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  #21  
Old 10-17-2015, 09:37 AM
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Originally Posted by audible1 View Post
Had the time to do a few A-B comparisons of the K-01x (with Rb clock) transport vs USB. This was from discs I ripped myself with the mac superdrive onto the internal ssd on the macbook. Files were streamed via usb, jriver, either at native 44.1 or upsampled to 352.8kHz.

There is certainly something quite magic about Esoteric's transport.

I have had a few friends over with good ears and we have all agreed that the playback is best via the Esoteric transport. It's just got more body, depth, attack, image etc etc. Not to say the USB playback isn't good. It is very good. If I didn't have the original disc I probably would never really have objected. However, for absolute reference, we have found that the transport is the way to go.

On both usb and native transport I have set up oversampling to 8Fs, SLY2 digital filter. The default USB setting is NOS, with no DF. The change of the USB settings made a huge improvement on my system. But not as good as the transport.

Looks like I'll be playing discs most of the time for my critical listening but I'm also happy with the convenience and good performance of the streamed input.
Interesting. Does burn-in come into play at all when comparing the sound of the transport vs the sound of the usb? Does anyone have an explanation for audible1's findings or have had different results?
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  #22  
Old 10-17-2015, 09:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mchydro View Post
Interesting. Does burn-in come into play at all when comparing the sound of the transport vs the sound of the usb? Does anyone have an explanation for audible1's findings or have had different results?
Yes and yes.

Personal taste, equipment pairings and burn-in all play a big role. For example, even though the player was burned in for the transport use, it was not burned in at all using USB. Plus, I am not saying he is wrong - using the transport in his rig may really sound better to him. Not all computer playback is equivalent to other computer playback. My USB feed on my computer source sounds so good on my rig to my ears that I put the CDs in storage. YMMV
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  #23  
Old 10-17-2015, 10:38 AM
cmarin cmarin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chessman View Post
Yes and yes. Personal taste, equipment pairings and burn-in all play a big role. For example, even though the player was burned in for the transport use, it was not burned in at all using USB. Plus, I am not saying he is wrong - using the transport in his rig may really sound better to him. Not all computer playback is equivalent to other computer playback. My USB feed on my computer source sounds so good on my rig to my ears that I put the CDs in storage. YMMV
"Not all computer playback is equivalent to other computer playback."

Couldn't agree more. Even with the same music server, just powering the internal SSDs (OS and music storage) with a different LPS made an order of magnitude difference in sound quality in my system.
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  #24  
Old 10-17-2015, 11:06 AM
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On my Grandioso stack, I can barely detect any difference between the CD and streaming from my Silenzio.
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MX136, MC1.2KW(10) MC2KW(2), MCD1100, MS750(2) MVP881, C1000C/P/T, MPC1500, HT-2 SUBS(2) HT3F(2) WS350(2) XRT2K, XCS2K, XR27(2) XCS350(2) JL GOTHAM v2 SUBS(2) SILENZIO MUSIC SERVER, LUMAGEN RADIANCE SCALER, SONY VPH-G90U 4K PROJECTOR, STEWART 120" MOTORIZED SCREEN, CINEMA-TECH SEATING, WW PLATINUM CABLES
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MX150, MC501(2) MC1.2KW(10) MC2301(2) MR88, MVP881, MCD1100, MDA1000, C1000C/P/T, MPC1500, ESOTERIC K-01X 30th ANNIVERSARY (BLACK) SACD/CD PLAYER, G02-X CLOCK, HT3F(2) XRT2K, XCS2K, XR27(2) JL GOTHAM v2 SUBS(2) JL FATHOM F113v2 SUBS(4) SOUND ANCHOR STANDS(2) KALEIDESCAPE STRATO & TERRA SERVERS 80-TB, LUMAGEN RADIANCE SCALER, SONY VPH-G90U 4K PROJECTOR, STEWART 120" SCREEN, SONUS FABER STRADIVARI, SILENZIO MUSIC SERVER, FORTRESS SEATING, WW PLATINUM CABLES
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Library System: GRANDIOSO M1 MONOBLOCK AMPS, C1 LINESTAGE PRE-AMP, K1X CD/SACD PLAYER, G1 MASTER RUBIDIUM CLOCK, E02 PHONO-PRE, SILENZIO MUSIC SERVER, AERIAL ACOUSTICS 20T V2, AERIAL SW12 SUBS(2), CANTON REF K1’s, VPI HRX TT w/ SDS POWER SUPPLY, ORTOFON CADENZA BLACK CART, KLAUDIO RCM, SHUNYATA DENALI 6000/S v2, SHUNYATA OMEGA QR’s, WW PLATINUM CABLES
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  #25  
Old 10-20-2015, 04:43 PM
audible1 audible1 is offline
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If you can help me with suggestions for changing settings for usb input to improve sound (on Esoteric / Mac / Jriver) I'm all ears!!!
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  #26  
Old 10-20-2015, 06:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mchydro View Post
Interesting. Does burn-in come into play at all when comparing the sound of the transport vs the sound of the usb? Does anyone have an explanation for audible1's findings or have had different results?
I have found exactly the same to be true with my K-01, which is fully broken in. USB listening is terrific with my Mac Mini and WW Platinum 7 USB cable. However, the K-01 transport is absolutely magical and produces more body/midrange density and ease. The transport is absolutely state of the art.

Ken
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  #27  
Old 10-20-2015, 07:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PlanarSpeakerFan View Post

I have found exactly the same to be true with my K-01, which is fully broken in. USB listening is terrific with my Mac Mini and WW Platinum 7 USB cable. However, the K-01 transport is absolutely magical and produces more body/midrange density and ease. The transport is absolutely state of the art.

Ken
Interesting. I wonder if there are any variables on the computer side of things that could explain at least some of this discrepancy.
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  #28  
Old 10-20-2015, 07:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mchydro View Post
Interesting. I wonder if there are any variables on the computer side of things that could explain at least some of this discrepancy.
There are variables: power supply noise, software being used, network latency if wireless, noisy computer components, NAS latency, and probably more.
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  #29  
Old 10-20-2015, 08:46 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chessman View Post

There are variables: power supply noise, software being used, network latency if wireless, noisy computer components, NAS latency, and probably more.
That's what I was thinking.

I'm glad the transport sounds awesome. It's a beautiful piece of engineering.

For the obvious reason of convenience, I want the usb-fed content to sound just as awesome.
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  #30  
Old 10-20-2015, 11:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mchydro View Post
Interesting. I wonder if there are any variables on the computer side of things that could explain at least some of this discrepancy.
Yes, a high-end music server like the Aurender N10 or Antipodes DX would close the gap some but I do not believe entirely. There is a certain musical rightness to the transport that's very hard to beat.

Ken

Last edited by PlanarSpeakerFan; 10-20-2015 at 11:53 PM.
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