@westcoastaudiophile - Glad you're enjoying the Esoteric XD series. One point of correction though is that they are not using an R2R DAC design, according to their website the proprietary XD DACs are a discrete design using ESOTERIC’s exclusive Delta-Sigma (ΔΣ) modulator. You may have confused the fact that they're a discrete design with them being R2R. Just a technicality though, what really matters is their performance which by all reports is exceptional.
Gustard R26
Is anyone else looking forward to the reviews coming out on the Gustard R26 r2rDac? I am interested to see if it can compete with the Holo Spring at a lower price point. How will it stand up to the other r2r dac’s out there right now. It does present well and is feature rich right out of the box. Is it a true proprietary resistor board or is it off the shelf and tweaked? I know the other Gustard equipment is well received and liked so my hopes are high for this as well.
Showing 2 responses by bill_k
@westcoastaudiophile - Haven't had the opportunity to audition the K-01XD (CD/SACD/DAC version) or N-01XD (Network DAC) yet myself, but have heard from several sources I trust as well as reviews that they're exceptional. Word is that the new XD DAC designs were a huge step forward from the previous X versions which used top of the line but off the shelf DAC chips from AKM. I have heard the Teac UD-701N which uses the basic design of the XD DAC but in a much simpler and more cost effective implementation and I wasn't really impressed. The Esoteric versions are designed on an entirely different level but of course their pricing is commensurate with their higher performance. |