*NEW* Esoteric N-05XD

Mr Peabody said:
How does the sound of the N05XD compare to the May? What made you switch? Thanks
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I loved the May and thought I had found my endgame amp. But once i heard the Esoteric I knew I had to have it. It has absolutely all the May qualities (huge soundstage, crazy dynamics, etc) but in comparison I realized the May was giving up too much in order to achieve this. Whereas the N-05XD doesn't give up anything. It's effortlessly big, refined, impactful and musical all at once, and all in perfect balance. Plus it has a kick-**s streamer, preamp, HP out and app. So now I really think I've found my endgame. Until the next one of course ;)
 
Mr Peabody said:
I was recently reading about the N05XD and learned Lumin helped or consulted on the network end of the unit.
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I actually had to change my amp recently and now the digital noise is gone. So problem #1 is solved. Now if I could get the screen to reliably turn off by itself after 10' I would be a happy camper :)
 
tdx444 said:
I actually had to change my amp recently and now the digital noise is gone. So problem #1 is solved. Now if I could get the screen to reliably turn off by itself after 10' I would be a happy camper :)
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Page 27 of the manual:

Automatic display dimming setting DPaOFF>***
Use this to set the display to darken automatically .
o By default, the setting is ON .
o If the OEL display is left on with the same indication for a long time, brightness irregularities can occur . For this reason, we recommend that you set the automatic display dimming function to ON .
ON
If no operation is conducted for ten minutes, the display automati- cally turns off .
OFF
The display will not turn off automatically .
o If no operation is conducted for ten minutes, the display will dim to DIMMER 1 brightness to protect it from excessive wear .

It’s on Menu 1. I know no one reads manuals anymore 🤷*♂️
 
thyname said:
Page 27 of the manual:

Automatic display dimming setting DPaOFF>***
Use this to set the display to darken automatically .
o By default, the setting is ON .
o If the OEL display is left on with the same indication for a long time, brightness irregularities can occur . For this reason, we recommend that you set the automatic display dimming function to ON .
ON
If no operation is conducted for ten minutes, the display automati- cally turns off .
OFF
The display will not turn off automatically .
o If no operation is conducted for ten minutes, the display will dim to DIMMER 1 brightness to protect it from excessive wear .

It’s on Menu 1. I know no one reads manuals anymore 🤷*♂️
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Thanks I had actually seen that :) My issue is that I did enable this and sometimes it will turn off after a certain amount of time like it's supposed to. But then the next day it just stays on, which makes me worried about burn in. I cant figure out what makes it stay on only at certain times...
 
Next time this happens, observe what input (USB / coax / toslink / AES / network) it's in, and whether the headphone is connected at that time.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I was recently reading about the N05XD and learned Lumin helped or consulted on the network end of the unit.
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I'm to understand the hardware guts of the network function of N-01/N-01XD/N-05XD/N-03T is a Lumin U1. Which is why the Lumin Sound Stream App works with the Esoteric network streamers. Esoteric bolted its own power supply to the Lumin guts plus a few other things and dropped it into their own chassis.

Now that Lumin has done a U2 hopefully it will find its way into the replacement model for N-03T. N-03T is now 5 years old and is probably close to end of life.
 
wklie said:
Next time this happens, observe what input (USB / coax / toslink / AES / network) it's in, and whether the headphone is connected at that time.
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I checked. It happens both in USB and network in (though more frequently with USB). No headphones connected, i use a separate HP amp.
 
It would be interesting if I got a N05xd how the streaming would compare to my ACS10. I'd still use the ACS10 which has all my CD's on the hard drive. Unless one was obviously better it would come down to the app.
 
tdx444 said:
I checked. It happens both in USB and network in (though more frequently with USB). No headphones connected, i use a separate HP amp.
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I suggest you factory reset the unit, and re-setup the DPaOFF setting, volume settings (if necessary), filters, etc. and disable the unneeded network services again.

If it still occurs, then disconnect the network while using USB, and vice-versa. See if you can further isolate the condition of triggering the issue - if this occurs only with USB, then something from the computer side is triggering it. Or if only occurs with network, then it may be one of the protocols of Spotify Connect, Roon, Tidal Connect, AirPlay, etc.
 
Mr Peabody said:
It would be interesting if I got a N05xd how the streaming would compare to my ACS10. I'd still use the ACS10 which has all my CD's on the hard drive. Unless one was obviously better it would come down to the app.
Click to expand...

To do this I think you'd need a computer or NAS to run the free MinimServer, (not 100% sure about the followings) and set its content directory over a network share exposed by Aurender. Or you can copy the whole library to the MinimServer to do a pure-Esoteric setup.
 
wklie said:
I suggest you factory reset the unit, and re-setup the DPaOFF setting, volume settings (if necessary), filters, etc. and disable the unneeded network services again.

If it still occurs, then disconnect the network while using USB, and vice-versa. See if you can further isolate the condition of triggering the issue - if this occurs only with USB, then something from the computer side is triggering it. Or if only occurs with network, then it may be one of the protocols of Spotify Connect, Roon, Tidal Connect, AirPlay, etc.
Click to expand...

Thanks I'll try that. I think something is triggering it on my source's side, since when i have an input selected ion the Esoteric it keeps "blinking" between "USB" and "ready" on the screen.
 
The ACS10 has a built-in hard drive, could I run the ACS10 USB into the N05xd DAC input, then switch from network to USB on the N05xd depending on whether I want to stream or listen to the hard drive?

I really am only interested in a DAC. From what I understand the network and preamp feature of the N05xd can be turned off.[

QUOTE=wklie;358672]To do this I think you'd need a computer or NAS to run the free MinimServer, (not 100% sure about the followings) and set its content directory over a network share exposed by Aurender. Or you can copy the whole library to the MinimServer to do a pure-Esoteric setup.[/QUOTE]
 
Mr Peabody said:
The ACS10 has a built-in hard drive, could I run the ACS10 USB into the N05xd DAC input, then switch from network to USB on the N05xd depending on whether I want to stream or listen to the hard drive?
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Yes, you can switch among the different inputs (network is treated as an input).
 
Considering the N-05XD as a headphone dac/amp later this year. Anyone compare this to the DCS Bartok? I know the DCS is more money but curious what folks think between the two?

George
 
DCS Bartok does not have analog inputs - ruled it out for me, I need an input for the Turntable.

N-05XD vs. Boulder 812 vs separates...
 
One advantage about N-05XD is its master clock input. If you think N-05XD sounds good without a master clock, wait until you listen it with either Cybershaft master clock or Mutec master clock.
 
...or Esoteric master clock. But you must use a good clock cable such as Shunyata Sigma Clock-50 to yield results.
 
Mr Peabody said:
Anyone ever compare the N05xd preamp section to anything?
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I have not compared to another preamp. However I have extensively tested the preamp function vs no preamp (passthrough) to my very resolving HP amp (Riviera AIC10) and I can say for sure there is zero difference in SQ. So the preamp in that sense works extremely well.
 
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