I believe you are right. ES1 sound way too pretty, but…I sorta gave my S2000 to a guy who needed it more.
I have an Atari STsomething lying around somewhere, and Ultrasatan. But I need all sorts of adapters, and just stuck with the ES1 for now. Sorta sad to hear about Mark N, but I guess it pays the bills. I blame the mainstream being what it is.