Waversa Systems Current Production Line: A Central and Current List of Published Reviews

ketcham

Industry Expert
Feb 29, 2016
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The goal with this thread is to provide an updated go-to list of reviews for Waversa's product line as a reference. I will try to keep this current with the help of the Waversa's family of Distributors and Dealers. Please PM with new material or future broken links. The .PDF files were professionally translated from other languages to English. Currently, most reviews are out of Europe with credit to Audio Trade for arranging these ongoing reviews. Reviews of discontinued electronics have been omitted from this list. Please PM if you discover new reviews or links are discontinued.
 

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ketcham

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Feb 29, 2016
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Waversa WSlimDS Review. WSlimDS is a docking station adding analog capabilities.

MAIN FEATURES

• Docking Station for WSlim LITE
• Analog Inputs
• Headphone Output
• 2.5” SSD/HDD Music Storage

EXCLUSIVE TECHNOLOGIES

• DC 24V Cascade with WSlim LITE

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

• Chassis: Aluminium
• Colour: Silver
• Inputs: HDMI ARC, Balanced XLR, Unbalanced RCA, MM/MC RCA Phono
• Outputs: HDMI, Unbalanced RCA (Digital link), Headphone 6.3mm • I/O: USB-A (Control), Ground
• Dimension: W 300 x L 220 x H 20 mm
• Weight: 4 kg / 8.8 lbs
.• Power supply: 24V Adapter 90-120V AC / 180-240 VAC @ 50Hz S SUPPORTED AUDIO/VIDEO FORMATS
•COAX: up to 24/192KHz
•USB/NET: PCM 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kHz : DSD64
•DLNA Renderer: WAV, AIFF, OGG, FLAC up to 24 bits / 192 kHz

SPECIFICATIONS

•Linux 4.0x with 1GHz ARM Cortex A7 Processor
•Ultra Low Power Universal Serial Bus Audio Class 2.0
•High Precision Clock Dual MEMS 44.1/48
 

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  • WSlimDS Review_HifiClub - final.pdf
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ketcham

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Feb 29, 2016
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Waversa EXT LAN and USB passive filters.jpg

New WAVERSA SYSTEMS release - the LAN-EXT1 and USB-EXT1 passive filter unique to the industry. While the details remain ambiguous due to patent conditions, this military based technology has proven effective in digital audio reproduction. "This module 'forms an electric field and a magnetic field to remove RFI noise from the LAN cable and noise generated by the digital signal line itself.'" Collin Shin, Waversa Systems.

"Waversa’s WLAN Isolator showed a clear sound quality improvement effect by removing electromagnetic noise from a LAN cable. The biggest change was that the stage background became quieter and every note defined, followed by a wider sound stage, an increased sense of space, and energy; especially the low-frequencies were revived." by Kim Pyeon Audio Columnist, HiFi Club.

These passive filters are supplied with a short-run cable placed between the filter and the destination component of the signal path. The LAN filter itself has no directionality.

The first 50 units are available in N. America at an introductory price of $1000. The benefits are IMMEDIATE but are offered with a 14-day return policy.
 

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  • WLAN EXT Review_Hifi Club-compressed.pdf
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ketcham

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Feb 29, 2016
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The Waversa SmartHub 3.0 has been released for international export and is available by your regional dealer or distributor.

Depending on the region, pricing starts at $2,200 plus regional taxes and shipping. No LPS is required with this unit.
 

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  • Waversa_WSmarthub 3.0_Review - Hifi Club (1).pdf
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ST Francis

Well-Known Member
Jul 27, 2020
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New WAVERSA SYSTEMS release - the LAN-EXT1 and USB-EXT1 passive filter unique to the industry. While the details remain ambiguous due to patent conditions, this military based technology has proven effective in digital audio reproduction. "This module 'forms an electric field and a magnetic field to remove RFI noise from the LAN cable and noise generated by the digital signal line itself.'" Collin Shin, Waversa Systems.
Waversa now have a new filter model the LAN-EXT Reference. I understand not officially announced or released yet. By a fluke of a chance I was able to get one. Very seriously good. Wow factor.

John
 

ketcham

Industry Expert
Feb 29, 2016
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John,

Thank you for posting your finding. Can you compare the EXT-1 to the EXT Reference? I would be curious to see images as well. The Reference is much larger, milled from a solid block of aluminum to provide antivibration benefit. More advance (and complicated) engineering. Also almost 4x the expense. Like the EXT-1, they are available in all digital formats (Except, for now, HDMI).

Did you experience any burn-in time with these units?

Our first allotment of EXT-Reference is arriving Monday. Price: $3750 USD.

I would love to hear your impressions in more detail.
 

ST Francis

Well-Known Member
Jul 27, 2020
7
2
68
76
I only listened to both filters for a short while and after I had recovered for the shock of the price differential it was a no contest decesion . As I said the reference benefit was a wow. The sound stage was bigger, the control and tightness of the Bass was impressive more detail and lower noise floor. So clean and smooth. I also have the ENO so had a comparison. I never use the expression burn in. I prefer settling in. It is as if the process is about reaching a steady state. This seems to be happening after maybe 50 hours.

For its size it is surprisingly heavy. Over 3kgs. It feels good in the hand. A try out in friends system tomorrow. Impressions will be interesting.

I have marked the in and out so that I keep it the same.

John
 

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ketcham

Industry Expert
Feb 29, 2016
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Yes! The concept of 'settling in' resonates with me as well! Please post your findings!
 

ketcham

Industry Expert
Feb 29, 2016
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On the heels of ST Francis’ post:

Here is a review from Korea with measurements on the EXT Reference series from Waversa, and these units are in active production with favorable feedback!
 

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  • HIFICLUB_WEXT-1 WLAN-Reference_Review.pdf
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pilgerman

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2010
12
10
908
I agree with the comments here about the Reference LAN Isolator, including in relation to the earlier released LAN Isolator. The difference between the two is great, the Reference providing greater benefits in all parameters. The Reference is a keeper; I couldn't go back to the original.

I've currently placed the Reference in front of my Waversa VDAC. I also tried it in front of the WBridge that connects via 35 ft of custom CAT8 with top Telegartners to my Wrouter. I found placement in front of the DAC to be superior. I'm going to try a second one in front of the Bridge to see if the effect is cumulative.

I'm wondering what short cable people have used. The Reference was excellent when I used a half-meter of the custom CAT8, but the short Waversa cable gave the Reference Isolator a significant all-round boost. I'm wondering what made the difference. Was it the length, the wire construction and/or the terminations or a combo of all?
 

pilgerman

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2010
12
10
908
Following on my previous post, I did my experiment with two Reference LAN isolators, one in front of the VDAC and the other in front of the WBridge. Given that having one Reference in front of the DAC sounded a little better than one in front of the Bridge, I wasn’t surprised that I heard only a bit of additional benefit from this new configuration. Perhaps with the one Reference right before the DAC essentially isolating the DAC from all the upstream unwanted influences, whatever they are, adding another Reference in front of the Bridge could help only to a more modest degree.

I also decided to try daisy-chaining the two References. I don’t have room around my DAC to place two Reference isolators, and I didn’t want to go from the very short cable to something longer; so, I connected the two References to each other before the Bridge, with the cable from the basement into one and the short Waversa cable out of the other into the Bridge. That produced significant improvement, more of everything provided by a single Reference in that location. Too bad I can’t try it in front of the DAC, but given the results I’ve had, I would expect only a modest improvement again.

General conclusions: a single original isolator is a very nice enhancement; a single Reference builds significantly on that, providing more detail, air, separation, stage, and articulate bass. A daisy-chained pair of References significantly enhances the effects. I can’t say doubles them; to my ears, they just make “more” of the same effects provided by a single and I can’t quantify it. I also think that the greatest benefit is to have the LAN isolator(s) at the very end of all the ethernet cables, right before the last device connected with them, I guess in most cases a streamer or streaming DAC, like the VDAC.

With such impressive results with the References, I had to try the new Reference Plus. I contacted John K. at Kevalin Audio (North America’s Waversa distributor), and he kindly agreed to let me try it out. The Plus is the same size and shape as the WRouter, Bridge and DAC3C. It looks and feels like a solid block of aluminum and is very heavy. Like the other LAN isolators, it has two ethernet inputs only. The Plus is too big and the wrong shape to place with my DAC; however, it’s a perfect fit under the Bridge, so that’s where it went, again with the short Waversa cable. And...?

The Plus is significantly better than the daisy-chained References. In fact, I was quite shocked. How to describe it... everything a pair of References do but more "drive" (maybe partly what I’ve heard called PRAT, but that’s not a sufficient description. I’m referring to a greater sense of live music), more "leading edge attack", enhanced "richness" of tonality and harmonic structure of every instrument, greater separation of instruments and voices but keeping "musicality", tighter and more articulate and detailed bass - I've never had such a sense of musicians, stage, alive in front of me and the recorded space around me with digital – “like in the studio”, says my drummer friend. And without the fake sounding “air” (haze) that so many digital systems have and their “layering” of “flat” images, like phyllo pastry layers rather than three dimensional objects. With the Plus there is no haze – there is a sense of empty but live spaciousness and the air in the room alive with that, not so much heard as felt. I’ve had this, to a lesser degree with the Waversa gear since I got it; it’s a defining characteristic of the Waversa sound, I think, extremely detailed but “warm”, tonally “rich”, like analog. However, now when the music starts, the air also resonates with the tiniest vibrations of instruments' wood, wire, brass - with the breath and “head noise” of vocalists and woodwind players. All instruments and voices have what I can only call “presence”; they are not at all two dimensional and simply “heard” but also “felt”. Absolutely lovely. I found the single and daisy-chained References to be kind of magic; to me, the Plus is rather transformative.

This is hard to put into words, but I’ll try. I’ve done most of my testing with acoustic music, so that’s where the description above is mainly coming from. Instruments don’t just sound “real”; they “feel” real. I guess one way to explain it is to say that even listening at an average of about 20dB, the low “punch” from a kick drum has physical impact, and all other instruments have this same physical presence in the room – a guitar string plucked hard is still felt; the fundamentals’ attack and reverb from vibes and cymbals hit and “shimmer” the air. It’s as if you’re sitting at the back of a performance space rather than having the sound in the room become “flat”, insubstantial, without giving a sense that the instruments and vocalists occupy three-dimensional space, that their “bodies” interact with all the air around them; detail and physicality are still there. As the volume is increased, all this likewise increases – so... lifelike. The speakers have never coupled to the air in the room like this with digital.

Now I had two Reference isolators sitting there… damn. I decided, based on the previous experiments, to hook one up to the VDAC (as I’ve mentioned before, I have ethernet right into the DAC and use its internal streamer board). There is added benefit with this addition, just “more”, again not huge but it’s there, though I could easily live with just the Plus under the Bridge. Still, greedy for what I’m getting, unless I can figure out how to get the Plus hooked up to the DAC, I guess I’m keeping at least one of the References. John Ketcham tells me Waversa says that the three lengths of ethernet cable they make all perform to the same level, so maybe that’s the answer.

One other thing about my experience with these devices is that there doesn’t appear to be a point where they become a detriment to sound quality as they are added to the system, i.e., that they become “too much of a good thing”. On the other hand, it makes sense to me that there will be a point where adding additional isolators has no positive effect, but I didn’t reach it with what I did.

Something to watch out for, though, is the finish on these products. It’s a “soft” apparently brushed aluminum surface and easily picks up oil from one’s fingers. It seems a bit delicate, too, especially along its sharper edges. You don’t want even to lightly bump it into anything. “Kid gloves” are advised. The WBridge has the same finish. The WCore, WRouter and DAC3C do not. I wonder if the feet on the Bridge will make marks on the top of the Plus with time, too, and, if so, what can safely be put between them to prevent it. Advice from the manufacturer on this and on cleaning (mild soapy water and a soft, lint free cloth?) would be very appropriate.

For those also using the Waversa VDAC with its WE 408A tubes in the output stage, the Plus seems to give the system so much more resolution and life that I'm loving the VDAC running with WAP-X enabled, on its default setting. I didn't try this with one or two References, but using the Plus with WAP-X on there is more spaciousness and 3D “solidity” presence, as one would expect, with all the transparency, detail and dynamics of the push-pull KT150 monoblocks I’m running. Before the Plus, I found adding WAP-X made things “too rich for my blood” with most music, trading greater body and sense of space for somewhat diminished detail, softer attacks. Not now.

After all this, I’m a poorer but happier listening room denizen. Happy to relay my experience with the LAN isolators in my system, and so as not to be judged hopelessly solipsistic, as always, YMMV.
(Photo with Reference Plus under WBridge at top and VDAC with one Reference behind at bottom)
 

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ketcham

Industry Expert
Feb 29, 2016
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For the last 6 months, I have been working with customers and reviewers to establish the optimal configuration of these devices. HiFi Club in Korea did their own measurement demonstrating improved signal quality.

EXT better performace at 100Mbps setting.JPG
We have noticed these devices benefit from specifically the Waversa-designed data cable. As best as I can conclude their approach to shielding helps prevent the re-introduction of noise. The step above discusses further noise reduction by fixing the signal path to a lower rate; however, adding the WLAN2 cable at this step confounds the result. I have not been able to discern better presentation of music at a slower rate and I have not received any feedback as such. Any additional insight on this topic is always welcome.


Points of position to consider:

If WiFi is part of the signal path, place EXT just before the WiFi transmitter.
EXT between generic commercial network commitment and audiophile designed equipment
EXT after any home-built server.
EXT just before the final listening device - USB or LAN Ethernet

A second note: I was especially surprised by the HDMI EXT-1 which is the only HDMI EXT made currently. The improvement with video image was quite impressive and while we attempted to take images of these improvements - it was very difficult to capture and repost without losing the effect. If you use HDMI for audio or video and have an interest in trialing one, I am happy to loan these out (N. America).
 
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ketcham

Industry Expert
Feb 29, 2016
209
139
175
Feb 6th 2024 new review is out from HiFi+ regarding Waversa's multi-component approach to digital streaming.

https://hifiplus.com/articles/waver...162105521&mc_cid=6a4bc80bd3&mc_eid=9f362dd2af

Two points to note from the above review: give the product time to break in while auditioning. The EXT Reference is the most impactful. Reference PLUS (not reviewed) has even more impressive benefits. Both now have a version two.

EXT V2 (EXT, EXT Reference, EXT Reference PLUS) - allows for more throughput of data. However, as internet broadband evolves the signal improvements demonstrated by EXT technologies may simultaneously limit data transfer speed. EXT is meant for endpoint placement where multi-gigabit speeds are not required for digital streaming. Waversa states they do not guarantee digital throughput and placement in the main data network streaming points MAY cause lower speeds or dropped data packets.

I feel their review from 2023 on the SlimPro is more detailed:

https://www.kevalinaudio.com/_files/ugd/1d53ba_dee8e5fc29ca4d30ab7728e4e3cc867b.pdf

For a current comprehensive list of reviews:
https://www.kevalinaudio.com/waversa-reviews
 

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