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LL21

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I just came back from a 1,5 hour demo at ultimate audio in lisbon.
Miquel kindly hosted me for an extended demo.
Unfortunately the gryphon apex was at a customer for home demo
But non the less a very good controlled clean sound , but coming from tubes i missed a bit warmth.
Wadax again very good digital, most obvious on voice reproduction quality afaik.
Also very good subintegration, one of the best i have heard
Amazing! Did Miguel have any descriptions of Boulder 3060 vs Gryphon Apex? I am sure he has an opinion...was just curious if he shared any insights. Not necessarily preferences since he sells both...but insights/observations about each.
 

andromedaaudio

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Amazing! Did Miguel have any descriptions of Boulder 3060 vs Gryphon Apex? I am sure he has an opinion...was just curious if he shared any insights. Not necessarily preferences since he sells both...but insights/observations about each.
No we didnt discuss that .
But its another example that assembling a satisfying music system is a personal endavour
The demo included a lot of different music vocals classical organ electronic music which was cool
 

Elliot G.

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Congratulations @Elliot G.
thank you we had a great show and some cool things to come this fall
 

Audiocrack

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Why this link while it (on first sight) has nothing to do with Wadax? While, this is a recording in dxd (352.8 kHz, 32 bits) of a solo instrument - viola da gamba - that was recorded in the Geertekerk (Geertechurch) in Utrecht by the relative young Dutch recording label TRPTK (btw, the mastermind behind and recording engineer of TRPTK, Brendon Heinst, worked for many years with Bert van der Wolf of Northstar Recordings). On this recording Ralph Rousseau plays several fantasia’s of Georg Philip Teleman. These Fantasia’s of Teleman are stunningly recorded and I mention this particular album / download in this Wadax thread because it (inter alia) beautifully demonstrates how good digital (or at least the Wadax reference dac) has become in reproducing the low end / bass.

Just to be sure: I listened to this recording in its original format.
 
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Mike Lavigne

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Why this link while it (on first sight) has nothing to do with Wadax? While, this is a recording in dxd (352.8 kHz, 32 bits) of a solo instrument - viola da gamba - that was recorded in the Geertekerk (Geertechurch) in Utrecht by the relative young Dutch recording label TRPTK (btw, the mastermind behind and recording engineer of TRPTK, Brendon Heinst, worked for many years with Bert van der Wolf of Northstar Recordings). On this recording Ralph Rousseau plays several fantasia’s of Georg Philip Teleman. These Fantasia’s of Teleman are stunningly recorded and I mention this particular album / download in this Wadax thread because it (inter alia) beautifully demonstrates how good digital (or at least the Wadax reference dac) has become in reproducing the low end / bass.

Just to be sure: I listened to this recording in its original format.
thank you Rudolf.

waiting for the 16tb Samsung 870 SATA III 2.5 drives to be introduced. should be in about 6 months.

right now i have 3 '8tb' drives with around 20tb loaded. and they are backed up with twin 30tb NAS's. my plan is to convert those -3- 8's to -4- 16's and then go crazy with dxd downloads as i'll have 66tb's. 4 x 16 + 2tb resident.

don't want to stress my NAS's and cause any issues. at some point i'll need to get a bigger NAS to back up the whole 66tb, or maybe split the whole into two NAS's. i'll solve that one later, maybe the tech for it will evolve. yes; realize big NAS's are out there now, but the ROI will likely improve over time.
 

Audiocrack

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thank you Rudolf.

waiting for the 16tb Samsung 870 SATA III 2.5 drives to be introduced. should be in about 6 months.

right now i have 3 '8tb' drives with around 20tb loaded. and they are backed up with twin 30tb NAS's. my plan is to convert those -3- 8's to -4- 16's and then go crazy with dxd downloads as i'll have 66tb's. 4 x 16 + 2tb resident.

don't want to stress my NAS's and cause any issues. at some point i'll need to get a bigger NAS to back up the whole 66tb, or maybe split the whole into two NAS's. i'll solve that one later, maybe the tech for it will evolve.
Man oh man, you will assemble so much music then that you need multiple ‘life’s’ to have a listen to all of it. But it shows your true dedication to (assemble beautifully recorded) music.

Understood from Javier that Wadax will likely next year make the reference dac ready to play dsd 512 files. Not sure if dsd 512 will really sound better than dsd 256 but if it does, more ‘drives space’ will indeed be needed.
 

Mike Lavigne

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Man oh man, you will assemble so much music then that you need multiple ‘life’s’ to have a listen to all of it. But it shows your true dedication to (assemble beautifully recorded) music.

Understood from Javier that Wadax will likely next year make the reference dac ready to play dsd 512 files. Not sure if dsd 512 will really sound better than dsd 256 but if it does, more ‘drives space’ will indeed be needed.
i think that the dsd 512 takes less drive space than dxd. but the issue will more be whether they are native dsd 512 or converted from dxd like most dsd 256 files are now. have to see how that plays out. i want native files always. but exciting to imagine better than dxd or dsd 256.

the extreme low noise of the whole Wadax chain will take optimal advantage of the extra bandwidth and information.
 
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joaovieira

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You're right Mike. DSD should be played on his native resolution by any DAC. The upsampling if required should be done only to PCM.
 

Mike Lavigne

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You're right Mike. DSD should be played on his native resolution by any DAC. The upsampling if required should be done only to PCM.
there is the dac side, and the file side.

dsd files can start as PCM. that's a different creature than native dsd files that never saw PCM in their path.

my file acquisition efforts focus on the file side and making sure my dac sees a native file. the Wadax allows choices as to how to handle dsd files. when i acquire a file, i never knowingly choose a non-native one.
 

microstrip

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Why this link while it (on first sight) has nothing to do with Wadax? While, this is a recording in dxd (352.8 kHz, 32 bits) of a solo instrument - viola da gamba - that was recorded in the Geertekerk (Geertechurch) in Utrecht by the relative young Dutch recording label TRPTK (btw, the mastermind behind and recording engineer of TRPTK, Brendon Heinst, worked for many years with Bert van der Wolf of Northstar Recordings). ) (...)

Great recordings. BTW, Bert van der Wolf interview in the PSAudio is one the most interesting and concise articles I have ever read about analog and digital formats. A mandatory read IMHO. https://www.psaudio.com/copper/article/bert-van-der-wolf/
 

Audiocrack

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Great recordings. BTW, Bert van der Wolf interview in the PSAudio is one the most interesting and concise articles I have ever read about analog and digital formats. A mandatory read IMHO. https://www.psaudio.com/copper/article/bert-van-der-wolf/
I have around 20 TRPTK recordings available at the moment. They all sound very good and some of them are really stunning such as for example the Teleman recording. Their repertoire is far from ‘middle of the road’ and for some it may be too ‘alternative/eccentric’ but it is never boring and a good / interesting way to discover new music. TRPTK is in short an interesting label for those who are interested in top notch sound and are willing to try something different (musically speaking, that is. However, please note that Trptk is lately recording more ‘mainstream’ repertoire such as eg music from Schubert).

And yep, Bert is a real professional with a great (sounding) music catalogue under his belt.

I just added a link for those who are interested in the TRPTK music label:

 
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wil

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This is not meant as a slight to any of the components in these videos, but I don't see how the music used in these videos really provides much information on what these high-end systems can do.

Songs with a single breathy vocal and a single accompanying piano or guitar are the equivalent to throwing a baseball underhanded to a major league hitter. It will get hit out of park every time.

How about some complex, multi-instrument music? How well can a system handle a full orchestra, for example?
 

andromedaaudio

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How about some complex, multi-instrument music? How well can a system handle a full orchestra, for example?

Wil i was making these vids in my free time / holidays , if it starts resembling work i stop lol .

Besides that videos are quite limited overall , nuances are easily lost
 
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andromedaaudio

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I get where you come from , but voices are always a very easy reference ,people know how a certain persons voice sounds in other systems / other media or live
In my speaker design , voices either on tape or digital are go to tests .
Off course things get much more complicated with complex music , but thats the homework a potential buyer of a system should do before purchase ( preferably at home ).
Plus voices is a thing with wadax excells , most digital just doesn t ( plus i always like to play the good stuff , i m not here to trash a brand )
 
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LL21

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Take your pick !!






Quite a collection of equipment you have heard and recorded! Thanks for sharing! That was good vicarious fun! Any particular favorites of yours here? Boulder, Gryphon and Robert Koda...probably 3 of my favorite amp designs of all time.
 

microstrip

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(...) Off course things get much more complicated with complex music , but thats the homework a potential buyer of a system should do before purchase ( preferably at home ).

Yes, IMHO complex classic music is what separates the good from the excellent digital. Girl on guitar and pop/rock are less requiring. And complexity is not just a large number of instruments, but also its diversity, the performers and the score.

Plus voices is a thing with wadax excells , most digital just doesn t ( plus i always like to play the good stuff , i m not here to trash a brand )

Well, I have listened to excellent vocals in digital since the Mark Levinson ML30.5.
 

andromedaaudio

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Quite a collection of equipment you have heard and recorded! Thanks for sharing! That was good vicarious fun! Any particular favorites of yours here? Boulder, Gryphon and Robert Koda...probably 3 of my favorite amp designs of all time.
Gryphon Koda audio research boulder in that order .
 

LL21

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Gryphon Koda audio research boulder in that order .
Thanks. Would really like to hear Gryphon's Apex and Boulder 3060...best done in Portugal it seems! Ultimate is a great place.
 

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