Esoteric K-01

Keeping to the topic: I utilized a G-0s in Rb-oscillator mode at 176.5 clocking rate with my UX-1 Limited; I did find a perceivable improvement in the sound. It was more subtle in some ways but was there and was noticeable when the clock was removed. I also agree with a prior poster that for synchronous digital playback a hyper-accurate clock (ppb rating, not ppm) does provide benefit. With single box players as I mentioned above, the improvements are more subtle, however, with multi-box stacks (like the P-03U/D-03 combo), the improvements are very noticeable, obvious and missed when the clock is removed.

I utilized a G-0s in Rb-oscillator mode at 176.5 clocking rate with my UX-1 Limited; I did find a perceivable improvement in the sound.

This is very interesting because the UX-1 Limited converts DSD to 88.2

Did you hear this improvement with CD or SACD, or maybe 176.4 DVD-A?

With single box players as I mentioned above, the improvements are more subtle, however, with multi-box stacks (like the P-03U/D-03 combo), the improvements are very noticeable, obvious and missed when the clock is removed.

Agreed!

Best,
Alex Peychev

If there is an improvement in sound of high-end single box players (like the Esoteric K-01) when used with a high end external clock like the GORb it is very minimal and subtle. In fact the difference with and without the GORb clock is so incredibly minor that it is extremely difficult if not impossible to detect even with very careful, extensive A-B comparison. Personally, I don't think the GORb has any detectable sonic affect on the K-01.

Unless the A-B comparison is performed as a blind test, it is useless; psychology can play tricks on audio perception.

Is there anyone out there who can compare a high quality single box player (like the K01) with and without a GORb in a blind A-B test and consistently, coreectly indicate when the GORb is on and off? I think not, even you, Alex.

I challenge anyone to prove me wrong. This applies to high end single box players only, not multi box players (where high quality clock use should be easily detected).

Alex: It's been a couple years but as I remember it, the differences for re-clocking the UX-1 and the UX-1 Ltd with the G-0s were subtle and were noticeable only in the upper-mid and particular higher frequencies in terms of removing a slight harshness around instruments' output in these frequencies. There was a very small improvement in the imaging precision (i.e. location of a specific instrument in the sound stage). Candidly, the upgrade from UX-1 to Limited Edition did much more than the clock but nothing was as important as going to the P/D separates both with and without the clock. As I mentioned above, the differences were small with the clock for the single-box player but with all material I did hear them. With respect to DVD-A, there are not that many 176.4hz tracks (at least on the DVD-As that I own) as most of them put a number of different track types on a single DVD-A and do not often go beyond DVD-A tracks in the 96/24 realm. For DVD-A, I found that I had to switch between 88.2 or 176.4 clocking depending upon the material in question for best results. For SACD, I tried 88.2 clocking as well as 176.4. I wound up leaving the clocking at 176.4 for SACD playback (and do also with the P-03U/D-03/G-0s combination). As I mentioned before, the differences with the clock in Rb mode are MUCH more meaningful with the stack over the single box players.

Interestingly enough, I did see a visible improvement in the already impressive visible imaging and up-scaling performance of the UX-1 Limited and the P-03U when playing both traditional and Superbit DVDs when using the G-0s clock at an appropriate clocking frequency. If any of the above is psychological (I did not do full blind A/B testing), I do not believe the effect on video playback is though others may disagree...

Can anybody comment if (and to what extent) K-01 would be an upgrade from the Esoteric P5/D5 combo. Thanks.