Obviously, I meant superior to the D-03. |
Tboooe,
Did you actually try the P-05/D-05 and P-05/D-03 combinations before choosing? You also mentioned that you picked the D-05 not based upon price but you didn't mention the most important aspect of an audio component, performance. Did you feel that the D-05 was superior to the D-05? |
Tboooe, I haven't got a BNC cable yet, so that's the next thing on my to do list. I've been trying to understand all the settings on each unit in between enjoying the music.
BTW I think its real cool to see the clamp on the P5. |
cmk, congrats on the P5D5. I agree with a lot of your sentiments regarding its dynamics, separation, and air. Question about using PLL2. Arent you slaving your P5 to the D5's clock? If so I would suggest you try this.
arbuckle, you can have multiple digital sources hooked up to the D5, just as long as they have different cable types. There is only 1 set of each type on the D5.
bar81, I personally think the P3D5 is the best combination since you get the better transport of the P3 with the new 32 bit dac of the D5. But as you said, if the P5D5 is close to the P3D3, then perhaps it is a great deal. |
Of course. Looks like you can have the Dual AES/EBU + BNC Clock and then SPDIF and TOSlink sources. |
Does anyone know if you can have TWO digital sources hooked up to the D5? I am thinking of this unit as well and looking to have my PC run into the DAC in combination with the P5. From the looks of it it seems to have only the dual inputs or the coax, but question is can you have both hooked up at the same time and toggle between them? |
Glad this got bumped back up. I just talked to an actual dealer regarding his impressions of the P-05/D-05 and he felt it was better than the X-01 D2 and, frankly, close enough to the P-03/D-03 that Esoteric might be stealing sales away from itself, particularly with the recent price hike on the P-03. Having said that, it's definitely in the mix for me as my next source based on my experience with the P-03/D-03. |
Hi Tboooe
I've just committed on the P5D5, almost knew once I took it back, if it sounded good, it was not going back to the shop. Well it sounded more than just good.
Digital system anciliaries:
P5 sits on top of the D5 which rests on Nordost Ti Pulsar points. Currently using Slinkylinks XLR cables as digital interconnects in DUAL mode, one each for L and R channels. Powercords are AudioMagic Powerdrive on the P5 and the Illusion(pure silver) on the D5. Interconnects are the AudioMagic Sorcerer 1m RCAs to the ModWright SWLP 9.0se preamp.
Esoteric settings:
I experimented with the upsampling, 2x/4x/DSD, set on the P5, then on the D5, the later providing the additional upsampling to DSD. The PLL was always set to the PLL2 as this sounded obviously better. While the 4x upsampling is very good, perfectly listenable for CD, it soon becomes clear that the D5 sounded best when upsampled to DSD, the 32bit processor providing more air and a more coherent soundstage.
After the last post, I tried out a wider range of music, including pop, rock, and orchestral music. THIS is the way digital should be done! One could have loads of fun switching between the various modes on the D5 from the comfort of the chair with the remote. Ultimately I decided to just stick with the DSD upsampling for the bulk of my listening, unless I wanted a bit more "punch", then I'd switch to FS4x.
Where the P5D5 excels are separation, air, and dynamics. Have you ever wondered why so many orchestral recordings sound congested, or lacking in dynamics? Well with the Esoterics, the orchestra is given its full measure, the instruments spread out well beyond my speaker/room boundaries, basses and typani hits have impact. Triangles have sparkle and air/reverb around them. Grand pianos sound like the real thing, listening to each, you are able to tell their different characteristics apart from each other. A Bluthner sounds different from a Steinway grand. BTW the Mari Kodama recordings of Beethoven sonatas on Pentatone SACD are simply sublime.
At the end of the day, their attention to detail is evident in the music reproduced. I suspect its the VRDS Neo mechanism which gives them the edge over the competition, and while digital technology will edge forward, their ridgid clamping system and the linear laser tracking system is simply superior. |
It would interesting if you could compare the P5 with the P3 using the same D5 dac.
I agree that cables make a difference. I am in the process of changing out power cords. I have found some that helps to improve the sounstage, dynamics, and detail.
Good luck. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts. |
Tboooe, thanks.
My initial impression of the P5D5 is:
Its an extraordinary combo. Powercords/digital cables and interconnects all play a part on the sound, as does footers. There is a kind of darkness/silence between the instruments, separation is on a different level from other CDP/DAC combos.
This combination is the best digital front end I've heard, there's nothing to add, nothing to subtract. It does not emphasize detail, highs/mids/bass, things appear separate and distinct, allow you to follow each sound. It does give very good decay, in this area alone, it stands out from others. When you play piano music, you would like to hear the varying tones from the initial strike of the hammer, to the harmonics, and this TPT/DAC combo does this so well. Folks pay big bucks for good pianos, and this does reproduce piano correctly.
Will be doing some further listening to get a better feel of its capabilities over the next couple of days. |
cmk, going up the one box players I heard better separation of instruments, more detail, and tighter bass. Of course the improvements are subtle. I am not sure if separates has that much advantage over a well designed one box player. Remember, now you have another set of cables to worry about. If I did not need digital inputs, I would have stuck with a one box player and get a great clock. |
Tbooe
What do you get more as you move up from the X03se to the X01Ltd?
Do the separates make a bigger deal than a single box unit? Separate power supplies, less noise, etc... |
Here you go Yada:
http://www.teac.com/esoteric/D-05.html |
Yada, here is the link:
http://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/akm/en/product/ak4397/ak4397.html
Cmk, the reason why I think the x03se and xo1ltd is the sweet spot comes down to price vs performance. You will be paying a lot to get only a bit more performance (to my ears anyway). Dont get me wrong, the d2 is a great player and if you can afford it, go for it. But if you want to consider value and are willing to give up 5%, then I would get the X03se or X01ltd. Just my two cents. |
"The D5 does upsample and has the latest 32bit AKM dac chips." What AKM dac is this dac? Can you post a link to it? Thanks in advance! Duke |
One comment about the X03se is that it does not convert DSD in its native format, rather down converts it to PCM then analog. IMO this is does not do justice to SACD playback.
The P5D5 OTOH, up converts PCM to DSD or upsamples to 176/192, as does the cheaper SA60. Now this is really confusing to customers, since you have a player that is cheaper, and supposedly lower spec than the X03se, yet it offers upconversion and even plays DVDA. The plethora of models and different features is sometimes confusing. The only way to make sense of this is to explain it through their transports. Am I making sense? |
Hi Tboooe,
Your last comment interest me. Could you elaborate on why you think the X03se/X01ltd (not the X01D2) is the sweet spot in their line up?
I'm particularly interested in the X03se (to save some money), but could stretch to the P5D5 if really necessary. The local agent here doesn't carry the X03se, so I've no way to compare. However I do have the P5D5 combo at home now for demo/purchase... |
I have the Esoteric P3 and D5 combo and I used to own the X03se. I thought about getting the P5 but decided against it after finding out it uses an inferior transport to what is currently in the P3. It is my opinion that the transport plays a significant role in the sound of a cdp, especially its ability to resolve low levels of detail. I have said this before, to me, low level details is what makes a song sound real and organic. All that being said, to my ears the P3D5 combo is better than my previous X03se. I heard more detail and better separation of the instruments. It should be noted that I decided on the D5 not for financial reasons. I have a digital music server that I wanted to send through the dac. Strangely, the D3 does not upsample. Instead upsampling is done in the P3. The D5 does upsample and has the latest 32bit AKM dac chips. Both of these factors played an important part in my decision making process. And yes, saving some money was nice too.
Without any emprical data, I would guess that the D2 should at least as good as the P3D5 combo I have. But because of the inferior transport, I imagine the D2 should sound better than the P5D5. All that being said, if you do not need digital inputs, I think the sweet spot in the Esoteric cdp lineup is the X03se or X01ltd. |
According to Esoteric Europe they did a head to head and the combo lost out to the X01D2. Based upon the comments, it is likely that it's superior to the X-03, which isn't that hard (although it's a good unit at the pricepoint). At the end of the day, as long as the box styling of the X-01 D2 doesn't put you off, that would be the one to go for since it's performance is superior and you don't need two AES/EBU cables, a BNC/BNC SPDI/F for clock, an additional PC and an additional rack space. Even worse, once you factor that all in, the combo is probably more expensive than the X-01 D2. |
