Light in the darkness?
By Roy Gregory
The game is Jeopardy and the solution is “What is a Wadax?”: but what is the question/answer? It’s an interesting conundrum. On the one hand, an increasing number of listeners, observers and commentators have arrived at the conclusion that the Wadax Reference components are fundamentally superior to other, current digital replay solutions. But if that is so, they must also be doing something fundamentally better or different to the alternatives. More of the same isn’t going to create that fundamental gap in musical performance. Given the cost of the Reference components – a fully-loaded Wadax Reference Streaming/Disc Replay solution is going to hit the scales somewhere the wrong side of $500,000 USD – the question might seem academic. After all, at that price you either want, can afford and can justify the expense – or you can’t.
The arrival of the Wadax Studio Player, a single box with the same essential capabilities as the Reference suite, but at around a tenth of the price, throws that question into sharper focus, especially as the entry level machine uses exactly the same DAC cards as the Reference DAC. It’s an awfully short step from asking, “How much Reference performance has Wadax built into the Studio line?” to, “What defines Reference and, in turn, what defines Wadax performance?”
Before tackling that question, let’s first understand what the Studio Player is. I covered the physical, practical and operational details in an earlier blog < https://gy8.eu/blog/wadax-studio-player/> but for the late, lame or simply lazy amongst you, the short version runs like this: the Studio line will leverage the approach and proprietary technologies developed for the Reference (and earlier) Wadax products into a range of more affordable components, offering a modular, upgradable digital replay solution. Chief amongst those technologies is the MusIC Chip feed-forward, load-dependant, time and phase error correction algorithm that sits at the heart of all the Wadax products, including the Reference DAC. Slated to include a master clock, external power supply(s) and various DAC/player options, the Studio Player is the first product to appear. A full feature CD/SACD player, DAC and streamer, it offers variable output (so that it might be used as a controller in an all-digital system) as well as connectivity for an external PSU and clock, to allow later expansion/upgradability.
But be warned before reading any further. This is a complex machine whose status demands serious discussion of complicated issues. Placing it in context is far from easy and, as a result this is a long and convoluted review, even by Gy8 standards! I’ve tried as much as possible to divide it into bite-sized chunks. But make no mistake, the length of this piece itself reflects on the quality and significance of this product.
Given the stir created in high-end circles by the Wadax Reference DAC, it’s should be no surprise that it’s the inclusion of those self-same DAC cards (and the MusIC process) in the more affordable Studio Player that has attracted so much attention. At €35,000/$39,800 (both plus local sales tax) the Player is far from cheap, but it is genuinely versatile, promises serious high-end performance and is considerably more attainable than anything that Wadax has made since the original Pre 1. If that first Wadax product was ahead of its time, the market and the customers have matured to the point where the Studio Player lands right in the sweet spot of integrated system solutions and reduced box-count. With high-end prices soaring, a shifting media landscape and a renewed interest in more compact, high-value solutions, it’s hardly surprising that the ‘entry-level’ Wadax has already generated a feeding-frenzy…
Breaking down the Wadax approach…
Look at the Reference DAC and there’s a lot going on. The massive, tri-partite chassis is designed to isolate critical circuit blocks, limiting electrical and mechanical interaction. The twin, external power supplies are massive and according to Wadax, quieter save anything other than the Reference Power Supply subsequently developed for their own Reference Server (and Transport). It has its own, low impedance DC umbilicals and proprietary digital interfaces, both optical and multiple AES/EBU based, for native high-res transfer and replay. It employs modular, future-proof, card-cage construction and updatable firm-ware. Some of those features can be found in other product lines: sophisticated power supplies, modular construction, fancy casework and high-res interfaces. Likewise, each has been present or added to, emerged and evolved across the different Wadax ranges, through the developing Pre 1 and Atlantis lines, the Reference series and even the still-born MiZiK designs. But the MusIC Chip process is both unique to Wadax and an ever-present foundation stone, lodged at the core of each and every product they’ve built.
