Esoteric P-03 Transport & D-03 DAC
R105,000.00
| June 2006Esoteric P-03 CD/SACD Transport and D-03 Digital-to-Analog Converter
by Marc Mickelson |
“Arguably the most technologically advanced and best-sounding Esoteric products yet.” |
Esoteric has bettered itself several times since the DV-50’s introduction, surely in no small part due to its own success. One well-received product spawns others, and the Esoteric product line now boasts of two separate series and over a dozen products, a couple of which are not strictly digital. Even so, the heart of Esoteric’s current lineup is its collection of multi-format digital components that push the limits other Esoteric products helped set. Perhaps Esoteric’s most advanced products are the new P-03 CD/SACD transport ($13,200 USD) and matching D-03 digital-to-analog converter (also $13,200). Even among their highly evolved and expensive siblings, the P-03 and D-03 stand out.You would have to be an audiophile living under a rock in a cave on another planet to have missed Esoteric’s re-introduction to the US — and all over the world. A brand of some renown in the mid-1990s, Esoteric was known for its cutting-edge digital products. However, its parent company, consumer- and professional-electronics giant TEAC, turned its resources away from its prestige hi-fi brand, only to relaunch it in style in 2002. The first of the new Esoteric products we encountered, the venerable DV-50 universal player, earned Reviewers’ Choice honors for its sound, and its sturdy build became the standard against which digital products have been measured since.
The P-03 and D-03 were introduced earlier this year at CES, nearly simultaneously with their introduction in Japan, where Esoteric products hit the streets first. When you see them, you will understand Esoteric’s desire to get the word out fast. Both are large, heavy components whose many design and user features can fill several pages of marketing literature.
Or several paragraphs of a review
The first thing that people will want to know is how the P-03 and D-03 handle SACD. That is, do they convert the DSD data stream to PCM, as Esoteric has done with other upscale components like the X-01, UX-1 and P-01/D-01 combo, or do they keep it in its native format? Even though the sound of Esoteric’s digital products has been uniformly splendid, some audiophiles had a conceptual problem with the DSD-to-PCM conversion, which carried with it an air of [sniff, sniff] impurity.
These people will be happy to know that the P-03 and D-03 do not convert DSD to PCM; in fact, they can convert PCM to DSD. Earlier Esoteric products used top-grade Burr-Brown DACs that could not decode DSD, hence the reason for the conversion to PCM. The D-03 uses Analog Devices AD1955 DACs that can handle DSD in its native form. You might be wondering, however, how the P-03 transport has any sway here; it simply outputs the data, right? Not quite. Before the data get to the D-03, the P-03 can output them as either DSD or PCM, and if PCM, at various sampling frequencies.
Thus, while the P-03 and D-03 are separate devices and can work with other DACs and transports, they are very much meant to be used together. Aside from the format in which the transport outputs the data, there is Esoteric’s proprietary ES-LINK, which piggybacks on the AES-3 scheme Esoteric first employed with the P-70/D-70 transport/DAC combo. ES-LINK requires connecting transport and DAC via a pair of AES/EBU cables and has a few important advantages over SP/DIF and other connection methods, one of which is particular to Esoteric’s uppermost CD/SACD separates. First, it splits the digital stream into left and right channels, which allows for the output of PCM data upsampled as high as 176.4kHz. It also allows the output of SACD data, a feat that no standardized digital connection (TosLink, AES/EBU or SP/DIF) equals. The D-03 can decode DVD-A data, but the P-03 is not equally equipped. Enter Esoteric’s P-03 Universal transport ($17,200), which adds DVD-A and DVD-V support.
Like the P-70/D-70, the P-03/D-03 combo can be tethered via a separate Word Sync connection. What this does is link the two units to a single word clock that is kept in the DAC, so that information doesn’t have to be recovered from the digital data stream, reducing timing errors, or jitter. With digital playback, the word clock’s function is synchronizing digital samples such that timing errors — jitter — are lessened before the signal is converted to analog. A CD player’s or DAC’s word clock is where jitter takes its first steps toward becoming audible and affecting sound in harmful ways. The Word Sync jacks on the back of the P-03 and D-03 also allow for the use of an external clocking unit like Esoteric’s G-0s, which uses a highly accurate Rubidium oscillator. Such a device can affect sound in positive ways.
While the P-03 and D-03 can be connected via standard SP/DIF or single AES/EBU cables, the two sound their best via ES-LINK and Word Sync connections. However, in this configuration, the pair only outputs stereo data. The P-03 is multichannel capable via its i.LINK output, but this requires connection to an i.LINK-capable multichannel receiver or processor. Esoteric’s $25,000 P-01 transport is multichannel capable via AES/EBU outputs, while the X-01 Limited and UX-1 are less expensive ways to hear multichannel sound solely from Esoteric.
Once you have connected the P-03 to the D-03, you have the choice of connecting the DAC to your preamp via XLR or RCA outputs. Like many Esoteric products, the D-03 is a fully balanced unit that uses multiple DACs per channel for the noise-canceling abilities of such a circuit, and this influences sound in very positive ways, something I comment on below.
OK, if you’ve reached the point where you have the P-03 and D-03 properly connected to each other and the D-03 connected to your preamp, you’re ready to begin experimenting with the various ways you can listen to music with them. Unlike most digital separates, the P-03 and D-03 allow you to change their sound in the digital domain, including how the transport sends data to the DAC, and how the DAC handles the data. Again, you can output data as DSD or upsampled PCM from the P-03; once the data are sent, the D-03 can convert them with or without digital filtering, which upconverts the PCM signal before it is converted to analog. Such flexibility can be interesting to have, but it can also be a nuisance. All those buttons practically beg you to push them!
The P-03 and D-03 measure identically, 17 1/2″W x 6 1/4″H x 16 9/16″D, and weigh almost the same as well, 66 and 60 pounds respectively. Both employ 5mm-thick base plates and patent-pending steel footers with integral points and protective discs. Their outer brushed-aluminum panels and compartmentalized internal structure increase rigidity, mass and strength, reducing vibration and, according to Esoteric, “effectively [removing] all electrical interference.” The aluminum top panel into which the Esoteric name is routed is 8mm thick.
The D-03 is a fully dual-mono design, with both channels sharing only the inputs, outputs and power cord. The right and left R-core analog transformers, the analog power supplies, the digital and analog circuits occupy identical internal cavities, use identical components, and have identical layout. Circuit highlights include the use of a highly accurate voltage-controlled crystal oscillator specifically designed for the D-03 to establish the unit’s word clock and four Analog Devices AD1955 24-bit/192kHz DACs per channel in a quad-differential circuit. Only Esoteric’s P-01 mono DAC, which uses eight (!) Burr-Brown DACs per chassis, shows greater audio obsessiveness than the P-03. Internal wire is of the same 6N, 99.9999%-pure copper as that in the P-01.
Like Esoteric’s X- and UX-series products and the top-of-the-line P-01, the P-03 uses an Esoteric-designed and -manufactured VRDS NEO drive whose best-known feature is its disc-clamping mechanism. In the P-03’s case, the transport mechanism has been beefed up. It features a turntable of duralumin, an age-hardened, aircraft-grade alloy, as opposed to the magnesium turntable used in other products, and a 20mm-thick SS400-steel bridge that controls vibration produced during the disc’s playback. The P-03 has the same internal structure as the P-01, where the power supply and VRDS NEO mechanism are housed in separate isolated compartments. The P-03 accomplishes this by using two independent chassis within the same cabinet. For the P-01, the power supply is housed in its own cabinet.
One feature that the P-01 doesn’t share with the P-03 is the latter’s “shutter,” a hatch that flips open before the unit’s machined-aluminum disc tray appears, and closes after it recedes. While Esoteric claims for the shutter the elimination of “adverse effects from external sound pressure and vibrations,” I can attest to it being just plain cool, and sometimes that’s all a feature has to be.
Review system and setup
I received the P-03 and D-03 following CES and shortly after the Esoteric X-01 Limited that I wrote about earlier this year. This gave me great opportunity to compare current Esoteric products to each other and to other top-flight digital sources, including an Ayre C-5xe universal player, Audio Research Reference CD7 CD player, and Aurum Acoustics Integris CDP CD player/preamp.
I used all of the digital goodies with an Audio Research Reference 3 or Ayre K-1xe preamp, or the preamp side of the Aurum Acoustics Integris CDP. These sent the signals along to Lamm ML2.1, Lamm M1.2 Reference or Blue Circle BC208 monoblocks, or an Ayre V-1xe stereo amp. These drove four very distinguished speakers: Wilson Audio Alexandria X-2s, MAXX 2s or Sophia 2s; or Magnepan MG20.1/Rs. The Sophia 2s aside, these are very large speakers, but then so is my room: 20’W x 29’L x 10’H. Electronics rested on a Silent Running Audio Craz Reference equipment rack, with the Lamm monoblocks having pairs of Silent Running Audio Ohio Class XL Plus2 platforms custom made for them. The Ayre amp sat on two pieces of Corian, while the Blue Circle amps had only my room’s carpet-over-concrete floor to support them.
Interconnects and speaker cables for most of the time I used the Esoteric separates were Shunyata Research Antares Helix and Orion Helix, with Siltech SQ-110 Classic Mk II and LS-188 Classic Mk II used for a short period. A number of Shunyata Research power cords brought juice to the electronics, including Vx and Alpha variations of both the Anaconda Helix and Python Helix. The power conditioner was a Shunyata Research Hydra Model-8.
When you take into consideration all of the features and connection schemes of the P-03 and D-03, there have to be hundreds of permutations and combinations for their use together. I experimented with many of them and discovered a few universal truths. First, because of its quad-differential circuit, the D-03 sounds best through its balanced outputs, and by a greater margin than any other Esoteric product I’ve heard. Anybody who tells you otherwise hasn’t tried it, or hasn’t listened closely enough. If you spend the money to own the P-03 and D-03, you should also spring for a reference-grade balanced preamp — like the Audio Research Reference 3 or VTL TL-7.5 Reference Series 2.
In terms of connecting the P-03 and D-03, ES-LINK via two AES/EBU cables is the only way other than i.LINK to send SACD data from the transport to the DAC. Good thing — the DAC and transport sound far better connected this way than via single coaxial or AES/EBU cables. Esoteric recommends their own Mexcel cables for ES-LINK duty; Acrolink in Japan makes these (and supplies the wire used inside the P-03, D-03 and other Esoteric products). While I used a pair of Mexcel 7N-A2500 cables, I found that the DH Labs D-110, a true 110-ohm AES/EBU digital cable, worked very well and didn’t leave me pining for the much more expensive Esoteric cables. Finally, clock-linking the two units provided a small but worthwhile increase in soundstage focus and overall speed, and the cost of this connection was only a BNC-terminated cable. Again, a DH Labs digital cable, the D-75, worked well.
The final thing to consider with the Esoteric duo is whether to convert to DSD or PCM, and then whether to engage the D-03’s digital filter. I listened to the P-03 and D-03 in just about every combination of settings; I preferred it with the P-03’s output set to DSD and the D-03’s digital filter turned on. However, with some CDs, turning the digital filter off actually increased presence and improved the sound. Owners, who will have endless access to both units and no writing deadlines to meet, may find some satisfaction in close listening to every possible combination, but settling on just one is where I suspect most will end up. “Set it and forget it,” as Ron Popeil counsels.
Needless to say, very few audio products are built like the P-03 and D-03, whose technical design seems equally refined. Esoteric products make their opulence known before they produce a sound, and the P-03 and D-03 have seemingly maximized this principle.
Sound — finally!
Well, not quite.
The P-03 and D-03 I received for review were the first units in the US, and while they had some playing time on them (they were used at CES in January), it wasn’t much. Consequently, they initially sounded unfocused, polite and one-dimensional — boring, in short. I knew I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but what I heard was so uninvolving, so wrong, that it had me questioning Esoteric’s strategy of switching from Burr-Brown to Analog Devices DACs.
So I put an SACD in the P-03 and played it on repeat for three days straight. The sound tightened up some after this, but not enough to make me want to listen. Back to the SACD (and then CD) on repeat for a few more days, during which time I worked on another review, forgetting about the P-03 and D-03 until I decided to mention them as ancillary gear in the review I was writing.
I remember the afternoon clearly. I put on Over the Rhine’s Drunkard’s Prayer [EMI 72438-66233-2-4], a CD I had been listening to heavily, and sat down to take a quick listen. After five songs, I was astonished. The P-03 and D-03 sounded like a completely different, and much better, digital source. They were easily in the same rarified league as the other players I was listening to at the time. Break-in is by no means an absolute; most products benefit from it, but some require only a few hours and others weeks. Even so, the transformation is normally just enough to make me wonder if the product has broken in, or my ears have become accustomed to its sound. With the P-03 and D-03, the hairy caterpillar had turned into a tiger swallowtail, and another layer of this digital combination’s complexity was revealed. Be sure to give the P-03 and D-03 lots of playing time before evaluating them seriously.
The soundstage the P-03 and D-03 cast was as big as the room and speakers could support, and as detailed as the recording could convey. I heard a newfound sense of realism, spatial and otherwise, from the P-03 and D-03. However, they didn’t derive this from the big things (subterranean bass depth, preternatural treble purity, a plush midrange, plunging and soaring dynamics), but rather through supreme overall aptitude and expertise at some meaningful small things: capturing the unique texture of a singer’s voice, revealing the minute shifts in volume that happen in all kinds of music, conveying the sheen and shimmer of cymbals in a delicate yet steely way. The P-03 and D-03 express everything that defines the music they play, no matter how large or small. Earlier Esoteric products sounded more overtly detailed, fast, and dynamic. “Detailed, fast, and dynamic” apply to the P-03 and D-03, but they’re the second, third and fourth things about their sound, taking a backseat to the obvious sophistication.
Images were well delineated yet naturally rendered — not the products of etch or crispy edge definition. This gave the music an easygoing character whose detail was evident but not highlighted for its own sake. Geoff Muldaur’s Private Astronomy: A Vision of Bix Beiderbecke [Edge Music B0000907-02] is one of the best-sounding CDs of large-scale jazz I’ve ever heard. It achieves its stellar sonics by laying bare the performers, who populate an enormous soundstage. The P-03/D-03 duo excavated the large and small details that make this recording so invigorating, but never turned the horns brittle or the strings strident.
The same is true for the SACD version of Eugene List’s recording of Rhapsody in Blue, which shares space on a Telarc SACD with the label’s famous first recording of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture [Telarc SACD-60646] — yes, the one with the cannon shots that could make your tonearm jump out of the groove. Telarc has recorded Rhapsody a few times, but this version, their first, trumps all others to my ears, including the latest from jazz pianist Michel Camilo [Telarc SACD-63611]. I’ve heard List’s performance dozens of times, with dozens of different digital components, but the P-03 and D-03 made hearing it on SACD something I’ll remember — and try to replicate after they’re gone. The sound was precise and grand — like List’s playing.
Bass was ridiculously deep and powerful, which, I speculate, is due to the care paid to the P-03’s and D-03’s power supplies. There are a few cuts on the Neville Brother’s CD Family Groove [A&M 75021] whose bass weight and slam are amazing. “Day to Day Thing” can loosen the joints of my house if I lean on the volume hard enough, especially with the P-03 and D-03 spinning it. Bass definition and pitch were truthful but not overblown, as though they had to make up for less-than-acceptable depth. As with the rest of the P-03/D-03 combo’s sound, the bass was cause for superlatives, but it was integrated with everything else — “outstanding” not “out standing.”
As I’ve observed in other reviews, most multiformat sources don’t have to make excuses for their CD playback any longer, and this means that reviewers don’t have to make separate statements about it when writing about most CD/SACD players. The P-03 and D-03 are no exception — everything I say above applies to their CD and SACD playback. Yes, a good SACD sounded better than a good CD, but the best examples of both formats attained a level of verisimilitude with the P-03 and D-03 that was state of the art. After a certain point, small gains in air or midrange palpability seem all the more superfluous when the overall product is within percentage points of ideal, which is perhaps the best way to sum up the P-03/D-03’s sound.
Which Esoteric?
As many of you know firsthand, we answer a lot of e-mail, and we’re glad to do it. I know that I would rather listen to music than wade through another review of a mono amp, so I’m happy to give you more listening time by simply answering questions sent my way as directly as I can. A question I often answer doesn’t deal with one brand of component versus another, but two models from the same company. “How does the Wilson Audio Sophia compare to the WATT/Puppy 7?” Or “How does the Lamm M1.2 Reference compare to the ML2.1?” In these cases, you’ve already decided on a brand; you now just want to select the product that’s most right for you. If someone could help me with such a dilemma, I’d send that person e-mail too.
In this spirit, comparing the P-03/D-03 combo to Esoteric’s X-01 Limited, which is the company’s highest-performing single-box CD/SACD player currently on the market, seems logical. If I were considering the P-03/D-03, I’d want to know how the X-01 Limited measures up — and know if I can save some money in the process. While expensive, the $14,000 X-01 Limited is a little over half the cost of the P-03 and D-03. It uses Burr-Brown DACs and converts DSD to PCM, so some sonic differences should be apparent.
With the changes brought on by the Limited upgrade, the stock X-01 took a step toward a more relaxed, graceful sound. This is the same path the P-03 and D-03 take, to even greater effect. The X-01 Limited’s soundstage is very good, but not as vast as that of the P-03 and D-03. Images are packed more tightly and don’t achieve the same delineation as with the Esoteric separates. Soundstaging and imaging have a great effect on the entire sonic outcome, however; they create the context through which everything else passes. While characteristics like bass quantity and quality, and high-frequency air are similar (or even subjectively in the X-01 Limited’s favor), the P-03/D-03’s presentation is consistently more vibrant and polished, making each recording sound more distinct.
But let’s keep things somewhat in perspective. At this level of performance, and especially between products from the same company, differences are often small, more matters of opinion than signs of an undeniable pecking order. Such an argument could be made here: If I were writing the check, I would likely write it for the X-01 Limited as it represents the sweet spot in Esoteric’s distinguished digital lineup. However, I cannot deny that the P-03/D-03 combo sounds better than the X-01 Limited in ways that are relevant to the enjoyment of recorded music, which is the heart of the matter. That this comes at a very steep price is no revelation.
Conclusion
TEAC has reestablished the Esoteric brand with a vengeance, and the latest Esoteric digital separates, the P-03 and D-03, only shove the throttle forward. It’s impossible to see or read about the P-03 and D-03 and not be curious. They are big, gleaming pieces of audio treasure that are packed with well-considered design and user features, including industrial-strength upsampling, PCM-to-DSD and DSD-to-PCM conversion, a low-jitter connection scheme, and the ability to synchronize to a single word clock.
But the P-03 and D-03 do not simply blind with science. Look past their technology and what you’re left with is playback that conveys the distinctiveness of each CD or SACD in a composed, confident way. The sound of the P-03 and D-03 belies that of digital’s past, and clearly betters much of its present.
Esoteric has released a string of impressive digital players and separates since 2002, but, to my ears, none is as significant as the P-03 and D-03. They are arguably the most technologically advanced and best-sounding Esoteric products yet, which should elevate them to the top of any well-heeled audiophile’s short list.
Esoteric P-03 Universal Disc Transport and D-03 Digital-to-Analog Converter
- REVIEW
- by Robert Harley
- Dec 12th, 2008
One of the great mysteries of digital audio (to me, at least) is how CD transport-mechanism quality affects the sound. I’m not talking about the differences between transports as a whole, but of the mechanism that spins the disc and reads the data.
The sonic differences between transports are the result of jitter, or timing variations, in their digital outputs; this is now a welldocumented phenomenon.
But here’s the conundrum: Every CD transport mechanism recovers the same ones and zeros from the disc, whether that mechanism is a flimsy plastic job found in a $39 player or the massive VRDS-Neo mechanism in the $17,200 Esoteric P-03 transport reviewed here. You can prove this by conducting a bitfor- bit comparison between the audio data recovered from either player. So what has changed?
True, those audio data are only part of a very complex datastream that comes off the disc. They undergo significant processing to extract the audio information.
Nevertheless, one would think that processing and clocking that data through integrated circuits (and sometimes buffers) would remove any timing errors (jitter). And if that were the case, then why not recover the data with a cheap mechanism and employ a high-precision clock to correct for the mechanism’s timing inaccuracy?
There are two more pieces to this mystery. Nakamichi’s 1000 CD transport, which has an acoustic seal on the door to its slot-loading mechanism, sounds better with the door closed. Apparently, acoustic energy from the loudspeakers impinging on the disc and transport results in a slight, but audible, degradation of the sound. Once again, the bits are the same, door open or closed.
The third piece of this mystery has baffled me for nearly 20 years. I was working in a CD mastering lab (where we transferred CD mastertapes to disc on a million-dollar laser mastering machine in a clean room), and part of my job involved trouble-shooting odd technical problems relating to mastertapes and replicated discs. A client for whom we had made discs was unhappy with the results, reporting that the discs didn’t sound as good as the mastertape. I compared the data on the mastertape with the data recovered from the replicated disc (using a CD-ROM pre-mastering system) and found, not surprisingly, that the disc and tape were bit-for-bit identical. The extremely talented electrical and optical engineers I worked with (who had designed and built the mastering machine) dismissed the artist’s claim, saying: “Bits is bits.” Unfortunately, I was unable to compare the sound of the disc with the mastertape through the same digital-to-analog converters (this was back in the day when mastertapes were on ¾” U-Matic tape decoded by a Sony PCM 1610 or 1630).
Partly out of my own curiosity and partly out of the desire to please the client, we cut another master disc and replicated new discs—this time on a different mastering machine. The client reported that the new disc sounded as he intended, and went away happy. But I was left with the question of how two CDs, each containing identical data, could sound different. But now I was armed with two discs that could be played back on a high-resolution system, and my own listening confirmed that the second disc did sound better than the first. (A similar paradox, which arose many years later, is that a CD-R made from a CD often sounds better than the original CD.)
The next step was to look at the physical differences between the two discs—discs with identical ones and zeros but with different sound. An analysis of the pit and land lengths on the two discs showed that the inferior-sounding disc had greater variations in those pit and land lengths—in other words, jitter was encoded in the disc’s physical structures. (Specifically, a histogram of the frequency variance in the discs’ nine discrete pit and land lengths showed the inferior-sounding disc had a wider bell curve than the better-sounding disc.)
The question remains: How do timing variations in the raw bitstream recovered from a CD make their way into the analog output signal? If the sound is different, then the signals must be different. Doesn’t precise clocking eliminate transport-induced jitter? Would better clocks have removed the sonic differences I heard between the two replicated CDs? And how did sound impinging on a disc played in the Nakamichi transport affect a change in the analog output signal?
These puzzles lead to the question that opened this review: Does a massive and elaborate machined-metal transport mechanism in the Esoteric P-03 Universal Disc Transport sound better than a cheap plastic job? The P-03 is the ultimate expression of transport quality. This 71-pound, $17,200 device takes the task of recovering data from a CD quite seriously, employing what is unquestionably the best built and most elaborate mechanism yet devised for CD playback (save for the mechanism in Esoteric’s $25k P-01 transport).
I don’t have the answer to why transport-mechanism quality affects the sound, and can’t explain the reason that two CDs with identical data sound different, but I can say definitively that the P-03 transport and D-03 D/A converter are among the bestsounding digital sources I’ve ever heard.
P-03 Universal Disc Transport
The P-03 Universal ($17,200), plays any disc format, including CD, SACD, DVD-Audio, and DVD-Video. The machine’s DVD-V capabilities deserve attention. The P-03 Universal uses 14-bit video processing and the latest Anchor Bay Technologies de-interlacer and scaler to output video up to 1080p on its HDMI output. Without dwelling on the video performance, I will say that the P-03’s picture quality is easily the best I’ve seen from DVD, with nearly the dimensionality, depth, and resolution of high-definition sources. (The audio-only version of the P-03 Universal transport is known as the P-03 and carries a price of $13,300. The P-03 Universal’s video circuits can be turned off when playing music discs.)
The P-03’s rear panel reveals some unusual connection options. Digital output is via a standard coaxial RCA jack, an i.LINK (FireWire) connector, or two XLR jacks. These two XLR jacks together form Esoteric’s proprietary ES-Link in which two cables carry high-resolution stereo data, including two-channel SACD information, to the D-03 digital-to-analog converter for decoding. Note that the XLR jacks carry only stereo digital audio. The P-03 will output high-resolution multichannel digital audio from multichannel SACD discs, but only on the i.LINK (FireWire) port. With the P-03 Universal playing a DVD-V or DVD-A, encoded with Dolby Digital or DTS audio tracks, surround-sound information can be output via the RCA coaxial digital out.
Decoding the multichannel bitstream requires a multichannel digital-to-analog converter (the D-03 is a stereo-only device). By using the i.LINK output, one could daisy-chain three D-03 digitalto- analog converters to the P-03 and output 5.1 multichannel. A Word Sync input (BNC jack) accepts a clock from the D-03. Putting the master clock in the digital-to-analog converter and slaving the transport mechanism to this clock is an essential prerequisite for any digital front end that aspires to be state-of-the-art. That’s because no matter how well designed the digital-to-analog converter, jitter (timing variations) introduced by the S/PDIF interface between transport and processor will degrade the sound. Speaking of clocks, those with the budget and the passion can further improve the timing precision of the digital-to-analog conversion process by adding one of Esoteric’s outboard clock modules. The G25U clock ($2900) connects to the transport and processor, providing even greater precision (1 part per million). For the ultimate performance, Esoteric makes the G-0s, a $13,500 device that employs a Rubidium sub-atomic clock with accuracy of 0.05 parts per billion. (The D-03’s internal clock provides an accuracy of 3 parts per million, not significantly lower than the G25U’s accuracy, but far lower than the Rubidium clock’s precision.) A front-panel button allows you to select the upsampling rate (no upsampling, 88.2kHz, 176.4kHz), and even to convert PCM to Direct Stream Digital (DSD, the format used in SACD), for conversion to analog in the D-03 D/A converter.
The heart of the P-03 is surely the mighty VRDS-Neo transport mechanism. This device is to most CD transport mechanisms what a Ferrari is to a Yugo. Weighing in at a whopping 14 pounds, the VRDS-Neo is made like no other disc-reading device. For starters, the assembly is built around solid blocks of cut steel for rigidity. And rather than secure the disc at its center with a tiny plastic clamp, the VRDS mechanism employs a machined disc of Duralumin just larger than a CD to hold the entire disc and reduce vibration. This clamping mechanism is attached to a solid-steel “bridge” that traverses the assembly.
The motor is a custom three-phase brushless type, developed using parent company TEAC’s long experience in motor design and magnetic analysis. The spindle-shaft bearings—again designed from scratch—are made from stainless-steel balls encased in ceramic for low vibration and greater positional precision. Esoteric developed for the VRDS mechanism a novel laser-pickup structure that more precisely articulates the lens and optical pickup during disc playback. A conventional pickup is suspended from several wires, allowing it to move in many directions. The Esoteric pickup mechanism is mounted on a sled (with metal guide rails), allowing the pickup to move in only three directions (horizontal, vertical, and circular). This design reportedly results in lower vibration, less servo activity to keep the laser focused and on-track, and fewer errors. In addition, the entire sled assembly is isolated mechanically from the spindle motor to reduce vibration in the pickup.
I had hands-on time with all these transport sub-components during a visit to Esoteric’s California headquarters, which gave me an even greater appreciation not only of the engineering involved, but also of the remarkable level of execution. Every component is massively built, heavy, precise, with no apparent compromises to cost. When Esoteric wanted a sub-component, it ended up designing and building the component itself rather than sourcing it from outside suppliers. Each VRDS-Neo mechanism is made by hand and undergoes a two-day qualitycontrol check. Very few—if any—high-end companies have the resources to design and build from scratch a piece of mechanical engineering of this sophistication.
(Esoteric has designed a new transport platform called Vertically Aligned Optical Stability Platform [VOSP] for its lower-priced products, and will supply this mechanism on an OEM basis to other companies. Over the next year, you’ll see a wide variety of CD players from other high-end manufacturers using the Esoteric VOSP mechanism.)
The P-03’s VRDS-Neo transport mechanism is housed in one of the finest examples of chassis metalwork in high-end audio. The chassis construction, drawer operation, metal finish, and precision with which the chassis is assembled are beyond reproach. For example, the chrome-plated Allen bolts holding the top panel are tightened to a precise specification with a torque wrench. Here’s another example of the level of thought and detail in the P-03: When you open the drawer to insert or remove a disc, a small door glides out of the way and a blue LED gently illuminates the tray. Even the chassis feet are custom, patented, elaborate multi-part devices designed to reduce vibration. The entire product exudes elegance, luxury, precision, and serious engineering.
D-03 D/A Converter
D-03 D/A ConverterThe D-03 digital processor is housed in a chassis that is nearly identical externally to that of the P-03, making for a handsome pair when installed in an equipment rack. The unit can decode a wide range of input signals, including high-resolution PCM and DSD. As mentioned earlier, the D-03 outputs a clock to the P-03 transport, allowing the critical clock that controls the DACs (the place where jitter matters) to be generated by a precision device rather than by the jittered clock recovered from the S/PDIF digital interface. The D-03 employs other jitter-reduction techniques, including a buffer that temporarily stores the data to remove timing variations (active only when the D-03 acts as the master clock for the P-03).
The D-03 is essentially a dual-mono DAC, with completely separate power supplies (including power transformers specifically designed and built for the D-03 by Esoteric), and separate compartments within the chassis for each channel of DAC and analog output stage. A third power transformer supplies the digital circuits. Digital-to-analog conversion is handled by Analog Devices AD1955 chips in dual-differential configuration (two DACs per audio channel) for lower noise and greater conversion accuracy. The DACs can decode PCM or DSD, which means that DSD input signals are decoded in their native format rather than being converted to PCM. The analog output stage is alldiscrete, with no integrated circuits in the signal path. Output is via unbalanced RCA jacks or balanced XLRs. As noted above, two DACs per channel are employed, meaning that the balanced outputs are not compromised by the presence of a phase splitter to convert a single DAC’s unbalanced output into a balanced signal.
Listening
After living with a new component for a few months (particularly a digital source), I generally develop in my mind a shorthand synopsis of its overall sonic character. It might go something like this: “Somewhat forward perspective; sacrifices smoothness for detail resolution; deep bass extension but a little plumy in the midbass; and a touch of grain through the mids.” The reality is that all audio components impose a sonic signature on the music, some more than others. The ability to identify a component by its sound is not a good thing; it means that the product has enough of a sonic personality that its colorations overlay the music.
A school of thought in high-end audio suggests that a component can be judged purely by how different a variety of recordings sound through that component. The reasoning is that the component that resolves the biggest differences between recordings must have the least coloration and, ergo, is the superior product. Another way of evaluating a component is to see how it stacks up on a sonic checklist—tonal balance, freedom from grain, tone color, soundstaging, and the like. Finally, one can just listen to music and see how emotionally involving the experience is compared to listening through other products.
Rarely do these disparate evaluation methods converge; there are some products I admire for their audiophile attributes more than I enjoy for their musicality (they satisfy all the specific sonic checkmarks, but lack a certain indefinable magic), and others that are obviously colored but somehow manage to pull me into the music every time I sit down.
The Esoteric D-03/P-03 pair lives in the rarified company of digital sources that are outstanding by any evaluation criterion. For starters, the Esoteric is chameleon-like in its portrayal of different recordings—from tonal balance, to liquidity, to space, to overall perspective, to dynamics, the Esoteric’s sound is as variable as the disc you place in its drawer. The P-03/D-03 also excels in all the audiophile values; the pair hits all the right audiophile buttons. But most importantly—by a long shot—the Esoteric combination is immensely engaging musically. Put all this together and you’ve got a world-class digital source that’s among the few best I’ve heard.
I was taken aback by the Esoteric’s lack of a “sound.” I was unable to pin down any specific character I could attribute to the player. Just when I thought I’d identified a coloration, changing discs or switching to a different kind of music would prove me wrong. Listening through the P-03/D-03 was like looking back into the recording through a transparent window.
This lack of coloration conferred many wonderful attributes. The sense of hearing back through the playback chain to the original acoustic event gave the music a life and vividness that was startling. Tiny nuances in expression came to the forefront, which fostered the impression of hearing live music-making as it was happening rather than of listening to a canned reproduction. The Esoteric pair is hyper-detailed and vivid musically without a trace of sonic vividness. I heard a richly woven musical tapestry that encouraged, particularly in jazz, a constant changing of focus from one musician to another, of discovering a drum lick that perfectly complemented the soloist’s melodic line.
The Esoteric’s transparency to the source also paid dividends in reproduction of tone color. Instrumental timbres, rather than sounding overlaid by grain, hardness, or a common character, were instead natural and realistic. I was particularly taken by the Esoteric’s reproduction of oboe, bassoon, and bass clarinet— instruments that seem to convey feeling purely through their tone colors. A good example is Zappa’s The Yellow Shark, an orchestral album performed by Germany’s new-music group Ensemble Modern. The Esoteric’s purity of tone color brought out more expression in the compositions and their performances.
Recordings that combined woodwind and brass instruments in complex arrangements highlighted the Esoteric’s beautiful portrayal of timbre. Listening, for examples, to the rich interplay of tone colors in trumpeter Jon Faddis’ beautiful DVD-A Remembrances [Chesky] or what is perhaps the bestsounding big-band recording ever made, Dick Hyman’s From the Age of Swing [Reference Recordings], I could clearly hear the timbre of each instrument within the overall sound, rather than hearing separate instruments congeal into a synthetic whole. I also noticed this quality on unison phrases between instruments, such as sax and trumpet. This ability to hear quiet instruments with their timbres preserved in the presence of louder instruments contributed to my ability to hear more deeply into the music. The Zappa piece “The Black Page” (the live version from Make a Jazz Noise Here), which Zappa describes as having “statistical density,” was a good example; the Esoteric unraveled the many layers of rhythmic and melodic innovation that make this composition a masterpiece. (Incidentally, there’s a very interesting entry on Wikipedia on “The Black Page.”)
The Esoteric’s bottom-end was extraordinarily weighty, full, and dynamic. If the Esoteric had any identifiable sonic signature, it was a slight fullness in the midbass that added a measure of warmth to bass guitar and acoustic bass, as well as a heightened sense of power on lower-tuned toms. The thunderous tomtom fill midway through the track “Gaia” from James Taylor’s Hourglass SACD had greater weight and heft through the Esoteric. But the added touch of bass weight didn’t detract from the sense of pitch or dynamic agility.
In the portrayal of space, and of individual images within that space, the Esoteric was world-class. The soundstage was stunningly wide, throwing images beyond the confines of the loudspeakers in an almost wrap-around effect. Image focus was tight, accompanied by a sense of air and bloom around instrumental outlines. The spatial perspective tended to be vivid and sharply defined, but was never forward, aggressive, or artificially sculpted. As mentioned earlier, the sense of space changed dramatically with the recording, from the intimacy of a solo acoustic guitar to the huge and gorgeous acoustic of Myerson Symphony Center captured in Keith Johnson’s spectacular recordings on the Reference Recordings label.
This description applies primarily to the Esoteric’s reproduction of CD with the upsampling set to 176.4kHz, the best-sounding setting in my system. The top end was the most transparent and open at this frequency. I don’t know if it was my system or sonic taste, but the PCM-to-DSD conversion option was never preferable. It thickened the sound, made the bass woolly, and added a bit of glare. The sound was still good, but the magic was gone.
The ability to turn off the digital filter provided some fascinating listening sessions. Removing the digital filter was like opening a car’s convertible top on a crisp but sunny spring morning; the sound became more open, transparent, illuminated from within, and possessed a purity of tonal color that was breathtaking. Without the digital filter, the midrange had a stunning immediacy that reminded me of the sound of a 300B single-ended triode amplifier. The downside of no digital filter was a bit of brightness and slight etch to the leading edge of transients. On already bright recordings, the result was too analytical a presentation and a lack of ease. On most recordings, however, the slight top-end emphasis, coupled with the advantages described, made no digital filter the setting of choice for pure musical involvement.
Finally, if you enjoy musical performances on DVD, the Esoteric’s combination of world-class sound and state-of-the-art DVD reproduction is compelling. On DVDs with a stereo PCM track, run the D-03’s analog outputs into a controller with Pro Logic IIx or DTS Neo:6 Music decoding and connect the P-03’s HDMI output at 1080p to a 1920×1080 video display and you’re in for an aural and visual treat.
Conclusion
ConclusionIf I had to name on one hand the best-sounding digital source products I’ve heard, the Esoteric P-03/D-03 combination would certainly be included (along with the Spectral SDR-2000/SDR- 3000, Linn CD12, and the Mark Levinson No.30.6/No.31.5). That the Esoteric is also the most luxurious looking, feeling, and operating of the group, and also plays SACD, DVD-Audio, and DVD-Video, are bonuses. Moreover, the Esoteric’s build-quality is as good as it gets, and the VRDS-Neo transport mechanism simply has no peer.
When I discover something new in familiar music—the beauty of a melodic phrase that had not struck me before, a subtle layer in a rhythmic pattern, or an extra measure of expression from the musicians—I know I’m in the presence of a special component. I had many of these musical epiphanies during my time with the Esoteric P-03 and D-03, which is, ultimately, the raison d être of high-end audio. TAS
Description
Brand: Esoteric
Model Name/Number: Esoteric P-03 D-03
Price (RRP): £25000
Product Information:
