 Wadia, a company that for many people is a synonym of the hi-end digital source, was founded in 1988 by a group of telecommunication engineers, working for the 3M Corporation. Who did not hear about the 860 and 861 players? Characteristic shape, thin drawer of the Teac VRDS mechanism and digital volume regulation based on the patented DigiMaster process – all this has positioned Wadia as an exclusive and ultimate digital source. But something must have gone wrong and when Wadia presented a prototype of a powerful digital amplifier (or actually a high power DAC), even tested in the German Audio, it went bankrupt shortly afterwards. Few years were needed to find money and investors. So Wadia returned to the market. However times change and the company changed with them. In September of last year newest products appeared, among those SACD 581 (i) players had a leading role... (the company terminology talks about “multiformat” players, but the name DVD is nowhere to be found). Interestingly the company avoids the name SACD like fire and the new players are called just “Disc players”. They are based on new Teac NEO-VRDS mechanisms, used also in Esoteric (the hi-end wing of Teac), are obviously meant to replace Compact Disc players. On the top, however, there are still PCM devices, and among those the presented DAC 27ix. )
During the test the proprietary transport 771 was not available (it is still not available, and the old one is not available anymore...), but those available should not do any harm – it was the ingenious drive Jadis JD1 MkII with ST i AES/EBU outputs, Pathos Endorphin (S/PDIF), Ancient Audio Lektor Prime (S/PDIF) and Accuphase DP-800 (S/PDIF). The only thing missing was the synchronization of the clocks available when connecting the 771 and the 27ix. It turned out, that in shaping of the sound of the converter the digital cable plays an important role – as AES/EBU the Furutech Reference II Series was unbeatable, and as the S/PDIF the LE-4 Limited Edition of XLO. One of the main characteristics of the Wadia devices is the variable output Direct-Connect. This solution, known from 1992, is based on appropriate processing of the digital signal, so that the volume regulation would not influence the resolution of the signal (like it is the case in traditional DACs). That is the reason the Wadia is used directly with a power amplifier. In this test the Accuphase A-45 and Nagra PMA Pyramide mono blocks were used. It seems however, that high class preamplifiers are able to push the device in a slightly different direction – stronger midrange and bass saturation. The choice is up to the user. SOUND )
From the first introduction into our system it is clear, that the Wadia sounds incredibly smooth. If somebody knows this company and associates its sound with the 860 or 861 players, then he or she will find here many common elements. First of all it will be the mentioned silkiness in sounding and the incredibly delicate transitions between the musicians. In reference recordings like “Georgia in My Mind” from the disc First Impression Music - FIM. Audiophile Reference IV (FIM29 DV, HDCD24) the attack of the bass, and next the descent on the organ happened as if instead of a ball bearing somebody would use a pneumatic suspension, where there is no contact between the planes. The saxophone in the second recording was saturated and full. The separate phrases sounded smooth, almost noiseless transitioning one into another. The same rule could be applied to the sound stage – it was large, widely outlined, the instruments were distributed with breadth, no crush of any kind. After switching directly from the Jadis JD1 MkII/JS1 MkIII player the sound rose a bit, meaning the sound stage was located higher and the timbre received a new gravity center, somewhere at the transition of midrange and upper-midrange. The timbre of the 27ix is situated higher than with the Jadis, Pathos Endorphin, EMM Labs or the Sondek CD12 from Linn, a bit similar to my Lektor Prime. The bass is not mighty and powerful, it does not have that animal strength as with the Gryphon Mikado. In general the attack of the instruments is minimally smoothened – this is the source of the incredible smoothness of the sound. The mid and upper frequency ranges profit from that the most. The voice of Norah Jones from the single Feelin’ The Same Way (Blue Note/EMI51314, SP CD) was then very clear, on the first plane, similar to the guitar in the left channel. On every recording the guitars were shown very well, with an atmospheric trimming and plastic drawing. Norah's voice had a little overexposed upper midrange, but this was related to the reverberations over imposed on it, brightening the whole. Clearer differences between my references, Jadis and Wadia were noticeable on more commercial material, and those will help us decide if this device will fit into our system. The opening piece of the disc Philadelphia the soundtrack of the film with the same title (Epic/Sony Music 474998, CD), the Bruce Springsteen piece “Streets of Philadelphia” with the rhythmic base drum was shown from two angles. The Wadia accented the timbres of the snare and cymbals, pulling the base behind. The Jadis did just the opposite. The Bosses voice was pitched a bit higher and pushed forward with the American DAC. Where lies the truth? I don't know, I was not present at the recording – both reproductions are splendid and you have to decide fro one of those by yourself. The known from the model 861 slight favoring of the midrange and “wadia'ing”, slight blow-up of the sound disappear – all in the name of much better attention to detail. So while choosing the accompanying hardware you have to watch their tonal balance. Because the Wadia shows a precise, but rather short (it can also be called quick) bass, with speakers presenting a similar characteristic there can be simply too little of it. )
The splendidly kept structure of the recordings, their integrity must be treated separately. If we deliver the Wadia the right environment, then we can turn our attention to how the dynamic and rhythmic all recordings are shown, regardless of their provenience. The Beatles disc Please, please me (Apple/Toshiba-EMI, TOCP-51111, CD) imposed on me the shaking of my head following the rhythm. “I Saw Here Standing There” in spite of the time passed, can still be catchy, in the sound the element of madness and freshness was still flickering, the element that made The Beatles what they were. Wadia kept those emotions and passed them on. The sound was projected quite close, but not by warming the sound – far from that – but by the clearness of the sounds from the upper midrange and treble, that made everything be visible and clear. Wadia is quite perceptive to the choice of the drive and clearly showed the JD1 MkII Jadis as it's favorite (with the price tag of 70 000zł it was not hard...). There is a large probability, that with the proprietary drive, with the additional link it will be even better. If somebody likes the Wadia sound, and wants to get as much of the details and recording structure as possible, sacrificing a bit the saturation of the bass and midrange, then the 27ix is just for her or him. Because the American converter is a solid,superbly manufactured piece of electronics. DESCRIPTION )
The Wadia 27ix DAC is built like a tank – in a metaphoric and direct understanding: very heavy, made from very thick, perfectly fitted aluminum plates standing on four cylinders located in the four corners (as usual for this company). Those cylinders are supported by spikes (the pads are part of the package – and you should use those or you get everything scratched). The front plate is almost empty, it carries only the embedded company logo and a blue lit LCD display. The back plate is much more populated. We have six digital inputs, among those two optical ST, two S/PDIF with BNC connectors (only those guarantee 75Ω impedance), one AES/EBU XLRand one optical TOSLINK. There is also a ST optical socket for the link with the 270SE dedicated drive. The socket is very solid, metal, so it is strange that the signal sockets are made from plastic... I don't know if this can be a justification, but in the horribly expensive Jadis system the Sts are also from plastic. Well – probably that is the karma. Fortunately the output terminals, both RCA and XLR are very nice and of high quality. After opening of the top cover we see a complicated network of PCBs, most of those being power supply elements, with shielded transformers, based on many independent current stabilizing circuits, with nice, expensive Nichicon Muse capacitors. There should be 32 stabilizing points. The element shielding the transformers is folded from thick aluminum plates and covers two large, toroidal transformers, filled with resin and microrubber on top, that is pressed to them while screwing on the shield. Those transformers look like they would be enough for a 2x100W power amplifier. The company materials mention 60W, but it looks like I just told you. )
The part with the DSP ICs – the brain of the circuit – is hidden below a larger board, that receives the digital signal from the inputs (also shielded by a cast element) by a ST optical fiber. This means that we get the shortest path, without any receivers in the path, from the optical input. All other inputs have receiver circuits just behind the sockets, that covert the signal to ST. Those decoding circuits are not visible, and not wanting to break something I stood down from unscrewing it fully, albeit unwillingly. Anyway at the output Burr-Brown ICs INA103 – very good amplifying chips – are used. The output is driven by six – two for the XLR and one per RCA per channel – buffering chips from Burr-Brown, the BUF63, allowing for really log interconnects and making bot outputs independent – we can use the RCA and XLR without having to worry about any interference between them.
|
||||
| © Copyright HIGH Fidelity 2007, Created by B |
