AKM AK4490eq DAC chip

Fine, you win. Enjoy your AK4490 DAC chip. I'm going to listen to my K-01X now.

Ciao,
Ken

Oh, you have one of those! Wow, the music must be something else. :cool: ...The K-01X is build like a T-Rex with a brand new set of teeth. Congrats Ken!
I bet you like Jazz ?

Cheerios, \
Bob
 
I heard that the Esoteric DACs throw a small soundstage....
 
Oh, you have one of those! Wow, the music must be something else. :cool: ...The K-01X is build like a T-Rex with a brand new set of teeth. Congrats Ken!
I bet you like Jazz ?

Cheerios, \
Bob

Hi Bob,

Yes, I got it a few weeks ago. I love its musicality. It produces music with tremendous ease and a very relaxed non-fatiguing sound. Music has terrific body with wonderful midrange musical density. It is very linear with excellent bass and treble extension. It also produces a high level of resolution with speed and powerful dynamics. The K-01X produces an expansive soundstage with much more air around instruments and vocalists than prior Esoteric DACs.

You're right, I do love jazz. I was just listening to Jimmy Cobb's Jazz in the Key of Blue. My favorite Chesky SACD.

Best,
Ken
 
Hi Bob,

Yes, I got it a few weeks ago. I love its musicality. It produces music with tremendous ease and a very relaxed non-fatiguing sound. Music has terrific body with wonderful midrange musical density. It is very linear with excellent bass and treble extension. It also produces a high level of resolution with speed and powerful dynamics. The K-01X produces an expansive soundstage with much more air around instruments and vocalists than prior Esoteric DACs.

You're right, I do love jazz. I was just listening to Jimmy Cobb's Jazz in the Key of Blue. My favorite Chesky SACD. \

Best,
Ken

Awesome Ken; you're the type of guy I'd like to hang around with and trade/exchange music. /

? Your username, Alpinist; you are a mountain climber? \
 
Awesome Ken; you're the type of guy I'd like to hang around with and trade/exchange music. /

? Your username, Alpinist; you are a mountain climber? \

Bob,

It's fun sharing great jazz selections, so many gems out there.

Yes, I am a mountain climber. I've climbed lots of peaks in the Canadian Rockies and Bugaboos, and quite a few in the Alps as well.

Best,
Ken
 
I was a treeplanter for almost thirty years. ...Putting couple thousand trees in the ground every single day, sometime more sometime less.
But not @ high elevation, max around 7,000 feet. ...And everything below, down to almost sea level in some areas.
 
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...using ultra low phase noise clocks (-114Dbc @ 10hz)...

Blizzard, that's quite the impressive close-in phase noise spec. Is this a custom clock circuit, or some commercially available module? If it's custom, what circuit details can you provide? If it's commercial available, what is the module's identity? Thanks.
 
Hi Bob,

Yes, I got it a few weeks ago. I love its musicality. It produces music with tremendous ease and a very relaxed non-fatiguing sound. Music has terrific body with wonderful midrange musical density. It is very linear with excellent bass and treble extension. It also produces a high level of resolution with speed and powerful dynamics. The K-01X produces an expansive soundstage with much more air around instruments and vocalists than prior Esoteric DACs.

You're right, I do love jazz. I was just listening to Jimmy Cobb's Jazz in the Key of Blue. My favorite Chesky SACD.

Best,
Ken

Congrats on the new player. Sounds like it is a significant step forward vs the last gen. I have a K-03 and love it. Also that Cobb SACD is excellent, great choice!
 
Blizzard, that's quite the impressive close-in phase noise spec. Is this a custom clock circuit, or some commercially available module? If it's custom, what circuit details can you provide? If it's commercial available, what is the module's identity? Thanks.

It's the NDK NZ2520SD. If you sort and measure an entire reel of 500, you'll find about 4 or 5 that measure this good. But, if you don't, you don't know what your getting. The phase noise of these clocks can vary +- 15db from clock to clock. It takes 2 hours to measure each clock, and a $100000 machine to do it.

http://www.ndk.com/en/products/search/clock/1187861_1433.html
 
Great photo! We got a private tour of the studio and got to walk around the Back to the Future set, take pictures by the Delorean, etc...its funny because its not life size, its like 7/8th size or something.
 
Congrats on the new player. Sounds like it is a significant step forward vs the last gen. I have a K-03 and love it. Also that Cobb SACD is excellent, great choice!

Thanks! It was much more of an improvement than I anticipated. The K-03 is a terrific sounding digital player, one of the best. Jazz in the Key of Blue has three of my favorite musicians on it: Jimmy Cobb - Drums, Roy Hargrove - Fluglehorn and Trumpet, and Russell Malone - Guitar.
 
Great photo! We got a private tour of the studio and got to walk around the Back to the Future set, take pictures by the Delorean, etc...its funny because its not life size, its like 7/8th size or something.

The Secret Cinema's Back to the Future was fun. Actors enacting scenes in person while the movie is being played on a giant screen outdoors. There were a lot of claps and cheers, kind of like watching a live sports match.
 
Running DACs in mono/parallel gives better sound. Teac is doing that in their new NT-503 DAC/network player. Check out: http://audio.teac.com/product/nt-503/
Something like $1000. You could add low jitter clocks, super discrete output stages, better regulators, better parts, Mad Scientist Magic Tubes and other such cool tweak things and have a really excellent DAC/player.
 
Running DACs in mono/parallel gives better sound. Teac is doing that in their new NT-503 DAC/network player. Check out: http://audio.teac.com/product/nt-503/
Something like $1000. You could add low jitter clocks, super discrete output stages, better regulators, better parts, Mad Scientist Magic Tubes and other such cool tweak things and have a really excellent DAC/player.

Looks awesome on paper. ...And the design (exterior) looks very sweet too. ...Plus it is very affordable.
 
Running DACs in mono/parallel gives better sound. Teac is doing that in their new NT-503 DAC/network player. Check out: http://audio.teac.com/product/nt-503/
Something like $1000. You could add low jitter clocks, super discrete output stages, better regulators, better parts, Mad Scientist Magic Tubes and other such cool tweak things and have a really excellent DAC/player.

Or you can design something much better from scratch :)
 

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