[Nomax]

@krude

But I am the CEO of them

NOMAX

PS.nice day to all
Now i have work....a date with a flagship that will be on the market next year

 

[joseluishs]

Quick impressions from my side, using Utopia 2022 and mostly Feliks Audio Elise with upgraded tubes. I don't have Hypsos with me at the moment (but I did listen to it with before with previous Wandla). I have Oor as well and I did test it with new enchantments.

GoldenSound improvements are subtle but noticeable, actually a lot more than changing a HQ filter. These changes are not overdone and if you already like how Wandla sounds, then this will be a nice addition for you.

Impact+ is most noticeable right away because its basically and EQ change. I thought there is more to this filter than this but sadly it does not seem like it. This means with some headphones (like Utopia) lower tones will get boomy and way too punchy, but in some cases this change might be a nice addition.

Spatial Enhacement depends A LOT on the song used. You can hear a better instrument separation in most tracks, in others perceived soundstage (or room) gets bigger. Most of the time effect is nice to hear, and yes songs feel compressed after you turn this effect off aster using it for some time, but in some examples this effect can be a little too much as well, like when there is an echo or reverb used in track then it will get much more noticeable. Still, for me, this is by far the best new feature added to a Wandla. The fact that you actually want to use this feature says a lot about it compared to other similar implementations. Great work team @ Ferrum and @GoldenSound !

Tube Mode is very subtle and alter sound only a little bit. This does not emulate a real tube amp at all, and I think this was a wise design choice as change is very delicate, little bit analog-like without losing any details or so on.

Overall, even if these changes are subtle and asking/update price is a bit much, I would still recommend upgrading to GSE. You will get an improvement in sound, and better, you can support amazing work at Ferrum and from the GoldenSound. We need more initiatives like this to keep this hobby evolving. Once again, great job everyone!

PS. Sorry, I am new here and I couldn't edit original post where I wanted to post these few words

How did you get it so quickly?! Did you do a firmware upgrade or got a new GSE unit?

 

[Piffko]

How did you get it so quickly?! Did you do a firmware upgrade or got a new GSE unit?

New GSE unit, not a firmware upgrade. I live in Poland so path for delivery is much shorter than yours

Actually I was looking to get a Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE but when I heard Wandla for the first time, I fell in love with it so GSE version it is!

 

[joseluishs]

New GSE unit, not a firmware upgrade. I live in Poland so path for delivery is much shorter than yours

Actually I was looking to get a Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE but when I heard Wandla for the first time, I fell in love with it so GSE version it is!

Thanks for the quick reply! I am still waiting on mine but the path of delivery is way larger living in Miami

I am glad you love it! I am really curious about the spatial enhancement feature

I have noticed that the crossfeed implementations in the Mojo 2, Hugo 2, RME and Phonitor 3 seem to be optimized and being more coherent sounding when using their integrated amp instead of going to an external amp in the chain (as good or bad implemented as they might be).

My favorite one has been the one in the Phonitor 3 but then if I wanted to use a different amp, sending the crossfeed signal was not very noticeable.

Since the Wandla does not have a headphone output, I am positive that the implementation has been optimized for an external amp because that its intended application for headphones use anyway, besides being a different take on the whole spatial perception of the music

 

[Piffko]

Thanks for the quick reply! I am still waiting on mine but the path of delivery is way larger living in Miami

I am glad you love it! I am really curious about the spatial enhancement feature

I have noticed that the crossfeed implementations in the Mojo 2, Hugo 2, RME and Phonitor 3 seem to be optimized and being more coherent sounding when using their integrated amp instead of going to an external amp in the chain (as good or bad implemented as they might be).

My favorite one has been the one in the Phonitor 3 but then if I wanted to use a different amp, sending the crossfeed signal was not very noticeable.

Since the Wandla does not have a headphone output, I am positive that the implementation has been optimized for an external amp because that its intended application for headphones use anyway, besides being a different take on the whole spatial perception of the music

Wandla GSE crosfeed implementation is great, really. I listened to Mojo2 only for short moment so I can't compare it really, but I have used Feliks Audio Euforia-Evo tube amp with custom crosfeed feature that it has and that was much, much worse than what you can find on GSE version. Sure, these are two totally different approaches to crossfeed but still it shows how well made and fun this feature is that you want to actually use it.

And it is so fun to turn it on and off, and then check with various different tracks where it is more or less noticeable. Actually I was surprised how much difference it makes in songs that seem condensed and small (like from Rammstein), compared to tracks suggested in GoldenSound video. You can literally tell when and where instruments are moving. Its great!

 

[kajetanjazz]

Sure, these are two totally different approaches to crossfeed but still it shows how well made and fun this feature is that you want to actually use it.

Is that feature just a simple crossfeed? I thought there’s more to it. I never liked the crossfeed in chord devices - it moved everything to the centre, slightly in front but condensed everything to a claustrophobic degree

 

[joseluishs]

Is that feature just a simple crossfeed? I thought there’s more to it. I never liked the crossfeed in chord devices - it moved everything to the centre, slightly in front but condensed everything to a claustrophobic degree

I didn't like the Chord implementation either, specially the one in the Mojo 2 is not very enjoyable. I am thinking the GSE might be closer to the HM1 crossfeed in theory I wonder how they did it

 

[Piffko]

Is that feature just a simple crossfeed? I thought there’s more to it. I never liked the crossfeed in chord devices - it moved everything to the centre, slightly in front but condensed everything to a claustrophobic degree

No, it’s not, just a simplification from my side, this feature is definitely something more than that

 

[Nomax]

Is that feature just a simple crossfeed? I thought there’s more to it. I never liked the crossfeed in chord devices - it moved everything to the centre, slightly in front but condensed everything to a claustrophobic degree

I would have put the headphones aside immediately if it had been a crossfeed as we know it from Chord, Spl etc etc

NOMAX

PS.Have confidence in my statements..this is completly different

 

[Leto Dal]

Anyone who has heard the GSE with headphones will wonder what a Chord Dave is for? what a DCA LINA is for?a Masterclock?expensive cables?
That is nothing against it what you get here for 3200 Euros.......except that you have a lot more money to spend to others for and their nuances
Every acoustician I know from various headphone manufacturers will confirm this to me


NOMAX

PS.And believe me....after two decades I know many
(I was also at the Ferrum booth with Bernhard from AA with his Composer...he was also amazed)
I am sure that I will not be the only one who will be convinced by the GSE
Yes, that's how it is when the Nomax screams with his enthusiasm
But now I'll stop...otherwise you'll really think I'm crazy

I heard GSE with Hypsos in Munich and tested OG Wandla excessivly vs May.

People hype it a little bit too much. Its a good delta sigma (not summit fi tier and far from something like Weiss) with nice playful filters for a lot of money. To bring the most out of Wandla you need GSE upgrade which is expensive af in all fairniss and yes you need Hypsos, without it sounds rather lackluster to my ear at least. The "full" system is significantly more than 3.2k.

The new Laiv Harmony is a cheaper and arguably better alternative to Wandla imho, especially if you are into R2R sound and are ready to use HQP. I was rather impressed by it in Munich, owning May.

 

[GoldenSound]

Is that feature just a simple crossfeed? I thought there’s more to it. I never liked the crossfeed in chord devices - it moved everything to the centre, slightly in front but condensed everything to a claustrophobic degree

It's not crossfeed no (although there is . I've never really been a fan of crossfeed other than for hard panned tracks. The spatial enhancement in the GSE works differently.

 

[Nomax]

I heard GSE with Hypsos in Munich and tested OG Wandla excessivly vs May.

People hype it a little bit too much. Its a good delta sigma (not summit fi tier and far from something like Weiss) with nice playful filters for a lot of money. To bring the most out of Wandla you need GSE upgrade which is expensive af in all fairniss and yes you need Hypsos, without it sounds rather lackluster to my ear at least. The "full" system is significantly more than 3.2k.

The new Laiv Harmony is a cheaper and arguably better alternative to Wandla imho, especially if you are into R2R sound and are ready to use HQP. I was rather impressed by it in Munich, owning May.

As I said, I'm not interested in the qualities of the various Dacs.... I personally find these special features of the GSE much more important
for listening with headphones

NOMAX

PS.lol

 

[Leto Dal]

As I said, I'm not interested in the qualities of the various Dacs.... I personally find these special features of the GSE much more important
for listening with headphones

NOMAX

PS.lol

Yep everyone has his/her own preferences and everyone has different usecases, Wandla filters are very convinient. Still if you like tinkering with sound, you will have far more "features" with an R2R nos capable dac and a modern PC, if you are ready to dive into HQP. Thats where stuff like Harmony comes in. Which is much better build, is a true R2R with NOS and most importantly is far cheaper than a "full" Wandla setup.

 

[joseluishs]

Yep everyone has his/her own preferences and everyone has different usecases, Wandla filters are very convinient. Still if you like tinkering with sound, you will have far more "features" with an R2R nos capable dac and a modern PC, if you are ready to dive into HQP. Thats where stuff like Harmony comes in. Which is much better build, is a true R2R with NOS and most importantly is far cheaper than a "full" Wandla setup.

I thought I read somewhere that the Harmony dac doesn’t have a true NOS maybe I am wrong…

 

[CFGamescape]

The only rational thing is to own multiple DACs, just like a lot of us have multiple headphones, amps, etc. Isn't this what this hobby is about? Being irrationally rational.