(March 16, 2026) At the Florida International Audio Expo, we sat down with Hiroyuki Machida of Esoteric to explore one of the most technically ambitious digital components on the show floor, the new Grandioso N1 network streamer DAC. Positioned at the top of the company’s digital front-end lineup, the N1 is designed to anchor the Grandioso ecosystem alongside transport-focused components like the Grandioso N1T and reference DAC platforms such as the Grandioso D1X SE.
A major part of the conversation focuses on two key developments behind the N1’s design. The first is Esoteric’s new G4 network engine, which introduces an SFP optical fiber port alongside traditional Ethernet connectivity and support for a DAC direct attach cable. Machida explains how optical networking can help isolate network-borne noise, while direct connections may offer a more immediate signal path in certain setups. The second is Esoteric’s continued commitment to a fully in-house DAC architecture, using a discrete FPGA-based design rather than off-the-shelf chips. The latest generation refines its multi-level delta-sigma architecture, shortens signal paths, and introduces a revised power supply layout to improve speed, noise control, and overall musical presentation.
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