Eagleeyes Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 (edited) Item: Reduced and Unused Wadia 170i Transport and Cambridge Audio Upsampling Dac Magic D/A Convertor ( will spilt)Location: PerthPrice: 600 for both. Half price Both were about 700 new each so total $1470 give or take and as new and never ever used.Item Condition: Wadia Perfect- Dac Magic had some tiny scratched from rack on topReason for selling: UpgradingPayment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, COD Only very light to post ir required Australia aiwde Extra Info: Have matching Cambridge Audio AZur DacMajic D/A Convertor Loads of info online 6 moons report at 460 Euros for WADIA transport and i have iPhone 6/ 7 adaptor for dock so works with any apple iphone or ipod This review first appeared in the issue of fairaudio.de and can be read in its original German version here. It is herewith translated and presented to an English-only audience through a mutual syndication arrangement with fairaudio.de. As is customary for our own reviews, the writer's signature at review's end has a link below it to his e-mail should you have questions or feedback you wish to send. All images contained in this review are the property of fairaudio.de or Wadia. - Ed.Reviewer: Jörg DamesSource: Audiomeca Obsession II, Fonel Simplicité, Benchmark DAC1 USB HEAmplification: pre/power - Fonel Emotion; Funk LAP-2.V2; Myryad MXP2000/MXA2150; Trigon TRV100; integrated - Accuphase E212; Lua 4040CLoudspeaker: Thiel CS 2.4, Sehring S 703 SE, Audiaz ETACables: low-level - Straight Wire Virtuoso; high-level - HMS Fortissimo, Reson LSC 350, Ortofon SPK 500, Atlas (Bi-Wiring)Review component retail: €459 Where to today? No worries, we're not eyeing heavyweight subjects. Just hifi. Two-channel in fact, not exactly a topic rife with breakthroughs. Nor do I imagine their numbers legions, those who at present lustfully eye a better CD player. The change of the guard, to hard-disc playback via uncompressed files, is in swift progress. That's no novelty neither. Arguably more exciting is which concept exactly will finally gain the upper hand. The theme 'streaming' by now is quite established. But a brief overview (no completeness implied) seems practical before we segue into Wadia's 170i transport: - There are fully integrated user-friendly solutions like Naim's HDX which extract CD data from their own drive to hard disc, handle automatic backups, include Internet access to grab meta data and make the creation of and access to a personal music library highly intuitive. Such solutions tend to come at a price however and the fact that hard disc, read drive, D/A converter and access software are all bundled together could be a deterrent for 'hackers' and those wanting to experiment.- Somewhat tweakier is accomplishing the above on one's pre-existing computer. Data storage is handled by mostly free but occasionally specialized software and merely the streaming receipt and conversion of playback files is handled by specific hardware clients such as a Squeeze-Box or Transporter. To set up such a home music network isn't rocket science but often more involved than basic plug & play. A future review will investigate one such solution. - Plug in and run is possible via computer without excessive hardware or money. Enter the USB DAC and of course a PC loaded with the requisite software to sort, access and manage music files (such as the flexible, low-memory Foobar player) and extract files (i.e. EAC). Sonics can be good but are directly related to the quality of the D/A converter. Further tweaking might involve downloading and installing the ASIO driver (to bypass the Windows-embedded but sonically compromised K-Mixer). ASIO by the way was developed by the German studio software writers at Steinberg and is used by music creators to minimize latencies (the time offset between input and output signal, irrelevant during playback). Certain converters are preloaded with specific ASIO drivers such as the Weiss Minerva and Digigram's VXpocket v2. Whether ASIO really is sonically superior is debatable. We'll weigh in with personal experiences in due time. You might wonder how any of this relates to today's tester, Wadia's iDock. Isn't that merely a gizmo to get somewhat respectable performance from the iPod while interfacing it with the resident hifi? True, but -- we'll tip our hand early -- once partnered with a quality converter, one goes well past respectable. This opens the door to very serious consideration of using just such an iPod/DAC combo for a grown-up high-end system.Conceptuals To be clear from the start, the Wadia 170i transport includes no D/A converter. The special feature here simply is direct access to the iPod's files in the digital domain (just what models are compatible can be found under 'facts' at review's end). This bypasses Apple's compromised internal DAC. Why more such devices aren't presently available isn't due to lack of know-how but licensing. Apple is selective. Wadia seems first in line to have been granted a license. To return to an earlier paragraph, besides serious sonic potential, this concept includes further advantages which make it very interesting. There's the obvious, getting a quasi two-in-one system. The ripped music data are portable for jogging and at home in the classy big rig. This includes convenience. The Wadia 10i has remote control. All this bypasses tweak necessity and computer savvy. This is a pure plug & play affair (while running the free, easily installed and configured iTunes software). Data synchronization between iPod and PC also automates essential file backups. And because the platform is open -- you choose the D/A converter and ripper software -- even liberal experimenters won't feel fenced in. By the way, there's a different socket interface or cradle for each iPod model included with the Wadia dock [see inset above]. Things aren't quite as liberal when one gets to data formats. For lossless, there's merely WAV and Apple's proprietary Apple Lossless. The latter's tighter packing -- similar to Zip schemes -- uses up to 50% less storage but retains 100% of the original's WAV bits. The equivalent and popular FLAC format is sadly not supported. No applause on that point. But your music collection still won't be straight-jacketed with iTunes. Apple Lossless is easily reconverted to WAV. And available storage here is no concern. The iPod Classic offers 160GB to support ca. 450 – 500 complete music album in Apple Lossless.iTunes quickie... ... on proper file conversion since the necessary commands are somewhat hidden. To convert WAV files ripped to PC into Apple Lossless, go to Bearbeiten in the tool bar, then pull down Einstellungen. This opens the following window. Now click on Importeinstellungen. Under Importieren, select Apple Lossless Codierer (in the other direction, WAV Codierer) and hit OK. Next use drag 'n' drop to move the desired songs into the proper list, select them and right-click. In the command window, pick Apple Lossless Version erstellen (or WAV Version erstellen in the other direction.) Play! You couldn't simplify things more. Hook up your digital cable between Wadia 170i and external converter (in our case a Benchmark DAC1 USB for 1.298 euros), connect to wall power and plunk iPod in the cradle. The latter operates normal (iPod nano G1 and iPod video excepted) or via Wadia's included remote. Or should - operate normal. In my case, things were mute at first. Quite silly. No display confirmation on the Wadia dock, no action of any sort on the iPod's display. They didn't seem to communicate. As I was told, this lack of visual confirmation is normal. Not even the small slot on the 170i's fascia houses an LED as might be assumed. This is bad only during failure diagnostics should things not shake hands rights away. You're flying blind as it were. In case of trouble, it's recommended to power down Wadia's dock just like a computer reboot. Which I did even though, as it turned out, the 170i had been innocent all along. My digital cable suffered poor continuity. Argh. So I leashed things up with the included digital link and any anticipated cable-swap dreams evaporated. As comparator, I used Fonel's formidable €2.850 Simplicité whose sound I remembered distinctly when the Wadia/iPod duo first kicked into gear. Surprise! Particularly in matters of transparency and fine resolution, there were notable differences. In the iPod combo's favor I might add, most overt from the midrange on up. Particularly in the higher bands, there was plainly more detail, extension and openness. In short, it sounded more accurate, less veiled and more intelligible. Unexpected that. Fonel's CD player is most certainly no slouch here. Depending on taste and ancillaries, such accuracy could veer into the 'non-musical' as it did during a friend's impulse visit. No card-carrying hifi fan, he listened to the equally resolute Thiel CS 2.4 and found the results a bit overdone, preferring the more laid-back CD player. Moi -- and I'm admittedly sweating while saying so -- I, cough, preferred the iPod combo particularly on 'smoother' speakers like Sehring's S703SE. To my ears, there was more resolution which even over the Thiels didn't strike me as analytical. So where's the line between highly resolved and analytical? I say analytical when due to resolution, so much detail is presented that context and tone body dissolve and small things are extricated from the flow and sensibility to be practically counted off on a silver tablet. But that's not what the Apple/Wadia source did. Be it the overt sibilance in Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" [So] or the crucial rattle in Tom Waits' "Such a Scream" [Bone Machine], I didn't react to discrete elements as denuded in isolation, without body but effort. Rather, these items were more finely filigreed. Granted, we're not talking romantically golden. No question about that. But there's more - image lock and contours whereby individual performers are assigned their place on stage. Naturally, there are different preferences but I enjoy when spatial depiction is highly accurate. And here too the iPod combo edged out the Fonel Simplicité which is already very strong here. It became downright fascinating how, in the symphonically arranged "Song Praxis" by In The Nursery, the bass drums appeared punchy but cleanly outlined between the speaker, or how the Western guitar of Angus and Julia Stone's title track "Silver Coin" (a tip for lovers of fragile vocals accompanied by various acoustical instruments) showed up live and in true scale in my room. To reiterate a key point you'll have anticipated, it's of course not correct to refer to the iPod/Wadia duo since really, it's a trio which serves up the music. That being the case, it's only logical that the quality of the external D/A converter would be paramount to the final sound quality. Regardless, the iPod/Wadia transport combo does not seem a bottle neck or limiting factor. Not a gram of fat and transparent into the very tips of the hairs - that's how I'd nut-shell the sound of the Benchmark converter. And the bit supplier team of iPod/Wadia caused no disturbances whatever. Interestingly -- and I'm expecting reader email insisting on the impossibility since bits are bits -- I find Apple Lossless in the upper ranges a bit more silvery or less relaxed than raw WAV files. To avoid misapprehensions, even over highly resolved gear, this is rather subtle but nonetheless audible. So I'm curious about your findings.Conclusion For me, the teaming of an outboard D/A converter with the 'transport' of Apple iPod and Wadia 170i is clearly a very viable solution with true high-end potential and undoubtedly fit for rather more than just rendering the iPod listenable. Obviously, just how good your converter is will be vital in this context. If assembled appropriately, such a trio is a solid alternative to establishing a high-quality grown-up hard-disc base in the resident hifi system, even for those who take pride in the pointiest of ears. Further attractions are the easy installation and intuitive use. Even computer grumps won't feel put off.Facts: - Product: Wadia 170iTransport with adaptor all current iphone models 6 and 7 etc- Supported iPod models: iPod Classic (160GB | 180GB), iPod touch (8GB | 16GB | 32 GB) iPod nano 1.Generation (1GB | 2 GB | 4GB), iPod nano 2. Generation (2GB | 4GB | 8GB), iPod nano 3.Generation - Video - (4GB | 8GB), iPod 5.Generation -Video – (30GB | 60GB | 80GB)- Concept: Docking station to access digital data from an iPod- Dimensions: 20,32×6,86×20,32cm (W×H×D)- Weight 1,1kg- Other: Analog RCA outputs, video sockets- Wadia website Absolute sounds review As great a product as the iPod is—and it is truly spectacular—it has an Achilles’ heel for discriminating listeners: its digital-to-analog converter and analog output stage. The iPod’s D/A converter and output amplifier are by necessity sonically compromised, restricting the iPod’s usefulness. No serious listener would use an iPod at the front end of a high-end system. That’s a shame, because the iPod is a brilliant device in its functionality, execution, and user interface. It can also store hundreds of hours of music with perfect bit-for-bit accuracy to the source. Leave it to Wadia Digital to create a product that capitalizes on the iPod’s strengths while completely eliminating the sonic shortcomings that have relegated it to ancillary listening environments. That product is the 170 iTransport, the first Apple-sanctioned dock to tap into the iPod’s digital bitstream and present that bitstream to an outboard digital-to-analog converter of your choice. The iTransport allows you, for the first time, to bring the iPod’s functionality to a high-end system with no excuses— The 170 iTransport looks like a traditional Wadia product in miniature, all the way down to its pointed feet. The flat top surface holds the docking connector, which accepts all iPod models courtesy of a supplied variety of dock inserts. The rear panel presents the iPod’s digital output in S/PDIF format on an RCA jack. You simply connect this output to any outboard D/A converter and the iPod’s sound quality is now determined by the quality of that D/A converter. For those of you without an external D/A converter, the iTransport offers analog outputs. Note that the iTransport doesn’t have an internal DAC; rather, the iTransport simply routes the iPod’s analog outputs to the iTransport’s rear-panel jacks. For those with video iPods, the iTransport offers S-video and component-video outputs. An external power supply plugs into a rear-panel jack. Controlling the iPod via its click-wheel is made easier by the open iPod-mounting design (iPod docking stations in which the iPod is flush-mounted make operating the click-wheel difficult). With certain iPod models (Nano G1, iPod Video), the click-wheel interface is disabled when inserted into the iTransport, and a small supplied remote control provides basic functions, such as track forward/backward and pause/play. The iTransport was extremely simple to set up and use. I unpacked it, popped in my iPod Classic, and was listening to music within two minutes of opening the box. As expected, the iTransport sounded like the DAC to which it was connected. I store music on my iPod using Apple Lossless, which provides perfect bit-for-bit accuracy to the original with about a 40% reduction in storage requirements compared with uncompressed WAV files. In listening comparisons between the iTransport and the CDs from which the music was ripped, I thought the iTransport had a slight advantage. The iTransport had just a bit more space, bloom, and ambience than the CD. The recorded acoustic was slightly bigger, the spatial perspective was a bit more distant, and the sense of air surrounding instrumental images was somewhat more tangible and defined. The differences were slight, but noticeable. This impression is consistent with what I’ve heard when comparing music on CD with the same music read from a hard-disk drive (see my reviews of the Qsonix and Sooloos music servers in Issue 177). The iTransport’s slightly-better-than-CD sound quality is a bonus; the real reason to buy the iTransport is that it turns your iPod (which you probably already own) into a music server worthy of feeding a high-end system. Anyone who’s used the iPod knows how much easier it is to access music using the click-wheel than finding the CD and inserting it in a player. It equates to more time listening and less time looking through racks of jewel boxes. The Wadia iTransport is the coolest product I’ve encountered in some time. If you own an iPod, an outboard DAC, and a high-end system, the iTransport is, essential. Cambridge Audio Stereophile Cambridge Audio Azur DacMagic D/A converter Sam Tellig | May 29, 2009 | First Published: Mar 1, 2009 In 1989, Cambridge Audio, then run by Stan Curtis—who is still active in hi-fi— introduced their DAC 1. At about the same time, within a few weeks of each other, Arcam introduced their Delta Black Box and Musical Fidelity their Digilog. I forget who was first among the three. Arcam, I think. But the DAC race was on, led by the British. (There was even a DAC called the Dacula.) US companies got into the DAC race, too—at higher prices, of course. At the time, there were almost no high-end CD players. Many audiophiles chose Philips/Magnavox models that had been modified by boutique kludgemeisters. It turned out that lavishing four or five hours of labor on a $149 frog to turn it into a $499 prince was not a sustainable business model. Once outboard DACs and upmarket CD players became available, modified players largely disappeared. Today, Cambridge Audio is based in London, and their stuff is made in China at factories owned or controlled by Cambridge Audio, which in turn is part of The Audio Partnership, controlled by Julian Richer, who got richer than Croesus with Richer Sounds, said to be the UK's single most successful audio retailer in terms of revenue per square foot. And—my goodness—he did it by offering value. I visited the design headquarters of Cambridge Audio in London several years ago and met their technical director, Matthew Bramble, who used to work for another well-known British hi-fi manufacturer; now Bramble is a thorn in their side. That Bramble likes to ramble is proven by the 105-page instruction manual for the Cambridge Audio DacMagic. In fairness, this is because the manual is in three languages (but why not Russian?). It's filled with things you don't need to know and that probably interest only John Atkinson. I bet the manual scares away some customers; it shouldn't. Operation of the DacMagic is as intuitive and straightforward as can be. Ergonomically, this little bugger is brilliant: 8.6" (215mm) high by 2" (52mm) wide by 7.6" (191mm) deep when you place it on end on its rubbery bed. It weighs just 2.65 lbs (1.2kg). Squeeze it in next to your Slim Devices Squeezebox. Or your Sony PlayStation 3. One reason it takes up so little space is that it comes with a humongous wall-wart power supply so big it could conceivably fall out of a loose socket. IKEA carries some nice, small power strips, and there are other accessories for dealing with awkward wall warts. I'd beware of power strips and conditioners, however, which, in my experience, are as likely to screw up as enhance the sound. I can imagine some British entrepreneurs offering alternative power supplies for the DacMagic. There's an On/Off switch, but the DacMagic sounds much better when left powered up most of the time. (Do turn it and the rest of your hi-fi off when you leave for a weekend or a vacation, and when electrical storms are forecast.) The DacMagic has a suggested selling price of $449. That allows Audio Advisor to sell it for $399 and "save" you $50. When you consider that, 20 years ago, one of the first DACs, the Musical Fidelity Digilog, sold for $995, this is a fantastic bargain. (I calculated that I could save more than $16,500 by buying every product in a recent Audio Advisor catalog. Hallelujah! I'm rich!) The DacMagic features the Adaptive Time Filtering (ATF) process, which Cambridge licenses from Anagram Technologies of Switzerland. ATF is built around a 32-bit Texas Instruments digital signal processor that "upsamples" the signal fed to it. Upsampling creates additional digital data points out of thin air. They're not real, of course—except that they are. (I love to razz JA about this upsampling business.) The DacMagic upsamples to 24 bits/192kHz any incoming sample rate at 16 or 24 bits of resolution and from 32 to 96kHz. The D/A chips are the same Wolfson WMB8740 24-bit DACs used in Cambridge Audio's Azur 740C and 840C CD players. Two per channel operate in dual-differential mode for maximum noise reduction. You can run the DacMagic from its balanced XLR analog outputs into a balanced preamp and power amp for maximum noise cancellation. There's also a pair of RCA outs, for unbalanced types like me. The DacMagic also features a phase-inversion button. It would be great to have this accessible from the remote control. But wait—there is no remote. Oh, well. A child might be trained and pressed into service. Two digital inputs allow a choice of connection via S/PDIF coaxial or TosLink optical. And there's a USB input for use with a computer or a networked music source. The rear panel of the DacMagic is almost as crowded as my shaving shelf. It also includes S/PDIF coaxial and TosLink optical digital outputs for connecting to a digital recording device; these do nothing to the incoming digital signal, but simply pass it through. If you keep reading the instruction manual, your eyes, if they don't glaze over, will come to a long discussion of the three different analog filter modes: Linear Phase, Minimum Phase, and Steep. I wonder how many potential users will be scared away by Bramblearia. Actually, selecting the filters is simple: just tap the Phase button quickly (if you hold it down, the DacMagic reverses phase). Front-panel LEDs indicate the filter type selected. You may want to stick with Linear Phase as your default. The technical advantage here is no phase shift within the audioband, and a sharp rolloff at about half the sampling frequency. Minimum Phase does almost the same thing and sounds, to me, virtually identical. An interesting alternative is the Steep filter, which is like Linear Phase but with a steeper rolloff above 20kHz. Steep is said to attenuate aliasing at 22kHz by 80dB. But there's no free lunch; Steep adds a small amount of passband ripple. So pick your poison: aliasing or passband ripple. Already your eyes have glazed over, and you don't even own the thing. I tried switching between Linear Phase and Steep, playing one movement of a symphony straight through using each. (I had no child handy to act as remote control, and Marina was off watching one of her Russian prime-time serials.) Linear Phase gave a lighter, airier, more transparent sound, with extended highs and better-defined bass. Steep attenuated the highs in comparison, taming the top end of some more aggressive recordings, but bass definition and overall clarity suffered. The sound was more blended, slightly congested—something I noticed more with symphonic recordings than with string quartets. As for Minimum Phase, I didn't hear it do anything that Linear Phase didn't do. Other than that, I've so far avoided the subject of how the DacMagic sounded. In a word, it sounded glorious—far better than you have any right to expect for 400 bucks. Especially in Linear Phase, I heard well-defined bass, exquisitely extended highs, and a natural midrange. The soundstage was admirably wide, and soloists and their instruments were precisely positioned. What more do you want? Well, you might ask for an even wider, deeper soundstage and more gut-wrenching bass. It's possible that power-supply limitations kick in here, but for $400, who's complaining? And you might wish that if Cambridge (or someone) does offer an optional kick-ass power supply, it doesn't have to hang from a wall socket. And a remote control would be nice. If you're looking for the romance of tubes, that's not on offer here. Try the DacMagic with a tubed line stage. I thought that Musical Fidelity's X-10DV3tube buffer might work wonders. After all, Bramble used to ramble at MF. I have one of these. I put the X-10DV3 between the DacMagic and the LFD NCSE integrated amplifier. I got tube warmth in spades, but with more than a slight loss of transparency, which shows how resolving the DacMagic is. You probably own an older, sturdier CD player that will do jim-dandy as a transport with the DacMagic. I used a Marantz CD63 SE that's almost 15 years old. Digital cable was Analysis Plus Oval (which I recommended last October). If you have a really great CD player—such as Cambridge Audio's own 740C or 840C or Cary Audio's CDP 1—you're probably looking at a sideways change in sound, at best. Enjoy what you have. Meanwhile, I'm keeping the Cambridge Audio DacMagic. Sidebar 1: Specifications Description: Two-channel, oversampling D/A processor with Wolfson WM8740 24-bit DACs and Texas Instruments TMS 320VC5501 digital filter. Digital inputs: S/PDIF coaxial or TosLink optical, USB. Digital input sampling frequencies supported 44.1kHz, 48kHz (32kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, S/PDIF only). Digital outputs: S/PDIF coaxial and TosLink optical. Analog outputs: balanced (XLR), single-ended (RCA). Frequency response: 20Hz to 20kHz ±0.1dB. THD (1kHz, 0dBFS, 24-bit data): <0.001%. S/N Ratio: 112dB. Total correlated jitter: <130ps. Channel separation: >100dB at 1kHz, >90dB at 20kHz. Output impedance: <50ohms. Maximum output level: 2.1V RMS (unbalanced), 4.2V RMS (balanced). Dimensions: 2" (52mm) H by 8.6" (215mm) W by 7.6" (191mm) D. Weight: 2.6lbs (1.2kg). Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/cambridge-audio-azur-dacmagic-da-converter-specifications#EuU8jGKZu0xDutGJ.99 Pictures: Edited June 29, 2017 by Eagleeyes Reduced price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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