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Esoteric N-05XD opinions please

Hi all,

I’ve been considering the esoteric N-05XD as a streamer cum dac. I don’t want to go with seperates. Will probably add a melco or innuos server down the line for local storage. And will run the esoteric off the ethernet player port of these servers.

I currently have a esoteric K-01 Sacd player. I plan on connecting it to the N-05XD via coaxial. And sync them both with a Teac CG-10M master clock. This might bring the sonics of my aging cd section to date.

 

I always found the dac section of K-01 to be a detail hound. And leaning onto the analysis side in my system. I believe esoteric have moved away from that sound signature with their master discrete dac implementation. Thus, wanted opinions from folks who own one or have auditioned one. Thanks in advance for your time.

 

Thanks and best regards

Mike Y

wrxsti
wrxsti OP
15 posts
 

@jafant

Thanks for your kind words sir :)

jafant's avatar
jafant
19,604 posts
 

SACD(s) : Corrected.

ihmeyers
83 posts
 

Old thread but I have an N-05XD and have questions for other owners.

I first used the N-05XD with a dedicated music server I have (high-end custom build) that runs Roon.  It didn't sound great.  I never knew how limited it was until I turned off Roon-Only mode and ran the Esoteric using Soundstream app and an external 4TB SSD (via USB).  This setup is night and day better but I know that an external SSD connected via a USB-C cable is still sub-optimal.  In fact, as strange as this sounds, the sound quality actually improves/declines based upon how much the SSD is being accessed; better at the start of the listening session, not as good at the end especially if I am shuffling songs.  I'm no computer expert, but I'd guess it's got something to do with the internal heat of the drive.  It's the best Samsung I could find.

 

I'm thinking going to a NAS would be better.  I have room on my switch to install one about 60 feet from the Esoteric (which is also connected to the switch through a wired ethernet connection).  Any thoughts or suggestions on what I should buy?  Thanks very much.

 

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