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Esoteric X-01 Limited or new D-03/P-03

I’m torn between a new X-01 Limited or the new D-03/P-03 combo. If I went with the D-03/P-03 combo, I would start off with the D-03 and add the P-03 later on. The X-01 uses the tried and true Burr Brown 1704 Dacs and converts DSD to 88.2 kHz PCM. The D-03 on the other hand uses Analog Devices AD1955 Dacs and can do the following: DSD>DSD, PCM>DSD, and PCM>PCM (upsampled) and not sure about DSD>PCM. The P-03 utilizes the latest VRDS-Neo transport although there are probably not many differences to the one used in the X-01 Limited.

Even though the X-01 was just updated to “Limited” status, it is still an older based product, whereas the D-03/P-03 was just released to the U.S. market at CES 2006 where it received some very positive press.

Any thoughts, comments, or more information are welcome.
Thank you.
cdw57

Showing 1 response by tbg

tbg
5,263 posts
 
Guys, there is much talk about the X-01 and the X-01 Limited Edition. Are we speaking of the X-01 Limited versus the new X-01 D2? I know that Fcrowder has a D2 and suspect this is what most if not all others are speaking about. There was, however, an upgrade program for moving from the X-01 to the X-01 Limited Edition. I have no idea where that stands now.

I also find that the new review of the D-03/P-03 is not really a rave after a rather curious initial summary of its sound is made.

Also, it is indeed curious that the Burr-Brown 1704 is used in the X-01 D2. Burr-Brown's webpage show it is replaced by the 1796 and discourages use of the 1704 in new designs. Either Esoteric has a boat load of these or they think it sounds better or it perhaps it is a single channel design that works best given what they want to do.
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