A modern Wadia X64.4

[davenrk]

I have been fascinated by an old '90 Wadia X64.4 dac.
It has body, weight of the sound that gives you an incredibile realism while being luminous, detailed, deep, too
It's a transparent dac too, NOTE in a transparent system, I have Graham LS5/5 speakers
every cd sounds different, with a different tonality
maybe not the most timbral accuracy such as my YBA CD1 dopuble power supply cd player....but it's really astonishing for it's age

I was wondering if I can find a more modern dac with these features

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Neil.Antin]

FWIW - going back 8-years ago, I had a Wadia 27ixV3 and replaced it with a Burson Conductor SL (https://6moons.com/audioreviews/burson10/5.html) with the ESS9018 dac-chip. Was it as good as the Wadia, no but it was very close and close enough and I was shifting from digital being my primary source to analog. I use the Burson today (someday I may get a new dac)

The morale of the story is that dac technology has advanced quite a bit and yes there are dacs available that will far surpass the Wadia X64.4. I have no recommendations, but hopefully others will offer various recommendations with consideration that you are in the EU.

The problem you will be faced with are the vast numbers available and trying to make a decision. You should specify your budget since dacs today can range in cost easily into five figures.

Good Luck,

 

[Al M.]

I found it initially hard to reply since I have not heard the Wadia X64.4 DAC and therefore cannot put your comment about body and weight of sound into context.

On the low four figure end of the price scale I can recommend to try the DAC that I have, a Schiit Yggdrasil LIM (Less is More) DAC. Like the Wadia it is an R2R ladder DAC, but it is built on modern industrial precision DAC chips, with a proprietary digital filter (designer is Mike Moffat, formerly Theta Digital). The tonal balance is neutral, but in the context of my system (see my signature below) the sound has body and weight. It has more body than my previous delta sigma DAC, Berkeley Alpha DAC 2. I have heard DACs multiple the price, either in direct comparison or separately, which did not beat it or even were less preferable to my taste (and that of others with whom I shared listening experiences). A friend of mine sold his more than 10 times more expensive DAC in favor of an Yggdrasil.

To my ears it is faithful in timbre. I would not be surprised if it beat the old Wadia, technology has progressed. The Yggdrasil has excellent resolution, also low-level resolution.

You can try it out for little money. The restocking fee is 5 % if returned, but at a retail price of 2,300 bucks that's not much. Return time is 15 days, best to keep it running 24/7 for break-in.

You could also try the MIB (More is Better) version, which is reported to be even better. I can't vouch for it, not having heard it myself.

Schiit Audio: Audio Products Made in USA

www.schiit.com

 

[davenrk]

@Al M. thank you for your contribution.
The Schiit MIB was indeed on top of the list...unfortunately living in Europe there is not returning policy such as in the States, and I don't have the possibility to listen to it in a shop as it's not distributed...
Anyway yes....I'm very interested in the Yggy....the MIB version.
May I ask you: why don't you use the Unison USB input that should be the best input in the Yggy?
Probably I would buy an Innuos Zenith with the Yggy.
Unfortunately there is no I2S input....I could use the new Volumio Rivo Plus as transport.

 

[Al M.]

@Al M. thank you for your contribution.
The Schiit MIB was indeed on top of the list...unfortunately living in Europe there is not returning policy such as in the States, and I don't have the possibility to listen to it in a shop as it's not distributed...

You're welcome. There is a 14-day return policy according to the Schiit Europe website:

Schiit Yggdrasil Multibit DAC with Closed-Form Filter - EU plug 230V

Schiit Yggdrasil Multibit DAC with Closed-Form Filter - EU plug 230V

www.schiit-europe.com

There is also more here:

FAQs Archive - Schiit Europe

www.schiit-europe.com

Anyway yes....I'm very interested in the Yggy....the MIB version.

Great.

May I ask you: why don't you use the Unison USB input that should be the best input in the Yggy?

My Mutec reclocker has a USB input/output, but I don't actually think it works as an output to a DAC. I tried to find clues in the Mutec manual, but it's described by it as an input for a computer/streamer, and in reviews it is described as such as well. The AES/EBU input of the DAC that I use was always Mike Moffat's preferred one until the Unison USB was developed.

 

[Tam Lin]

The CH Precision C1 is a modern Wadia.
From the User Manual Rev 2.2, 12/6/2019:

The 4.8GFLOPS DPS engine for each channel performs several tasks, including synchronous spline-based PEtER upsampling (to 705.6/768 kHz ...
The digital conversion for each channel is handled by four Burr-Brown PCM1704 R2R chips.

 

[No Regrets]

I'd invite you to take a look at the Mojo Audio Mystique X-24AM R2R Ladder dac. Oh btw, the 24 simply stands for the year 2024. The "AM" stands for Amorphous Cores by the Swiss Company Lundahl who makes audiophile transformers and chokes.

The sound is full; it’s rich; it’s organic; it’s dynamic; it’s got great tone; it’s got detail; it’s got bass; it’s got weight and density...I’m loving that when it plays the "note" that you hear the attack of the note, but it’s not hard or over emphasized. You hear the full harmonic structure of the note (the fullness of sound/ the meat on the bones); and you can hear the decay of the note (ie: ringing of the cymbals/ bells/ or the trailing off of a sustained piano note).

With the Mojo, it sounds dynamic without sounding hard. With the Mojo, it plays in a relaxed and natural way without becoming fatiguing, but yet at the same time it still plays with speed, with dynamic expression and with emotion!

They offer a 45 day trial period so that you can make sure that this dac is synergistic with your system and your room. List price is $7500 USD, but I believe he is having a holiday sale of $1,000 USD off right now. In my humble opinion, it is worth every penny and more. At first glance, it looks diminutive in size as it is a 1/2 width product, but it is very deep and weighty as it is jam packed with transformers and chokes and other goodies.

I have no connection to Mojo Audio, other than being a very satisfied customer. This dac, along with my Jay's Audio Dedicated CD Transport is the first digital front end that I've had that doesn't make me miss playing my vinyl records. That's saying quite a lot coming from a guy that's been dedicated to vinyl for the last 50 years. Don't get me wrong... I still love playing my vinyl, but there is music out there that I enjoy that I can't get on vinyl and when I play those cd's thru the Mojo... it doesn't disappoint one single bit

The Mojo Mystique is on the second shelf just below the Jay's Audio CD Transport



Best wishes,
Don

 

[davenrk]

@Al M. did you compare the Yggy to the Mola Mola Tambaqui,too?

 

[Al M.]

@Al M. did you compare the Yggy to the Mola Mola Tambaqui,too?

Yes, but to me it was not completely conclusive because I am not sure if it was an apples-to-apples comparison because of cables used; those make a difference. The Tambaqui may have been slightly better than the Yggy LIM, but I didn't hear a day-and-night difference that would (to me) justify the much higher price. The Yggy MIB of course is supposed to be yet better than the Yggy LIM.