Esoteric K-01X is in the house!

Alpinist

Alpinist

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Hopefully I'll get her set up this weekend and be able to give some initial impressions. I still have my mint K-01, if anyone is in the market for one just shoot me a P.M.

Best,
Ken
 
Oh wow, congrats, Ken! My friend heard one with the associated clock and thought it was the best digital he's heard. Congrats!
 
socfan12 said:
Oh wow, congrats, Ken! My friend heard one with the associated clock and thought it was the best digital he's heard. Congrats!
Click to expand...

Thanks Allen! I am hoping to eventually get the G-01 master clock to go with it. The K-01 has tremendous ease, midrange body, detail and nuance, bass and treble extension and dynamics. Hard to believe that the K-01X could surpass it. I'll found out soon.

Best,
Ken
 
I just got the K-01X set up in my system. I'm currently listening to the Chesky SACD, "Jazz in the Key of Blue". Right out of the box I'm already hearing moderate improvements across the board compared to the K-01. Bigger soundstage and more precise imaging, more nuance and refinement, and blacker blacks. My system is sounding better than it ever has before. This baby is the real deal!

Ken
 
Congrats Ken!! Looking forward to more of your impressions in comparison to the K-01.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks Mike! Now listening to a new CD I just bought, Joey Alexander "My Favorite Things". Believe it or not, Joey is a 12-year old jazz pianist from Indonesia and is already one of the best jazz piano players in the world. You won't believe it when you hear him.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...y alexander&qid=1445707521&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

The thing I'm not getting with the K-01X is it already sounds broken in. The K-01 took at least 200 hours of break-in before it started to sound really good, and progressively improved from there. Makes me wonder what the upside is on the K-01X....wow!

Best,
Ken
 
Congrats Ken!! Another great piece of the puzzle. I'm glad it sounds good out of the box, and hopefully will improve. :exciting:
 
Thanks guys! I'll give a full report on the differences between the K-01X and the K-01 once it is fully broken in. I still love spinning CDs and SACDs. The K-01X transport is so darn good, it just makes you want to use it.

Ken
 
Listening to Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" on 192/24 FLAC oversampling to 384/32. The expansive soundstage, the ease and the refinement, the K-01X is significantly better on this material than the K-01. The K-01X has tranformed my system! I can't wait to add the G-01 Master Clock early next year.

Ken
 
With this kind of performance, I would think the K-01X is probably one of the last great CD/SACD players to be made. Glad you are really happy with it Ken!
 
Ritmo said:
With this kind of performance, I would think the K-01X is probably one of the last great CD/SACD players to be made. Glad you are really happy with it Ken!
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Thanks Mike! Esoteric has hit a home run with the K-01X. They cannot build them fast enough for the demand. The DAC is state of the art too. The upgrades they made and the ability to oversample to 384 kHz have brought the K-01X to another level. The upgraded DAC has a bigger soundstage, more precise imaging, more refinement, more ease of presentation and increased dynamics (the blacks are blacker). I cannot believe the improvement I am hearing in my system...jaw dropping!

Esoteric-HCLD*: Esoteric's Proprietary Current-Enhancing Output Buffer Circuit.The ability to produce comparatively large currents and high slew rates are two of the most important factors to enable an analog output circuit to accurately transmit the wide dynamic range of a music signal without degradation. To obtain the ultimate performance, the K-01X employs the same Esoteric-HCLD buffer amplifier circuitry found in the Grandioso D1.
Two of these buffer circuits are employed per channel. Their high output current capacity and exceptionally fast slew rate (2000V/μs) provide an indication of their excellent response speed. By configuring them differentially to drive the XLR outputs and in parallel to drive the RCA outputs, the instantaneous output current available is maximized. The Esoteric-HCLD circuitry enables the K-01X to recreate the full dynamism of music with a sense of realism that will take your breath away.*HCLD=High Current Line Driver

35 bit D/A ProcessingThe K-01X combines multiple 32-bit DAC chipsets and utilizes 35-bit D/A processing algorithm to convert the PCM signal to analog at a high resolution in excess of 32 bits. 35-bit processing achieves an astounding resolution that is fully 2,048 times that of 24-bit processing. In the digital range, full advantage is taken of high-bit data gradation to minimize calculation errors and provide faithful conversion to analog, thereby attaining outstanding powers of expression with even extremely small music signals.
 
Since I need a CD player AND a good DAC, I am considering this ESOTERIC K-01x but also the EMM LAB XDS-1, the VITUS SCD-025, the T+A PDP 3000HV & the TAD D-1000.

anyone know how they compare ( as CD player but ALSO as USB DAC) ? I heard VITUS and ESOTERIC have different sound !?

thanks a lot
 
Ken,

Wish I hadn't read your excitement over the K-01X but now that I have.....dang!

Jon.
 
I am currently listening to my Ray Brown, Monty Alexander and Russell Malone Telarc SACD on the K-01X for the first time and it is absolutely blowing me away. The natural warmth and lifelike quality of the music is stunning. There is tremendous musicality but yet each of the individual players are clearly delineated. I'm thinking the K-01X is the smartest move I've made in quite awhile.

Ken
 
Alpinist said:
I am currently listening to my Ray Brown, Monty Alexander and Russell Malone Telarc SACD on the K-01X for the first time and it is absolutely blowing me away. The natural warmth and lifelike quality of the music is stunning. There is tremendous musicality but yet each of the individual players are clearly delineated. I'm thinking the K-01X is the smartest move I've made in quite awhile.

Ken
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Yep, it feels great when everything falls nicely into place.
Jon :)
 
Ken,

I am now listening to the Ray Brown SACD that you mentioned and it is everything as you have described.
Great sound, great music. Music making doesn't get any better than this.

Rgds.
Jon
 
Alpinist said:
I am currently listening to my Ray Brown, Monty Alexander and Russell Malone Telarc SACD on the K-01X for the first time and it is absolutely blowing me away. The natural warmth and lifelike quality of the music is stunning. There is tremendous musicality but yet each of the individual players are clearly delineated. I'm thinking the K-01X is the smartest move I've made in quite awhile.

Ken
Click to expand...

Looks like you really enjoy your K-01x. I am happy for you :congrats:

QUESTION: Do you also use the K-01x as a DAC for external devices like a Music player (Aurender...) or a USB Computer to play High-Res music files ? Indeed, I can afford a K-O1x only if it allow me to avoid to purchase an external DAC ( a TotalDAC D-1 in this case)...
 
bmichels said:
Looks like you really enjoy your K-01x. I am happy for you :congrats:

QUESTION: Do you also use the K-01x as a DAC for external devices like a Music player (Aurender...) or a USB Computer to play High-Res music files ? Indeed, I can afford a K-O1x only if it allow me to avoid to purchase an external DAC ( a TotalDAC D-1 in this case)...
Click to expand...

Thanks bmichels! I'm currently using the K-01X DAC in conjunction with a Mac Mini OS X Server connected by a Wireworld Platinum 7 USB cable. This setup produces outstanding sound but there is still room for improvement with an audiophile music server. The K-01X provides reference level performance on CD, SACD and through its internal DAC. Here is the link to a K-01X review: http://www.dagogo.com/esoteric-k-01x-super-audio-cdcd-player-review

Best,
Ken
 
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