[rgs9200m]

Any of you K-01 owners try the EMM XDS1 or Meridian 808.3 ? (I have the EMM, quite pleased, but never heard the K-01.)

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

Any of you K-01 owners try the EMM XDS1 or Meridian 808.3 ? (I have the EMM, quite pleased, but never heard the K-01.)

The Vitus SCD-010 also plays in that class. Eventually I'd like to try one, heard very good things about it.
 

 

[David1961]

When I went through to IanG's place to hear my SR-009's and also his SR-007's driven by both his SRM717's and SRM007t's, I did tell him that I thought the headphone system I'm using until I receive the BHSE was slightly better in SQ . My headphone system is K-01 + Pico Slim + Shure se535's and also the Beyerdynamic DT1350's. I've listened to my current headphone system since I went to Ian's and I still think that.  I'm sure when I'm hearing the SR-009's with the BHSE + K-01 they will take headphone listening to another level. 
 
P.S. IMO the DT1350's sounded slightly better in SQ than the SR-007's and the Shure se535's sounded better than my SR-009's but imo this is mainly because of the K-01.

 

[David1961]

Quote:

When I went through to IanG's place to hear my SR-009's and also his SR-007's driven by both his SRM717's and SRM007t's, I did tell him that I thought the headphone system I'm using until I receive the BHSE was slightly better in SQ . My headphone system is K-01 + Pico Slim + Shure se535's and also the Beyerdynamic DT1350's. I've listened to my current headphone system since I went to Ian's and I still think that.  I'm sure when I'm hearing the SR-009's with the BHSE + K-01 they will take headphone listening to another level. 
 
P.S. IMO the DT1350's sounded slightly better in SQ than the SR-007's and the Shure se535's sounded better than my SR-009's but imo this is mainly because of the K-01.

Although part of what I've mentioned above is only what I'm thinking, I've asked Headfier IanG to pop through to my place to listen to my current headphone system. After Ian's listened to it I'll ask him to post his thoughts.
 
 

 

[Arnaldo]

The new Esoteric K-05 and K-07 SACD players are now available in the US from TTVJ Audio at US$8,300 and US$5,900 respectively. As per a previous post, apart from cosmetic differences on the front panel, the only other thing that seems to set them apart is the choice of Asahi Kasei 32-bit DACs, with the K-05 using the AK4399 while the K-07 has the AK4392.
 
Esoteric K-05
Esoteric K-07

 

[badwisdom]

I decided to give the K-01 a try. I got such a good price on it i just had to, even though i promised myself i would never EVER buy a Esoteric product again (after being so burned by a Playback Designs MPS5).
 
I installed it yesterday and will start listening this afternoon. Comments to follow.

Xav

 

[badwisdom]

Ok 1 hour listening tonight. Default settings, RCA outs, LCD3 with less than 30 hours.
 
Listened to some classical, hard rock and progressive, all on redbook.
 
1st impressions:
 
- detail retrieval is insane. Yeah, i know, cliché but still so true. Its a level i am not accustomed to, and I've owned pretty revealing gear in the past (Wadia for example).
- no harshness to be found.... yet. I was scared of that, but maybe the Accuphase preamp is helping out on this....
- something i hadn't experienced yet in my long time as an audiophile nut: a sense of time stretching. Its as if every note and sound has extra space to express itself. The effect would be like playing a 45 record to 331/3 but with no pitch change.
- operation is very smooth and i got to say that the mechanism is nice and quiet. Its not as smooth as the Accuphase transport which still is my reference for "butter smooth".
 
Work still in progress......

 

[googleli]

Congrats. I have the Antelope Zodiac Gold and the Weiss DAC202. Rest assured that they are no comparison to my K01. I tried the hi end DACs playing hi Rez files from hdtracks, and compared the same tracks with the Esotetic K01 just playing red book. The K01 still won by miles.

 

[not_sure]

googleli: Did you have chance try Antelope Eclipse + 10M? I prefer my Forsell to Zodiac but Eclipse is simply better! Interesting looks also AMR DP-777: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/dac-reviews-acoustic-arts-tube-dac-audio-research-dac8-weiss-dac202-dcs-debussy-meitner-ma-1-amr-dp-777-a-9680/
K01 is very expensive unfotunately

 

[David1961]

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.

 

[gurus]

Quote:

Congrats. I have the Antelope Zodiac Gold and the Weiss DAC202. Rest assured that they are no comparison to my K01. I tried the hi end DACs playing hi Rez files from hdtracks, and compared the same tracks with the Esotetic K01 just playing red book. The K01 still won by miles.

I am on the same page. That's what worries me about the guys on the DSD bandwagon, they have not compared the sound to a good high end red book player/DAC and probably don't know what a SOTA red book player is. 

 

[ismewor]

I had the K-01 for 18 months, and I'm in the process of upgrade to P2-D2 set.
The only player at the K-01 level is Orpheus CDP, which also use esoteric transport. and is hard to tell which is better.
By switching PC you can tell the huge different to sound quality. Wow. Wow.
 

 

[rgs9200m]

I feel the EMM XDS1 is the endgame digital for me. EMM has always had a signature "reach" in the the music, with the least opaqueness in the way musical objects sound,
just plain more real. As EMM players have evolved, they dealt with some chill-factor in the early players, but they have solved that, but the awesome level of texture is
something that makes EMM so special to me. I had a nice Accuphase DP75 back in 2004 that I liked a lot, but when I tried an EMM for the first time, I was floored by the texture,
despite some flaws in the highs in these early versions (DCC2/CDSD dac/transport combo). I just heard the Esoterics at shows, but I always prefer the EMM sound,
maybe because I'm so used to it, but that's my feeling and why I never intend to switch from it.

 

[rgs9200m]

Esoteric K-01 compared to EMM XDS1 by audiofederation (which sells EMM, but the description of the EMM sound reflects what I hear in mine, so I give this comparison credence).
http://audiofederation.com/blog/archives/887

 

[TheGhostWhoWalks]

From what I've heard of the XDS1, I think that review is fairly accurate, however I don't think the XDS1 sounds "more like music," it simply takes a different approach. As they say, there's more micro-detail with the XDS1 (ability to hear inner-voices/harmonics etc.), while there's more macro-detail with the K-01 (clarity of every piece in an orchestra, eg). I do agree the XDS1 is the "softer" player; the K01 has the most impressive dynamics of any player I've ever heard. If you listen to a lot of rock/metal, the K-01 would be far preferable, but even classical with a high dynamic range benefits greatly. I also think the K01 is better at the frequency extremes while XDS1 is better in the midrange. FWIW, I also think much of this has to do with the the fact that EMM seems to boost the volume of their players at the output stage, which gives it a louder, closer, "more musical" feeling, but I also think they have a tendency to lose some details in large, complex passages while Esoteric's don't (what the review says about the K01's "authority" is dead on too, and it really shows it the more demanding the music is). It should also be noted that the K01 can sound radically different depending on what filters and upsampling you're using. With the Fir_1+X4 combo it gets much closer to XDS1 territory in terms of closeness and richness of sound, while SLDY_2+ORG is more natural and distant sounding.