Earfun launches new cheap wired in-ear monitors and DAC bundle for hi-res audio fans
High-resolution audio means high prices, right? Maybe not. Earfun, the brand best known for its affordable earbuds, thinks the new EH-100 earbuds deliver serious sound for just a hundred bucks—and their high-resolution DAC is even cheaper at just $80. Plus, Earfun gives them up to Even more discount on October 15.
So, what do you get for a relatively small amount of money? The EH-100 are Hi-Res Audio certified wired IEMs with a dual driver architecture (10mm and 6.8mm) and a custom balanced armature driver to handle the treble. They’re made of aluminum, use the standard two-pin IEM connector, and include two sets of tuning mouthpieces, which Earfun says allow you to customize the sound signature: one is described as balanced and the other as ambient, with a boost for the low end. The frequency response is 16 Hz to 40 kHz, the impedance is 16 ohms and the sensitivity is 103 dB at 1 kHz.
We rate Earfun very highly – their Earfun Air Pro earbuds are currently the best budget ANC earbuds you can buy – so these are seriously intriguing, especially with the discounted bundle. Just like the company’s new DAC.
Big sound from a small DAC at a low price
Earfun has also launched a new USB/C DAC, the EA100. It has 3.5mm unbalanced and 4.4m balanced connections, as well as a USB-C to USB-A adapter for older hardware. Inside is an ESS ES9038Q2M chip and it decodes 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512. Despite its small size, there are independent left and right amplifiers that deliver up to 195 mW into 32 ohms with a signal-to-noise ratio of 121 dB – more than enough to drive the Earfun IEMs and many other wired headphones. A small LED changes color to show you the connection status and current sampling rate.
One of the most interesting features of the EA100 is a small button. This allows you to switch between the UAC 2.0 and UAC 1.0 standards for audio transmission, which should mean better compatibility on a wider range of devices, especially PCs and portable gaming consoles.
If these devices sound as good as the specs suggest, they could be real bargains at their introductory prices. You have until October 15 before prices go up. But for now you’re looking at $70/£63 for the headphones and $80/£70 for the DAC, or you can get both for $117/£104.