We report on the performances of energy resolved detectors and electronics developed for X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies in the fluorescence excitation mode. Large active area multianode silicon drift detectors have been designed and evaluated. A typical energy resolution of 170 eV FWHM has been measured at 5.98 keV for a 6 mu s triangular shaping time. The data acquisition is based on multichannel digital shaping amplifiers developed at the ESRF. Excellent energy resolutions can be achieved with reduced dead times in comparison with analog shapers. The high level of integration and the full software control is compatible with the implementation of large detector arrays.