Ferrum WANDLA - Impressions Thread

[krude]

I should add that I owned Hypsos + Oor combo a few years ago, and Hypsos back then was polluting my power so much I could hear it's interference loud in Utopias ... it forced me to invest in power conditioning back then to fix it (separate Hypsos from the rest of my gear) ... so I'm already experienced with Ferrum and power polution / noise ... but this really took me by surprise I guess I was always using it in those lucky combinations that made it relatively quiet and because I use tubes I always attributed the buzz to tubes ... well, there's a chance I was wrong the whole time and it was my Wandla polluting my system all that time

 

[KrauserX91]

@krude can you plug the Hypsos directly to the wall (separated from the quintet) and disable the option Spread Spectrum Mode in the hypsos? Then Wandla to Accu

 

[krude]

@krude can you plug the Hypsos directly to the wall (separated from the quintet) and disable the option Spread Spectrum Mode in the hypsos? Then Wandla to Accu

Yeah I tested all the outlet combinations I have in the room. It's the same and yeah I also disabled sensing and spread to test. When I disable sensing i get a pop on the Wandla output ... which doesn't seem right at all

 

[GoldenSound]

I discovered a problem with my Wandla ... a big one.

I received an Accuphase e370 today, connected the Wandla and discovered that it produces electrical buzz connected to the Accu. It's worse with Hypsos, buzz is quieter with the brick PSU, but with the brick when I turn Wandla off it turns into a whine ... and it's quite loud. Its affecting the whole amp regarless of input selected, it must be electrical. I changed the cabling, tested all permutations ... it's the same.

Then I connected WiiM Ultra directly via rca to e370, perfectly quiet! Then I connected my mobile (got 4x AKM dac in the phone) via a cheap adapter cable, again, totally quiet.

Then I tried to replicate it on my Cayin HA300, because I never noticed that before ... and the behaviour on HA300 is slightly different, it's quiet(er) (although now I can hear the same buzz deep in the background) with XLR out from Wandla and XLR input selected on the amp, but if I switch to RCA input on the amp I get the exact same be buzzing (Hypsos) and high pitch whine on the stock PSU when Wandla is on standby.

So looks like my Wandla (and potentially Hypsos as well) need repair / replacement

Can anyone test if they get any of those behaviours? (Preferably with high power amps and or sensitive cans / iems).

Most likely answer here is it's just a ground loop. Do you have everything connected to the same outlet?

In normal conditions Wandla noise floor is about -135dB

 

[GoldenSound]

I should add that I owned Hypsos + Oor combo a few years ago, and Hypsos back then was polluting my power so much I could hear it's interference loud in Utopias ... it forced me to invest in power conditioning back then to fix it (separate Hypsos from the rest of my gear) ... so I'm already experienced with Ferrum and power polution / noise ... but this really took me by surprise I guess I was always using it in those lucky combinations that made it relatively quiet and because I use tubes I always attributed the buzz to tubes ... well, there's a chance I was wrong the whole time and it was my Wandla polluting my system all that time

It sounds like your house wiring may have a dodgy ground connection. Do you know where your grounding rod is and can check if it's present and/or not corroded?

 

[Mike Hanson]

Most likely answer here is it's just a ground loop. Do you have everything connected to the same outlet?

In normal conditions Wandla noise floor is about -135dB

That was my thought as well. This is where balanced XLR connections can save the day.

 

[GoldenSound]

That was my thought as well. This is where balanced XLR connections can save the day.

They can, though if you know you have a ground loop personally Id recommend trying to address it just in case

 

[krude]

They can, though if you know you have a ground loop personally Id recommend trying to address it just in case

Indeed, idk I completely forgot about checking grounding ... maybe because I had my installation checked a few months ago and it was deemed in a very good shape ... guess they didn't check grounding did they

Thankfully I had some adapters I was using for setting sound systems in places with dodgy power that cuts the ground from the socket ... and voila, no more buzzing ...

... now I need another installation check to determine wth is wrong with the grounding!

Thanks guys

I can get back to testing the champagne coloured beastling and pump that juice into my planars

 

[Mike Hanson]

They can, though if you know you have a ground loop personally Id recommend trying to address it just in case

A ground loop is caused when more than one component decides to connect the unbalanced signal ground to the chassis mains ground. Of course, ground is never absolute, so the variations between the various grounds cause current to flow.

If you use balanced connections, then there is no signal ground to enable a loop. All components will connect their chassis to the mains ground for safety's sake, and all is good.

Unfortunately, not everyone has balanced connections with all of their components. In that situation, you hope that not more than one component is connecting the signal ground to the mains ground.

 

[krude]

After a week with Accuphase e370 and Wandla GSE I totally understand why people praise the tube mode. Of course I never used it with my tube amps. Accu tends to sound sharp for the first 30 min from the startup, that's where the tube mode comes in to smooth out the midrange. After the amp warms up I can turn it off and enjoy the Accu liquid midrange on it's own.

Btw Ifi gnd defender reduced the ground loop by around 99% so far while connected to Hypsos (no effect on Accu). Will experiment more, but if I use the defender on Hypsos and cut the ground to Accuphase I get zero hum ... of course I can't use it like that

 

[solid12345]

So question on the GSE edition upgrade, does the tube mode along with other features like bass impact work on analog-in or strictly for the DAC portion?

 

[Mike Hanson]

So question on the GSE edition upgrade, does the tube mode along with other features like bass impact work on analog-in or strictly for the DAC portion?

That's a good question. As I understand it, the analog input is passed as analog through to the analog output. It is not digitized then converted back to analog again. Therefore, the tube mode could not be applied, as it's done within the digital processing section of the device.

Coincidentally, I was just about to hook up my turntable to my Wandla, to listen to some vinyl. It would be nice if the two mode could be applied, but not if it requires two stages of conversion. I guess if you want that tube sound with your records, the only option is a real tube preamplifier.

 

[GoldenSound]

So question on the GSE edition upgrade, does the tube mode along with other features like bass impact work on analog-in or strictly for the DAC portion?

It's just for the DAC portion, the GSE features are all related to the DAC itself so can't work on the analog inputs

 

[VolatileLiquid]

Hey everyone, I’m late to the red mode vs pro mode experience due to not realising the firmware I was on until recently (curtesy of @wizzman121). I’m feeding wandla into a zmf aegis tube amp via rca. Juggling between pro mode with digital trim -6db (5v to 2.5v?) and red mode with no digital trim (2v). Anyone have experiences with pro mode x digital trim vs red mode without, to share, if better, similar, or worse?

 

[Mike Hanson]

The digital input trim always felt a bit like it flattened things, but I may have imagined that. If I'm feeding the Wandla into a preamp, I generally set it to Red mode and let the preamp control the volume. I've been happy with the sound of that. When I go straight from Wandla to a power amp, I tend to leave it as Pro, then control the output with the volume.