Description: Universal multichannel SACD/CD/DVD-A/DVD-V player with choice of 8x oversampling FIR and upsampling RDOT low-pass digital filters, three digital outputs (not SACD), full set of video outputs, and both balanced and unbalanced analog outputs. Maximum output level at 1kHz: 2.34V RMS (unbalanced), 5.1V RMS (balanced). Output impedance: 450 ohms (unbalanced), 665 ohms (balanced). No other specifications supplied.
Dimensions: 17.5" W by 6.5" H by 13.6" D. Weight: 46 lbs.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 20005.
Price: $5500. Approximate number of…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: SOTA Cosmos Series III, Clearaudio Champion 2 turntables; Clearaudio Unify tonearms; Dynavector XV-1S, Benz L2 cartridges.
Digital sources: Classé Omega SACD/CD player, Ayre D-1x DVD-V/CD player.
Preamplification: Manley Labs Steelhead, Aesthetix Io Signature Rhea phono stages; Mark Levinson No.32 Reference, VTL Reference TL-7.5 Reference, BAT VK51 SE, Aesthetix Calypso line stages.
Power amplifiers: Lamm M2.1, Classé CAM 350, Manley 250 Neo-Classic monoblocks; Plinius SA-102.
Loudspeakers: Calix Phoenix Grand Signature.
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Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Esoteric DV-50 had a maximum balanced output level at 1kHz of 5.05V RMS for CD and DVD playback, 5.11V for SACD. The unbalanced output was a little less than half this at 2.34V, which is an audible 1.4dB greater than the standard CD output. The output impedance was moderately low across the audioband, at 448 ohms unbalanced and 664 ohms balanced. Error correction was good, the player coping with gaps in a CD's data spiral of up to 1mm in length without audible glitches.
The frequency response for SACD playback (fig.1) extended above 20kHz, but showed…
The Esoteric's DACs offered excellent linearity, any error in CD playback remaining below 2dB to -110dBFS (fig.6). For SACD playback, there was less than 2dB error down to below -120dBFS, with just +6dB of error at -130dBFS. The player's low analog noise floor meant that its reproduction of an undithered 16-bit sinewave at -90.31dBFS was nigh-on perfect (fig.7).
Fig.6 Esoteric DV-50, left-channel departure from linearity, 16-bit CD data (2dB/vertical div.)
Fig.7 Esoteric DV-50, waveform of undithered 1kHz sinewave at -90.31dBFS, 16-bit LPCM data.
As is…
When, on his long-running TV variety show, Jackie Gleason used to order up some "traveling music" from music director Ray Bloch, he got a live orchestra's worth. But when Gleason, a composer and conductor in his own right (he wrote his show's unforgettable theme song, "Melancholy Serenade"), actually traveled, his listening options were severely limited compared to ours. By the time the comedian died in 1987, Sony had introduced the Walkman cassette player, but Apple's iPod was still more than a decade in the future.
No one will accuse HeadRoom's new Total BitHead headphone…
For best performance, HeadRoom suggests setting all computer volume controls to max. In the case of Mac OS X, there's a main volume control on the desktop, another in System Preferences (along with one for balance), and another in iTunes. iTunes also has a neat 10-band graphic equalizer with multiple presets and manual settings you can name and save to memory, and yet another level control, found under Window in the iTunes menu.
What difference does it make?
Some readers will complain that the Total BitHead has nothing to do with high-end audio. I disagree. For one thing, if it…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Battery-powered headphone amplifier. Includes rubber feet, Velcoin Velcro discs, USB-to-mini-USB cable, 1/8"-to-1/8" audio cable. Maximum voltage gain with 300 ohm load: 11.2dB. Maximum THD+N, 20Hz-20kHz, 300 ohm load: 0.15%. Input impedance at 1kHz: 20k ohms. Output impedance at 1kHz: 1.7 ohm.
Dimensions: 2.75" W by 4.5" D by 1" H. Weight: 2.5oz per website, 5.5oz per spec sheet (with batteries).
Serial number of unit reviewed: Not noted.
Price: Total BitHead, $269.
Manufacturer: HeadRoom, 2020 Gilkerson Drive, Bozeman, MT 59715. Tel…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
I loaded the Total BitHead with four fresh AAA batteries and looked first at its performance via its analog input. The maximum voltage gain into 100k ohms was 11.4dB, and the DC offset varied between 5 and 7mV. This offset will not be high enough to damage headphones, but its presence led to a scraping noise when I rotated the BitHead's volume control. The input impedance at 1kHz was a moderate 47.5k ohms, dropping slightly and inconsequentially to 36k ohms at 20kHz. The unit preserved absolute polarity; ie, it was non-inverting.
As befits a headphone amp…
On Friday morning, March 25, 2005, my friend Maura Rieland, Stereophile's show coordinator through the second half of the 1990s, e-mailed me to say that she had just learned of the passing of Ken Nelson.
For those of you who didn't know him, Ken was a legendary figure in the audiophile publishing world for many years. Publisher of one of the daily newspapers of the annual Consumer Electronics Show, he was hired by Larry Archibald at the beginning of 1984 to be Stereophile's first full-time advertising representative. He had his own rep business, Nelson and Associates. The associates were…
What makes someone a good hi-fi reviewer? A fine critical sensibility? A good technical background? Ears? Eyes? Nose? Throat? So many different people are reviewing audio gear these days that it's downright impossible to characterize a good reviewer. But I do know that Beavis and Butt-head would make killer hi-fi reviewers!
I know this because I just spent a whole weekend watching the Beavis and Butt-head Marathon on MTV—two full days of the clearest, most incisive social commentary since Charles Kuralt stuffed himself into a souped-up Winnebago and hit the road searching for the naked…