That added depth of instrumental and musical insight translates to convincing scale and authority with larger bands/productions and orchestral works. Batiashvili’s unique combination of technique, precision and romantic swagger are as unmistakable as they are compelling on the Tchaikovsky (with Barenboim and Staatskapelle Berlin – DGG UHQ-MQACD UCCG 41048). The layers and over-laid production of Nursery Cryme (Genesis, from the 1980-85 SACD box-set) bring an intimate, immersive quality to the music, bringing the quietly considered passages closer, doing away with the muddle and confusion that so many systems and players produce on the sustained density of the crescendos. The seemingly limitless headroom tracks the shifts in density and level with grip and drive, the instrumental pyrotechnics and dense production adding to the experience rather than distracting from it. That level of overall musical coherence may not be as obvious on smaller, acoustic recordings, even if its influence is, enshrined in their easy, communicative and expressive musicality. Whether what you play is big or small, the external power supply opens the window wider, brings the musicians closer, allows their performance to speak with a lucid authority that creates a natural connection to the listener. More like real people and real instruments? Absolutely!
A preliminary conclusion – of sorts…
The Wadax Reference Transport is a towering achievement, significantly extending the musical capabilities and vocabulary of the already class-leading Wadax Reference replay chain. Once again, the Spanish company has managed to silence the doubters (me amongst them), who questioned viability of first the Reference DAC and then the Server, or wondered whether it was sensible to include the Reference DAC cards in the Studio Player? Each product hasn’t just hushed the nay-sayers, it has actually exceeded expectations. But none has exceeded those expectations as comprehensively and emphatically as the Reference Transport.
A long-time streaming sceptic, even I wasn’t prepared for just how big a leap in optical disc performance the new transport would achieve. One seasoned listener, who has spent time with more than one Reference Transport in a variety of systems, has declared it the single most impressive product he’s ever experienced – and he has a lot of experience! Does that make the Reference Transport the best product on the planet! No. But I think it is fair to say that it has shown the single biggest performance jump within its product category that I’ve ever experienced. The Reference Transport doesn’t just advance the cause of optical disc replay, it sets it on a whole new plane, at a level where it becomes a serious adjunct to vinyl reproduction. Suddenly, it doesn’t seem so serious when you can’t source a record of a given recording.
So far, I’ve confined my impressions of the Reference Transport to its performance within the Wadax digital eco-system, relative to other Wadax options. That’s partly because, in performance terms, it sits so far beyond anything else that I’ve heard: partly because this is the context in which virtually every Reference Transport will be used and: partly because just getting this far has already produced a review that’s unmanageably long and indigestible. Throwing in a bunch of (credible) alternatives was always going to be a bridge too far, while timing makes that a task for another day.
