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Esoteric G-01 Master Rubidium Clock Review

By Yardbird

As a life - long musician and audiophile, I have always been happiest with audio system changes that have made my system sound more like live musicians making music in my home. And while I’ve also been fascinated with the science of sound reproduction, my love of music has always been my primary motivation for being an audiophile. Though many audiophiles care more about the sound than they do the music, this audiophile is passionate about both! So, when I decided to migrate to a new audio system a year ago, it was because I realized I had taken my previous system about as far as I could towards my ideal; a neutral-sounding, true-to-source system. It was my search for such a system that led me to the Esoteric G-01 Master Rubidium Clock and this review.

The Esoteric G-01 Master Rubidium Clock is the ultimate neutral component tweak. Its only impact on your system is that of accuracy – it’s a truth-teller! Its sole mission is to minimize digital audio’s biggest problem; jitter. Jitter is any deviation from accurate time alignment in the processing and handling of digital audio signals. Jitter, in one degree or another, is found everywhere, because there is, as yet, no such thing as perfect audio. Jitter is a thief; it robs our systems of audio clarity – of precious detail, dynamics, timbre, transparency - which makes it harder to make that ultimate connection with the music; an artists’ true intent, the intrinsic character or humanity in the music. The types of information needed to make that kind of connection is often the information most easily lost through jitter; the small stuff; the last bit of detail in a musicians’ tone or attack that might provide additional insight into a performance. Since jitter affects all audio, not just low-level subtle detail, jitter is also a problem with large-scale music, as my review of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, which features 100 musicians and 200 vocalists, found below, illustrates.

I will not go into all of the functions of the G-01 in this review, because there is ample manufacturer technical data available online. I do want to mention that setup is as simple as reading your owners’ manual, connecting your BNC cable, and making a couple of rudimentary choices in the setup menus on your player and clock. As soon as your front panel blue light indicates a component sinc between your player and your clock, its show time! One more important point; your G-01 will clock as many as three 50/75 ohm input components, and an additional pair of BNC connections will clock a 10 Mghz input component. Finally, there is an additional port for an “external reference signal generator, or GPS receiver”. What all this means is that you can clock several other digital components; you are not limited to just your player, or dac. I plan to begin amortizing my investment by putting the G-01 to work clocking my next media server, for instance.

A few technical notes before we start: I have found I prefer to use my Esoteric K-01 player set to 4x upsampling and the digital filter set to S_dly2. But, in a couple of instances, when working with flawed recordings, I have used other settings and indicated so below. I used the factory-recommended G-01 clock setting for CD\SCAD playback, 44.1, through the standard "word in" port on the back of the K-01. When two dates are listed next to a recording, then the later date refers to the remaster date. Also, I've tried to select a broad range of material for this review, so that various types of music and recording qualities would be represented.

The Music

Brahms / Piano Concerto #1 - Leon Fleisher/ Szell/Cleveland SO – Sony Masterworks 1962/2006 - RB
One of the great performances of one of the great concertos ably recorded by Epic and wonderfully remastered by Sony. K-01 set to original sampling and FIR-1 digital filtering to tame somewhat lean, screechy strings in this 50+ year-old recording.
W/o G-01:
With new remastering, much improved, but still far from perfect; the strings are a bit edgy sounding, brass sometimes sharp - the overall sound is a little lean. The piano is dry, but upfront, with good soloist/orchestra balance and front row perspective.
W/ G-01:
Spacious sound stage, strings well-defined and feathered, nice layering apparent, sweet tonality, blatty brass, liquid piano, with more audible sustain – all with more performance space ambience. Sounds like this historic recording went to finishing school!

All the Things You Are / Send in the Clowns - Sarah Vaughan/Count Basie Orchestra – Pablo 1981/2001 - RB
W/o G-01:
Band sounds big, with rich, powerful brass. Vaughan’s voice possesses huge presence and coherence as she moves up and down her (three-octave) range.
W/G-01:
More air apparent throughout. Vaughan’s voice has less bloom, more accurate tonality in all ranges. The tenor sax solo and brass section are more centered, focused and distinct, with a larger sound stage all around.

Beethoven 9TH Symphony/5TH Mvt - Herbert Von Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic – DG Gold – 1983/1995 RB
I chose this recording because DG struggled with their early digital recordings – they were often criticized for excessively bright highs and congested sound. With 100 musicians and 200 singers (Weiner Singverein) on the sound stage, this recording session would have been a challenge for any label’s recording engineers! I find the “Gold Series” remasters improved, but far from perfect!
W/o G-01:
Overall sound is huge, but massed instruments and vocalists are more melded than distinct. Ensemble vocal sections are somewhat recessed. FFF brass can glare.
W/G-01:
Baritone soloist and vocal quartet highlighted more upfront. Massed choral passages now consist of individual voices, large-scale instrumental passages also more distinct, adding to overall texture and emotional impact of this great work. There is importantly more air and performance space ambience that allows the music to breathe and the listener to hear into a larger sound stage. Much improved.

Mahler 1st Symphony/ 1st Mvt – Michael Tilson - Thomas/San Francisco SO – 2004 SACD
W/o G-01:
This is a spectacular live recording with hall ambience, detail, layering and dynamics to burn – so, what's to improve?
W/G-01:
The string basses, in their unison line at the beginning of the movement, have more presence, with more pronounced bow action. Still more air around individual instruments and hall ambience. Orchestra has more character as more individual instruments emerge from the whole at different times. Tonality is tighter, more focused. Sound is brighter and bigger, with greater overall dynamic contrasts. So, what's to improve? - Quite a bit, actually!

Brahms Piano Quartet #1/ 2nd Mvt – Martha Argerich and company – DG 2002 RB
W/o G-01:
This is a modern digital recording characterized by a warm, rich tonality, quiet, possessing plenty of detail without any associated harshness and superb imaging.
W/G-01:
The strings are now dimensional, whole sounding, with pronounced bow action. Overall sound is still more detailed, bigger, with more performance space ambience. Piano sounds sensational with singing overtones.

Mona Lisa/ The Unforgettable Nat Cole – Capitol (Mono) 1950/1992 RB
W/o G-01:
This is a warm, burnished-sounding mono recording, with an upfront perspective. Big sound, I believe what the Japanese audiophiles call, “big mono”! “Mona Lisa” was Cole’s second hit for Capitol.
W/G-01:
More presence in Cole’s voice, more audible reverb and detail – you can hear Cole shaping his words!

Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo / Johnny Winter Anthology – Shout factory – 1970/2009 RB
W/o G-01:
A clean, well balanced rock recording produced by Rick Derringer that, for once, isn’t compressed to death! Winter is still one of the greatest living blues guitarists. This recording was made during Winter’s brief rocker phase and received an excellent remastering by Shout Factory for this collection.
W/ G-01:
Imaging improved and lead vocals and guitar are both more prominent. Clean and punchy, but not harsh! This is quite an accomplishment for a rock recording from this era.

Laura / Blue Moon – Amad Jamal – Jazz Book Records – 2012 RB
W/o G-01:
This all-acoustic track features Amad on piano and a stand-up bass. The beautifully-recorded piano is full, with great overtones, while the bass is ripe, with a soft attack in the background.
W/G-01:
Engaging the G-01 revealed more pronounced leading-edge transients, more focused tonality, more overtones and livelier overall sound from the piano. There was also more pop from the bass.

Jazz Samba / Desafinado – Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd – Verve 1962 / 1997 RB
W/o G-01:
This classic jazz recording, which started the Brazilian samba craze (… and according to Getz, put his kids through college…) was produced by the great Rudy Van Gelder, and features a warm, rounded sound and an intimate perspective. Byrd’s gut-stringed acoustic is upfront and detailed. Getz is characteristically smooth and lyrical, especially in this mellow setting.
W/G-01:
There is more pop from the drums and the high hat is more prominent. Byrd’s finger picking is more detailed with the fingers across the strings as well as the picking and tone now audible. There are also improved dynamics. Simply produced and simply sensational!

Rose Colored Glasses / Lady and Gentleman – Leann Rimes - Curb Records 2011 RB
W/o G-01: Big, dynamic modern digital recording, with a sharp, edgy sound.
W/G-01: Important refinement added here. Leann’s voice less piercing, fiddle and steele guitar both smoother.

Conclusion

While researching components for my new system, in addition to the usual reading, I had some conversations with helpful Esoteric owners, as well as with Tim Crable, of Esoteric. When asked about a purchase choice between the P-02/D-02 and the K-01/G-01, Tim answered, without hesitation, that the K-01/G-01 was a better value; “Same dacs, same clock, same transport (P-02/D-02 vs. K-01)… you get more bang for the buck with the K-01/G-01!” Ivan, aka MasterLu, our resident Esoteric dealer, who personally owns the K-01/G-01 combo, told me he auditioned a P-02/D-02 pair at home, before deciding to purchase the K-01, alone, judging it to be the better buy. It wasn’t until later that he decided to audition and purchase the G-01. Of the K-01/G-01 combo, he echoed Tim Crable’s comments; “its my choice to own – better sound, better value!” Now, there is no question that the P-02/D-02 combo is superior to the K-01, alone – it has twice the number of power supplies - eight in all - and importantly, discrete chassis for the dac and transport. What you get with the K-01/G-01, for a similar budget as the P-02/D-02, is a viable choice between a quieter, more dynamic presentation (P-02/D-02), and more ultimate detail (K-01/G-01). If your audio budget allows you to consider both the P-02/D-02 and the G-01, then there is cause for celebration!

In order to realize the considerable potential of the G-01, you must possess a quality, high resolution audio system. The G-01 must also be paired with a first-rate BNC clock cable and footers - you don’t want to add to the jitter you have gone to such lengths to minimize, by economizing here! Such excellence as the G-01 does not come cheap - in this case an MSRP of $23,900. - but then, excellence rarely does. If you are in the market for components at this level, you are already aware of the cost of excellence elsewhere; the prices for quality turntables, cartridges and phono preamps, as well as other hi-end digital source components. Not cheap, but there is such a thing as relative value - have you priced the Scarlatti stack lately?

If you have a hi-quality, modern, well-tweaked audio system and are in the market for a high-end disc player-dac solution, then the Esoteric K-01/G-01 or the P-02/D-02/G-01 should be at the top of your short list. If you already own the K-01 or the P-02/D-02, and your budget can accommodate an upgrade, what are you waiting for?? Investigate, and then LISTEN for yourself. Realistic audio has long since ceased being the purview of analogue. In recent years, digital has arrived with a vengeance, and the choice between analogue and digital is now what it ideally should always have been, a matter of personal preference. Components like the Esoteric G-01 Master Rubidium Clock are bringing us closer than ever to having those musicians in our living rooms. Lately, if I’m listening to my K-01, then its with the G-01 engaged, because everything sounds better with the G-01! Ted.

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