Esoteric N-01

AJR said:
Based on some telephone enquiries to the Esoteric dealer in Singapore, the prices for the N1 (not in stock yet) and N5 are WAY lower than what seems to be on offer in Japan and the US. So much lower that I find it hard to believe, so I am going to visit the store to be sure.
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I was in Singapore yesterday. The number you heard in Singapore is probably correct....WAY lower than numbers mentioned by our US friends, it is hard to believe. But believe it, because I bought one.
 
Milk_vanilla said:
..will n1 be considered a jump from my lumin a1 ?
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The N01 is brand new, initial production stock is slowly filtering through to some distributors in some markets. To answer your question needs end-user time with N01 which doesn't exist yet. But I'll be getting some N01 time very soon.

Here is my new G02X, patiently waiting on the arrival of N01. The other gear on the periphery of the pic is a PS Audio DirectStream Memory Player, DirectStream Junior DAC, PS Audio Power Plant P3, Ayon Sigma DAC, and Halcro dm8 pre-amp.


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The beast is in da house....

What's the trick for getting the N01 to sync with the G02X clock? The CLOCK light on N01 isn't coming on, I'm not sure why.

Something whacky going on with the Esoteric app. It's finding the N01 on the network, and it's asking me if I want to upgrade new firmware, from 8.03b to 7.10c. Surely that would be a firmware downgrade? Assuming 8.03b is the current production firmware (my N01 was built 2 weeks ago), perhaps the Esoteric app hasn't caught up yet.

Esoteric sure know how to pack stuff. The N01 shipped triple boxed, beautifully packed inside with handles to lift the unit out of the box. Just the packaging of the N01 alone weighs more than my PS Audio DAC!

The output level of N01 seems very high, I have to turn the pre-amp volume down considerably compared with my other DAC's. I hope there is a setting to reduce the output level, if my pre-amp went full volume for some reason the speakers would blow for sure. That wouldn't happen with my other DACs as, with their lower output level, driving the pre-amp to +20dB full volume wouldn't send the power amps into clipping and blow up the speakers. It would drive them hard for sure, but would still be within their power limits.
 

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I believe the clock needs to be individually enabled for each port in G-02X, and the N-01 also needs to manually setup to enable the clock input.

If you're using XLR output, you can use the RCA output instead for lower output level.

Alternatively, you can turn on the digital volume in Esoteric app and use it, but this is not recommended for people with a pre-amp.
 
wklie said:
I believe the clock needs to be individually enabled for each port in G-02X, and the N-01 also needs to manually setup to enable the clock input..
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The G02X 10 Mhz outputs are enabled by default, and indicated on the display as being on. I don't see anything in the N01 manual about enabling the external clock input. My reading of it, if the N01 detects an external clock signal the CLOCK light will blink, and after syncing with that signal it goes steady blue. The CLOCK light on my N01 is off, with the G02X 10 Mhz output indicating on.
 
On N-05, pressing MENU on the front panel a few times will come to a CLK setting. N-01 should have an equivalent setting.
 
OK, I got it working. The manual is very confusing about this (page 17). Clock sync mode setting default is OFF. Change to IN and N01 will use the CLOCK SYNC IN. I tested it by disconnecting the BNC>BNC clock cable and sure enough music playback stopped. Reading the manual my understanding is, if you want to synchronise N01 with the input source, select IN. In my case, the input source does not have a clock input so I set OFF. Perhaps some misunderstanding in the English translation of the Japanese manual.
The N01 manual should just say, if you wish to synchronise the unit's master clock with an external clock, set CLK>IN.
 
Too bad N01 doesn't have an ES-LINK4 connector to allow native SACD playback from P02X. I'm contemplating my options for SACD...
 
Rip SACD as DSF. Google for the specific hardware and software required for this task.
 
The N01 is without a doubt the best sounding DAC I have thus heard. Makes me wonder how much ahead of N01 the Grandioso D1 pair might be. If only N01 had ES-LINK that I could plug a P05X in to.
 
brodricj said:
The N01 is without a doubt the best sounding DAC I have thus heard. Makes me wonder how much ahead of N01 the Grandioso D1 pair might be.
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Some of the superiority of Grandioso D1 is offset by the use of the newer and more advanced AK4497 in N-01:
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This is a good point. N01 might put a dent in D1 sales for this reason. Hard to justify buying D1 given the capability of the DAC in N01. The prospect of D1X with AK4497 would be appealing.
 
brodricj said:
The N01 is without a doubt the best sounding DAC I have thus heard. Makes me wonder how much ahead of N01 the Grandioso D1 pair might be. If only N01 had ES-LINK that I could plug a P05X in to.
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Same chipset as the Grandioso K1. I chose the K1 because I like to spin discs. It sounds great as a DAC, but put in a CD and it’s out of this world


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