WADAX Studio Player
By: Alan Sircom [hi-fi+ Issue 237] - CORRECTED
As with everything in this crazy world of audio, there are several ways of looking at the WADAX Studio Player. On the one hand, it’s a CD/SACD-playing streamer, built around a modular and upgradable platform. On the other, it’s the result of a vast amount of trickle-down technology from the ultimate expression of WADAX-ness. On the third hand (!), it’s an expensive digital product with a comparatively narrow, but specialist, feature set. And on that fourth and final hand, it’s a new entry into an ever-increasing and contended market. It’s all those things!
Let’s start at the genesis of the Studio Player. WADAX makes the Atlantis Reference digital system; a Server, DAC and power supply that set several benchmarks. Even disregarding technical performance, the elaborate Atlantis system sets the bar high in terms of size, weight, number of boxes, and – at least, until recently – price. The Studio Player takes the same DAC board with the same musIC feed-forward error correction system found in the Atlantis Reference DAC and plants it in the Studio Player. That’s like getting a Maybach for the cost of a Mercedes-Benz A-Class.
Supply and demand
Things are not quite so clear-cut. Yes, the two share the same digital architecture to the point where you could theoretically swap boards between the two, but a big part of why the Atlantis Reference lives up to its name – and justifies its price tag – is the giant twin power supplies that it uses. These take up more shelf space and weigh more than the Studio Player itself. These power supplies help shape the ultimate performance of the Atlantis and without them – and the mechanical architecture of the Atlantis – the DAC can only achieve perhaps 90% of what it’s capable of. However, getting 90% of the performance for about 10% of the cost doesn’t sound like a compromise too far.
In both devices, WADAX features its unique musIC process, a sophisticated feed-forward error correction system that operates in the time domain. By mapping the error mechanisms of a chosen DAC chip under load using Adaptive Delta Hilbert Mapping, WADAX has developed an algorithm that examines the incoming signal and calculates the induced error (both linear and nonlinear) that will result. By applying an inverse signal at the input, the company’s musIC system corrects time and phase errors in real time.
That calls on a lot of number-crunching. The musIC process requires a massive number of mathematical operations and considerable data transfer: up to 12.8 gigabytes per second. Processing is done at a 128-bit internal resolution to precisely render the output and generate the smallest feed-forward corrections.
What we aren’t discussing here is the DAC itself. In essence, the DAC becomes just another chip in the circuit if musIC is doing its job properly because it’s correcting all the errors that we hear as a given DAC’s ‘signature’ sound. To roll out the hackneyed car analogy for the eleventy-millionth time, audiophiles are obsessed with the chipset or type of digital conversion in the same way that petrolheads are obsessed with the number of cylinders and layout in a car’s engine. However, the move from analogue to digital should have been like the move from petrol-driven to electric vehicles; the motor itself stops being a topic of discussion and just becomes the driving force of the car. Back to audio, we should be looking at the DAC chipset as just another component. WADAX tries to make that happen with musIC.
Transports of Delight?
The WADAX Studio Player divides its time between streaming and playing discs. It supports CD and SACD replay. Don’t think of this as a CD/SACD player though. It’s more like a musical computer with multiple inputs, one of which is the front-mounted CD/SACD transport. Such is the state of the disc-spinning world, the inclusion of a disc transport seems like a bold move today. However, disc replay remains extremely popular with audiophiles in some parts of the world, where streaming services are at best ‘patchy’.
Why is disc replay a bold move today? Because of the long-term availability of any transport mechanism. Even companies that buy ‘mechs’ by the pallet load are always worried that it will be the last shipment. I know of brands that have launched their new disc player, only to find the transport mechanism was discontinued even before the first samples were shipped. Some of the larger companies in the digital field have taken to warehousing enough supplies of transports to build and service models. This is also why a lot of digital brands are now exclusively focused on streaming products or removing the transport to an after-market USB drive.
WADAX hasn’t done that. It has made disc replay an intrinsic part of the Studio Player. The company has also avoided allowing the disc mechanism to act as a ripper for local UPnP storage. CD ripping on such systems is something people tend to like the idea of, but the reality of ripping usually hits around the fifth or sixth disc… and then they stop. In the mid-2020s, discs are for playing, not ripping.
When it comes to UPnP and streaming, WADAX has consciously chosen the ‘platform agnostic’ route. It has not created an app, allowing listeners to access Spotify or Tidal Connect directly from those companies' apps, or better still, via JPLAY, which can also control local files. WADAX also recommends Audirvãna for laptop or desktop support, which comes with an accompanying app.
What’s more, since the review was initially published, the WADAX Studio Player has received the Roon seal of approval and is fully Roon Tested and Roon Ready. WADAX was also one of the first to get out of the starting gate with Qobuz Connect; a software update appeared alongside the announcement of the service.
That platform agnosticism allows listeners to control the Studio Player from their phones via the network. This works surprisingly well, too. This doesn’t mean sending MP3-quality sounds from a phone into nearly £40k worth of digital source. Instead, it means that the Studio Player’s ease of access serves as a gateway to high-end audio for those often shut out by the audiophile’s love of inconvenience.
In terms of outputs (and, for that matter, inputs), the WADAX Studio Player is relatively narrow in options. Aside from the disc player, your inputs are an Ethernet connection... and that’s it! The player features two XLRs for its analogue output and offers S/PDIF digital output via RCA and BNC, as well as AES/EBU through a single, standard three-pin XLR. There’s also an ‘AKASA DC’ socket and two BNC sockets (for connections to the Studio • PSU and Studio • Clock, respectively) and a ‘GND’ connection for grounding products like Shunyata’s Altaira.
Set up
One of the unique features of the WADAX Studio Player is its ability to adjust both output voltage and impedance to suit the preamplifier or amplifier to which it is connected. Few companies offer this, and one might assume it necessitates a look-up table, enabling the Studio Player to meet the rated input requirements of the amplifier. However, these settings are best determined by ear. They are also the only settings; there’s no futzing about with a variety of filter options.
Adjust the three-step voltage, followed by the multiple impedance ratings, starting with the lowest setting in both cases. In both cases, you’ll find the best setting ‘jumps’ out at you, with too low a voltage setting sounding soft, too high sounding bright. Meanwhile, the correct impedance setting sounds like the band practised a little harder, with too-low impedances sounding increasingly legato and too-high sounding ever more frenetic. If this sounds daunting, give it a try. You’ll hear when it’s right within a second or two of playing. It means you get to listen to the WADAX sound with as little attenuation as possible from the amplifier’s inputs.
Engaging
What is that sound quality? The WADAX Studio Player is very engaging and extremely musical in its presentation. It’s the antidote to those who find most digital audio too ‘edgy’ or ‘harsh’ sounding, and yet it doesn’t produce this sound by masking the output or blurring leading edges. It sails close to warm waters but doesn’t try to emulate the sound of vinyl or valves. Instead, it just brings out the intrinsic sonorous nature of many recordings.
For example, my go-to Joyce Di Donato recording is at once about detail, dynamics and excellent imaging. Her voice needs to be reproduced in an extremely articulate manner, all the while being conscious that ‘she has a great set of pipes’ and challenges the dynamic range of even the best systems. Beyond this, she’s backed by a small but extraordinarily talented orchestra recorded to rise out of the darkness and fade back into it over a few minutes. WADAX aces all these elements extremely well, and you walk away even more impressed by her breath control, her ability to raise the vocal power to Def Con I levels in an eyeblink, and the orchestra’s – and in particular the French horn player’s – ability to follow her lead perfectly are all beautifully rendered.
This is a player that combines musical involvement and recording insight in equal measures. I’d argue that those seeking ultimate detail and resolution will find that elsewhere, and those wanting a player to pump out a lot of ultra-fast techno might find the more majestic sound of WADAX not to their liking. That’s not to say the Studio Player sounds slow or over-refined, it’s more that music all about transients and leading edges doesn’t need a player that resolves musical textures like a boss.
This is a player for people who know their music. It’s for someone who understands why the best conductors and orchestras for playing Russian music are, themselves, Russian, for example, or why American orchestras and conductors excel in playing Adams or Copland. It’s for someone who understands the connection between Bach and Kraftwerk and likes them both. It’s for someone who can talk for five days straight about John Coltrane… without mansplaining.
We have come far enough with digital to have distinct high-end ‘flavours’ and this one is rich and dark, like a really good chocolate. Others are more minty-fresh and invigorating, or even powerful like an Islay malt. I think that’s a good thing; we need more diversity in the high-end.
Reaching out
As reviewers, we are beholden to find downsides in any product, but it’s a bit of a reach here. Despite the avowed platform agnosticism, I’d like the WADAX front panel replicated on an app, but I’m not sure if that is a triumph of laziness over pickiness on my part. Additionally, while balanced operation has become the de facto standard analogue connection at the Studio Player’s price level, I’d like the option for single-ended outputs.
That could sound like a deal-breaker, but those who like what the WADAX Studio Player does will brush it off as a triviality. For good reason, its sound is both distinctive and good enough to grant WADAX admission to digital’s top table. For those who still have and love their CD and SACD collection, and love their access to streaming services, the WADAX Studio Player is the one to watch.
