Esoteric word clock5/6/2023 On the K-03’s faceplate are a power button, an LED word status indicator, a source mode button, a remote control sensor, a disc tray, a display, and all the buttons (Play, Pause, Stop, Tray Open/Close, etc.) you’d expect to find on a disc player. The K-03 and its more expensive sibling, the K-01 ($23,500), sit at the top of Esoteric’s line of one-box “digital source devices,” respectively replacing the X-03 and X-01 models. In fact, it also contains a 32-bit internal volume attenuator that permits it to be connected directly to an amplifier.Īll of this told me to place the K-03 on my review short list. In addition to playing CDs and digital music files, the K-03 also decodes SACD (DSD) bitstreams. The subject of this review, Esoteric’s K-03 SACD/CD player and DAC ($13,000 USD), is one of their newest models of this type. Doing so arguably provides the best of both worlds.Įsoteric, which has a rock-solid reputation for making high-performance disc players and other audio components, has made such combinations of products for some time. What’s a guy like me, who listens to both CDs and computer audio, to do? Well, a number of manufacturers have combined a computer-capable DAC and a CD player into a single component. So while I’ve jumped aboard the computer-audio train, my CDs are coming along with me. However, many of my CDs sound great, and some of them provide absolutely stunning sound that makes people’s jaws drop when they hear them. I am also aware that computer audio offers a revolutionary way for me to access my music. I am aware that CDs are inherently limited to a resolution of 16-bit/44.1kHz, and that high-resolution digital music files can sound significantly better than any CD ever could. Yes, countless people have told me that computer audio is the future. Rather, it’s that I am not ready to give up on my substantial collection of CDs. Nor is it that I occasionally listen to MP3 music files (which I do). It’s not that many of my audio cables touch the floor and run parallel rather than perpendicular to each other (which they do). I’m going to admit something that won’t make me very popular with the audiophile in-crowd. 2018-2019 EISA Awards Video Introduction.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |