[rgs9200m]

Thanks for all that interesting inisight Mr. Ghost. I appreciate it. It's interesting that the xds1 is the softer player, because I had a Playback Designs MPS5 here for a while and thought that 
well-regarded player was significantly softer then the xds1 (or any EMM player). I guess I am totally hooked on the midrange and insight and inner detail of the xds1,
along with the awesome bass that just seems to have no lower limits and digs into the center of the earth (just really amazing bass on LCD3s or HE500s).
EMM has always had just a touch more glare than some other players like the MPS5, but it's just on an occasional CD with a headphone that emphasizes it, like 009s.
 
And the xds1 brings that digital glare aspect to vanishingly low levels even in the CDs that have it compared to previous EMM players.
(Even the Sony 5400ES with the Modright modification had more glare and was more crude, even with tubes.)
 
I actually love the EMM on rock/pop for the way it brings things to life and shows amazing inner light and character.
I often find myself saying that it's amazing how the EMM exposes the truth and unearths heretofore unknown details in recordings of well-known performances back to the 1970s, 60s, or 50s.
I hear little studio details or voice inflections or background noises in the Beatles, or Elvis, or Dylan, or Fleetwood Mac, you name it, and I feel like I am privileged to hear such things,
like I'm an archaeologist.
 
In my case, the XDS1 is the endgame of CD players for me.
Thanks again for the comments sir.

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[Stump]

Quote:

I've had my K-01 for about 16 months and in that time I've never used the USB port B connection which that source has, however I've just got an iPad to which I've just downloaded all the songs from my iMac onto that iPad.
All I have to do now is get a cable that'll allow me to connect the iPad to the K-01.
I'm doing this because while I'm not lazy, [ well maybe I am ] I'd like to listen to different songs by different artists at random, which if I wanted that now, I'd have to keep changing CD's.
I'm also doing it because it'll be interesting to hear how music sounds from the K-01, other than CD's.

I just added a Arcam - rBlink - Bluetooth DAC to my system and works a treat for Ipad..
Stump
 
http://www.arcam.co.uk/products,rseries,wireless-dacs,rBlink.htm

 

[David1961]

Quote:

I just added a Arcam - rBlink - Bluetooth DAC to my system and works a treat for Ipad..
Stump
 
http://www.arcam.co.uk/products,rseries,wireless-dacs,rBlink.htm

 
Hi Stump,
 
Head-fier astrostar59 suggested me getting the Apple MacMini, but I decided to go to my local audio shop and explained I was wanting to use my iPad as a remote control to my K-01 and they suggested the rBlink, which I got from them.
 
After getting the rBlink home, I connected it to my K-01 using a coaxial cable, and the iPad via bluetooth.
 
I then started listening to my iTunes and with almost every song there was a kind of skipping or jumping in the songs.
 
I then phoned the audio shop and said this was happening but they said that they needed to listen themselves, after they heard the rBlink with my audio gear, they agreed there was this problem I was hearing, which resulted in them taking the rBlink back.
I've since taken the advice astrostar59 gave me and have got the MacMini which works great.
 
Are you using the rBlink with a K-01 ?

 

[Claude]

Esoteric has now released  "X"-versions of the K-01 and K-03 player, which also accept DSD signals over USB
 
http://www.esoteric.jp/products/esoteric/sacdp/indexe.html

 

[dsticker]

Wow, in my opinion it would be hard to justify the added cost of the K-01X.  From what I can tell, the only main difference between the 01X and 03X is that the 01X has a total harmonic distortion of 0.0006%, compared to the 03X at 0.001%.  Other than that, the 01X had a different remote, weighs more, and uses slightly more power.  Am I missing something?
 
Considering the K-01X is 1450000 yen (~14000 USD) and the K-03X is 900000 yen (~8600 USD), I'd go for the K-03X.  If I had this kind of money. 
 
Edit: I guess the proof is in the pudding and it all depends how they compare to human ears (obv).  But spec-wise you'd think they would have differentiated the two a bit more than they did.

 

[arnaud]

 Am I missing something?

 
Haven't checked the X release in detail but isn't the 01 version using double the number of dacs of the 03 (just like the 07 uses half that of the 03)?
 
Having said that, does it really matter, I don't know, but it's certainly a case of moar better psychologically

 

[Claude]

http://on-mag.fr/index.php/topaudio/actualites-news/12638-lecteurs-esoteric-k-01x-et-k-03x-toujours-faire-mieux
This french site states that the K-05 and K-07 players will also become available as X-models, and that owners of the old K players will be able to get upgrades for their players, at the end of this year.

 
@dsticker: DSD input is the most important feature of the upgrade. I think this will become a standard feature of all high end DACs very soon.

 

[David1961]

that owners of the old K players will be able to get upgrades for their players, at the end of this year.

Interesting.

 

[Claude]

I have two questions on the practical usage of the K-03 (or K-01) player. I have read the online manual and stumbled on two things which might be a limitation concerning my intended use.

 
-  Analogue output: The manual says that the user must select between XLR and RCA in the menu. Does that mean both cannot be active at the same time? I wanted to connect XLR to my pre-amp and RCA to my headphone amp, but I can also connect the headphone amp to the pre-amp if necessary.

 
- Digital input switch: the manual says that playback on the digital sources should be stopped before switching between digital inputs on the player. I wanted to use the different digital inputs to A/B different sources/CDs/files. Is it not possible or problematic (damaging) to switch between input when the sources are active?

 
Thanks

 

 

[David1961]

  I have two questions on the practical usage of the K-03 (or K-01) player. I have read the online manual and stumbled on two things which might be a limitation concerning my intended use.

 
-  Analogue output: The manual says that the user must select between XLR and RCA in the menu. Does that mean both cannot be active at the same time? I wanted to connect XLR to my pre-amp and RCA to my headphone amp, but I can also connect the headphone amp to the pre-amp if necessary.

 
- Digital input switch: the manual says that playback on the digital sources should be stopped before switching between digital inputs on the player. I wanted to use the different digital inputs to A/B different sources/CDs/files. Is it not possible or problematic (damaging) to switch between input when the sources are active?

 
Thanks

 

 
Only one interconnect can be used at a time, however when both the RCA's and XLR's are plugged into the source it only takes a few seconds to switch from one to the other using the settings which can be seen in the two photos.
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
When playing my CD's then wanting to hear the music I have on file, I've always stopped the CD before listening to the other, 
and to do that a different setting has to be selected which again can be seen in the photos.
 
  
 
 
I use the USB setting when listening to my music that's on my macmini, which again when switching from the CD setting to the USB takes a matter of seconds.

 

[Claude]

 
 
Only one interconnect can be used at a time, however when both the RCA's and XLR's are plugged into the source it only takes a few seconds to switch from one to the other using the settings which can be seen in the two photos.

Many thanks David, that's definitely a workable solution.
 
 
The source switching operation seems less convenient for A/B-ing stuff, but then again, comparing files/CDs is not my main pastime.

 

[Claude]

From the french distributor website, here is some info about the upgrade kits for the K-01 and K-03 players, to update USB functionalities:

Remplacement de la partie arrière du châssis, avec implémentation d'une nouvelle entrée USB.
Remplacement du PCB de l'entrée USB.
Mise à jour des Firmware.
Possibilité de lire les fichiers en DSD natif (2.8MHz) et PCM, jusqu'à 384kHz/32bit.
Synchronisation avec une horloge externe (10MHz) lorsque l'entrée USB est en service.

 
http://www.synergie-esoteric.com/esoteric/mise-à-jour-k-01-et-k-03/


My translation:


 
- Replacement of the backplate, with a new USB input
- Replacement of the PCB for the USB input
- Firmware upgrade

 
New features (my interpretation, the french text is somewhat unclear):
- possibility to input DSD signals (2.8MHz) and up to 32/384 PCM via USB (the french text says "reading DSD files", but I don't think the player can play files itself from USB storage)
- possibility to use an external clock (10MHz) with USB input playback

 

[tonereef]

Has anyone heard the K-05X or K-07X? Or heard anything about them? Are they getting much attention in Japan?