Rockna Wavedream DAC: Awesomesauce

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by purr1n, Nov 7, 2019.

  1. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,268
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Hahahaha
     
  2. roroh

    roroh New

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2020
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Créteil

    Hi

    I would like to know if you talk in your review :
    - the rockna wavedream edition balanced ( 8 kusd ) or wavedream signature balanced ( 15 Kusd).
    Edition and signature are two models differents

    The edition balanced ( 8kusd ) is better than the denafrips terminator ?

    Thanks
     
  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,771
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    The Rockna in question here was not the Signature. It was the Edition balanced. Lord I can only imagine what the Signature can do.

    The $699 Schiit Bifrost 2 and $1500 Soekris 1541 are both better DACs than the Denafrips Sperminator. iMO, YMMV, FWIW, etc.

    Tonally the Sperminator was pretty good. It's got a quality of detail via slight sharpening. But ultimately what did it in for me was poor microdynamics and lack of ability to reproduce low level information. Poor ability for recreating pace, rhythm, quick changes in volume levels and fine gradations in volume levels. Emotionally unengaging.

    Denafrips Terminator review here: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/denafrips-terminator-dac-review.7810/

    I vehemently disagree with the many Internet reviews exalting its greatness. It's not a bad DAC, but it's way overpriced and too heavy physically for its level of performance. There is a lot of overpriced shit with sales and marketing efforts on the part of distributors and dealers out there. The Terminator is one of them.

    I wanted so to believe that the Terminator was great because the Internet said it was so great that I even set up a volume matched blind test to convince myself otherwise.

    I generally don't like to poo on stuff and hope that people find my reviews themselves. But too many questions in too many threads lately.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2020
  4. Saleh84

    Saleh84 New

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2020
    Likes Received:
    39
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    Dubai, UAE
    @purr1n ,
    your impressions are one of the main reasons why I have a Rockna wavedream signature XLR on the way. I'm a noob in comparison to your experience for sure, still learning something everyday - mostly by making costly mistakes! reading some of your posts just instigated trust that you won't praise anything unless it truly deserves it, and that you could put your fingers on how something actually sounds with excellent precision. so, thank you for that!

    however, just commenting on what you said up there if I may, I have had a Denafrips terminator for more than a year and a half as my main/only DAC. I even praised it in a forum or two, as I genuinely liked what I was hearing at the time. your impressions are spot on with the older DSP. however, with the latest one, there were noticeable improvements on PRaT and dynamics departments that made the sound more musical. the sound became less thick, more open, even with better layering/sound stage. but they had to sacrifice some of the "rich" tonality which many people liked in the first place with older DSP (including me in the past), despite that DSP's evident various weaknesses. after I did the DSP upgrade, I've used the terminator until last month when I started to feel with all the new better components I introduced, that my DAC has possibly became the bottleneck. actually, hearing my friend's Aries Cerat kassandra ref ii DAC was the last straw that made me seek a better converter.

    only now that I have sold my terminator, and I'm temporarily using my old Questyle CMA600i DAC/pre/headamp (AKM chip) as a DAC for my main stereo rig while waiting on the Rockna, I started to realize your comments about highs slight harshness with terminator does apply somehow. i think that might be more noticeable in more transparent/revealing stereo systems, which I like to think that mine has developed into. the Questyle CMA600i overall is not better, not as capable, but its presentation is more relaxed, heck even probably more detailed.

    if you could get your hands on a terminator with the new DSP, might be worth checking out how the DAC sound/performance has changed, at least out of curiosity :)
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,771
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    I wish I could get my hands on a Terminator with the new DSP, but these high-end things don't come by often. Not as often now compared to 10 years ago. So these companies that make expensive boutique high-end DACs only get one shot with me (or with prior owners who graciously lend me their gear). If they blow that shot, then that's it.
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2020
  6. Xecuter

    Xecuter Brush and floss your amp twice a day

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,016
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Australia

    As I said in my review, the DAC I was using was the signature balanced edition (mentioned twice).
    I've since ordered one since my review and will present a more comprehensive review with the msb select ii and termi with the updated board end of March. However, I do not think the termi will be on the same level as even the base model Rockna.
     
  7. Lordcloud

    Lordcloud New

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2017
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    Location:
    Austin

    I would love to hear your thoughts on the Kassandra.
     
  8. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 13, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,028
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Philly - Yo
    What's up with all the Randos lately throwing out random questions in their first posts without ever following the direction at the top of every flippin' page regarding introducing yourself and focusing on value-added input? Jeez.
     
  9. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,771
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    Arrange to have one sent to me.
     
  10. brencho

    brencho Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,978
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    LA
    Is kassandra your mom, cause if so I’ve already demoed and posted review on yelp
     
  11. roroh

    roroh New

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2020
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Créteil
    hi all

    I finally bought the wavedream edition balanced....but i don't see how use the oversampling mode ??
    Thanks for your return
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,771
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    It's a 16x oversampling DAC.
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2020
  13. roroh

    roroh New

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2020
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Créteil
    Hi

    Nicolae Jitariu from Rockna said me that "our dacs have both oversampling or non-oversampling modes. They are selectable from menu"
    I don't see how choose between these two modes from the menu ??
     
  14. famish99

    famish99 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,714
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    The filters are for oversampling, that's their whole purpose, turning them off puts it into NOS mode.
     
  15. roroh

    roroh New

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2020
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Créteil
    ok thanks
     
  16. Aklegal

    Aklegal Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2016
    Likes Received:
    623
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    I am waiting for reviews but the Wavelight might be my next move. It is also preamp (analog volume control, not digital), with HT Bypass (yay!), and selectable gain on its outputs - amazing. I'm am building a pair of diy amps now and might be enticed to sell my integrated and Yggdrasil for one. It is a hair under 5 grand though which is more than I have ever spent on gear that isn't speakers.
     
  17. ufospls2

    ufospls2 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 10, 2017
    Likes Received:
    2,010
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Canada
  18. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,268
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Hadn't checked on Rockna / Audiobyte in a looong time. Good to see they're still releasing cool products!

    The WaveLight and Hydra-VOX couldn't be more different in philosophy, but are both really interesting!
     
  19. Saleh84

    Saleh84 New

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2020
    Likes Received:
    39
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    Dubai, UAE
    well, after a quite some wait (thanks Corona virus for few extra weeks of that!), I have finally received my Rockna Wavedream signature balanced DAC. I have used it for almost a week and a half now, in order to get a good idea of whats going on and allow some break in. worth noting, I have sold my Aurender N10 before its arrival. so, I didn't get to have the exact same source to play with, which is not ideal. at the moment, I've got to use it with a borrowed singxer SU-1 + laptop. and just today, I managed to borrow an Auralic Aries G1. certainly going for a Rockna wavelight streamer when its available (don't need the CD in the wavedream NET, wavelight would be cheaper).

    Ok, I honestly don't know where to start with my compliments! I'm not expert in describing sound, nor an expert in music, but I will try to summarize my impressions:
    this DAC certainly smashes anything I have used in my system before, which are chord Dave (used for one week, borrowed) and Denafrips terminator (was my main DAC for a year and half). my temporary DAC which is a questyle CMA600i does not even count here.
    -extreme purity jumped at me first. Dave had that over Terminator, but Dave was clinical/mechanical/thin sounding DAC over all, (at least in my setup/ with my cables), which made me accept Terminators slight grain in favor of its "full" sound, so I kept it for that long. here with Rockna, I don't have to live with either or. ultimate purity, while having a delicious, just right amount of body.
    -dynamics and dynamic range. did everything I hear before was getting compressed? the level between lowest level portions of a track and higher ones is mind blowing. if its in the recording, you will get it.
    -musicality and sheer speed. its very fast. PRAT at its finest.
    -imaging and 3D, just went through the roof. its a tangible, realistic presentation, just life-like. with layers (things up close, things further back) and more over all depth than I have ever had before.
    -its very true to the recording. I couldn't put my fingers on a general color or a description of the DAC soun/ flavor. I read that somewhere earlier in @purr1n write ups, now I can understand such statement!
    some recordings show that there is unbelievable amount of information that was not rendered at right/full potential before, other tracks didn't show that much. this is new to me! by the way, I mainly use Qobuz as a source. setup is done properly with wifi-less rounter, with a proper audio switch, its touching if not surpassing local files SQ.
    -I was afraid before I receive the DAC of sibilance or sharp highs (someone told me that). oh, how wrong was I. the best highs rendering I ever heard. never gets annoying, while extended and full of information. same applies for bass information. I had my new dual subwoofers for more than a month, never felt they were as "integrated" as I do now. could a better bass definition in digital domain help with this? I don't know!

    my thoughts were, this is awesome, delicious and certainly deserves more recognition/ exposure. I wonder why there is not much of a chatter or information around this DAC and that company, as much as some other lesser products that has hundreds of pages? they rock! could be the price point? or they don't care much for marketing? I wonder.

    have to add that using Singxer Su-1, yes HDMI I2s is better that AES, even that I have a very high end AES cable. there is more details, there is some sort of "sparkle" that was missing in AES. the sound stage was larger, its just better over all. I cant wait for a true I2s source to see the results.

    if not for quarantine, I would have tried to put the wavedream vs the Aries Cerat kassandra ref 2. from memory, the kassandra is more euphoric for sure. it has some slight but very attractive coloration to its sound. the Rockna doesn't. is it the kassandra tube output, or the older chips sound, I have no idea. anyhow, that's just from memory which is not totally dependable. once I'm able to put them against each other, might follow up. i will try to record that with a zoom h6 if I ever do it.

    thanks to the accurate review and description on this thread. I took a chance without hearing it in person, but turned out to be as described and even more.
     
  20. Baten

    Baten Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2018
    Likes Received:
    1,130
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    EU
    Why would SU-1 not be a 'true' I2s source though? Been using one for ages.
     

Share This Page