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Deal — at US$50, this sits well below the US$110 25th percentile and far under the US$127 median for recent comparables, so it reads as a strong bargain rather than a merely fair ask. Against the upper quartile of US$342, the pricing is unusually accessible for a current, portable DAC.
This is a worthwhile buy because the M12i is a respected ESS-based dongle DAC: compact, easy to deploy with a phone or laptop, and typically valued for clean, punchy playback with support for high-res PCM and DSD512. At this price, the upside is simple — you’re paying little for a capable daily-use DAC, so if the unit is truly excellent and includes the needed cable/adapters, it’s an easy enthusiast pickup.
Independent perspective — not a price guarantee. Always verify condition, accessories and provenance before purchase.
ESS is best known as ESS Technology, a U.S. semiconductor company founded by Forrest Mozer in 1983 as Electronic Speech Systems. It began in California and grew from speech and multimedia chips into a specialist in audio conversion silicon, with its later identity strongly tied to digital audio technology rather than finished consumer hi-fi products.
The company’s core focus is audio DACs and ADCs—especially the SABRE family—used by manufacturers in audio, mobile, automotive, and professional equipment. In hi-fi terms, ESS is not primarily a maker of amplifiers, speakers, turntables, or headphones; instead, it supplies the conversion chips that sit inside many third-party components.
In the market, ESS has a technical, high-performance, component-supplier reputation rather than a consumer brand identity. Among informed audiophiles it is often associated with high-end and upper-mid-tier digital playback, while also being somewhat niche because its name usually appears inside other brands’ products rather than on the front panel. It is a respected engineering brand, but not a vintage collector name in the usual sense.
See all ESS listings on RADAR.
