New Esoteric P02 D02

To Guido:

Yes, I did with the regular p01 and p03 side by side. It sounds more smilar to p01 than p03. P03 or P01 sound more refined, smooth and musical than x-01 as a transport. The highs are silkier on p03 and p01 versus X-01. There is more clarity, bass extension (especially with p01)and the sound stage is bigger. There is more of a natural free flowing character that is usually attributed to analog with p03 and p01 versus X-01. I recommend either of them and either of them sounds better than x-01, but for you p01 vuk would be a better choice in my opinion due to similar sound signature they have. I compared most of the transports with D03 dac. So, since you have a different dac and system I recommend to compare it in your system.

I rank Esoteric transports like this :

1-p01 vuk and p02
2-p03
3-p05
4-x-01

Dacs when playing pcm/cd:

1-d02 and d01 vuk
2-K01 as dac
3-d03
4-d05

Dacs when playing DSD/SACD

1-D-03 and D-02 (my favorite is D03 with SACDs)
2-D-01 (it down converts sacds to 88k or 176k pcm)
3-D-05

This is just my personal opinion and taste your observations may be different.

To Guido:

I didnt compare directly p05 transport with x-01 as a transport, but I rather compared p05/d05 with x-01. So, x-01 being ranked as 4th may not be accurate, but it is definitely ranked below p01,p02 and p03.

Thank you Pharma, fascinating and useful info indeed!

I noticed that you have ranked K-01 only as DAC.... Can you rate its transport performance against X-01 and P-03?

How would you rate overall K-01 single box performance against P-03/D-03?

Thanks, Guido

You're welcome.
I liked the DAC stage of K01. I compared it when it first came out back in 2011 with p03/d03. The DAC stage was better than d03 with pcm or cds. I first didnt like the sound of K01 compared to p03/d03. I found it too dry for my taste. When I connected p03 to K01, and used it as a DAC, I got better results, more refinement, more body, etc. Even tough they share the same mechanism (vmk 3.20) with the new p02 and p1 transports, k01 didnt perform like them as a transport. This could be due to better power supply or circuitry in dedicated transports or the clock. When used as a DAC It is close to D02. When I was doing this comparison I didnt use G0rb clock (I purchased it later). All comparisons are made with cds, since there was no way of outputting or inputting dsd to or from k01. That is why I didnt mention K01 as a transport. It would be ranked below p03 as a transport in my personal opinion. I would go for a dedicated transport if you need one. You can get a p03 or p01 nowadays for less than K01 if you need a transport.