Esoteric K-01 and Mac music server

No war necessary....just trust your ears. I currently still have a USB cable running from my headless/modified Mac Mini to the USB input of the K-03. When I took the Bel Canto RefLink on a 30 day trial, I purchased a second USB cable for an A/B comparison. Used of course the same quality USB Cable (Audioquest Carbon USB).

So my available connections where:
Mac Mini > Esoteric Async USB input via Audioquest Carbon USB Cable
and
Mac Mini > Bel Canto USB Converter via Audioquest Carbon USB cable > Transparent Ref (75 Ohm) Digital link out of Converter (Using BNC Adapter) to Coaxial input on K-03.

Using the same quality USB Cable for accurate comparison, as Jon2020 stated, the USB Converter provided an improvement in Micro/Macro Dynamics, greater detail recovery and just sounded better/right overall. Though the improvement was not overwhelming, it for me was an improvement worth the cost of $1,500 I paid for the Bel Canto. Some might define what I heard as reducing further the digital artifacts that are normally associated with digital playback.

Mark

Just out of curiosity (not trying to start a war on this) but I am curious about the opinions expressed that using a USB converter is better than going USB direct. Wouldnt it really depend on the USB implementation? I am big fan of simplifying my system and have been thinking about getting a new DAC with a USB input so I can get rid of my cheapo Musical Fidelity V-link converter. However, if having a converter improves the sound then I would instead keep my current CDP/DAC (Luxman D-05) and get a much better USB converter like the Bel Canto or Berkeley or ????

I use a usb conveter too from my pc to the coax input of my K-01 player. Once you have gone this route, you can never go back to usb direct. The coax input makes everything sound whole and right.

The USB Converter I am using is the Bel Canto Reflink. Once you acquire a Mac Mini the connection is as follows:

External HD (If the extra space is needed) > Mac Mini (via firewire) > USB Converter (via USB cable/Input) > Esoteric K-03 (via Coaxial S/PDIF using BNC connector).

A USB Converter essentially optimizes the asynchronous interface to reduce jitter before sending data to DAC.

Mark

I would also checkout a Bryston BDP-2. Since it caches tracks in memory before play, how data is stored is not important to sound quality. You can use K-01 Coaxial RCA to BDP-2.

Thanks Mark this helps! What is a USB Converter? I am thinking about getting a mac mini.

Skinzy,
You will need to download the appropriate High Speed USB Driver for the K-03/K01 if it is not included in the box. Esoteric started adding the disc for download in the original packaging sometime after the initial release, but; before that time left a copy of the download on their website. I have the K-03/Mac Mini. Computers being inherently noisy, I acquired an USB Converter and the results were well worth the investment. The acquisition of the K-03 is one of the best I have made in the last 20 years and I have made many.
Good luck!
Mark