Metrum Acoustics Pavane or ESOTERIC N-05 or ESOTERIC K-05X?

Hi Audioabc, and George,
I own the Pavane and would describe the sound, in short, as natural, detailed, and dynamic.  The 0 to 60 factor is very good.  As with the Hex, it is not overly syrupy, rich or warm, but rather it is clear while being very natural sounding and never edgy, and still displaying warmth when on the recording.
That said, I auditioned Aqua's LaScala Mk II in my home and found it also to be a very nice sounding DAC.  The tube output resulted in a different presentation from the Pavane and I found something not quite as natural sounding (maybe a little forced), which I attributed to the high'ish output of 6V.  Subsequent discussions with the importer indicated that some tube rolling would improve on what I heard.  It was a close call between the LaScala Mk II and Pavane - comes down to personal preference.
I think the Aqua folks have a good thing going so I would really like to hear the Formula.  I have already contacted appropriate folks to get a crack at it once the initial hoopla settles a bit.  At $13,800, the Formula is over twice the cost of the Pavane so the LaScala MkII would be a better comparison.  I hear there may be some trickle-down improvements planned for LaScala and my discussions with the importer from a year or so ago indicate the Aqua folks are quite committed to providing customers upgrade options to their products when possible.

Hi audioabc,

Yes, the N-05 is indeed a pleasant surprise to me too. I would never have expected that Esoteric has improved the sound and the usb implementation to such an extent as to render the K-01 so deficient in comparison to the N-05. The new generation AK chip, improved power supply and analog output stages certainly all play a part in this improvement.

As to the awards list, you may be right about there being no category for network player/dac but the N-05 is srill very new, being launched after the K-X player series.

If your music collection is mostly cd’s, then the K-05X is the better choice. But if you intend to build up your hires library, then the N-05 with its robust usb implementation is preferred.

As I have now ripped my entire cd library to flac, I find the N-05 via USB beats cd’s spinning in the transport of the K-01.

Rgds. J.

Hi goergelofi & mitch2
Thank you for your recommendation and advice. Dac FORMULA is off course good at everything but the price! Its price is over my budget.

Hi jon0202

I prefer N-05 to K-05X because of my hires library (in 3TB). I am wating for the reply from an authorised seller in Japan.

You use Esoteric K-01 as transport and N-05 as external DAC? Wow! Your combo is too luxurious for me to dream of! Congrats!

Rgds.

Hi audioabc,

I actually sold the K-01 for the N-05 and have stopped spinning discs since ripping all of them to flac. Now I play all my music, both hires and redbook, via usb from a computer.

As you already have a large hires collection, the obvious choice is indeed the N-05. Keep us posted of your experience with the N-05 when you have got it.

I will be happy to share my experience with the various upsampling / filter settings together with the usb set-up for optimal sound quality. :)

Regards. J.