mW amplifier Read More
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keyboard_arrow_downTheMadDane
15
Dec 8, 2018
Let me Comment, Being one of the Original Indiegogo campaign purchasers in 2015. It was nothing short of a Clusterf**k.
The player did not perform or sound anywhere near what they promised and had all kinds of glitches. It lacked Google Play, the cases cracked. Echobox repaired the cases, often shabbily, with people stating they could see the sanding and glue used to repair, rather than replace the broken cases. I could go on and on,,,,
If you want to know EVERYTHING about this player and all the mishaps do a search on "headfi.org" under....
"The Official Echobox Explorer Thread"
You can read ALL 163 pages of this debacle.
It became so embarrassing for Echobox that they locked the thread to stop the negative comments. I sold mine 3 weeks after FINALLY receiving it. Best thing too, as the purchaser from Turkey emailed me a year later stating it suddenly bricked itself and Echobox refused to help him in anyway, they wouldn't even take it in for repair! Buyer BEWARE!!! YMMV.
You can read ALL 163 pages of this debacle.
It became so embarrassing for Echobox that they locked the thread to stop the negative comments. I sold mine 3 weeks after FINALLY receiving it. Best thing too, as the purchaser from Turkey emailed me a year later stating it suddenly bricked itself and Echobox refused to help him in anyway, they wouldn't even take it in for repair! Buyer BEWARE!!! YMMV.
(Edited)
GIANTFUNKYMONKEY
48
Oct 26, 2019
TheMadDaneHey mate,
I remember you from the threads on head fi...
Mine arrived with the headphone socket broken and they refused to accept it back under warranty saying it was structural and therefore not covered.
When I explained I had only just unboxed it, they stopped replying..
EatMyDustbunny
1
Oct 28, 2019
Hey, guys! 😃 PJ, (40) here.
I need a favor, please, since I’ve mainly been out of the new gear game for 6 yrs., especially portable gear, however full-size and portable headphones are all current (which I’ll get to later). This is a fairly long message but you should find it very interesting — heck, you might (I hope) even learn a few things depending on your knowledge of the field — and my background is for all your recommendations of an inexpensive (because I have little money now), yet quality iPhone/iPad (iOS 13.2) compatible, portable DAC/AMP used mainly for traveling but sometimes at home, so it must have Bluetooth (minimum version 4.2 though preferably 5.0) to use with both my iPhone XS Max 512GB (which I can and will be upgrading for free via Apple to the iPhone 11 Pro Max 512GB in Jan/Feb) or my iPad Pro 10.5” Wi-Fi + Cellular 512GB (with mainly the following audio apps: Tidal • Apple Music • SiriusXM with the approximately 1000 satellite and internet music stations) • TuneIn Radio • cable TV channel/movie channel apps like HBOgo, Showtime Anywhere, EPIX, CBS (All Access), CWseed, Spectrum TV, etc. • and the Music Choice app (the cable TV music stations)....but I would prefer a balanced output (connector type not super important as I can make/buy an adapter though Sony had the right idea with their ”Pentaconn” {4.4mm} as it has a ground channel which I prefer, though I always said long before they invented it that for portable use a mini-XLR 5-pin should be used as it won’t accidentally pull out; no need for a 5-pin full size XLR on home amps because the 4-pin has a tab that can connect to your chassis ground {which I implemented into my home amp} but foolishly, rarely any manufacturers do this for almost all my headphones, which I’ll list at the end of this message. I almost strictly use Audeze phones so I prefer a unit with adequate power and decent, variable gain settings since planars require juice. In fact, the only phone I might use single-ended (unbalanced) when not used via Bluetooth with its “Headphones Connect” app full of features (which I personally had the Sony software team update in only 2 days to work with iOS 13.2) due to its 3.5mm stereo female input might be my newest, cheapest, and only travel-specific headphone with (Best-of-2019) ANC (Active Noise Cancellation), to get better SQ from it using the portable DAC/Amp (that you guys recommend)!!!
_________________________________________
MY BACKSTORY / HOME EQUIPMENT and HEADPHONES
(so you’ll know my preferences, and maybe I’ll even teach you a few things, too. 😊):
So...... first off, re: a post about this amp that I read and agree with, I SOOOOOOO f*****g hate Micro-USB!!! I’m a cable builder/researcher (though been on hiatus for a few years now, at least until March/April/May if you have any questions or needs, but right now I’m devoted to my main business). I have about $15K in soldering stations, irons, tips, related gear, etc. and I refused to build cables with Micro-USB unless someone had desired to pay a shitload more, but none ever asked since my cables and power cords took anywhere from 8-450 hrs. to custom craft by hand (here in the USA, with measurements down to a mere 1/64” / 0.4mm) and uses custom, proprietary coaxial wire and proprietary geometry optimized for balanced cables and cords. My OF-SPC (Oxygen Free Silver plated Copper) 22awg coaxial wire (19/34 stranded with unique SPC shield braid @ 98% coverage) and both PTFE Solid Teflon Outer Dielectric and FPE Teflon Inner Dielectric is also made here in the USA. I use a 50 ohm for analog and power, and a 75 ohm for digital. They both cost $3.33/ft. (per spool at $10K for 3000 ft. / 909m) vs. the cheap $0.12/ft. Chinese or Taiwanese wire you’ll find in 95% of custom cables today that claim to use the pointless, nonsensical process called “OCC”, and if you ask them to show you a certificate of proof stating their manufacturer makes Ohno Continuous Cast wire I guarantee you’ll never see one from anywhere in the Orient other than Japan.) Since I have 2,200 feet left on the spool that one is 50 ohm for analog and power. I only have 770 feet left of the 75 ohm for digital and since I bought less of that (1000 ft. initially) it cost more at $3.85/ft. But they both look identical except the 50 ohm has 98% shield coverage (typically 95%, but mine is custom with a thinner stranded shield braid). The 75 ohm has a 95% shield coverage required for 75 ohm (but custom made with a thinner stranded shield braid). My secondary wire used is virtually identical to the coaxial though is not coaxial and just has the conductor with no shield braid and outer PTFE Teflon dielectric, which gets wrapped around the coax wire in a proprietary way which I call Galactic Geometry and Galactic+ Geometry for power cords (as they require four times as much wire to equal 16 awg, which I found to be the perfect gauge for power, though 16 awg is not thick enough for heavy power demands for speakers). I make sure to use the best plugs (Furutech) that are UL listed for safety and that my design and build methods are as safe as industrial-grade power cords. I also have many other proprietary methods in my geometries, some strictly for safety that no one else employs and some strictly for aesthetics. Most, however, are for extreme sonic fidelity. Through my years of R&D I found the best methods of improvement from cables and cords came by emulating complete phase noise elimination, which normally requires a ton of expensive oscillator circuitry replacements and modding, full-blown word clocks designed solely for audio that cost a small fortune, and also many trial rounds of equipment pairing. (If you want to know why phase noise is the attribute most critically requiring elimination in order to experience proper staging and “true” high fidelity sound, I’ll be glad to explain but that will be another very long message.) My Reference Series power cord requires over 250 steps, written in my instruction guide for precise replication. I performed nearly 3 years of R&D and 107 different cables before I settled on the top two performers. And I only make two series of audio cables: my gold standard Reveal Series (better than 94% of competitors tested at the same price point, and better than 100% of competitors tested at 1.3x the price point or more), and my Reference Series (far better than 100% of competitors tested at ANY price point, including cords tested up to $55K), which is the apex of aural perfection. Only the power cords have 4 series including two lower than the others called Harmony and Melody, as each have maximum benefits for certain applications so why pay more for a cord to use on a component when you don’t have to? That’s why some companies know they can screw you over by having 12 or more lines of cables; placebo occurs even if your brain is just wondering how much better the next model will be! They know you’ll always be left having the desire to upgrade! (Again, I am not taking orders now for any cable or power cord builds; I just wanted to share my experience and capabilities. I am also an authorized dealer for Audeze, Furutech, and Oyaide which I can always help out with. 😉)
I’ve been listening to quality headphones since 1992 but never started with components until around 2003-04. • I have a very high-end home headphone system; it’s been 6 years now since I fully finished modding and piecing everything together but still outperforms the best systems available today and has no DSD, DXD, MQA or any other modern formats – just a great Sign-Magnitude DAC (which is like implementing an R/2R ladder in a chip) using 8 x PCM1704U-K which were designed almost 20 years ago in 2000 by Burr Brown (later purchased by Texas Instruments), and an extensively modded streamer/transport, making a killer combo, with good ol’ PCM data (via Ethernet or Wi-Fi) to 24/96 maximum S/PDIF conversion (via BNC) to 24/96 @ 8x oversampling maximum conversion with a DSP-programmed-FPGA for processing. Because the streamer’s digital volume control is processed at 24/96, a 16/44.1 song can be negatively attenuated from 0dB to -23dB with zero loss of quality, still remaining bit perfect. • Then there’s the amp: a fully customized AMB Labs Beta22/Sigma22 balanced head amp/dual mono power supply combined with my own PCB designs and custom, dual, CNC-machined full-size-speaker-chassis with 5/8” thick front and rear T-6061 anodized aluminum panels with graphic laser bleaching. This amplifier not only bests every other headphone amp on the market spec-wise such as a frequency range from DC – 100,000Hz (and with more parts and features than I have time to list), but has such characteristics as 0.01 ohm balanced output impedance, side-mounted overkill heatsinks capable of dissipating 1000W, three electrostatically shielded and potted custom Plitron transformers with one serving auxiliary functions such as input relay switching and front panel custom LED bars to ensure they remain out of the signal path, and an ALPS 4-channel, 24-step stepped attenuator with a tactile, custom designed rotary volume knob and motorized drive system with a chassis design-matched infrared volume-level remote control. My one-of-a-kind, 105 lb. combined beast cost more to manufacture and build than any other headphone amp on the market sells for at retail; for perspective, it wasn’t much less than my leased 2017 Hyundai Sonata Limited’s sticker price. If it were a minimum production run of at least fifty dual-chassis amps made for sale (and not just a full production “one-off”), even at $78.5K (which includes the $6.2K Bellatone Reference Series set of three 1m Triad•DC chassis power cables consisting of nine individual cables inside each one for 27 cables in total, and the $850 extruded aluminum remote) I’d have the lowest profit margin of 99% of amps on the market despite its extreme price. I’ve been told I am “truly nuts” for bringing my dream to life. But is a passion for one’s hobby insane if you desire the absolute best, especially if the ultimate in extreme fidelity audio and aesthetics matter a great deal? I don’t think so, because it’s something I’ll never sell and be able to use forever even it requires a repair, and even if I modify it in some way in the future. What I do think is crazy is when one spends over $200K on a turntable, $25K on a phono preamp, $15K on a tonearm, $9K on a cartridge, and $100K on its rack, for which I have countless reasons why vinyl has been so completely inferior in almost every way to digital since at least the turn of the millennium, give or take a few years before or after. • If you haven’t noticed by now I haven’t mentioned the names of my components aside from my own amp and cables because I didn’t want company names and their product’s names to color anyone’s recommendation based on your potential personal bias towards that company or product, so I instead chose to describe them which hopefully tells you enough to determine my preferences. • The second to last items in my system, aside from all my own cables and power cords, are an upgraded wall outlet and a high-end power regenerator. • Finally, I’ll list my headphones which of course I must name for you to relate to them. They all have measured frequency range which is concretely objective, but peoples’ descriptions of a headphone’s sound signature is subjective due to multiple factors. Anyway, on with the list (ordered by price, highest to lowest):
- • Audeze LCD-4 (custom Blood Wood earcups)
- • Audeze LCDi4 planar in-ears (plus newest model Cipher cable custom programmed for these)
- • Audeze LCD-3 (“Cinnamon Bun” wood earcups)
- • Sennheiser HD800
- • Audeze EL-8 Ti (includes Cipher cable)
- • Sennheiser HD650
- • COMING SOON: Audeze Mobius carbon
- • Audeze iSine20 (with newest model Cipher cable programmed for these)
- • Sony WH1000-XM3 (used for traveling due to their excellent Active Noise Cancellation, Bluetooth, Sony Headphone Connect app, Atmospheric pressure optimizer)
(Edited)
Whitedragem
185
Feb 21, 2020
Alrighty,.. like myself maybe you enjoy ‘stream of consciousness’ writing, or maybe you are upselling your skills (create a topic mayhaps?)...
The overkill of information when you need to share which configuration iDevices you own (which magically seem about bragging rights, but that is more an apple thing as they are seen as a premium brand), which I’d be inclined to do too-depending on the thread- true sometimes the greater memory capacity versions have slightly faster storage inbuilt, more to do with the controller chip for the storage, but telling an Echobox thread all about how many gigs and whether your idevices have cellular etc has little to do with the music.. or a music player...
playing Devils adovocate I can understand why you might list your future upgrade for your phone.. but it has little to do with the recommendations you are wanting is my guess..
But assuming I am wrong,... and assuming I have read you right- you will be using iDevices as your primary source for a multitude of formats and media streaming services/stores.. so I recommend that any Bluetooth device you do get supports AAC format natively.
By saving conversion stages you have a better chance of hearing more natural sound.
I do find it odd with that headphone inventory that you are insistent on saving money on your music playback device.. especially with regards to your fanatiscism with cables.
Dont get me wrong, I love cables too.. but they are like the last thing - after room treatment and speaker cones etc to play with. They will/can change the sound (on equipment great enough and well set up) to those who know what they are listening for... but they should NEVER factor more than 10% the system price. (otherwise the money is definately better spent on better gear).
With your headphone inventory - saying you have limited budget and want to buy an entry level amp/DAC to be a utilitarian device,.. I’d truly recommend holding off on the next headphone purchase and channeling some more funds into the electronics that will pair with all of them. The electronics you use will ALL you headphones get used all the time. Another set of headphones will just leave others on the shelf.. it doesn’t seem like logical investment for ‘best bang for buck’ having your money tied up in devices that are not being used.
So either sell an old set of headphones (if you really think you need those new headphones, and are unwilling to spend much on the amp/DAC that drives them ALL), or delay that next headphone purchase until you have the right electronics to power your existing sets. (you might find you dramatically enjoy your present headphones enough, with proper upstream tools to do the job well).
When I added a Creative E5 (Literally one of the junkiest, cheap audio parts an AudioFool could find!) to our headphone collection; everything was magically better. It blows away the output of an iDevice. And this isn’t about electrical measurements, this is about music. The two have very limited correlations... (and most measruement equipment isn’t design to test for ‘musicality’ but rather specific traits. I don’t listen to square waves!
Anyhow- the Creative E5... Supports AAC format as the bluetooth codec from iDevices and will lessen the conversion stages to send the music to the speakers. A Creative E5 fed into a car stereo system, or even playing back iTunes store music via bluetooth sounds vastly better than the iDevices raw output. (sad but true, irrelevant to how well an iPhone/or any phone measure electrically) Soundstage and finesse, layering and the ‘get your toe tapping’ vibe that comes with musical playback.. a second hand E5 shouldn’t set you back much, and is such a ‘jack of all trades device’ that it will pay for itself again and again and again.
True, my child rejects it now in order to use the FIIO x5(III) in the house.. but that is more to do with the half terabyte of lossless music on the FIIO, and that it is a DAP... (no need for several devices/doesn’t distract with incoming messages etc from phones that are used for communication)
If you were truly trying to save money, then absolutely grab an Echobox Explorer. It wont do half the things you want, but then that is what the ES100 you use is for...
I believe you’d do well to save up for a nice Astell and Kern, and as I mentioned drop are selling an older unit that electrically measures SIMILAR to my FIIO X5(III) but it would totally smash if for musicallity,. It is a couple of tiers UP the range as audio devices go.
The Echobox wouldn’t be far behind my FIIO X5 is my (educated) guess.
If I had the cash to spare; I’d grab an Echobox, load the same music as is already on my FIIO X5, and then when the child needs borrow a device, I truly wouldn’t care which one it was.. (they’d be in the same ballpark).
The A&K I recommended you (that DROP offers, and includes a music catalogue nearly equal to the asking price) would be a big jump up, and when you have your regular hifi rig, or parts of it, in use again, it would certainly give everything you could want...
To be fair, I really encourage you to scrounge for some second hand cheap part that allows you to get away from ‘direct from phone’ sound. You have such a nice selection of ‘cans... Power them right and they will deliver some sweet sounds. But looking to your personality, as given in the writing above, I feel that upgradeitis would end up costing you a lot if you kept buying entry level ‘mid-fi’ DAPs and DACs/amps...
If I loan you a few DACs/amps you might be willing to upgrade their power cables to whatever improves their sound.
Send them back when you are on your feet again, and the cables you will have given me will of course pay me back tenfold :-)
If you are into headphone modding I have lots of single cable devices that I would love to use with balanced cables...
I don’t think my FIIO X5(III) is anything special as a balanced output device.. and I don’t think the investment is worth it at this level of the hifi game.
Hence why I feel you will need to spend serious money on something like an Opus #2 to be even slightly satisfied.
Given your list of sources.. a DAP doesn’t sound like your ENDGAME device.. A nice portable DAC/amp would be though..
So with a limited budget, you could ALMOST get away with the DACs in the iDevices (again, based on the level of kit you are USED TO USING), and maybe just focus on a nice portable amp to get those headphones sounding their absolute best!!
EatMyDustbunny
1
Feb 22, 2020
WhitedragemSend me an email to: phil@bellatoneaudio.com and once I get to Massachusetts we can discuss further.
Just so you know, I’m not looking for a high-end travel rig. I don’t travel all that often. That’s why I used the Apple CCK3 just to stream to the ES100 with its great controller app to use with my LCDi4. Granted, the ES100 has just decent DAC chips (which isn’t all that makes a DAC sound good, especially in this case where the chips are also the amp chips) and doesn’t have anywhere near the sound quality of my home streamer (modded)/ladder DAC combo, but it’s fine for when I’m laying in bed and don’t feel the need to power up my home system.
I honestly wish I had more time to spend listening to my home system but for the time being that’s not too practical, though maybe I’ll make the time. I’m someone who is satisfied just listening to SiriusXM on my iMac speakers; I get more enjoyment from my home system when others get to listen to it and I get to watch their jaw hit the floor. I built it as a no holds barred reference system with a performance level that 99% of “audiophiles” have never heard before. That was the goal. That was the challenge.
Anyway, shoot me an email and include yours and we can talk more about what you need or just to chat. 😃
(Edited)
Mr.AnnoyingKnowItAll
192
Nov 9, 2018
Yeah, wood is great and all.
The omission of any detailed specs is laughable, though.
The "highest specs"?
300mW? Into what, 32 Ohms?
Hardly powerfull.
What about
Output impedance?
Output voltage?
Output power into different loads?
Hell, even battery life isn't listed anywhere!
And this isn't Massdrop's fault, Echobox doesn't list this on their own site or in the manual even.
This does nothing to counteract the perception that the audiophile community runs on fantasy and snake oil.
Mr.AnnoyingKnowItAll
192
Dec 9, 2018
Are you suggesting that I use common, dirty electricity straight from the outlet? Like a pleb?!
ukmichaeldavid
54
Feb 7, 2019
Mr.AnnoyingKnowItAllI love all items I have bought on Massdrop, hd6xx, mjp1, Aaa789, ,he4xx, little dot mk3, but I don't understand why some items carry no manufacturer warranty....
lp01
13
Apr 10, 2018
Be sure to check out the Mr. Mobile review before spending $450 on this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6pVvfNwzKs&list=PL5Q5Lt6xORaUnn_mqlia3NnM6EOcHa2o4&index=17
choochjb
2
Aug 2, 2018
So I hear.... However I've been nothing but happy with my G3, v20, and now V35. I had a Galaxy S between the G3 and V20 and couldn't stand it.
Whether you like the phones or not though, you can't argue against the quad DAC. It sounds great.
Whether you like the phones or not though, you can't argue against the quad DAC. It sounds great.
Whitedragem
185
Feb 25, 2020
Noticed you expanded your equipment considerations to include ‘desktop’ setup.
Not knowing your useage case or intended music genres; I am a little in the dark with ‘giving advice’ hence why I generally refrain from telling people what to do...
If considering desktop, then don’t forget that Drop presently has these on offer
https://drop.com/buy/xduoo-ta-01b-headphone-amp
Im my experience Valves go a great job of making low res and grainy audio sound fantastic.
I have no opinion on this part/nor have read reviews, but I would believe it to be ‘a step above’ and a small pricepoint.
TheBatman
77
Sep 6, 2020
Superb, sir! Simply, utterly, S U P E R B!
People need to stop "listening" to equipment and just enjoy the music it provides them. If I want to do anything that one might call "subjective" with a device such as the Echobox, I will look at it and enjoy it's uniquely beautiful design.
Thanks!
Audiodiplomat
6
Sep 6, 2018
“Looks like a flask” and associated drinking comparisons were already out of date and pretty tiresome even when the Explorer first came on the market 18 months ago, so it’s time to put a halt to these, methinks, and they add zilch to discussions or interest. Which would you rather have - a cold sharp angled slab of aluminium or something of natural beauty such as wood grain? The curved body makes it fit very comfortably in the hand, and the only criticisms you can legitimately throw at it are the outmoded OS and simple screen displays, and the wi-fi weakness that occasionally stalls Tidal playback . Just a pity that this was only given free for just 3 months, as it’s rather expensive to maintain a hi-res acccount here in the UK, so a year’s sub would have been a tasty selling point. Fewer moans about pricing would be nice - you’re really spoiled in the US, where the $ price is the same £ figure, then adding on high post and tax charges! Just buy it and keep your phones - for what they were made for - calls!
cledry
79
Nov 11, 2018
There's the rub. I am a car guy, I love muscle cars and rat rods but as I get older I realise that a pub is more my style. I can walk to the ocean, a lot of pubs, a train station, a heliport, 2 libraries, several nice parks, a ferry port, a hospital, my doctor, dentist, many shops. I realise I don't need a car. So for me, my place in Penzance in the UK works out better for me than Orlando in the US (where I live now). Your mileage will of course differ.
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GIANTFUNKYMONKEY
48
Oct 26, 2019
I was a backer of their Indiegogo campaign...
This company is run by nasty disgusting people...my unit arrived broken, the headphone output had fallen inside. I emailed them to say this, and their response was it doesn't fall under warranty so they won't fix it.. I hadn't even plugged in headphones, I fact I hadn't even turned it on..
They insulted people, backers who waited years, by calling them names, telling the community they were stupid and didn't understand.
As mad Dane has put, go to head fi and check it out...I remember mad Dane from the threads....it was carnage.
At camjmas if you went up to them and said you were a backer, they ignored you, ignored your questions, and were generally very rude..
Do not buy this piece of crap...at whatever price and don't believe anybody that says this unit is good or gives it more than 1 star, they are lying and probably work for echobox..
This thing isn't worth 99 cents never kind 99 dollars..
Save yourself the time and the aggravation... buy an empty cardboard box, it will play music better than this shyte..
Mcr240
75
Nov 10, 2018
So someone tossed a flask, ipod, and left over fire wood into a blender to create this monstrosity ?
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