Wadax Reference Dac and Server arrive

spiritofmusic

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Jun 13, 2013
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Your guess is Wadax Ref server and Ref dac via Akasa link will beat any alternative disc transport like the JMF w the Wadax Ref dac?
And the synergy at the exhalted high end means a JMF transport must be paired with a JMF dac? Ditto a Wadax transport w Wadax dac, an MSB transport w MSB dac, a CH P transport w CH P dac? Etc etc, you get my drift.
 
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Audiocrack

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Maybe the really good (native) high res files in dsd 256 and dxd mode will sound even more like ‘real music’ than the lower res files you mainly listened to up till now? And I have little doubt that the Wadax combo will get better in the next couple or days/weeks/months. So who knows what lies ahead of you in this new ‘digital store’. This as a short reaction to Mike’s remark that good vinyl sounds in his view still ‘better’ (of is it: different?) than the Wadax combo.
 

Mike Lavigne

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Apr 25, 2010
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Your guess is Wadax Ref server and Ref dac via Akasa link will beat any alternative disc transport like the JMF w the Wadax Ref dac?
And the synergy at the exhalted high end means a JMF transport must be paired with a JMF dac? Ditto a Wadax transport w Wadax dac, an MSB transport w MSB dac, a CH P transport w CH P dac? Etc etc, you get my drift.
Maybe the really good (native) high res files in dsd 256 and dxd mode will sound even more like ‘real music’ than the lower res files you mainly listened to up till now? And I have little doubt that the Wadax combo will get better in the next couple or days/weeks/months. So who knows what lies ahead of you in this new ‘digital store’. This as a short reaction to Mike’s remark that good vinyl sounds in his view still ‘better’ (of is it: different?) than the Wadax combo.
my guess is that the very best files will be the mountaintop digital when played through the Wadax Ref dac and Ref server with the Akasa link. mostly those files will be the dxd (352/24) and dsd256. but particular lower rez great recordings will also be there. might the recording quality trump the resolution?

how close will the best streaming get? i expect really close.

can a transport equal or exceed these great files? it's a question.

agree that even at this level, lots of work being done to push it higher. equal great vinyl? naaah, can't see that.
 
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Audiophile Bill

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my guess is that the very best files will be the mountaintop digital when played through the Wadax Ref dac and Ref server with the Akasa link. mostly those files will be the dxd (352/24) and dsd256. but particular lower rez great recordings will also be there. might the recording quality trump the resolution?

can a transport equal or exceed these great files? it's a question.

agree that even at this level, lots of work being done to push it. equal great vinyl? naaah, can't see that.

Hi Mike,

Congrats again - sounds very exciting progress.

The main issue with the “fancy DXD / Double/Quad DSDfiles” is more often than not the performances / artists are not what most folks want to listen to. Hence for me optimisation of red book still seems the most pertinent imperative.

Best wishes.
 

Mike Lavigne

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Hi Mike,

Congrats again - sounds very exciting progress.

The main issue with the “fancy DXD / Double/Quad DSDfiles” is more often than not the performances / artists are not what most folks want to listen to. Hence for me optimisation of red book still seems the most pertinent imperative.

Best wishes.
thank you Bill, it is exciting.

agree that as far as musical enjoyment, redbook likely has been my favorite Wadax related musical highlight. hearing decades long redbook references come to life is a blast!!!!

and absolutely Wadax Ref dac and server slays redbook. big time!
 
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Audiocrack

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Hi Mike,

Congrats again - sounds very exciting progress.

The main issue with the “fancy DXD / Double/Quad DSDfiles” is more often than not the performances / artists are not what most folks want to listen to. Hence for me optimisation of red book still seems the most pertinent imperative.

Best wishes.
Hi Bill, the brands I mentioned earlier in this thread (Challenge Classics, Channel Classics, 2l, Eudora, Reference recordings) have in my view an impressive and extensive catalog of high quality classical music.
 
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Audiophile Bill

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That is not only high quality soundswise but also from an artistic casu quo music point of view.

Hi Rudolph - will check them out. Thanks.

I was mainly referring to those awful “artists” that only the audiophile world has ever heard of - usually mutton dressed as kebab elevator “jazz” singers lol.
 

Audiocrack

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Hi Rudolph - will check them out. Thanks.

I was mainly referring to those awful “artists” that only the audiophile world has ever heard of - usually mutton dressed as kebab elevator “jazz” singers lol.
Fair enough Bill. However, in the classical repertoire there are quite a lot native high res recordings available.
 
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Elliot G.

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Jul 22, 2010
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Hi Rudolph - will check them out. Thanks.

I was mainly referring to those awful “artists” that only the audiophile world has ever heard of - usually mutton dressed as kebab elevator “jazz” singers lol.
I don't ever play that "music" I want to hear the real thing done by the best artists first and foremost its about the music not "sounds"
 

microstrip

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May 30, 2010
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(...) no doubt we could hear that upon direct comparison the vinyl goes farther. i agree. my A/B's with my better pressings reveal that clearly.

Can you be more precise in what what way it "goes farther"? More information, less artifacts or just a way you enjoy better?
 

microstrip

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May 30, 2010
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Hi Mike,

Congrats again - sounds very exciting progress.

The main issue with the “fancy DXD / Double/Quad DSDfiles” is more often than not the performances / artists are not what most folks want to listen to. Hence for me optimisation of red book still seems the most pertinent imperative.

Best wishes.

Surely red book is a pertinent aspect. However, considering that Qobuz has now more than 400k hirez recordings hirez can't be discarded as a fancy format.
 

Mike Lavigne

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Can you be more precise in what what way it (better pressings) "goes farther"? More information, less artifacts or just a way you enjoy better?
i'm at work, and can't have some fresh experience to draw on.....but in degrees.....my better pressings.....go farther....with.....

----space.....more expansive.
----dynamic peaks higher.
----more energy radiating localized from specific images.
----stronger vocal presence.
----more expressive
----more overtones and decay
----get's more in my soul...emotive content.

what is remarkable is how much of each of these attributes the digital from the Wadax combo has. it takes my better vinyl to clearly top it. not listened to much vinyl lately so maybe in a month, i might be able to re-visit how this goes.

the digital has less artifacts for sure, more tape like. and for sure this is not every digital file. but the better ones are really great.

it's also fair to say that the Wadax combo has been in my system for less than a week. my vinyl is resident and relentlessly optimized. so the delta could narrow some going forward as things get tweaked.

that's off the top of my head....
 
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K3RMIT

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Sep 4, 2020
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A big congrats mike it’s the audio setup dreams are made of. you surly deserve it many times over for your efforts and all the great posts to share with us all. we each look to compare digital to vinyl
me as well. two things can be taken from this.
one is vinyl might be tops in that its used to make comparisons too.
second is we should not try to hard to be drawn into the compare in the first place.
Im glad that it’s getting closer to a full wadax stack. Why cause it should be this way after all it’s what they used to design it hahahah.
Anyway enjoy it all. maybe one day we can meet some where.
keep posting mike we are all glued to the alerts
 
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LL21

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i'm at work, and can't have some fresh experience to draw on.....but in degrees.....my better pressings.....go farther....with.....

----space.....more expansive.
----dynamic peaks higher.
----more energy radiating localized from specific images.
----stronger vocal presence.
----more expressive
----more overtones and decay
----get's more in my soul...emotive content.

what is remarkable is how much of each of these attributes the digital from the Wadax combo has. it takes my better vinyl to clearly top it. not listened to much vinyl lately so maybe in a month, i might be able to re-visit how this goes.

the digital has less artifacts for sure, more tape like. and for sure this is not every digital file. but the better ones are really great.

it's also fair to say that the Wadax combo has been in my system for less than a week. my vinyl is resident and relentlessly optimized. so the delta could narrow some going forward as things get tweaked.

that's off the top of my head....
A few big names over just the last few years have started to comment on digital (including redbook) having far greater 'true music' embedded in its bits/bytes. Martin Colloms for one I remember distinctly writing something to the effect of it was finally time that the outdated redbook format actually hit its stride with the latest generation of DACs and turned out after all these years to in fact be a solid format all along.

And now we have the mighty private, independent Mike L heading towards a not dissimilar result in the Wadax.
 
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K3RMIT

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Sep 4, 2020
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When I first heard the sel 1 I was very disappointed
then quickly came the sel 2 way way above sel 1
then came the new software filters just for redbook. far above any red book sound period. it seems there is always more to be exactracted
mike How is the dsd ? Any comments yet
 

dminches

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Oct 22, 2011
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A few big names over just the last few years have started to comment on digital (including redbook) having far greater 'true music' embedded in its bits/bytes. Martin Colloms for one I remember distinctly writing something to the effect of it was finally time that the outdated redbook format actually hit its stride with the latest generation of DACs and turned out after all these years to in fact be a solid format all along.

And now we have the mighty private, independent Mike L heading towards a not dissimilar result in the Wadax.

The mastering of the digital recording is much more important than the bit depth and resolution of the files.

Well mastered redbook can sound amazing.
 

Kingrex

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Feb 3, 2019
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I believe an important question one needs to ask oneself is, does my vinyl eclipse my digital. Remember, this Wadax DAC, or any other DAC, is not going to in whole, change the voice of your system. Its going to make files on the internet sound close to indistinguishable from your vinyl.

Is that worth a quarter million. A lot could be done with a quarter million. A wholesale change in ones listening room could be had for that money, and that would affect every single item in your possession. It could actually eclipse your current listening experience.
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
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I believe an important question one needs to ask oneself is, does my vinyl eclipse my digital. Remember, this Wadax DAC, or any other DAC, is not going to in whole, change the voice of your system. Its going to make files on the internet sound close to indistinguishable from your vinyl.

Is that worth a quarter million. A lot could be done with a quarter million. A wholesale change in ones listening room could be had for that money, and that would affect every single item in your possession. It could actually eclipse your current listening experience.
i see the Wadax like any special, expensive source; it's an appendage on a sorted out system. taking full advantage of the work and assets it took to get there. maybe even very high end headphones; but a system where the user has the sound that they want already. and probably not a system that is a one genre (small combo jazz/girl with guitar) system, but one where the typical music stretches the abilities of that system. and the heavy lifting has already happened prior to the Wadax Ref landing.

we have quite a few 6 figure ++ vinyl set-ups on WBF; none are in starter systems. this is no different. and the difference here is that the media acquisition and access is way cheaper and super easy to do. this could be an overall cheaper approach.....in many cases when you consider the whole picture.
 
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