Esoteric P02X, D02X (and C02X), any direct listening impressions are appreciated....

Anyone?

The more i am tempted to upgrade from the k-01x to either a K1 or the D02x from this very large range for top tier price digital,  its kind of getting more and more frustrating that the at the investment that has to be made and the many new dacs chips AKM manufactures and designs every so often. 

I wonder if digital has really reached its potential,  i feel so even from listen to the k01x and dont really find anything lacking at the least. 

For me,  It would be starting to change the character for these front end equupment to say a little more naturalness in the vocals etc which normally will start having trade offs which great smoothness v.  Dynamics,  bass ets. 

The more i reseach on digital,  i am thinking at these investment levels,  a FPGA dac is the way to go,  and wont have the issues of getting outdated every 6 months or a year. 

The k1 dacs are the latest and greatest now,  doea it leave the D1 and D02x in the dust so soon already? 

How are your plans for the upgrade to the D02x going? 

Justubes2: Thank you....I know the feeling; when I hear my P-02/D-02 I don't pick out things that are lacking per se. I think it is definitely the 'audiophile gene' kicking in at the prospect of stepping up to 'an even better solution'.   I've been told that the P-02X/D-02X still has an edge over the K-01X due to the separation of boxes/functions, extra power supplies, etc...and all the usual things and further that the new Grandioso K1 will come close but the only way to get a big jump from P-02X/D-02X is to go to the 4-box Grandioso system (not counting clock which would make 5!)...

I am sure there is a similar talk track to extol the virtues of the K-01X or Grandioso K1, such is the nature of our hobby/the industry.

When the P-02X/D-02X and K-01X in particular came out, 2 things came to mind;

- AKM specifically talks about a much smoother presentation (think the word 'velvet' is utilized) than even the radically upgraded DAC that is present in the P/D 02 and K-01 "non-X" units....that grabbed my attention as what is the the non-X units already kicks ass :-)

- in the progression from P-03U/D-03 and the requisite increase in capabilities of the new AKM DACs in the P/D 02 and K-01 non-X units, AND (in the case of the P-02/D-02 in particular the introduction of "dual-AES ES-LINK3" as a new capability over dual-AES ES-LINK2), and the advent of 35-bit processing for both P/D and K units, there was a huge uplift in my system's ability to preservice detail, have drastically enhanced imaging AND now much better musical levels of playback, more natural notes, voices, etc.., due I am convinced, to the introduction of the new DACs and greater overall effective bit depth,...the miracle of this (at least to me) is that all these categories improved within the P/D units losing 2 things in particular (or anything else) Esoteric is known for, namely "pits of hell" bass reach/extent and a seemingly limitless top ed all at the same time....

Esoteric is claiming (and those that have heard the "X" units and Grandioso units state emphatically) that the advent of the newest AKM DACs and move to dual-HDMI conduits over ES-LINK4 (for separates) together with the advent of 36-bit processing (for P/D and K-01 "X" units and Grandioso of course) that they have achieved the closest and smoothest curve-fit of an analog wave from the digital wave....

Being a good audio-nut, such statements get the "have to have..." thoughts flowing as we all know.  I do wonder "what's next" from AKM, etc....is this going to plateau for a while like it did from the 03 generation to the 02 (quite a few years in between) or will we see AKM put out the next-greatest/best DAC upgrade and Esoteric/others to follow with new players and separates based upon the "AKMXXXX" DAC in only 1-2 years starting this torturous cycle all over again :-)

The relentless pursuit (and neurosis) continues :-) 

Hi Mark, thanks it’s the male instincts working ... always wanting something new and better.... and again, Groundhog day!

I believe the P/D02x will have an edge over the K1, but again the fine balance of cables/isolation etc which have been painstakingly synergised into the system.

Do you feel the eslink, given the rather limited choices still surpass good xlr/rca cables?

I have just got improved results feeding the 22m out with a cable and splitting with a T to my K01x and streamer.

My opinion was that the K01 was very good, but even before going to the X, i always felt the staging as slighlty compressed and overall less open than the X. It was a nice "upgrade".

My Mr golden ears, after hearing the addition for the clock, clock +rubidium quartzlock 10m and now clock + cybershaft OCXO states that the last was a good improvement, upgrading to the X was not nearly as significant!

Maybe your A2000 50ohm cable will do it for you! There are still found on japan’s yahoo auctions for reasonable money.

I have given up on seeking out a bestest transport as Tidal now exceeds spinning CD’s, so the P-02X is out so waiting if there is a compaison for the K1 and D-02X for dacs alone or hope a N-1 streamer will be release and that would be a no brainer for me!

I am sure a new AKM4499 will be on the drawing board by the time K1 gets delivered to dealers outside japan;)


For one, the only thing i "think" i would like is improvements towards an even more "real-er" vocal rendering, which has already improve greatly by the adding of the OCXO op16,lest i should sacrifice the other ranges which i am more than contented with and maybe a a Nagra or emm dac!