A closer examination of just how wide the gap from Studio to Reference is, in sonic and musical terms is the function of the full review – as is detailed comparison with other, competing products. But as of now, if you want a player/streamer/DAC in a single box at anywhere near this price point, the Studio Player really is, if not the only game in town, the one against which everything else should be measured. I’m pretty sure that it redraws the market just as fundamentally as the Pre 1 shone a new light on the digital landscape all those years ago. It used to be that owners of existing €30-40K digital replay solutions were going to be looking at around twice that to achieve anything like a significant musical upgrade. That just changed. Price-wise, the Studio Player might look like a sideways step, but frankly and in musical terms, it crushes any of the alphabet soup offerings at a remotely comparable price. Given that seasoned Wadax-watchers have seen the preceding three generations each increase in size and price (substantially), perhaps we should be dubbing this latest arrival, Wadax: Episode IV – A New Hope!
www.wadax.eu
