Yes, I think the Cybershaft performance is on par with the Grandioso G1X but at a much cheaper price point. You still have an upgrade path with K1X to make it even better. I know Mike was impressed when he added PS1 to his K1X. And the -SE VUK upgrade should be available for K1X soon.
Impressive first listen - Esoteric K01XD
- Thread starter joeinid
- Start date
Yes, I think the Cybershaft performance is on par with the Grandioso G1X but at a much cheaper price point. You still have an upgrade path with K1X to make it even better. I know Mike was impressed when he added PS1 to his K1X. And the -SE VUK upgrade should be available for K1X soon.
Agree. I keep my Cybershaft clock and Boulder 2110 on all the time.
For the money D1XSE would be hard to beat. The top dog MSB Select II is about twice the price of the Esoteric. I've heard Select II and it's excellent. But the Esoteric smokes it from a price/performance standpoint.
At the time I replaced my K01XD with the K1X, frankly I didn't detect any difference initially. However, after I upgraded the clock from OP19 to OP21A and let the new clock fully warmed up for 1 month. I believe the new combination can give me a huge soundstage and incredible dynamics that I never experienced from my system before.
I turn my G02X off. From a cold start it takes about 15 minutes for sonic glory to arrive. Perhaps I should enable the pre-heat function, but to me it doesn't really matter. Just as break-in period doesn't matter. It is what it is and I'm happy to wait for the thing to reach optimum stability as it warms up. What is really important is the clock cable. When I upgraded to the Shunyata Sigma v1 Clock-50 made a day vs night difference. I would like to borrow an Omega Clock-50 to compare against the Sigma, but truth be told the 10 MHz clock is only used to synchronize the Esoteric transport and DAC. The clock is not used when unclocked digital sources are used. And bearing in mind I don't spin physical discs very often the investment in clocks and clock cable upgrades can't be economically justified.
p.s. I heard a rumor that a new Grandioso F1X Integrated amplifier is on the way (replacement for the discontinued Grandioso F1).
So much new technology went into K-01XD that K1 doesn't have I suspect K-01XD would be the better performer. Certainly on paper. But I've never read that comparison before. The K1 has the AK4497 DAC chipset, same as N-01 which I am familiar with. I thought it was outstanding. But the Master Sound Discrete DAC hardware, which I am familiar with in D1X, is next level over the AKM chipset products.
Hello,
thank you . Did you compare/listen Esoteric Grandioso K1 (version before K1X) vs K01-XD?
what are the differences?
Hello,
I read a review on highfidelity.pl (Mr. WOJCIECH PACUŁA from Poland).
At the end/summary of the review of the K01-XD:
“Its character could be best compared to a high-class turntable, but with a better gradation of gray, with less "analogue" sound, in the sense that it is not as "made" as on vinyl records - and let me remind you that a vinyl record is only an approximation of what is on the "master" tapes. There is a very low bass and a precise high treble in this sound, but we will notice it only when we are looking for it. Without it, the sound seems simply complete and natural, there is no separate "treble" or "bass" in it.
his is literally one of the best-sounding and best-built digital players that I have heard in my life. It is also so different from the other devices mentioned above that it will be easy to decide if it is "your" sound - because it is a sound shaped in a specific way, different than that of all the aforementioned sound sources. And yet it is not the most expensive source of this manufacturer! A unique product from an exceptional company. ■ »
The conclusion is very good of course.
What do you think about this summary?
Do you agree with “very low bass”? “sound shaped in a specific way”? what kind of specific way?
"And the most important thing is that it sounds in "its own" way, different from all the best one-piece CD/SACD players I have heard."?
"it makes it easier to listen to music recorded in less than optimal quality"?
"This is one of the warmest sounding digital sources I know"?
is it neutral?
Philippe
I read a review on highfidelity.pl (Mr. WOJCIECH PACUŁA from Poland).
At the end/summary of the review of the K01-XD:
“Its character could be best compared to a high-class turntable, but with a better gradation of gray, with less "analogue" sound, in the sense that it is not as "made" as on vinyl records - and let me remind you that a vinyl record is only an approximation of what is on the "master" tapes. There is a very low bass and a precise high treble in this sound, but we will notice it only when we are looking for it. Without it, the sound seems simply complete and natural, there is no separate "treble" or "bass" in it.
his is literally one of the best-sounding and best-built digital players that I have heard in my life. It is also so different from the other devices mentioned above that it will be easy to decide if it is "your" sound - because it is a sound shaped in a specific way, different than that of all the aforementioned sound sources. And yet it is not the most expensive source of this manufacturer! A unique product from an exceptional company. ■ »
The conclusion is very good of course.
What do you think about this summary?
Do you agree with “very low bass”? “sound shaped in a specific way”? what kind of specific way?
"And the most important thing is that it sounds in "its own" way, different from all the best one-piece CD/SACD players I have heard."?
"it makes it easier to listen to music recorded in less than optimal quality"?
"This is one of the warmest sounding digital sources I know"?
is it neutral?
Philippe
Firstly, the reviewer is plainly wrong about K01-XD being the most expensive source from Esoteric. The Grandioso player is significantly more expensive. He's right about it being the best built digital player. The comments about its character being best compared to a high-class turntable, I think that is utter rubbish. I haven't heard a turntable character anywhere like an Esoteric digital source. Perhaps something got messed up in the translation. Or maybe the reviewer was padding it out for words. I wouldn't describe the Esoteric digital source sound being shaped in any specific way. The migration from AKM to FPGA microprocessors in Esoteric players produced another flavor of good. The algorithms Esoteric put into the FPGA's can certainly shape the sound in any way it wants. I had no criticism of the AKM DAC sound. Shaping of sound is far more at the mercy on the speakers, then the pre-amp, then the power amp. Cables have a bit to do with it also, but less so. I enjoyed the sound of my N-01. I enjoy the sound of my D1X. I don't really have a preference for one over the other. I have never found a quality source to make it easier to listen to music recorded in less than optimal quality. I lean in the other direction, the quality source is inclined to expose flaws in the recorded music that diminish the listening experience.
Thank you!
just another question: for the transportation (by a professionnal ) from another country , do you think it's necessary to put the original packaging/K01XD on a pallet (to avoid any damage , mechanics/drawer is probably fragile) ?
If by “professional” you mean professional shipping company, that question is easily answered; yes.
Yes, an ESOTERIC dealer proposed me to ship a K01XD using DHL/UPS etc... in its original packaging but not on a palet, explaining that he had already shipped all over the world this kind of heavy device this way without any complaint from customer... i think its more practical for him to do like that, but i was not convinced ...
Maybe it's acceptable for an amp, or a preamp, but not for such a CD player (even if there is probably a device to lock the drawer)
Maybe it's acceptable for an amp, or a preamp, but not for such a CD player (even if there is probably a device to lock the drawer)
That person is clueless. CD players must be shipped freight. Why? UPS, Fedex, etc have sorting stations which “tumble” the packages. Terrible for a CD mechanism.
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I agree with Mike. Everything that comes to me from Esoteric arrives on a pallet. If it's on a pallet it's not going to be tumbled on a ramp on a sorting machine. But being on a pallet does expose the risk of driver error and the factory box being penetrated by a forklift tang, which happened to me.
Michaels HiFi
Well-known member
Sounds like that dealer is just trying to save a few bucks on shipping by not shipping it the right way.
Dealers always pass on shipping charges to customers, or price shipping into the purchase price, no? No harm in them offering to ship it UPS/FedEx, but for a disc player I would insist on shipping on the pallet whoever carried it. I don't mind the extra charges for freight.
Michaels HiFi
Well-known member
No. Many dealers here in the US include it free in the price. So if they save $$ on shipping then they put more money in their pocket.