Wadia 121 decoding computer

[ZenErik]

It will be arriving on Friday, but I won't be at work to pick it up until next Tuesday. Going on a nice trip to Baltimore.

If I like the m903 enough I may sell my HA5000 as the m903 is supposed to be a very nice all in one. Glad your new DAC and is sounding good.

I'll probably find a Grace m903 thread to post my impressions in.

Also want to note that Moon Audio has been great since we got the Wadia issue cleared up. I was given a great price and Drew even burned in the m903 for a day to check for any issues. Thanks Drew.

 

[Todd R]

Decided to return the Bel Canto, just not enough gain to use for a headphone amp. Nice DAC however.
Todd @ TTVJ says that Wadia tells him the noise problem on the 121 is supposed to be fixed now, so I'm going to give another one a try.
Wish me luck!
 

 

[ZenErik]

Quote:

Decided to return the Bel Canto, just not enough gain to use for a headphone amp. Nice DAC however.
Todd @ TTVJ says that Wadia tells him the noise problem on the 121 is supposed to be fixed now, so I'm going to give another one a try.
Wish me luck!
 

Good luck. I'm very happy with my Grace m903. The amp section is great for low impedance/high sensitivity headphones. Maybe not great for high impedance or orthos, but I don't have any of those anymore.

 

[hopkins]

Wondering what people think of the SPDIF versus USB connection. Using a Squeezebox touch, I tend to prefer the SPDIF connection than the USB (using enhanced digital output)... The manual states that USB provides highest quality, but I assume there are a number of parameters in play...

 

[Todd R]

Wadia have redeemed themselves.
Got my replacement 121 Monday from TTVJ (Thanks for all the help Todd) and this one is quiet. 
 
I spoke to Wadia's tech support before my replacement was sent to make sure the problems had been corrected. I was told that there were 2 software updates and the grounding circuit had been improved.
 
Now I'm happy with my unit.
The most noticeable thing about the Wadia is the clarity & resolution that lets you hear deep into the recording.
 
As a headphone amp, it has no trouble driving any of my lower impedance phones, but the real test was to try the HiFiMan HE-500's. Happy to say it will power them quite well. To confirm, I connected my Bottlehead SEX amp (2 wpc) to the outputs of the 121. They were pretty close, and the Bottlehead did have a little more weight to the bass when the music got very demanding due to the higher power reserves, but the Wadia was perfectly fine for the majority of what I was listening to.
 
A nice feature of the 121 is you can leave the volume all the way up when feeding an outboard amp from the line out, but as soon as you plug into the headphone jack, it cuts the line out signal and drops the headphone volume back to where you had it so you don't risk blowing your phones out with the excess volume. Very useful if you have it feeding both a speaker and headphone systems. 
 
So far I have only used it with headphones, but I may put it to use in my speaker system this weekend to see how it compares to my main DAC (PS Audio Perfect Wave MK II).
 
The relay clicks are still pretty loud when changing sample rates, or when your computer first connects with the DAC, but that's really a minor thing I can easily live with.

 

[RapidPulse]

You spoke to Wadia's tech support?!  There is a Wadia tech support?  I find that hard to believe seeing as how well they have returned my calls and emails 

. ( I was not calling about a problem, but I am trying to get the pin out info for the power input.  No dice so far)
 
What was the problem you were having?  I would like to make sure I don't have the same issue.  Thanks!
 
 
 

 

[longbowbbs]

Has anyone done a comparison of the 121 and the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2? They are in the same basic price range and both seem to be good DAC's. Any perspective would be appreciated!

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

You spoke to Wadia's tech support?!  There is a Wadia tech support?  I find that hard to believe seeing as how well they have returned my calls and emails 

. ( I was not calling about a problem, but I am trying to get the pin out info for the power input.  No dice so far)
 
What was the problem you were having?  I would like to make sure I don't have the same issue.  Thanks!
 
 
 

Yes, call Audio Research. Part of or owned by the same corporation now. 
I was hearing noise when using my JH Audio phones. 

 

[Rawdawg3234]

Has anyone tried the 121 with 171 iTransport?

 

[jiale]

Quote:

Potential issue with my Wadia 121. The headphone jack is a bit noisy. Even when the volume is at zero. It's not really noticeable when I am using my HA5000 amp at normal levels. But if I turn my amp all the way up I can hear that same noise that I hear from the Wadia 121 headphone jack. 
 
I should note that this is ONLY when the input is set to USB. And it does not matter if I even have a USB cable plugged in to the DAC. The same sound is there. So it is not my cable or my laptop. I have been in contact with Drew from Moon-Audio, and I am sure he will help me out. He has been great thus far.
 
If things do not work out with the Wadia I will likely spring for the NAD M51 that I was also considering.

I met the same issue of headphone jack when USB input selected, but when I moved it far away (half meter) from the laptop (with wifi on) the noise disappeared.

 

[amham]

I've heard of many technical problems for the 121 including software controlling volume, lockups, noise etc.  Have these problems been fixed or is this still a work in progress (inexcusable for a company with the digital experience of Wadia).

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

I've heard of many technical problems for the 121 including software controlling volume, lockups, noise etc.  Have these problems been fixed or is this still a work in progress (inexcusable for a company with the digital experience of Wadia).

 
Mine has been great so far. I think everything has been fixed. 

 

[fh6350885]

guys, i found a deal on studiomusicals.com which offers wadia 121 for $999. Do you think its credible or not?

 

[longbowbbs]

^^
Interesting. I have never seen Wadia stuff discounted anywhere before.

 

[fh6350885]

This Australian company only accepts bank transfer/wire transfer payments. They dont accept paypal or credit card. I dont feel comfortable with this.