[ThanatosVI]

I have to admit that I consider Rockna Wavelight an experiment. I want to see how an R2R DAC pairs with my setup. I also have limited expectations, mostly due to the warmer nature of this device and the fact that my rest of the line is tuned for my tube amp (everything else towards neutral - DAC / silver cables/ a.s.o.). Too much warmness or a too forgiving setup is definitely not what I am looking for. Let's hope my expectations are wrong and I'll be surprised. I always like to lower them in order to let myself pleasingly impressed.

Wavelight isn't exactly a warm DAC.
Quite neutral imo.
If NOS is too warm try linear or hybrid Oversampling filters

 

[sajunky]

I have to admit that I consider Rockna Wavelight an experiment. I want to see how an R2R DAC pairs with my setup. I also have limited expectations, mostly due to the warmer nature of this device and the fact that my rest of the line is tuned for my tube amp (everything else towards neutral - DAC / silver cables/ a.s.o.). Too much warmness or a too forgiving setup is definitely not what I am looking for. Let's hope my expectations are wrong and I'll be surprised. I always like to lower them in order to let myself pleasingly impressed.

Some distortions create warm signature. The same with our hearing, brain needs a time to adopt to a different sound, it was profiled for years by Delta-Sigma. Both sides need burning time, R2R DAC with low jitter clocks takes weeks. It is my general experience, not with Rockna (I never heard), other users report the same with every discrete ladder DAC.

If Rockna sound is to rough, consider Audio GD R7HE Mk2, but in my opinion silver cables do not bring balance to a good R2R DAC, but again, judging during burning time would be wrong.

 

[Newsee]

I have to admit that I consider Rockna Wavelight an experiment. I want to see how an R2R DAC pairs with my setup. I also have limited expectations, mostly due to the warmer nature of this device and the fact that my rest of the line is tuned for my tube amp (everything else towards neutral - DAC / silver cables/ a.s.o.). Too much warmness or a too forgiving setup is definitely not what I am looking for. Let's hope my expectations are wrong and I'll be surprised. I always like to lower them in order to let myself pleasingly impressed.

RW is not "an" R2R DAC. It is quite a reference one. Do not expect any warmth. Pairs well with tube amps. At least with Macintosh MHA200.

 

[alekc]

I have to admit that I consider Rockna Wavelight an experiment. I want to see how an R2R DAC pairs with my setup. I also have limited expectations, mostly due to the warmer nature of this device and the fact that my rest of the line is tuned for my tube amp (everything else towards neutral - DAC / silver cables/ a.s.o.). Too much warmness or a too forgiving setup is definitely not what I am looking for. Let's hope my expectations are wrong and I'll be surprised. I always like to lower them in order to let myself pleasingly impressed.

@OctavianH to really get idea about WL you need to pair it with either Feliks Audio Envy (and quickly roll stock tubes) or AuroraSound HEADa. Susvara or top Focal/Meze headphones provides great synergy IMHO.

 

[ericx85]

I'm trying the Wavelight now after having an issue with a Gustard X26's right channel crapping out. It's definitely a different sound. Much more open (as I would expect with DS vs R2R, though I think hybrid volume is R2R with a dash of DS mixed in?)

Running the DAC with a Holo Bliss and DCA Expanse/Stealth. The immediate thing I noticed with this DAC, and its going to take some time to adjust to(especially if mine has a long burn in time but many say its short and this is the second day), is how much less "left/right" the sound feels. The DCA cans are one of the most technical ones out there, so if something is recorded bad, it'll sound bad.

It's difficult to explain (my audiophile terminology sucks so forgive me) but on the x26 pro, some things would sound decisively stereo(not as much as other D/S dacs I've had. The x26 pro did this the least). This rang true for the SDA6-pro and to a much more higher extent the D90SE when I tried it out of curiosity. Very "Left/Right" But not so much "Front/Back" to the sound The D90SE honestly had no "Front/Back" at all to the staging to me. The Wavelight makes everything sound much less flat and coming off of a D/S dac it feels like there's less detail at first or it's less clear sounding, but when you really listen the detail is still there. It gets rid of that tingle(I think this is what people refer to when they speak of digital glare? Correct me if I'm wrong) that certain songs would have when the songs themselves try to sound 3D. Treble heavy songs don't make me turn down the volume on this dac which is nice.

This is an adjustment period for me, I really like what the Wavelight does. I just need to figure out which presentation I enjoy more. I loved the x26 pro before the right channel broke. Though I think that even if I might prefer a classic D/S dac in the end, I'm a bit worried that I'd be limited to dacs from Topping/SMSL/Gustard etc(despite my gustard dac being faulty though I think Gustard is a step above the other two. The x26 sounds fantastic for D/S) that just crank new dacs out every year without putting a ton of effort into. Out of the Chinese companies I think Singxer and Holo put in a ton of care and quality into their gear that I wish the others would also.

I used to have a Holo May, but I found myself disliking it without using HQplayer, and the onboard OS just didn't fix it for me for when I was doing other tasks on my PC. Really liking Rocknas filters and prefer the linear. If I had to rank the 3 dacs sound wise , I would say May with HQplayer > Wavelight/x26 Pro > No HQplayer May. If I remember I'll update the post depending on if I get the x26 Pro replaced or refunded as to whether in the end I prefer the Wavelight over it or not. Also FWIW, I noticed a bigger change going from x26 pro to wavelight vs going from May to x26.

 

[alekc]

I'm trying the Wavelight now after having an issue with a Gustard X26's right channel crapping out. It's definitely a different sound. Much more open (as I would expect with DS vs R2R, though I think hybrid volume is R2R with a dash of DS mixed in?)

Running the DAC with a Holo Bliss and DCA Expanse/Stealth. The immediate thing I noticed with this DAC, and its going to take some time to adjust to(especially if mine has a long burn in time but many say its short and this is the second day), is how much less "left/right" the sound feels. The DCA cans are one of the most technical ones out there, so if something is recorded bad, it'll sound bad.

It's difficult to explain (my audiophile terminology sucks so forgive me) but on the x26 pro, some things would sound decisively stereo(not as much as other D/S dacs I've had. The x26 pro did this the least). This rang true for the SDA6-pro and to a much more higher extent the D90SE when I tried it out of curiosity. Very "Left/Right" But not so much "Front/Back" to the sound The D90SE honestly had no "Front/Back" at all to the staging to me. The Wavelight makes everything sound much less flat and coming off of a D/S dac it feels like there's less detail at first or it's less clear sounding, but when you really listen the detail is still there. It gets rid of that tingle(I think this is what people refer to when they speak of digital glare? Correct me if I'm wrong) that certain songs would have when the songs themselves try to sound 3D. Treble heavy songs don't make me turn down the volume on this dac which is nice.

This is an adjustment period for me, I really like what the Wavelight does. I just need to figure out which presentation I enjoy more. I loved the x26 pro before the right channel broke. Though I think that even if I might prefer a classic D/S dac in the end, I'm a bit worried that I'd be limited to dacs from Topping/SMSL/Gustard etc(despite my gustard dac being faulty though I think Gustard is a step above the other two. The x26 sounds fantastic for D/S) that just crank new dacs out every year without putting a ton of effort into. Out of the Chinese companies I think Singxer and Holo put in a ton of care and quality into their gear that I wish the others would also.

I used to have a Holo May, but I found myself disliking it without using HQplayer, and the onboard OS just didn't fix it for me for when I was doing other tasks on my PC. Really liking Rocknas filters and prefer the linear. If I had to rank the 3 dacs sound wise , I would say May with HQplayer > Wavelight/x26 Pro > No HQplayer May. If I remember I'll update the post depending on if I get the x26 Pro replaced or refunded as to whether in the end I prefer the Wavelight over it or not. Also FWIW, I noticed a bigger change going from x26 pro to wavelight vs going from May to x26.

@ericx85 if you want more stereo feeling listen to Rockna on speakers instead of headphones. Just make sure the amp will be dynamic and will not limit soundstage. Rockna shines in speaker setup maybe even better than with cans.

 

[ericx85]

I did give it a bit of a speaker test and very much enjoyed it. Granted the Bliss is focused on headphones it was still nice. I'm actually not sure what I prefer yet as far as how it sounds on cans. The stereo feeling/sound just sounds bad when it's poorly done and not immersive at all while this sounds way more 3 dimensional.

Also while I do like the little tingle/glare that more stereo sounding dacs would do with some cans, it does wear down my ears after a while to the point I just don't want to listen anymore. Double edged sword if you will.

 

[alekc]

Looking forward to to your impressions…also in comparison to TT2

@Basco since you have asked about TT2 I will share my experiences too.

TT2 is better for cans only, while WL shines in speaker setups too.

As far as SQ and sound signature are concerned those are different dacs: while both are musical (especially when comparing TT2 to Dave and Hugo 2/Qutest) WL cleary wins. The main difference is that all Chord dacs including DAVE are brilliant for critical listening (with exception of original Mojo but including Mojo 2), but in a long term this could be fatiguing - at least for me. With Rockne WaveLight you just listen to the music and enjoy it. WL is smoother than TT2 even when you add M-Scaler to the chain and run dual BNC max upsampling. On the other hand I've played a bit with upsampling on Rockna and found out that I prefer it without any hardware or software based upsamplers.

Filters implementation on TT2 is disappointing in that regard that it takes a very revealing chain to try to hear the difference and even then the differences are minimal and in most cases can be omitted or ignored. WL is quite different in this regard: NOS is very distinctive sounding with most dynamic, less smooth and most sharp signature. Some filters fits better to particular recordings than others. Different settings on volume control also have impact on sound signature in case of Rockna. On TT2 you can listen for you whole life using Filter 1 or 4. The crossfeed on the TT2 is also disappointing for me.

Rockna may need time to warm up to sound best, while TT2 does not (with or without M-Scaler).

Overall if Rockna would be in similar dimension to TT2 I would always select WL over TT2. Otherwise I can see a use cases where TT2 maybe a better option, but in terms of musicality, smooth sound and pure pleasure of music WL clearly wins in my heart. TT2 can have sometimes better soundstage, a bit more air and be better in micro details (but this is very record dependant). As far as instrument separation is concerned both dacs are on par for me. Rocka is more analog without digital glare that you can hear sometimes with Chord dacs.

 

[Basco]

@Basco since you have asked about TT2 I will share my experiences too.

TT2 is better for cans only, while WL shines in speaker setups too.

As far as SQ and sound signature are concerned those are different dacs: while both are musical (especially when comparing TT2 to Dave and Hugo 2/Qutest) WL cleary wins. The main difference is that all Chord dacs including DAVE are brilliant for critical listening (with exception of original Mojo but including Mojo 2), but in a long term this could be fatiguing - at least for me. With Rockne WaveLight you just listen to the music and enjoy it. WL is smoother than TT2 even when you add M-Scaler to the chain and run dual BNC max upsampling. On the other hand I've played a bit with upsampling on Rockna and found out that I prefer it without any hardware or software based upsamplers.

Filters implementation on TT2 is disappointing in that regard that it takes a very revealing chain to try to hear the difference and even then the differences are minimal and in most cases can be omitted or ignored. WL is quite different in this regard: NOS is very distinctive sounding with most dynamic, less smooth and most sharp signature. Some filters fits better to particular recordings than others. Different settings on volume control also have impact on sound signature in case of Rockna. On TT2 you can listen for you whole life using Filter 1 or 4. The crossfeed on the TT2 is also disappointing for me.

Rockna may need time to warm up to sound best, while TT2 does not (with or without M-Scaler).

Overall if Rockna would be in similar dimension to TT2 I would always select WL over TT2. Otherwise I can see a use cases where TT2 maybe a better option, but in terms of musicality, smooth sound and pure pleasure of music WL clearly wins in my heart. TT2 can have sometimes better soundstage, a bit more air and be better in micro details (but this is very record dependant). As far as instrument separation is concerned both dacs are on par for me. Rocka is more analog without digital glare that you can hear sometimes with Chord dacs.

Hey Alekc,

thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Chord vs. Wavelight comparison. Much appreciated
Initially I was planning to run WL in my tube amp setup with WA6-SE and absolutely
didn’t expect to WL to be even superior in speaker settings (what do you use as speaker?)

As you mentioned it...

Different settings on volume control also have impact on sound signature in case of Rockna.

Could you explain how the interaction works for the volume control and how the filters Come into play?

Furthermore it would be nice to see how the upcoming WL Server adds in this chain.

Best and thanks again for your impressions

 

[OctavianH]

@Basco since you have asked about TT2 I will share my experiences too.

Rockna may need time to warm up to sound best, while TT2 does not (with or without M-Scaler).

This is interesting. My TT2 + M Scaler needs around 3-4 hours after it was turned ON to sound decently. I read here that Rockna is OK after around 30 mins.

And a question, has someone used power filtering / linear power supplies for Wavelight and observed improvements? At Chord these are, unfortunately, mandatory.

 

[kostas6a3]

Two days ago I tested the Singxer SU-6 with the Wavelight. The differences, in my opinion, are small. A little more body and detail. I don't think it's worth such an investment.

 

[alekc]

This is interesting. My TT2 + M Scaler needs around 3-4 hours after it was turned ON to sound decently. I read here that Rockna is OK after around 30 mins.

And a question, has someone used power filtering / linear power supplies for Wavelight and observed improvements? At Chord these are, unfortunately, mandatory.

@OctavianH thank you for sharing your experience. In the TT2 thread Rob Watts stated recently that the minimal sound change comes possibly within first 10 minutes if I remember correctly, however the measurements stay the same from very first seconds after power on sequence. I suspect brain adjustment to sound has a lot to do with our experiences. Due to technical differences I understand why Rockna may need some time to achieve optimal performance but I'm still far from any absolute statement about the time frame.

Never used power filtering for Rockna. Out of curiosity I've been testing different usb cables including one with price tag half of Rockna itself and never heard any difference. The same result has been with power cord.

 

[OctavianH]

@OctavianH thank you for sharing your experience. In the TT2 thread Rob Watts stated recently that the minimal sound change comes possibly within first 10 minutes

Rob Watts also told us the usage of linear power supplies with TT2 has no impact and everyone knows the sound quality increases dramatically. So I beg to differ, each one with his own ears. In my case, I feel that the clock stabilizes or something in the first hours. After 3-4 hours I have a feeling that the cadence/rhythm is right. Of course, it might be my brain, I am not excluding any other opinion.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Planned release date of the Server is now February 2023.

It is also confirmed to work as Roon Core and have FPGA Upsampling to DSD512 and PCM384

 

[alekc]

Planned release date of the Server is now February 2023.

It is also confirmed to work as Roon Core and have FPGA Upsampling to DSD512 and PCM384

Thanks for the Server update @ThanatosVI . I used to be really looking forward to Server release but after so many release date changes and planned price I think I will pass on that one unless the upsampling would do something amazing with Rockna sound which I doubt. I do not look for Roon Core but I am reading with interest others expirence with WaveDream Net used as CD transport. On the other hand there are more than few great cd transports available so every day I miss the point of Server a bit more Wish to be the other way around. I also feel sorry for all those who put down a deposit for it. I hope Rockna will provide some kind of huge gratification to those loyal customers as this is the only honest way for apology in such case.