[Joao Paulo Martins]

Hey head fi doesnt let me pm you.

Hi, try again. But its already sold.

 

[chrisnyc75]

It may not be the glowiest tube amp out there, but if you look carefully you can see each tube glowing.

 

[RubyTiger]

Posting in despair. I bought a rockna wavelight dac for my stratus only to find out there is a pairing issue. It's like oil and water, they just don't mix. Never ran into anything like it before. Looking for a fix.

 

[paradoxper]

Posting in despair. I bought a rockna wavelight dac for my stratus only to find out there is a pairing issue. It's like oil and water, they just don't mix. Never ran into anything like it before. Looking for a fix.

You'll need to be much more specific.

Of things I imagine gimped outputs causing issue, however, your DAC is a SE designed coupled to a SE amplifier.

 

[smodtactical]

Posting in despair. I bought a rockna wavelight dac for my stratus only to find out there is a pairing issue. It's like oil and water, they just don't mix. Never ran into anything like it before. Looking for a fix.

Maybe try a tube dac with stratus or something warmer like a holo may? Rockna known to be quite incisive and fast.

 

[RubyTiger]

I have a Chord 2Qute and it sound's excellent. As soon as I swap to the Rockna the sound degrades. Instruments sound distorted. Read here: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/rockna-wavelight-impressions-review.10025/ Go down to where it say's SE Out. I think that's where the problem is.

 

[genefruit]

I have a Chord 2Qute and it sound's excellent. As soon as I swap to the Rockna the sound degrades. Instruments sound distorted. Read here: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/rockna-wavelight-impressions-review.10025/ Go down to where it say's SE Out. I think that's where the problem is.

put a preamp between them?

 

[smodtactical]

I have a Chord 2Qute and it sound's excellent. As soon as I swap to the Rockna the sound degrades. Instruments sound distorted. Read here: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/rockna-wavelight-impressions-review.10025/ Go down to where it say's SE Out. I think that's where the problem is.

Go up chord chain then ?

tt2 or above

 

[RubyTiger]

The wavelight has a preamp. The stratus has some kind of a circuit for it's volume control. I really don't want to add something else into the chain. Going up the Chord line is an option but then I would have a used Wavelight to sell. For now I want to work with the Wavelight. I appreciate the advice though.

 

[chrisnyc75]

I have a Chord 2Qute and it sound's excellent. As soon as I swap to the Rockna the sound degrades. Instruments sound distorted. Read here: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/rockna-wavelight-impressions-review.10025/ Go down to where it say's SE Out. I think that's where the problem is.

Are you sure it's not a problem with your Rockna amp output? I can't imagine there's an electrical incompatibility between the two amps - the DAC outputs an analog signal and the DNA amplifies it. It's not apples vs oranges.

 

[RubyTiger]

I've spent two weeks of frustration so it's not for my lack of trying. I'm not tech savvy. Could it have something to do with how the transformers are wired? I don't know. Maybe Donald could add some insight. I've tried swapping cables, power cords, sources, tubes and it just doesn't work. I know R2R dac's like a long warm up period. I've tried 30 minutes, 24 hours and it's still bad sound quality. I just got through listening with it plugged into a $500 Lambert tube amp and it sounds amazing. I'm not taking anything away from the Stratus. I love mine, it sounds fantastic and I have had it for many years. I just got it back from Donald a couple of months ago and it's tuned perfectly. My guess is the wavelight is causing the amp to distort but I don't know why.

 

[kkrazik2008]

I've spent two weeks of frustration so it's not for my lack of trying. I'm not tech savvy. Could it have something to do with how the transformers are wired? I don't know. Maybe Donald could add some insight. I've tried swapping cables, power cords, sources, tubes and it just doesn't work. I know R2R dac's like a long warm up period. I've tried 30 minutes, 24 hours and it's still bad sound quality. I just got through listening with it plugged into a $500 Lambert tube amp and it sounds amazing. I'm not taking anything away from the Stratus. I love mine, it sounds fantastic and I have had it for many years. I just got it back from Donald a couple of months ago and it's tuned perfectly. My guess is the wavelight is causing the amp to distort but I don't know why.

You may want to check if you have the latest firmware for the Rockna, there is no logical reason why it doesn’t play nice with only the Stratus. The output voltage on SE is 2.5v which is perfectly within spec, if it’s a digital pre-amp you should set it to max to ensure you are feeding the full signal output. Referring everyone to SBAF to validate your experience does nothing to solve your issue.

 

[paradoxper]

I've spent two weeks of frustration so it's not for my lack of trying. I'm not tech savvy. Could it have something to do with how the transformers are wired? I don't know. Maybe Donald could add some insight. I've tried swapping cables, power cords, sources, tubes and it just doesn't work. I know R2R dac's like a long warm up period. I've tried 30 minutes, 24 hours and it's still bad sound quality. I just got through listening with it plugged into a $500 Lambert tube amp and it sounds amazing. I'm not taking anything away from the Stratus. I love mine, it sounds fantastic and I have had it for many years. I just got it back from Donald a couple of months ago and it's tuned perfectly. My guess is the wavelight is causing the amp to distort but I don't know why.

Did you test through a volume range and filter selection?

What you may want to do is contact both Donald and Rockna sharing technical specifications of both products to deduce what could be causing distortion like behavior.

It was noted to not play well with a ECP amp although they did not note distortion.

Your only recourse currently is utilizing a bal to SE transformer.

Very interesting issue.

 

[RubyTiger]

I posted here to ask for help from someone that had already tried to pair the combo. Hopefully they had been successful. Take note that someone has posted on the Stratus thread. I would like to try a bal to se converter. Ampsandsound have a few to choose from. But, they're expensive and they don't take returns or give refunds. I was actually hoping someone here had already tried that route. Also, Donald and Rockna are aware. Rockna is working on finding a solution. I'm just trying to do my part to hurry things along. I'm glad my post stirred up some lively discussion. I'm only sad it's about my problems.

 

[paradoxper]

I posted here to ask for help from someone that had already tried to pair the combo. Hopefully they had been successful. Take note that someone has posted on the Stratus thread. I would like to try a bal to se converter. Ampsandsound have a few to choose from. But, they're expensive and they don't take returns or give refunds. I was actually hoping someone here had already tried that route. Also, Donald and Rockna are aware. Rockna is working on finding a solution. I'm just trying to do my part to hurry things along. I'm glad my post stirred up some lively discussion. I'm only sad it's about my problems.

The convolution involved with converters isn't worth it. Send Donald your Rockna.