*NEW* Esoteric N-05XD

beckzito said:
does anyone knows if using balanced outpus to my integrated Luxman and setting the volume control to variable(instead of fix) on the N5-xd i am turning off the preamplification of the Luxman ?

Tks.
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After reviewing the connections and manual for the Luxman the two pair of XLR inputs appear to be standard inputs which would be routed through both the preamplifier and power amp sections. There is a pair of RCA inputs marked "MAIN IN" which allow direct access to the power amp section without going through the preamp section, but I don't see any similar input via XLRs provided. Hope that helps and welcome to AudioShark!
 
Luxman MAIN IN (for connection to a separate preamp) is RCA only, and you need to turn on SEPARATE function to use this connection.

Since it's RCA only, from a connection standpoint I think you're better off using the N-05XD line out L_VOL as FIX and use the Luxman to control the volume.

Or, you may do an A/B comparison of N-05XD preamp with RCA output vs the N-05XD FIX XLR output to Luxman integrated preamp. Be careful with volume settings before starting any music playback.
 
Many thanks to both of you.

For the time being i set a Denon AVR to the Main In of the Luxman with RCA... and from Luxman to Esoteric with XLR. Also set the Esoteric as L_VOL Fix.

This way i control AV and Stereo content with only one volume control.
 
Hi again :hey:

My demo N05-XD had "Tidal Connect" on display everytime when playing from the app ... but my new model presents only format and bit rate.
I already updated the general firmware and checked network module version: 14.1s (on esoteric website last one is 14.1k but no 14.1s, strange...)

Plus, i did not find any setting to toggle the screen information.

Anyone knows what i am missing here?

PS-sound is a delight(Lumin D1 was good but this makes my Marten speakers reach the heaven)
 
beckzito said:
Hi again :hey:

My demo N05-XD had "Tidal Connect" on display everytime when playing from the app ... but my new model presents only format and bit rate.
I already updated the general firmware and checked network module version: 14.1s (on esoteric website last one is 14.1k but no 14.1s, strange...)

Plus, i did not find any setting to toggle the screen information.

Anyone knows what i am missing here?

PS-sound is a delight(Lumin D1 was good but this makes my Marten speakers reach the heaven)
Click to expand...

Now that you mentioned it, I do have the same question. Mine seems to come with most updated firmware version. And it’s displaying format and bitrate, not “tidal connect”. Manual doesn’t seem to explain it as well, I just went through it twice.

Not that it matters a lot, but it’d be good to know.
 
Please try the various buttons on the front panel especially < > . On the old N-05 there is a front panel button that toggles status display. I don't have the N-05XD to test with, but perhaps N-05XD may have similar buttons on the front panel.
 
I got the answer from Japan. If I have not misunderstood it, for N-05XD this display is controlled by whether it's in fixed volume mode or variable volume mode.

Please turn off the power amp and test both settings for Tidal Connect.

Make sure you restore the setting you need and the correct volume before you turn on your power amp again.
 
kzhtoo said:
Sounds like you loved your demo, Mark. Please do share your impression.

It’s breaking in nicely for me. Still has a way to go to hit 200 hours as Mike recommended. So far so good and no feeling of being underwhelmed whatsoever. Rich, big sound from the get go. I came from MSB Discrete, so it’s my bare minimum. Excited to explore its feature set such as headphone output, pre-amp function in the coming days, although this will mainly be used as DAC + media player in the rig.
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How do you feel it sounds after 3 weeks, compared to the discreete ?

BTW - you can get the Mutec Ref 10 clock in black. Hugely better performance than Esoteric clock. Cheaper too (one of the rare cases where sth is much better and cheaper at the same time).
 
Exactly like you described, Peter :congrats:

Dont know whats Esoteric logic on showing either source info or format/bitrate on screen, depending on the volume control...but no big deal here :)
 
Elberoth said:
How do you feel it sounds after 3 weeks, compared to the discreete ?

BTW - you can get the Mutec Ref 10 clock in black. Hugely better performance than Esoteric clock. Cheaper too (one of the rare cases where sth is much better and cheaper at the same time).
Click to expand...

N-05XD is a winner. Big sound, very detailed yet musical. Play every genre very well, at least the ones I listen to. I had some worries as I can’t stand the bright sound or sibilance and N-05XD produces neither. I can listen for hours without fatigue.

There’s also something about media player + DAC in one box implementation. For this $10k-ish price point, I feel this is the way to go. It just sounds more coherent to me than my previous setup.

As a side note, my current Ethernet connection is EtherREGEN > Gigafoil > Shunyata Omega > DAC. Previously also was the same setup except another Ethernet connection from EtherREGEN to Roon Nucleus.

Currently contemplating to add a 10MHz master clock. As suggested, thinking of either Mutec or CyberShaft. EtherREGEN might also benefit from it by running another line. BTW if anyone has an extra OP21A lying around, I’d like to know about it.

As for the break-in, I’m quite bad keeping tab on how the process progresses. I did notice even at 300hr (this is > recommended 200hr), it was still changing. Now I’m at >500hr and seems to have fully broken in. Do note, I don’t know exact number of hrs it’d take.

To conclude, I recommend N-05XD wholeheartedly.
 
I still have it on for default, which is PCMF OFF, PCMΔΣ 512 and DSDF OFF.
 
Well,well,well.......My black N05XD showed up Saturday :celebrate008_2:

Right out of the box it sounds big and beautiful....great bass,smooth treble, a great sense of space.

I'm thrilled, and it's not even close to broke in.
 
MDP said:
Well,well,well.......My black N05XD showed up Saturday :celebrate008_2:

Right out of the box it sounds big and beautiful....great bass,smooth treble, a great sense of space.

I'm thrilled, and it's not even close to broke in.
Click to expand...

That was relatively quick and nice surprise. Congrats and enjoy!
 
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