yes, I have heard w/ Göbel and stenheim. in both cases was wishing for more tone, a la jadis, totaldac or lampizator. but since we both love CAT your experience means a lot more than from the ss hypesters
Last edited:
What SPECIFICALLY is better or different about the Wadax Design? How do these design choices manifest in better sound?
- Thread starter caesar
- Start date
If you are referring to my speakers they are Gobel and the fact that you have to be disrespectful ( i assume) As I dont think you are incapablefo spellling someones name correctly, is just another incedent of someone wanting to Gaslight a thread.
We get you like the sound of tubes and particularly the CAT. Thats wonderful and if you like call Mr. CAT and have him partner with us a show, pay the piece of the rent, and you can hear the amazing Gobel Speakers with a Wadax and you can soil your glow in the dark panties.
It is very tiresome for me to read the same stuff over and over of your negative and disrespect to so many companies based on a drive by at an audio event in a hotel room. What's worse is you dont ever have the HUTZPAH to introduce yourself.
To attempt togive a really good answer to the question I would say this:
First I am not a technical person and so my observations are based on what I can see and hear..
The Wadax items are built like a battleship. They are heavy , solid and finsihed really well. They are packed unlike anything else I have ever purchased. They come in form fitted foam , then in flight cases, and then in foam lioned heavy duty carboard boxes packjed on a pallet.
They are very easy to use and have a lot of great features that allow you to incorporate them into you system.
This is public knowledge and one can read this in the Three major reviews written by some of the most respected reviewers we have.
Sonically, well that is where to me they really shine. When you sit down with this system in your own system you will immediately notice
1) something is different here
2) there is a sense of ease and clarity that did not exist before, Its not brightness, or excessive detail
3) it does not sound like digital
4) it doesnot sound like analog
5) in my mind it sounds more like master tape that either of the other two mentioned choices
6) There is a completness to the sound, a dense , full rich, dynamic, colorful presentation which lacks the typical keys one picks up when listening to other digital. It has a completeness that I not aware off when I listed to others. I have extensively listen to many others. I find myself relaxed and listening to much more music. My listeneing sessions are longer and there is no fatigue. THe Wadax is an incredible source but that is what it is. It still is part of a system and if you have negative thoughts to SS or this brand speakers or cables you may make a ill informed descision of the product which has nothing to do with the Wadax.
7). If you can afford this and are looking to give yourself something that will bring you closer to your music, make more music really enjoyable and maybe change your viewpoint of what is possible you should make that happen. Change is painful and creates doubt and even fear, don't let that stop you if it is magic you seek. "have a little faith theres magic in the night you arent a beauty but hey your alright"
Lastly the defensive position taken by some many is really weird to me. I don't understand it and I dont get the competive nature of it.
This happens in the world often and it doesn't mean that the other brands are bad, or useless ot obsolete. Audio has always had levels and will always have them. It happened with Tubes, Transistors, Cartridges, Cables, Turntables etc. and someone is always trying to build a better mousetrap.
First I am not a technical person and so my observations are based on what I can see and hear..
The Wadax items are built like a battleship. They are heavy , solid and finsihed really well. They are packed unlike anything else I have ever purchased. They come in form fitted foam , then in flight cases, and then in foam lioned heavy duty carboard boxes packjed on a pallet.
They are very easy to use and have a lot of great features that allow you to incorporate them into you system.
This is public knowledge and one can read this in the Three major reviews written by some of the most respected reviewers we have.
Sonically, well that is where to me they really shine. When you sit down with this system in your own system you will immediately notice
1) something is different here
2) there is a sense of ease and clarity that did not exist before, Its not brightness, or excessive detail
3) it does not sound like digital
4) it doesnot sound like analog
5) in my mind it sounds more like master tape that either of the other two mentioned choices
6) There is a completness to the sound, a dense , full rich, dynamic, colorful presentation which lacks the typical keys one picks up when listening to other digital. It has a completeness that I not aware off when I listed to others. I have extensively listen to many others. I find myself relaxed and listening to much more music. My listeneing sessions are longer and there is no fatigue. THe Wadax is an incredible source but that is what it is. It still is part of a system and if you have negative thoughts to SS or this brand speakers or cables you may make a ill informed descision of the product which has nothing to do with the Wadax.
7). If you can afford this and are looking to give yourself something that will bring you closer to your music, make more music really enjoyable and maybe change your viewpoint of what is possible you should make that happen. Change is painful and creates doubt and even fear, don't let that stop you if it is magic you seek. "have a little faith theres magic in the night you arent a beauty but hey your alright"
Lastly the defensive position taken by some many is really weird to me. I don't understand it and I dont get the competive nature of it.
This happens in the world often and it doesn't mean that the other brands are bad, or useless ot obsolete. Audio has always had levels and will always have them. It happened with Tubes, Transistors, Cartridges, Cables, Turntables etc. and someone is always trying to build a better mousetrap.
My apologies about the name . StupID Apple spellcheck…. It also wants to call , ironically, the former Wilson /. NOw dcs marketer and John quick replacement, Goliath instead of Giolas. I will correct when I’m not mobile
yes, I love a “natural”
, more rich , SET- like tonality vs lean, “accurate“ tonality most audiophiles buyWhat are the characteristics that differentiate analog, digital, and master tape sound? How would you rank them? Where does the sound of live, un-amplified voices and instruments fit in your ranking?
I am a HP disciple and the sound of live unamplified instruments and vocals is my goal.
The flaws in analog and digital have been discussed ad nausem and there is nor reason to do that again. These "rankings " are today meaningless as the world has changed and with it technology. I live in the present, I listen in the present and I use the technology of the present. You can purchase wonderful analog playback systems for records and I guess the same for tape if you have the library of tapes to play but that is not the only option or the most popular option. I have made my choice as I bought a Wadax others will make theirs.
In the old days it was definetly Master Tape at the top of the heap.
I am not taking about a copy of a copy of a copy of a CDor a record etc. when we discuss tape
Everyone says they have master tapes and trust me they don't. They protect those things like they are flawless diamonds.
I grew up in NY and NYC and had many recording engineers and artists as clients that were clients. We worked with Rudy Van Gelder, Sheffield Labs, CBS, RCA and others. We had on hand Studer machines and these things are far beyond the other formats at the time. We also had access frm other sources in the Industry that had these type of clients.
Wadax has a decernable absense of various types of noise. No clicks, pops, hiss, crackle etc. It is full , rich, and dynamic. It is not something that makes you want to turn it off.
The best analogy I can make is like food. Some food intitally tastes great but you quickly wna to stop eating it
other foods are really not great at all they have no flavor or they just taste bad.
however some foods you want to eat slowly and savior and make you want the experience to not end.
After all the years I have been listening, most of which I thought digital was HORRIBLE, beyond bad, and then the last 5 or so when I found that digital had finally become listenable and enjoyable. To me it has finally reached a level at which it can compete with every format and has many positive factors that others can't offer. It is the easiest to use, the best to find new music, you can play things as often as you like, there is nothing to clean, you dont need to get up to change things, it requires no huge areas of storage.
Last edited:
yes, I love a “natural”
Yes, I know what you and I prefer, but I was asking what makes *them* prefer the dCS over the Wadax as being "better".
Really ! Was this somewhat snotty response either appropriate or warranted ? It never fails to surprise me when a dealer / member considers that they can assume some moral high ground on the forum and go on the offensive whenever a member has the temerity to express a less than gushing opinion of some wares that they sell.
Continuing peeling the Wadax Reference Dac onion:
From the TI website
The PCM5252 integrates a fully programmable miniDSP core, allowing developers to integrate filters, dynamic range controls, custom interpolators, and other differentiating features to their products.
Elliot you have spent a good amount of time with the Wadax Reference Dac and your reference to magnetic tape sound and what others have described makes me think that perhaps Javier has possibly implemented magnetic tape emulation in his code. Obviously I have not reviewed his code and he has made no such claims so it is just pure speculation on my part. Nothing wrong if he has implemented magnetic tape emulation in the DSP and it would be clever if he has; the issue then would be that this dac is being evaluated as a “straight” dac and not as a Digital Signal Processor. The Weiss DAC501/502 and DSP501/502 offer “vinyl emulation”, as a switchable option, and they state it as such.
The sound of magnetic tape is very euphonic, the soft tape saturation (compression) and bass bump makes for a very musically pleasing effect. Many mastering studios run digital recordings done ITB (In The Box) through magnetic tape to “sweeten” the sound of the final master. In the studio world, tape, transformer and vacuum tube saturation (compression) is used as a tool and many VST plugins have been developed for magnetic tape emulation. There are some hardware tape emulators used in studios, with the Anamod ATS-1 (analog) and the Cranesong HEED (digital) being the most successful. I own the rare SPL Machinehead Tape Emulator (digital) and Neve 542/5042 “True Tape” emulator (analog) and they both do a good job of “sweetening“ the sound.
Again, I think the test measurements from John Atkinson would provide great insight. Has a sample of the Wadax Reference Dac been provided to Stereophile?
From the TI website
The PCM5252 integrates a fully programmable miniDSP core, allowing developers to integrate filters, dynamic range controls, custom interpolators, and other differentiating features to their products.
Elliot you have spent a good amount of time with the Wadax Reference Dac and your reference to magnetic tape sound and what others have described makes me think that perhaps Javier has possibly implemented magnetic tape emulation in his code. Obviously I have not reviewed his code and he has made no such claims so it is just pure speculation on my part. Nothing wrong if he has implemented magnetic tape emulation in the DSP and it would be clever if he has; the issue then would be that this dac is being evaluated as a “straight” dac and not as a Digital Signal Processor. The Weiss DAC501/502 and DSP501/502 offer “vinyl emulation”, as a switchable option, and they state it as such.
The sound of magnetic tape is very euphonic, the soft tape saturation (compression) and bass bump makes for a very musically pleasing effect. Many mastering studios run digital recordings done ITB (In The Box) through magnetic tape to “sweeten” the sound of the final master. In the studio world, tape, transformer and vacuum tube saturation (compression) is used as a tool and many VST plugins have been developed for magnetic tape emulation. There are some hardware tape emulators used in studios, with the Anamod ATS-1 (analog) and the Cranesong HEED (digital) being the most successful. I own the rare SPL Machinehead Tape Emulator (digital) and Neve 542/5042 “True Tape” emulator (analog) and they both do a good job of “sweetening“ the sound.
Again, I think the test measurements from John Atkinson would provide great insight. Has a sample of the Wadax Reference Dac been provided to Stereophile?
Last edited:
I would like to see if someone has compared (or can compare in future) Aries Cerat Kassandra Limited Edition or Lampiziator horizon with Wadax. I love Kassandra ref dac very much in my system and can only imagine, how much better Kassandra signature or limited edition can be.
Well actually the current top of the range in aries cerat, is the Homerus DAC
www.monoandstereo.com
New Aries Cerat Homerus ultimate DAC
Mono & Stereo High-End Audio Magazine: Magico - Nagra - Tidal Audio - Wilson Audio - MSB - Totaldac - Living Voice - Taiko Audio - Aries Cerat -Thrax
It has nothing to do with his opinion of the product but don't be disrespectful and he is most of the time. Perhaps you should do your homework before you decide to be the high moral ground police. Caesar has a vast history of this sort of behavior and you seem to be very easily offended particularly when it doesnt even involve you. If Caesar is offended he can certainly stand up for himself.
Last edited:
Carlos, I don't have any inside information as to what Wadax does with reviewers before it happens. I think that maybe you are trying to read into my statement more than I eas trying to say. I don't feel that the Wadax system I own is emulating anything. I was trying to make a point that it is different than the digital products I have owned and listened to extensively. It also does not have the signature items from a record either. My experience with tape, was strictly first generation master tapes a long time ago. These were pre digita l for the most part. My point of all this was to say that I feel the product is unique in its abilities and therefore something new and different. You obviously have far more technical knowledge than I and my reactions were my listening and trying to find some proper words to describe my thoughts,
Last edited:
Oh do give your tender dealer sensibilities a rest, the sole reason for your post being one of belittling another member in order to quash anything other than universal praise for an extremely expensive product that you sell.
See , there you go again, How might your recent posts not involve me when I am a member of an open forum, as is Caesar, where comment within the forum AUP is actively encouraged. On the contrary you seem to have decided to that you might play the un solicited forum moderator role.
you are really a trip. You think you know me? Look if you are looking for a fight bring it on. I love the wounded indignant whinning on subjects that dont even involve you. He was rude and I called him out and now your acting foolishly making up stories about what never happened. Its people like you that make this forum becoming more and more ugly.
Your so wounded my poor man. let us all feel sorry for your plight
Thank you for confirming my sensibilities about your rather unpleasant character together with your self righteousness bordering on Narcesism, The man asked a simple and reasonable question that you interpreted as an attack on your $120K portfolio product.
I have no further need of you.
Similar threads
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Co-Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |