New Wadax Atlantis Reference Dac

[Elliot G.]

Me too! As you know, we have had the Zanden digital for 13 years and not found something we definitely like better, and certainly not much, much better (for 16/44.1). I am sure it can/will be done...and perhaps it already has but we have not found it yet.

I am wondering if the Wadax is it...and if so, by how much of a margin.

I had another client in this morning to listen to the Wadax. He sat here for around 75 minutes like a kid in a candy store listening to everything I played and then some of his favorites.
On the way out he said " I need to sell my Ferrari" LOL.
If you listen to the Wadax you will find out quickly by how much

 

[LL21]

I had another client in this morning to listen to the Wadax. He sat here for around 75 minutes like a kid in a candy store listening to everything I played and then some of his favorites.
On the way out he said " I need to sell my Ferrari" LOL.
If you listen to the Wadax you will find out quickly by how much

Hi Elliot,

From what I have heard from people who listened to the Wadax in Asia, I could believe it. I have heard very, very good things from people whose ears I have some understanding of, and whose own privately expressed preferences give me some basic coordinates from which to triangulate the sound.

 

[microstrip]

(...) On the way out he said " I need to sell my Ferrari" LOL. (...)

In Moncrieff days we only had to sell the Mercedes ...

 

[andromedaaudio]

I need to sell my Ferrari"

Nothing beats a (12 cyl )Ferrari soundwise not even a WADAX .

 

[Audiocrack]

Me too! As you know, we have had the Zanden digital for 13 years and not found something we definitely like better, and certainly not much, much better (for 16/44.1). I am sure it can/will be done...and perhaps it already has but we have not found it yet.

I am wondering if the Wadax is it...and if so, by how much of a margin.

Yep, I still believe that the Zanden combo sounds very good indeed with red book and can compete with all red book players I have experienced. However, the Zanden dac cannot play high res files and to my ears really good recorded high res files (such as eg the dxd recordings of Challenge Classics) sound better than regular cd’s. I am not a number cruncher and high res files do not necessarily sound better than red book. But good high res files do sound damn good in my view. With the Wadax reference dac I believe these files will sound clearly better in my system than I have experienced so far. That said, I have not heard the Wadax reference dac in my Tidal LA/Kondo/Tripoint system so future will tell if my expectations will become true.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Nothing beats a (12 cyl )Ferrari soundwise not even a WADAX .

i like track 16.......on the big rig.

Open Pipe Symphony - Tuning Sonido 2003/2

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2003 CD release of "Tuning Sonido 2003/2" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

 

[andromedaaudio]

i like track 16.......on the big rig.

Open Pipe Symphony - Tuning Sonido 2003/2

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2003 CD release of "Tuning Sonido 2003/2" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

Must sound great on your system

 

[LL21]

Yep, I still believe that the Zanden combo sounds very good indeed with red book and can compete with all red book players I have experienced. However, the Zanden dac cannot play high res files and to my ears really good recorded high res files (such as eg the dxd recordings of Challenge Classics) sound better than regular cd’s. I am not a number cruncher and high res files do not necessarily sound better than red book. But good high res files do sound damn good in my view. With the Wadax reference dac I believe these files will sound clearly better in my system than I have experienced so far. That said, I have not heard the Wadax reference dac in my Tidal LA/Kondo/Tripoint system so future will tell if my expectations will become true.

Great to see you 'coming alive' in the forums, Audiocrack. Welcome back, friend.

As for the 'real comparison'...at least for me, for now...i would be most interested in how you feel the Wadax does on 16/44.1 vs the 4-box Zanden. I suppose you will partly be dependant on how you feed the Wadax...Wadax Server, Zanden Transport or other...but at least there will be a start of learning how you feel the Zanden 16/44.1 compares with the Wadax 16/44.1!!!

Very exciting!

 

[Audiocrack]

Great to see you 'coming alive' in the forums, Audiocrack. Welcome back, friend.

As for the 'real comparison'...at least for me, for now...i would be most interested in how you feel the Wadax does on 16/44.1 vs the 4-box Zanden. I suppose you will partly be dependant on how you feed the Wadax...Wadax Server, Zanden Transport or other...but at least there will be a start of learning how you feel the Zanden 16/44.1 compares with the Wadax 16/44.1!!!

Very exciting!

Stay tuned Lloyd. I want to use the Zanden transport in combination with the Wadax reference dac to play my cd’s. Have not played with the Zanden dac for quite a while though. Would be surprised if the latter could compete with the reference dac but I will find out some time in the future …

 

[LL21]

Stay tuned Lloyd. I want to use the Zanden transport in combination with the Wadax reference dac to play my cd’s. Have not played with the Zanden dac for quite a while though. Would be surprised if the latter could compete with the reference dac but I will find out some time in the future …

Hah hah! Fantastic news, Audiocrack. I will indeed stay tuned. I have spent so many years with the Zanden along with a journey of slowly refining its setup...I will be most interested to hear how far the Wadax can take the sound from the original transport.

Will you be able to use the Zanden's I2S output with the Wadax...or will you need to use BNC (the next best output in my limited experience), AES or RCA outputs?

Lloyd

 

[Audiocrack]

I

Hah hah! Fantastic news, Audiocrack. I will indeed stay tuned. I have spent so many years with the Zanden along with a journey of slowly refining its setup...I will be most interested to hear how far the Wadax can take the sound from the original transport.

Will you be able to use the Zanden's I2S output with the Wadax...or will you need to use BNC (the next best output in my limited experience), AES or RCA outputs?

Lloyd

I am afraid I cannot answer your (latest) question at the moment. Do not believe the Reference dac can be connected with a I2S cable but I have a conversation scheduled with Javier tomorrow morning so I will ask him. Hopefully I know more tomorrow.

 

[LL21]

I

I am afraid I cannot answer your (latest) question at the moment. Do not believe the Reference dac can be connected with a I2S cable but I have a conversation scheduled with Javier tomorrow morning so I will ask him. Hopefully I know more tomorrow.

Great!!!!!

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I

I am afraid I cannot answer your (latest) question at the moment. Do not believe the Reference dac can be connected with a I2S cable but I have a conversation scheduled with Javier tomorrow morning so I will ask him. Hopefully I know more tomorrow.

the Wadax 'way' is a triple XLR (AES-EBU) transport connection. they call it a native Wadax link. so no i2s for the Wadax.....at this time. the new 'big boy' Wadax Ref Transport might go a different way.

here is the owner's manual; for the Wadax Ref Dac on the Goodwin's site. the Goodwin's site has lots of depth to their Wadax info. the Server manual is there too.

https://static-cdn.edit.site/users-files/ca939556f01b40623da4958e75ec8de6/reference-dac-user-manual-r270621.pdf?dl=1

 

[LL21]

the Wadax 'way' is a triple XLR (AES-EBU) transport connection. they call it a native Wadax link. so no i2s for the Wadax.....at this time. the new 'big boy' Wadax Ref Transport might go a different way.

here is the owner's manual; for the Wadax Ref Dac on the Goodwin's site. the Goodwin's site has lots of depth to their Wadax info. the Server manual is there too.

https://static-cdn.edit.site/users-files/ca939556f01b40623da4958e75ec8de6/reference-dac-user-manual-r270621.pdf?dl=1

Thanks! I did not know that Wadax was also designing a Transport in addition to their server. Do you know anything about this transport? CD only? SACD? DVD-A? Blu-Ray? Most intrigued!

***SCRAP THAT: I just saw that the Atlantis Tranport is CD/SACD...I should read other websites more often!

Interestingly, the image on the back of the Wadax shows the Wadax Link is an RJ45? Or at least there are multiple XLRs PLUS an RJ45?

 

[Elliot G.]

3 AES/EBU and a RJ45 is how the Atlantis transport X is hooked up to the DAC for best performance and for SACD of course

 

[LL21]

3 AES/EBU and a RJ45 is how the Atlantis transport X is hooked up to the DAC for best performance and for SACD of course

Thanks! Good to know.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Great to see you 'coming alive' in the forums, Audiocrack. Welcome back, friend.

+1

 

[Lagonda]

the Wadax 'way' is a triple XLR (AES-EBU) transport connection. they call it a native Wadax link. so no i2s for the Wadax.....at this time. the new 'big boy' Wadax Ref Transport might go a different way.

here is the owner's manual; for the Wadax Ref Dac on the Goodwin's site. the Goodwin's site has lots of depth to their Wadax info. the Server manual is there too.

https://static-cdn.edit.site/users-files/ca939556f01b40623da4958e75ec8de6/reference-dac-user-manual-r270621.pdf?dl=1

Oh No Mike ! You are reading the owners manual already, guess we all know where this is leading !

 

[spiritofmusic]

Yep, $144,999 for the brochure, $1 for the Dac.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Oh No Mike ! You are reading the owners manual already, guess we all know where this is leading !

ok, enough pussy footing around.

it's my way to investigate any potential acquisitions far and wide. one item i found helpful was Ack's Wadax Ref report on Audionirvana, which led me to the Goodwin's site where i did find lots of good info.

but enough of that.

first week of December i found myself in West Palm Beach, with an afternoon to kill. so i drove down to Elliot's place and heard the Wadax Ref dac and Ref server, the M10's and Gobel speakers. i heard nothing in that 90 minutes that is in conflict with any of the Wadax Ref reviews or feedback we keep reading. i had been in that room 2 years prior, but different CH P amps now and different Gobel speakers; and the Wadax instead of the 7 box CH P mono dac. but whatever was happening this was another level. the total performance exceeded my considerable expectations. but it's not my room and my references.

Elliot and i had been talking about the Wadax for a few months. i do have a Wadax Ref dac and Ref server in-bound to me, arriving next week sometime. my MSB Select II dac is no longer mine; it's sold and paid for, but i will keep it until i can fully compare the Wadax directly. this was very important to me, and i really appreciate Elliot accommodating my need for a direct compare.

if you see a truck headed from Miami to Seattle it might have some nice Spanish digital gear on it. think positive thoughts for safe travel. i know i am doing that.