Esoteric N-05XD opinions please

Hi @thyname

Yeah mine is a very old K-01. And not even the earlier x version. I still think it works great as a  transport. And i was feeding it to a AMR dp-777 which worked very well. And to be honest, the K-01, despite its aged dac section still sounds very resolving to my ears. I have been using a Cambridge Azur 851N for streaming from Tidal so far. And want to invest in better gear to improve my streaming playback. Considering the gear I presently use, I would think any 5k dac will be a big improvement on my current gear. I woud ideally like to keep it to one box, as Iam limited by shelf space in a small urban dwelling. And I tend to hold onto my purchases for pretty long.

So was considering the N-05XD. But user feedback is pretty scarce on this one. Though I found a few online reviews which were positive, as can be expected. The plan was to clock my old K-01 to the digital inputs of the N-05XD. As i still spin a lot of CD's. And give the old brick a new lease of life.

The other contendors are the Lumin P1 ( But i dont need a preamp ) and a Aurender A15 ( i dont know how good their dac implementation will be). Thus, Iam mainly focusing on the N-05XD. Thanks 

Thanks and best regards

Mike Y

I presently use, I would think any 5k dac will be a big improvement on my current gear.

Mike @wrxsti : I agree with this. You will just to figure out which DAC. You are most certainly in the right path with the N-05xd, but of course, there are many great DACs out there, that have a streamer (network bridge) built in.

I have the N-01XD for the past 2+ years now, and it’s definitely my endgame DAC, until it breaks down I have zero interest in looking at other DACs. The N-05XD was released later / more recently, it’s below the 01xd line, but I bet it’s a great DAC, same sound signature as the N-01XD

What software program controls the streamer?

Esoteric own streaming app. It’s also Roon Ready