Wadax Reference Dac and Server arrive
- Thread starter Mike Lavigne
- Start date
IMHO the question is not if the DAC is finding more information - IMHO the question is if the DAC presents the information in a way listeners perceive more information through their systems.
At this point some old fashioned advanced measurements would be needed to learn more. All we have are the valuable opinions of happy owners and speculation. And sorry to say, in an hobby of preference, probably until someone experienced criticizes it - remember that some people openly admitted they prefer vinyl to tape.
Elliot G.
Industry Expert
I did not want want to go there.
The Wadax is finding information other dacs missed????
The information on a CD or a file or for reference an LP is there. The information needs to be retrieved and made into a format that we can listen to through speakers or headphones etc.
Its not about the Wadax finding information that others didn't however it is about keeping all or as much of the original information as possible. When products color, distort, omit, change, alter, add or destroy information the end sound we here is different. Audio for the most part has always tried to keep all the information made in a recording no matter the method.
Its not different by the way in Analog. If the arm and cartridge aren't adjusted correctly they will LOOSE information.
You are making big assumptions about things with no proof. I have many redbooks discs that I have had for many years and they have never sounded like they do now. Period it is not even close. So is WADAX writing new music? is it rewriting the discs? Is it making up stuff and doing its own version? No it is retrieving the information and doing a much better job of not loosing or adding noise or information to the signal.
This is audible its not Voodoo or Black Magic.
By the way this same thing has happened with turntables/arms and cartridges and tape decks.
The Wadax is finding information other dacs missed????
The information on a CD or a file or for reference an LP is there. The information needs to be retrieved and made into a format that we can listen to through speakers or headphones etc.
Its not about the Wadax finding information that others didn't however it is about keeping all or as much of the original information as possible. When products color, distort, omit, change, alter, add or destroy information the end sound we here is different. Audio for the most part has always tried to keep all the information made in a recording no matter the method.
Its not different by the way in Analog. If the arm and cartridge aren't adjusted correctly they will LOOSE information.
You are making big assumptions about things with no proof. I have many redbooks discs that I have had for many years and they have never sounded like they do now. Period it is not even close. So is WADAX writing new music? is it rewriting the discs? Is it making up stuff and doing its own version? No it is retrieving the information and doing a much better job of not loosing or adding noise or information to the signal.
This is audible its not Voodoo or Black Magic.
By the way this same thing has happened with turntables/arms and cartridges and tape decks.
hardware and software go hand in hand , having said this digital is a very large universe of sorts . there are so many varibles and each maker makes claims there right . while im sure hardware has gotten better i feel software is where changes are made we now like , now to say this is the paradox shown in digital playback . not to derail wadax , but msb made what i heard was a massive improvement in red book playback all in software . i dont know what new ideas wadax uses but if mike says its better i think it is period . all dacs dont sound the same by miles but ill bet i can get cheaper dacs made well to amaze some once they see it lol . now one thing hi end dacs do is make this much more simplar to achieve and play back many formates great . many dacs have sweet spots in what they do i doubt wadax has little sounds that are outside of its amazing sound .
Elliot G stated
"No it is retrieving the information and doing a much better job of not loosing or adding noise or information to the signal."
Reasonable way to state what Mike and others who have the Wadax hear, and as you stated it applies to other circumstances as well.
"No it is retrieving the information and doing a much better job of not loosing or adding noise or information to the signal."
Reasonable way to state what Mike and others who have the Wadax hear, and as you stated it applies to other circumstances as well.
as dacs get better , there always seems to be more on those shinny disks we rip .
IT seems clear to me.Lossy means it isnot there. You cannot retrieve something that is not there.
Lossless means it is there. You can retrieve it.
It follows then that quality of the recordong does matter.
Lossy at its best can never be as good as lossless at its best.
You can't get any clearer than that.
I had this argument already. See my discussion on MQA. All the proof" you need.
Lossless means it is there. You can retrieve it.
It follows then that quality of the recordong does matter.
Lossy at its best can never be as good as lossless at its best.
You can't get any clearer than that.
I had this argument already. See my discussion on MQA. All the proof" you need.
Ur correct but there is a missing part Your leaving out with MQA
I feel it’s re mastered , eq , made from the best master of the files. Then add the mysterious mqa sauce
so even if lossy it’s still best of it. Now not all like mqa but to me most all there stuff is best I got to play after ANALOG
why some attack mqa I don’t get. put aside
your views and just play and listen then tell us if it’s good
Using Mike L. as an example. The reality of devoting xxTB internal server storage predominantly towards downloads, present and future, shows long term potential. I have no vantage on how his listening and storage interests will develop (again this is only an example). I do however hold suspicion of aging rips performed on less modern equipment and shuffled around on NAS for the duration.
Even were that not a viable reason to create further division of listening duties among current owners. Reference Transport has appeal to me over a server or DAC which any sensible being can assure will be technologically surpassed. Ways to directly play back discs are considerably less assured to exist in years to come. For the most part same cannot be said of usable lifespan media they support. Which easily number into the thousands in the homes of many here.
Mike, have you had an in depth encounter with the Lampizator Horizon or all other DACs claiming SOTA to know that the Wadax is degreesof magnitude beyond other heardware doing this? What makes you so certain?
let's just kill this Wadax thread MQA talk, for once and forever. sorry if you have MQA tattooed on your eyelids, it's second rate stuff in the Wadax combo vernacular.
i already had this sense, but just to make sure........i took 30-35 minutes of my life i will never get back, and did a 20 second A/B on Tidal with MQA and then Quboz with standard PCM......with 10 cuts. 100% of the results were exposing MQA as slightly smeared and less vivid.....mostly less separation of the soundstage, and somewhat dynamically muted. none of the MQA were 'bad' musically. just less special.....less alive and real. some of the Quboz was regular 16/44, some the same resolution as the MQA upsample. same result regardless.
maybe some new stuff is mastered with MQA, maybe that makes a difference, maybe i will become king.
not really interested.the whole idea of MQA is to 'fix' digital somehow......we already know we don't need to fix it, we just need the Wadax.
but honestly that was the similar result with MQA on the MSB, maybe to a slightly less decisive degree. it was a little closer.
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Robert Harley bestows very high praise indeed on inter alia the Wadax reference server: according to him a breakthrough in digital replay. Its review is forthcoming.
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i'm one of those guys who has paid close attention to dac performance; especially in the last 6-7 years. at shows i spent time listening to the contenders. i've owned a bunch of them too; including the Lampi GG (2 versions), the Trinity dac, and the Aqua Formula. besides the MSB Select II. i've listened to the Pacific twice at shows, the dCs Vivaldi stack a few times, the Totaldac at shows, the Merging Technology NADAC, had the Nagra HD (not the current top level) in my room, etc, etc, etc.
i also read closely about feedback on next level versions of these competing products, and degrees of changes related. the words used. degrees of reactions. my sense with the MSB was that it was still in the neighborhood of the best of other dacs, when i did my Wadax A/B's. the Wadax reviews do provide data points, but they are pretty over-the-top. and then there is my now 2 months of daily living with these pieces. it's undeniable.
and i always have my vinyl and tape here as references. i do that often. it keeps me grounded.
i could cite the techie Wadax advantages too......but this post is just about my own reasons and sources of my confidence.
i think even after we get deep into the best dacs and all that, then we consider the Wadax Ref server and Akasa optical and what it brings; who can even approach that part? read Harley's review linked in Rudolph's previous post. i read it yesterday. a bridge too far in the near term for any of these contenders i think.
the Horizon? maybe it's better than the Wadax? maybe someone will bring one here or to another Wadax combo and do a compare. if one shows up here happy to do it. maybe there is an unknown contender that will rise up? could happen.
as an aside, at 1/3rd the price of the Wadax Ref dac, Horizon buyers should not pay too much attention to the Wadax dac. so what if it's better? it better be. i realize this line of thought is blasphemy to a degree. but it's reality.
but we can never really "KNOW" any of this stuff really. it's not a knowable thing.
it is how i feel. i think i've put in enough effort to have a right to have an opinion about it. do i have any doubt? nah. none. i'm satisfied as of right now. later we will see.
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You can try to research on Wadax Atlantis Dac.It would be nice if Wadax build a more affordable dac which would still possess some of the magic. That would allow my dreams to have at least some degree attainability
Wadax is supposed to have a replacement for the Arcadia which was their entry level unit.
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