Greetings from WADAX

[Audiocrack]

Please Welcome WADAX To Audiophile Style

Audio: Listen to this article. A handful of years ago I’d never heard of WADAX. I cautiously pursued the company because of its flagship Reference DAC, Server, and PSU. As someone who espouses the wonders of fine digital audio, I felt compelled to at least give the components a spin. In addition,...

audiophilestyle.com

 

[Elliot G.]

Wadax Level 4 with Magico M7

 

[WADAX]

And if there are WBF members than can share their (listening) experiences with the 24 versus 32 format/downloads, that would be appreciated as well.

sorry it took a while to get back on this, but I did want to share an answer I think should satisfy this question. First, Wadax can process 32 bit DXD files; in fact all internal processing is done at 128 bit resolution. But I want to share a couple thoughts from Javier regarding this topic:

32 bit files have a meaning when doing audio processing (we do it at 128 bit processing internally). But the output has to select a window of total internal resolution and that window width is what's presented to the output DAC.

Also, the musical experience is NOT correlated with the ENOB (effective number of bits). A device with ENOB 16 can deliver an exciting musical experience. And a DAC with ENOB 22 can sound analytical and frozen. So talking about bits without addressing a long list of other parameters that are critical to the final musical presentation would be misleading to the audience and an unnecessary simplification of the whole D/A music conversion. We must always consider we are making music D/A systems, not D/A systems for submarine sonar use - to name a different demanding application.

And a final thought on the subject: D/A design has much more to the A than to the D, but without the D there is no A.

 

[Elliot G.]

without the D there is no A.

That sounds like a slogan to me

 

[Audiocrack]

Is this level 6? An audio system including the reference sacd-transport and two reference PSU’s. I suppose one PSU for the reference server and one PSU for the reference sacs-transport: https://www.monoandstereo.com/magico-m7-installation-2/

 

[GuyB]

Is this level 6? An audio system including the reference sacd-transport and two reference PSU’s. I suppose one PSU for the reference server and one PSU for the reference sacs-transport: https://www.monoandstereo.com/magico-m7-installation-2/

Yes, it is. Your guess is correct.

 

[Audiocrack]

Yes, it is. Your guess is correct.

Is this one of your clients Guy? I am asking because I am interested to hear from you (or your client of course) how the reference sacd-transport compares to the reference server.

Now that both units profit from the reference PSU I presume that a fair comparison - on solely sonic merits - can be made between the server and the transport. I am still seriously wondering: does a sacd sounds better than - in particular - the same and original recording in say dsd 256 or dxd that is being played natively (while the file is stored locally and therefore is not being streamed from Qobuz or Tidal)?

 

[GuyB]

Is this one of your clients Guy? I am asking because I am interested to hear from you (or your client of course) how the reference sacd-transport compares to the reference server.

Now that both units profit from the reference PSU I presume that a fair comparison - on solely sonic merits - can be made between the server and the transport. I am still seriously wondering: does a sacd sounds better than - in particular - the same and original recording in say dsd 256 or dxd that is being played natively (while the file is stored locally and therefore is not being streamed from Qobuz or Tidal)?

Yes, it is one of our clients. We have not made a direct comparison with the same piece in CD/SACD or coming from the server, but the sound we get from the Wadax Reference Transport is extremely fluid and rich. It is really an impressive machine and the echoes I have had elsewhere from other users confirm this impression and the fact that the restitution is of a very high level, even compared to the Wadax Server. If you have a nice collection of CDs and SACDs, it is really something to consider.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Hello Brandon ,

I have a question regarding the output connectivity of the wadax products
Regarding the studio player i see there are 2 balanced outputs only .
I suppose its the same for the Ref dac , i could nt find the info .
The ref dac states its a fully balanced design .

For people like me who use single ended tube amp configurations it means we ll have to use a adapter plug / cable.
Whats your experience ?
Has it a negative effect on the SQ or does this work well in general ?

Or may be a user wants to chim in

 

[Elliot G.]

Hello Brandon ,

I have a question regarding the output connectivity of the wadax products
Regarding the studio player i see there are 2 balanced outputs only .
I suppose its the same for the Ref dac , i could nt find the info .
The ref dac states its a fully balanced design .

For people like me who use single ended tube amp configurations it means we ll have to use a adapter plug / cable.
Whats your experience ?
Has it a negative effect on the SQ or does this work well in general ?

Or may be a user wants to chim in

The reference Dac is balanced however it requires a preamplifier the Studio player can be connected directly to a power amplifier and the volume is controllable .
I don’t know the Answer about adapting the output perhaps Brandon does

 

[WADAX]

Hello Brandon ,

I have a question regarding the output connectivity of the wadax products
Regarding the studio player i see there are 2 balanced outputs only .
I suppose its the same for the Ref dac , i could nt find the info .
The ref dac states its a fully balanced design .

For people like me who use single ended tube amp configurations it means we ll have to use a adapter plug / cable.
Whats your experience ?
Has it a negative effect on the SQ or does this work well in general ?

Or may be a user wants to chim in

Hi Andromeda -
we will be producing an attachment for Studio which will allow connectivity for headphones and single-ended cables. This should have no effect on sound quality. I do not have timing for this yet but will let you know once I’ve gotten some more info about it.