Esoteric K-01 and Aurender S10 compatibility

That's awesome. Keep us posted if and when you can't resist the urge to upgrade to the KX-R20.

Interesting indeed!

I have the Ayre KX-R as my pre and like it a lot. Though, I will probably not go for the upgrade currently on offer by Ayre and their dealers. I did hear improvements particularly in RBCD, but the upgrade price is significant.

Jon47,
Yes, hold on tight to your K-01. Its DAC section is still right up there for redbook/SACD SQ.
I recently acquired a new preamp, the Ayre K-5xeMP that is rated Class A by JA of Stereophile for approx US$3500. I can't believe it but this analog preamp alone has elevated the SQ of my entire system to a whole new level. It's like a completely new K-01 dac/player in a totally new system!
What I have discovered from this flabbergasting experience is that the K-01's dac section is already top flight as it is and upgrading the analog side of the chain brings out this previously hidden quality. We can now stop chasing the dac rainbow for redbook CD/SACD where the K-01 is concerned and start thinking of the analog component of the system. This analog preamp upgrade has made me rediscover the gorgeous quality of CD's spinning in the transport. It now trumps the hi-res dac section of the Marantz NA8005 media player which I previously thought to be better than the K-01's dac.
Cheers! Jon.

All works as advertised. I hear the same improvements re CD to SACD. I assume there will be some further improvements with run in. Very happy, now no need for an external DAC upgrade.

My K-01 is back from Japan, good news is that it turns on and plays. Will have a first listen to the DAC with DSD64 on the weekend and will let you know how it sounds without run in.

Jon2020...yes you are correct, it's a USB board replacement and firmware update and also includes 24/384. The K-01 upgrade goes some way to bridge the gap between the K-01 and the new K-01x. The K-01x supports DSD128 as well as improved SQ from the transport and DAC, compared to the K-01. I live in Singapore and my player needed to go back to Japan for upgrade, eagerly awaiting it's return. I believe Esoteric is upgrading USA product in the States, rather than shipping to Japan. DSD64 is important for me as my system includes a computer audio component, as well. If DSD128 ever really becomes mass market for content, I will look at biting the bullet and going for a stand alone DAC. That's not going to happen anytime soon!

PS: I have seen some comments that Esoteric is going to have an upgrade path to full K-01x spec for the K-01. I have confirmation from Esoteric Japan that that's not ever going to happen, as the K-01x uses a completely different board to the K-01 and that board is not compatible with the K-01.

Hi Jon47,
It is good to know that the K-01 can be upgraded to dsd64. My guess is this is only possible via usb as spdif or aes does not transmit dsd64/128/quad data. Please keep us updated on your experience with dsd64 when you get back your K-01.
Cheers! J.

Update....a BIG thanks to Aurender, who modified the sw on the X100L to allow full compatibility with my Esoteric K-01 DAC. A great big thanks to the folks in Korea, really appreciate the wonderful support!!

My K-01 is now in Japan being upgraded to DSD64.

By the way, JPlay does DSD.

You're welcome, Jon47, that's what these forums are for, hoping that our own opinions will help others.

Thanks Vladimir.

Elberoth2, I ask my local Aurender dealer if they would have forward compatibility for SW and HW improvements. This could not be confirmed...and was mist likely a NO.

If anyone has better info, would love to hear it.

I build my own computers and follow CA daily. Any CAPS is surely better sounding than Mac Minis and the latest v3 (both computer and USB card battery-powered by one RWA Black Lightning) probably better than the S10 too (Chris Conaker believes so even about CAPS2). If you use JPlay, especially the coming version 5 which has its own GUI, and strip down Win8 as much as possible for a dedicated audio PC, more so. For JPlay you would need the Zuma with at least a i5-3330 CPU.

There is no reason why Aurender wouldn't do DSD in the future. The software is the limit, and that can be always upgraded.

The reason I am interested in USB is that I have some great cables and wanted to use them.

I have the Locus Design Cynosure V2 USB and Core SPDIF cables....so impressed with these cables.

I wanted to come out of the S10 via USB, then into the latest Sonicweld Diverter, then out via SPDIF to the K-01 DAC.

Couple of problems with this dream....I loose async over USB...Esoteric K-01 has a good clock and this would sync the Aurender as a slave to the K-01 DAC via a direct USB cable.

The Diverter cannot do Linix, so that's out.

I can use this approach for both Windows and MAC, though. I have heard the Diverter in some systems...and from what I heard was a noticeably improved sonic performance...even when giving up the benifit of going direct USB and benifit of async functionality.

Aurender S10 is also lacking internal memory expansion...and no forward compatibility to DSD. So PCM is the best it will ever do. Concerned that the S10 will be worth next to nothing in a few years time.

Thus looking at C.A.P.S 3 and MAC.

Has anyone compared a hot rod'd MAC Moni or C.A.P.S 3 vs the Aurender S10.

Feedback from various people who saw the new W20 at CES seemed mightily impressed. An external clock syncing the K-01 and the W20 would be great....though from what I read the W20 will be at least twice the price of the S10...maybe more.

Also looking at the Zuma C.A.P.S 3.0.

Thanks all for the excellent comments!

I thought CA found USB out from the Aurender to sound better than the AES to a Meitner MA-1? Perhaps there's something to be said about having the DAC handle clock control.

Perhaps that's what the OP is trying to achieve. I do agree that the Aurender was designed primarily for AES so I guess SPDIF should work just as well. The newest model W? is supposed to have a clock input so that might tilt it back in favour of AES/SPDIF with a clock that controls both the DAC and the Aurender.

I don't see the need to complicate things going USB when the S10 is designed to directly connect via S/PDIF.

Complementarily, you can build or purchase something like a CAPS computer (see the latest four designs at Computer Audiophile) and then have SOTA, battery-powered USB sound plus your Aurender. They are at least as good as or even better sounding than the S10.

The is no AES/EBU imput on the Asoteric K-01, so it's SPDIF.

Getting close to make the jump into Computer Audio, trying to ensure I go the right way from the start. Thanks again.

We suggested this in another forum (because Esoteric uses a custom driver for their USB implementation and does not currently support Linux as an OS for the USB driver).

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1354751988&openmine&zzDoggiehowser&4&5#Doggiehowser

Here's someone who bypassed the USB input on a K-03 with a Bel Canto REFLink. I gather the USB implementation on the K-01 and K-03 are the same so the gains on your system may be similar.

However, I did also mention that the Aurender was designed primarily as an AES output device so that (and SPDIF) may be a better bet.

The alternative would be to trade in your Aurender for the newly announced model that has a clock input. That would provide clock control from an external device (like Esoteric's) that can sync the data transfer between the Aurender and the K-01.

You should use whatever sounds best which may not be the USB vs the 192k from SPDIF.

I wanted to stay with USB to maintain an asynchronous connection between the Esoteric and Aurender S10.

I can use SPDIF and achieve 192Khz into the Esoteric DAC but loose asynchronous functionality.

You just need to connect the Aurender via SPDIF and you should have no problem. You don't need any drivers, and as long as you are running AES you can get 192k on the Esoteric,

I am using a Qsonix and 192k files via spdif aes/ebu sounds fantastic.