[Arnaldo]

"The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express."
(Francis Bacon)
 
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This thread is totally derailed.... Anybody with more comments on the Edition 10?

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They still look pretty. 

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They look so pretty I just want to touch them. 

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X2

 
 

 

[maverickronin]

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Too bad they did not pan out. I do not understand why Ulstrasone would not use some good ears of different people to give them decent feedback. Lame. 

I haven't exactly been following the scene for a long time but doesn't Ultrasone pretty much always go their own way and not listen to anyone else with their reputation for "unique" voicing?  I don't know what sort of internal or external testing they did but I kind of get the feeling that they're prepared to go their own way no matter what anyone else says.
 
Its not always the best business strategy, little better than focus-grouping everything into beige blandness, but even when companies that march to their own drummer crash and burn they usually leave a few interesting products and technologies among the wreckage.  I don't really know enough about the Ultrasone to say if that's remotely likely to happen though...

 

[musicman59]

Something is going on with Ultrasone. I was tailing to my dealer today and he is very upset with them. He placed some orders sometime ago for different items and he has not received anything and they are not even resounding his emails.
 

 

[maverickronin]

That doesn't sound too promising...

 

[arnaud]

Isn't it business as usual for Ultrasone USA? Randy seemed quite motivated but there's only so much he can do I guess.

 

[googleli]

Warp08, I find that the following CD players are around the price range of the K-01. Would you consider any of them instead of the K-01?
 
Wadia s7i
dCS Puccini
EMM Labs XDS1
Playback Designs MPS5
Linn CD12
 
Many thanks for your thoughts again!

 

[warp08]

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Warp08, I find that the following CD players are around the price range of the K-01. Would you consider any of them instead of the K-01?
 
Wadia s7i
dCS Puccini
EMM Labs XDS1
Playback Designs MPS5
Linn CD12
 
Many thanks for your thoughts again!

The EMM XDS1 would be my first alternative, the dCS Puccini second and only together with the U-Clock component.
 
I'm not familiar with the CD12, but the only comparable unit I'd investigate from Linn is the Sondek.
 
You see, my basic philosophy in high-end audio is simple.  There are essentially 3 grades of offerings in general from every manufacturer.  Entry-level, Mid-tier and Top-of-the-line.  In 90% of the cases, the sweet spot--when the law of diminishing returns apply--is when you go above the mid-tier products.  Again, these are high-end offerings I'm referring to.  If money is no object, by all means get the best.
 
But in terms of bang for the buck in a relative sense--you're still talking about 5 figures no matter what--the delta of what you need to spend to get to the "ultimate" level is significant when compared to the mid-tier price/performance.  But there is usually a sizeable gap between the low-end vs. mid-grade offerings.
 
BTW, I think the Wadia unit doesn't even support SACDs, which is ridiculous at this price point.
 

 

[googleli]

Thanks dude. Looks like your choice will still be K-01 among all these?
 
I just stumbled around the web and found that a Burmester CD player unit costs around four times the K-01. Is there no end to these things? I suddenly feel so frustrated - I was thinking I am about to get the best one-unit CD-player in the world and WHAM - the Burmester just spits on my face. Lol.
 
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The EMM XDS1 would be my first alternative, the dCS Puccini second and only together with the U-Clock component.
 
I'm not familiar with the CD12, but the only comparable unit I'd investigate from Linn is the Sondek.
 
You see, my basic philosophy in high-end audio is simple.  There are essentially 3 grades of offerings in general from every manufacturer.  Entry-level, Mid-tier and Top-of-the-line.  In 90% of the cases, the sweet spot--when the law of diminishing returns apply--is when you go above the mid-tier products.  Again, these are high-end offerings I'm referring to.  If money is no object, by all means get the best.
 
But in terms of bang for the buck in a relative sense--you're still talking about 5 figures no matter what--the delta of what you need to spend to get to the "ultimate" level is significant when compared to the mid-tier price/performance.  But there is usually a sizeable gap between the low-end vs. mid-grade offerings.
 
BTW, I think the Wadia unit doesn't even support SACDs, which is ridiculous at this price point.
 

 

 

[warp08]

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Thanks dude. Looks like your choice will still be K-01 among all these?
 
I just stumbled around the web and found that a Burmester CD player unit costs around four times the K-01. Is there no end to these things? I suddenly feel so frustrated - I was thinking I am about to get the best one-unit CD-player in the world and WHAM - the Burmester just spits on my face. Lol.
 


 

OMG.  I'm not even going to go there.  Even I say that is beyond anything remotely reasonable to even consider.  What is it made of, pure gold?
 
I have picked ESOTERIC, because of their design, quality, and their high-level of post-sale support.  Indeed, even off-the-wall questions I occasionally pose to them are answered by knowledgable techs within 24-48 hours.  With this kind of investment--preowned or now--you'll want that because it translates to high resale value in the future whenever you decide to upgrade/trade-in for the new FOTY version.
 
I don't think you can go wrong with any of their products, period.  Their proprietary transport mechanism is licensed, BTW, by about half a dozen other companies, including dCS.
 
Some authorized dealers are willing to ship you demos to your home, BTW for a 2-week evaluation as long as arrangements are made and approved by the Sales Manager.  I highly recommend that you investigate this option, before you investing in anything of this magnitude.  There is no obligation, you can just send the unit back if you don't wish to keep it.  One of these is Spearit Sound.  They are on Audiogon also.
 
 

 

[ardgedee]

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Too bad they did not pan out. I do not understand why Ulstrasone would not use some good ears of different people to give them decent feedback. Lame. 

I've been following this thread for a while, and it makes me wonder if they may have a very good, nearly-flawless headphone on the designer's bench. And then in adapting the design for production somebody decided to change just one minor, inconsequential thing, which did a lot for improving consistency/product reliability/whatnot when in manufacture but also accidentally unleashed a subtle yet audible flaw. Kind of in the software world when somebody decides to add a last-minute comment to code, fails to do it properly, and the code ships with a bug that's entirely the consequence of good intentions.
 
Pure speculation, of course. I believe that even if Ultrasone is idiosyncratic they would not knowingly sell crap. The response from the high-end community appears to have caught Ultrasone flat-footed; if they were trying to pull a scam they would have been readier to handle the outcry.

 

[Wedge]

It depends on your taste, but its not so subtle, apparently it has to do with my taste in music, as well as my desire not to spend 5 figures on a source.  IMHO, I do not think that a 5 figure source will make me like these cans anymore or any less.  There are somethings that these cans seems to do pretty well, but the treble bugs the hell out of my ears.  I made matters worse by getting OCC silver cables, which IMHO seem to brighten things up, but I will say that the cans calmed down a whole lot from the moment I first them on til now.  It really just didn't calm down enough.
 
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I've been following this thread for a while, and it makes me wonder if they may have a very good, nearly-flawless headphone on the designer's bench. And then in adapting the design for production somebody decided to change just one minor, inconsequential thing, which did a lot for improving consistency/product reliability/whatnot when in manufacture but also accidentally unleashed a subtle yet audible flaw. Kind of in the software world when somebody decides to add a last-minute comment to code, fails to do it properly, and the code ships with a bug that's entirely the consequence of good intentions.
 
Pure speculation, of course. I believe that even if Ultrasone is idiosyncratic they would not knowingly sell crap. The response from the high-end community appears to have caught Ultrasone flat-footed; if they were trying to pull a scam they would have been readier to handle the outcry.

 

 

[googleli]

Everytime I read the following I just want to rush to the dealer and make the order - now I must resist until weekend until I get an audition - I may actually bring my Leben and LCD2 to listen to it. Too bad that loaner program is not usual (if it exists at all) in Hong Kong .
 
"ESOTERIC releases the K-01, the flagship model of our all-in-one advanced D/A converter and Super Audio CD/CD player series, capitalizing on ESOTERIC's state-of-the-art technology and derived from our award winning P-01/D-01 series separates. It has been seven years since the debut of the original X-01, with its high-precision and high-rigidity VRDS-NEO SACD/CD transport mechanism. The X-01/X-03 series, which have stayed at the top of ESOTERIC's all-in-one SACD/CD player lineup, have been completely updated and make their debut as the all-new "K" series in November 2010. The design concept of the K series is extremely clear and simple -- a 2-channel D/A converter and stereo player that gives a stress-free musical experience, without adding or removing anything from the original source material. All aspects of the design and engineering process for the K series had extremely tough requirements to further advance ESOTERIC's top technology. Design and engineering was completed applying all of ESOTERIC's know-how in mechatronics technology, state-of-the-art audio technology, and evolutionary materials including DAC implementation, for which cost was not a consideration. The K series is committed to advancing the "state of the art" for the 2 channel audio purist, for both high resolution audio files and disc based audio playback applications.
 
The K-01 is equipped with our new VRDS-NEO "VMK-3.5-20S" mechanism, which has advanced substantially beyond existing VRDS models. The K-01 follows the philosophy of the D-01, and has two 32-bit monaural D/A converters with eight parallel/differential DAC circuits used per channel, as well as separate L/R power supplies. The on-board, high-precision clocking circuit has also been advanced. The power supply for each circuit block has been optimized by using four on-board power transformers. Three sets of 192 kHz/24-bit digital inputs, supporting the most advanced high-sampling-rate digital sources are also built-in. USB driver software supports 192 kHz/24-bit asynchronous transmission for connecting with a PC. The K-01 responds to the stringent demands of music lovers and audio purists, for a top-of-the-line digital source, 2-channel playback device."


 
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OMG.  I'm not even going to go there.  Even I say that is beyond anything remotely reasonable to even consider.  What is it made of, pure gold?
 
I have picked ESOTERIC, because of their design, quality, and their high-level of post-sale support.  Indeed, even off-the-wall questions I occasionally pose to them are answered by knowledgable techs within 24-48 hours.  With this kind of investment--preowned or now--you'll want that because it translates to high resale value in the future whenever you decide to upgrade/trade-in for the new FOTY version.
 
I don't think you can go wrong with any of their products, period.  Their proprietary transport mechanism is licensed, BTW, by about half a dozen other companies, including dCS.
 
Some authorized dealers are willing to ship you demos to your home, BTW for a 2-week evaluation as long as arrangements are made and approved by the Sales Manager.  I highly recommend that you investigate this option, before you investing in anything of this magnitude.  There is no obligation, you can just send the unit back if you don't wish to keep it.  One of these is Spearit Sound.  They are on Audiogon also.
 
 

 

 

[ardgedee]

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It depends on your taste, but its not so subtle, apparently it has to do with my taste in music, as well as my desire not to spend 5 figures on a source.

For some it's significant, for some it's subtle, for some there's no problem at all, so I decided to aim for the middle...

 

[googleli]

I just found out that the Esoteric showroom in Hong Kong also happens to have the Accuphase flagship C-3800 pre-amplifier which has a great headphone out. I will definitely try the K-01 -> C3800 combo with my LCD2 / ED10. That could be the single most lavish and crazy LCD2 experience on Planet Earth (until someone tries it with P01+D01+G0Rb). I will also be able to tell whether a $20K+ source PLUS a $20K+ headphone amp would make the ED10 sound good overall.  Hopefully it won't drag me into another crazy purchase. I will be damned if I purchase an Accuphase flagship preamp to use it solely as a headphone amp (I don't have a separate power amp except a 5 channel Rotel power amp for AV purpose).

As a backup, I may also bring my Leben to try out how the K-01 would sound on the Leben (also with LCD2 and ED10), just to keep myself sane and not to make any foolish moves in addition to purchasing the K01. Now I appreciate the versatility of headphones. No doubt they will hook up the system to some high end speakers, but with my headphones I will truly be able to appreciate then and there the strengths of the K-01.

OMG.  I'm not even going to go there.  Even I say that is beyond anything remotely reasonable to even consider.  What is it made of, pure gold?
 
I have picked ESOTERIC, because of their design, quality, and their high-level of post-sale support.  Indeed, even off-the-wall questions I occasionally pose to them are answered by knowledgable techs within 24-48 hours.  With this kind of investment--preowned or now--you'll want that because it translates to high resale value in the future whenever you decide to upgrade/trade-in for the new FOTY version.
 
I don't think you can go wrong with any of their products, period.  Their proprietary transport mechanism is licensed, BTW, by about half a dozen other companies, including dCS.
 
Some authorized dealers are willing to ship you demos to your home, BTW for a 2-week evaluation as long as arrangements are made and approved by the Sales Manager.  I highly recommend that you investigate this option, before you investing in anything of this magnitude.  There is no obligation, you can just send the unit back if you don't wish to keep it.  One of these is Spearit Sound.  They are on Audiogon also.
 
 

 

 

[warp08]

It's a good move to bring the Leben with you, because most showrooms do not have quality headphone amps in stock at all.  Be prepared to be exposed to some crazy good ICs, that can also make a huge difference at that level.  So you might want to take your own ICs with you for comparison as well so that you have a baseline.