Wadia 861i Impressions?

[DaveF]

An awful lot of DVD players will decode SACD - maybe just try it and see?

And then I suppose you have to ask yourself - is the benefit worth it.


Fran

These DVD players would have to convert the DSD stream from the SACD disc to PCM before transmission over an SPDIF link. I'd fear that something could be lost in this conversion. As far as I'm aware, the only way to transmit a DSD stream is over HDMI and I know from first hand experience how high jitter levels are in HDMI. Anyway, this sort of solution is probably not what I'm looking for.

[Ciaran]

An awful lot of DVD players will decode SACD - maybe just try it and see?

And then I suppose you have to ask yourself - is the benefit worth it.


Fran

These DVD players would have to convert the DSD stream from the SACD disc to PCM before transmission over an SPDIF link. I'd fear that something could be lost in this conversion. As far as I'm aware, the only way to transmit a DSD stream is over HDMI and I know from first hand experience how high jitter levels are in HDMI. Anyway, this sort of solution is probably not what I'm looking for.

DSD can also be sent (encrypted) via Firewire (anyone remember that?) which is the way dCS do it: I think they were the first to output a DSD stream. For me that's a pity as it means I can't feed DSD from a DVD player to my dCS DAC.

[Sydneyk]

Interesting
I found my DVD player gave a very poor result compared to a high end Audio player.
I have moved off all disc recording/replay and now use a P.C. hard-drive into a high end DAC and Amp. it took a lot to accept at first, but for me it produces a result that I enjoy. Similarly using Streaming video or audio onto a hard-drive would appear to be a solution as there is no disc drive unit to create jitter.

[Fran]

SydneyK - have a look at the thread on HiFace just below this one, and the one before that again on hard disk music question. There's a lot of stuff going on in this area now - worth a read.

Not to derail this thread a bit, but what are you using to get the music out of your PC? Is it a USB DAC or has your PC got a SPDIF out?


Fran

[DaveF]

An awful lot of DVD players will decode SACD - maybe just try it and see?

And then I suppose you have to ask yourself - is the benefit worth it.


Fran

These DVD players would have to convert the DSD stream from the SACD disc to PCM before transmission over an SPDIF link. I'd fear that something could be lost in this conversion. As far as I'm aware, the only way to transmit a DSD stream is over HDMI and I know from first hand experience how high jitter levels are in HDMI. Anyway, this sort of solution is probably not what I'm looking for.

DSD can also be sent (encrypted) via Firewire (anyone remember that?) which is the way dCS do it: I think they were the first to output a DSD stream. For me that's a pity as it means I can't feed DSD from a DVD player to my dCS DAC.

There are a small number of brands that have their own proprietory interfaces to transmit DSD I believe. Denon have their 'DenonLink' or is it 'iLink' but you need a Denon source player and Denon receiver to do that. It wont work with anything else. I'd imagine that dCS have put their own twist on the Firewire interface as opposed to the standard protocol.

[Sydneyk]

Originally a Cambridge Dacmagic using a USB line from the P.C. At the moment trying a Digital Amp with it's own DAC using a USB line in from the P.C.
As Apple have a minature optical line out I may switch over from a P.C. and go back to a separate DAC with optical into a Pre-amp to either a pair of valve mono blocks or a valve integrated amp.
But the Digital amp might win still early days.

[woody]

i think they can vary quite a bit..i used to own a denon 2900 dvd player and it was brilliant with sacd,easily outperformed my old but extremely expensive in its day krell.(krell playing cd off course)my mate had a philips 763 dvd player i think,it was also exceptional with sacd..i then sold my denon and bought a cheap sony sacd player but got poor results..those two machines could probably be picked up for peanuts now because they lack hdmi connections...i reckon a really high end sacd player would even give vinyl a tough time....shame it never really caught on..

[Fran]

Yeah, although I never owned any. But, SACD and DVD-A are both really dead, and hi-res files are certain to take over now. If you go have a look in the classical section, Sean (I think) posted a clipping from an interview with the owner of Naxos (classical label). Anyway, the gist of what he's saying is that the future is a mix of CD and "normal (lossy and losslesss)" downloads, with hi-res becoming a speciality niche market only.

Anyway, none of this says much about the wadia 861!!

Fran

[mcq]

I bought a second-hand Wadia 861SE from Cloney Audio last year and I love it. The difference between the regular 861 and the SE is the transport - it's a heavy-duty transport built by Teac and which is also found on the Esoteric and DCS players. The 861i currently listed on the pre-owned section of the Cloney website has digital inputs which enable your other sources to utilise the Wadia DAC.

I think the Wadia excels at creating a really full-bodied sound which really involves you in the performance. My impression is that your listening perspective is rather closer to a front-row seat at a concert hall rather than something further back. The other components in my system consist of Spendor ST speakers and the Lavardin IT amplifier (which can be classed as neutral-sounding components) and the synergy, to my ears, is extremely satisfying. I listen to a lot of music - about two hours each weekday evening and about twenty hours over the weekend so it's very important that listening sessions are fatigue-free. I think it's certainly worth a demo, Dave.

I should point out that I was also tempted by the Resolution Audio Opus 21, but back-to-back comparison proved (to my ears, at least) that the Wadia was a superior player. They are very different players - the Opus 21 is rather more "analogue"-sounding in that there is much more space between you and the musicians. If the Wadia will give a front-row seat in the stalls, the Opus seems to give you a seat in the balcony. The Wadia may not be an SACD-capable player but it plays the CD layer of my SACD discs beautifully. If you have your heart set on an SACD player, however, it might be worth auditioning the Marantz SA-7S1 which has received superlative reviews since it was released about three years ago. I think it's around the €5K mark. Although I love the Wadia, I think it's important to emphasise the fact that €4-5K is a lot of money nowadays so the CD player you decide on has to sound right to you in your system in your room and with the music that you like to play. The Audio Research CD5 is also supposed to be excellent but it is Redbook only. Resolution Audio also have a new player out at the same price level which was recently very well-reviewed in Hi-Fi Choice.

[DaveF]

had a listen to this player this morning. First of all, the build quality of the player is absolutely astounding. It looks and feels like it was carved out of a solid block of aluminium and weighs in at around 25Kg. The rest of the demo system was a GamuT D200 original amp driving a new pair of 800Di's. To be honest, I wasn't blown away by what I heard and felt that the presentation, particulary with chamber music, was far too forward for my liking. The intimacy and spirit of the recordings that I played just werent captured. I think maybe this was down to the 800D's, at least I hope it was. The D200 probably isnt enough to drive them properly and there was also some bass boom in the room.
Obviously I need to hear it in my own system which I'll get to do in the next week or two.

The SE upgrade is no longer available for this player as the transport is not being made anymore. Teac just couldnt justify the manufacturing costs of that transport anymore.