Features, Unsurpassed design and features

Esoteric D00816700B manual Features, Coreless motor with neodymium magnets, Audio DACs

Features

The world’s first VRDS mechanism for Super Audio CD players, incorporating a magnesium turntable and a SS400 bridge

The VDRS mechanism completely eliminates any vibration of the disc itself, thanks to the full-diameter clamp, which clamps the disc securely to the turntable. In addition, warping and other defects of the disc are eliminated. The constancy of the reading angle between the optical pickup and the disc pits is therefore increased, and read errors, together with the occurrence of timing errors to the clock circuit, are significantly reduced.

Playback of Super Audio CDs requires high-speed rotation and a high degree of precision, and the X-01 accordingly uses a magnesium turntable. This has only two-thirds the specific gravity of aluminum and has excellent shock-absorbent properties. The bridge employs a pair of precisely engineered ball bearings, and is constructed of SS400 steel, mounted directly on the 5mm thick steel base plate.

Coreless motor with neodymium magnets

Anewly-developed three-phase brushless spindle motor provides the fast and accurate turntable rotation required for Super Audio CD playback. This, and the fixing of the turntable together with the use of precision ball bearings, eliminate irregular rotation and vibration.

Research has shown that neodymium is the optimum magnetic material for this application. Neodymium absorbs changes to the motor’s electric power supply, and exerts minimal influence on the audio sections of the unit.

Constant-angle optical pickup mounted on a sled with feedback-monitored speed control

By mounting the pickup on a sled whose axis is rigid, the pickup lens is maintained at a constant angle and the laser beam, and hence the optical axis, is maintained in an accurate vertical orientation. An Esoteric original three-phase brushless motor with Hall element detection drives the sled, and the speed of the sled is monitored and used to control the sled itself in a servo feedback operation, meaning the sled is highly responsive and smooth in its operation.

Sturdy, rigid chassis with triple-point pinpoint foot support

The unit is constructed with a 5mm thick robust steel base plate, and is divided into three logical sections, thereby reducing interference between components of the unit. Highly rigid mounts are used for the VDRS disc mechanism.

To eliminate vibration, three solid (tool steel) feet support the unit and isolate it mechanically.

Brushed aluminum finish exemplifies the quality of construction

The front, side and top panels are constructed of thick brushed aluminum. The high-quality luxurious finish matches the overall attention to the finest possible quality, shown in such details as the illuminated surrounds to the control buttons, the milled top-panel logo, and the milled aluminum disc tray.

Unsurpassed design and features

The X-01 is truly the most advanced Super Audio CD player to date. Separation of power supplies for each major function (digital audio, DAC circuitry, analog audio) ensures total fidelity. The DACs have sub-ground impedances with exceptional S/N figures. Full 5.1 surround Super Audio CD playback is possible with the X-01.

Audio DACs

All audio channels use Burr-Brown 24-bit DA converters (PCM1704). Improved linearity is achieved for the two front channels by the use of 4-tip-converter for each channel.

The audio DAC boards employ a high-quality quartz crystal, which results in the almost complete elimination of jitter and subsequent high-quality DA conversion.

Word synchronization

A master word clock from a high-quality DA converter or master clock generator can be used for clock synchronization, resulting in the almost complete elimination of jitter.

Using a high-quality clock signal provided by an external DA converter such as the Esoteric G-0/G-0s provides optimum video and audio quality, up to 192kHz, optimizing a top- ranking universal player like the X-01.