Esoteric Grandioso P1/D1

Yes I know what you mean. Many things to point out, but realism of reproduction is probably the most important achievement. All is just right. Bass, detail, expression, extension, sound staging... you name it. But it is altogether that gives realism levels not heard before. Listening to orchestral or symphonic music, it is amazing how there you are. I always remember when being in a concert, the sense of calm yet great dynamics when all the orchestra kicks in. But all in order and under control. This is best way to describe what I hear.

G I may be wrong, since early days and don't know in deep detail, but I don't think you can drive an amp directly from DACs. It does not have volume control. Or I have not seen it. Which for me is a plus actually since always have felt a good preamp improves sound and resolution over digital volume controls.

Hi G, No volume control on the new Esoterics. The D1 does not have it and the upgraded K-03X & K-01X no longer are equipped. When I had my K-01 I used it direct for awhile. At the time I had a Bryston preamp for multi channel, which is a pretty good preamp, and the K-01 was amazingly good sounding, but, After awhile I ran it through the preamp. I mostly listen to CDs and SACDs, so I would think that with Hi-Rez straight through the DAC could be the best hookup.
When I upgraded to the D-02 I had the Esoteric C-02 Preamp, and without doubt liked it better with the preamp.
And now I have no choice! there is no volume control offered. I am running the Ypsilon preamp and love the sound mated with the Esoteric. It clearly helped the D-02 balance out and I liked the darker overall presentation.
With the D1/P1 I am very satisfied with no filters using the ES-Link 4 HDMI protocol. The music just flows through these machines. Overall much more resolution than the D-02. I always felt that the D-02 was as good as it gets with retrieving detail. Finding the information on any format and playback was really good, but better with some stuff than others. When I got the Ypsilon preamp in line, that was as good as I had in my system, but Redbook didn't have the texture and resolution that the D1s provide. The D1s are great all around as any DAC I have heard, though I have not heard many of the top rated ones, I just don't feel like I am for loss, and can concentrate on other parts of my system to match the strengths of these babies. They may not be for everyone, but I would bet that more listeners would be happy with these Esoterics, and that may not of been the case in the past. For me they excel at everything Esoteric is known for, and they do well what they were not known for with the D1s. Best of dynamics, great detail, top of the line resolution, ultra super quiet noise floor... music arrives from nowhere, effortess flow, extremely smooth and incredibly lifelike presentation. I have not experienced any of that glare or occasional brightness, that plagued my K-01, just delightful, satisfying music!

Hi Colekat, I find it interesting that Esoteric has given up on volume control / attenuators. From a technological point of view, it is possible to design/implement DACs that have extremely graceful volume control and that by themselves do not require the additional processing provided by a linestage.

Many dedicated DAC seem to go that way, and there seems to be growing adoption of higher end system configurations sens-linestage. Adoption trend may be both based on economics and performance... Granted, my own front end is not at the level of Grandioso (old X-01 and Rowland Aeris DAC), but I am absolutely happy by the resolution and musicality that I obtain driving my M925 monos directly with the Aeris DAC.

I am wondering if Esoteric choice to phase out volume controls on DAC is somewhat marketing driven.... Existing customers traditionally were not driving their DACs directly into amps... And Esoteric wants to promote sales of their excellent line stages.

Colekat,
Congrats on your acquisition of the ultimate components from the Esoteric digital line. You are one lucky audiophile.

G,
I think Esoteric's omission of volume control in these products may in all probability attest more to their in-house purist philosophy and approach to digital attenuation than anything else. With redbook at 16 bits, losing 1 bit of resolution with every 6 dB of attenuation may be acceptable but not so with dsd and hi-res pcm all the way to 384/24.
IMHO. J.

Oops! Missed typing out Eli.
Heartiest congrats to you, too, Eli.
Cheers! J.