Esoteric N-05 vs K-01

wklie said:
True.

It says (my translation):

- Using Audirvana software, USB sounds thicker. Network streaming sounds lighter (leaner?) with higher flexibility (?). Each has its pros.

- When used with G-02 the sound becomes more focused and smooth.
Click to expand...

Thanks. :)
 
Re: Esoteric N-05 vs K-01

j2020 said:
A forumer at CA has compared the Linn, Lumin and N-05 and he finds the N-05 giving the most balanced SQ of the 3.
The Lumin uses the Wolfson chip which is very well regarded too.
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From a Hong Kong forum, someone auditioned Lumin A1 and Esoteric N-05. He chose Lumin A1 because he feels it has more dynamics and sounds less fatiguing for prolonged listening.

So both products have their advantages and suit different people's preferences. Choice is a good thing.
 
Re: Esoteric N-05 vs K-01

wklie said:
From a Hong Kong forum, someone auditioned Lumin A1 and Esoteric N-05. He chose Lumin A1 because he feels it has more dynamics and sounds less fatiguing for prolonged listening.

So both products have their advantages and suit different people's preferences. Choice is a good thing.
Click to expand...

From the CA forum :-

"Recently bought N-05. Before that I have used Linn Majik, Lumin A1. All are streamer and DAC in one. This is by far the most satisfactory streamer to me. I am not saying Linn and Lumin is inferior to Esoteric but it is more appealing to me. Linn is smooth and silky suitable for chambers music. Lumin is good at the mid-range but the extension in both ends seems not sufficient. Esoteric is good at all 3 ranges and has more inputs, i.e. coaxial, optical, usb, ethernet. It can play DSD as well."

As always, it all boils down to system synergy and our own ears.
Yes, choice is a very good thing. :)
 
Re: Esoteric N-05 vs K-01

Update :-

I have now 1000 hours of burn-in on the N-05 which has blossomed into a most wonderful dac.
Truly, way, way better than the K-01 in every aspect of music reproduction.
Incredible value for the money!

Cheers! :) :):)
 
160219_N-05_top-web.jpg
 
Re: Esoteric N-05 vs K-01

wklie said:
From a Hong Kong forum, someone auditioned Lumin A1 and Esoteric N-05. He chose Lumin A1 because he feels it has more dynamics and sounds less fatiguing for prolonged listening.So both products have their advantages and suit different people's preferences. Choice is a good thing.
Click to expand...

Hi wklie/Peter,

I took your advice from another thread which I can't find now. Anyway I tried your suggestion of using AC line power adapters for the network. Hooked things up and presto! I can play from the thumbdrive ported to the rear panel using the Soundstream app on an iPad which is essentially Lumin's.

Here's the kicker. With the AQ Jitterbug in series with the thumbdrive, music sounds a whole level better than my previous usb set-up via the iFi USB 3.0. So now, the USB 3.0 is tucked in some forgotten corner.

The difference is indeed night and day - much more open soundstage, more fleshed out instruments, more treble air, warmer and more musical!

My question is why this should be so - am I playing via ethernet or is it still usb from the thumbdrive? Logically, it should still be usb. If so, then the A-port implementation would appear to be way better than that for the B-port. Either that or the pc as a server is very much inferior to the thumbdrive.

Thanks in advance.
Jon. :)
 
Re: Esoteric N-05 vs K-01

Generally, I mention power line adapter only as a last resort - because it affects the power, which in turn may affect the sound quality of audio equipment (according to some people).

If you use a thumb drive, the data flow is from the USB. The Ethernet hardware port is not involved in the flow of music data, but it is still used for communication with the app. As you've found out and validated many others' experiences, using a general purpose computer as a source with USB connection to the USB DAC is not ideal, because the computer EMI/RFI noise passes through the USB cable to affect the sound quality of the DAC. This reminds me of a recent report of replacing MacBook Pro by a dedicated network transport:
http://www.audioshark.org/showthread.php?t=10568&page=2&p=181882&viewfull=1#post181882
 
Re: Esoteric N-05 vs K-01

wklie said:
Generally, I mention power line adapter only as a last resort - because it affects the power, which in turn may affect the sound quality of audio equipment (according to some people).

If you use a thumb drive, the data flow is from the USB. The Ethernet hardware port is not involved in the flow of music data, but it is still used for communication with the app. As you've found out and validated many others' experiences, using a general purpose computer as a source with USB connection to the USB DAC is not ideal, because the computer EMI/RFI noise passes through the USB cable to affect the sound quality of the DAC. This reminds me of a recent report of replacing MacBook Pro by a dedicated network transport:
http://www.audioshark.org/showthread.php?t=10568&page=2&p=181882&viewfull=1#post181882
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link.
I guess the iFi USB3.0 is good but not good enough.
 
Ditto. I am considering buying an N-05 and would be very interested to hear if anyone else has recently considered one and decided to go for a different single box streamer/DAC.
 
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