Has anyone had a chance to listen to or read much about the Rockna Wavedream DAC?

[esimms86]

Rockna is professed to be the higher end product line of the same manufacturer of the Audiobyte products. The Wavedream reportedly does DSD256 and also accepts I2S(Rockna also has an I2S server supposedly due out in july with no price mentioned that I can find).

 

Esau

[trappy]

I found something that suggested 69000 HKD, which I think is about $9000 USD. Think I'll stick with my Hugo...

[Highfilter]

6moons has a review in progress. Read here

 

Says: starting at €4'900 + regional VAT for Platinum single-ended version, €11'900 + VAT for balanced Signature version; €699 for Hydra X+

 

I was looking into this DAC awhile back and it looks impressive. Didn't get a chance to hear it but looks interesting.

[ted_b]

Yes, uses MSB's R2R ladder DAC chips and Rockna's own filtering and analog stage design. Uses I-squared-S to a large extent, too.

[fmak]

6moons has a review in progress. Read here

 

Says: starting at €4'900 + regional VAT for Platinum single-ended version, €11'900 + VAT for balanced Signature version; €699 for Hydra X+

 

I was looking into this DAC awhile back and it looks impressive. Didn't get a chance to hear it but looks interesting.

 

You can rarely tell what this guy is reviewing! It's full of Pics of other hardware, presumably advertising.

 

My first encounter with a Rockna digital clock was several years ago. Underneath the hype was a load of......

[cchang]

Hi there,

 

I own a balanced version and I love it.

[johndoe21ro]

You can rarely tell what this guy is reviewing! It's full of Pics of other hardware, presumably advertising.

 

My first encounter with a Rockna digital clock was several years ago. Underneath the hype was a load of......

 

You are so very right! I had the same experience with the Wavedream. The plan is excellent, the modules are exquisite, the figures and options are amazing but the sound is bad. You can have the best ingredients and still mess up the cake and that's the case here. The balanced Platinum sounded far worse than the Simaudio Moon 380D with preamp and MIND. More compressed, thicker, less spacious and less separation no matter the filter used. Too bad for them!

[cchang]

You are so very right! I had the same experience with the Wavedream. The plan is excellent, the modules are exquisite, the figures and options are amazing but the sound is bad. You can have the best ingredients and still mess up the cake and that's the case here. The balanced Platinum sounded far worse than the Simaudio Moon 380D with preamp and MIND. More compressed, thicker, less spacious and less separation no matter the filter used. Too bad for them!

 

Oh really. It seems we come from different planets then. I wish I could telling more about an audition under a same system consist of MSB Platinum DAC IV plus. The system owner turn out in favour the visitor Rockna Wavedream more.

[johndoe21ro]

Oh really. It seems we come from different planets then. I wish I could telling more about an audition under a same system consist of MSB Platinum DAC IV plus. The system owner turn out in favour the visitor Rockna Wavedream more.

 

Personal taste and matching is very important although when it comes to DACs it's unlikely to be so. Maybe the Wavedream I've tested wasn't burned in at all. It was sent by the dealer to a buddy of mine. Never asked, never got interested in the subject. But I seriously doubt that it could have beaten the Simaudio after a burn in - the difference between them was pretty huge. As to the MSB Platinum DAC... this is definitely in a league of its own.

 

P.S. Rockna is made in my country so I'd love to be proud of this trademark. Unfortunately it's not the case here. Nucu Jitaru is a very intelligent fellow and all his ideas are quite clever. But the end result isn't usually what I hoped for and I know for sure that this is not only my opinion. Maybe the future will be brighter...

[FATHER]

I had the same experience with the Wavedream. The plan is excellent, the modules are exquisite, the figures and options are amazing but the sound is bad. The balanced Platinum sounded far worse than the Simaudio Moon 380D with preamp and MIND. More compressed, thicker, less spacious and less separation no matter the filter used. Too bad for them!

 

It is obvious that you have no idea what you're talking about. I own a Wavedream DAC and i bought it because it's really great... It has everything i was looking for : pitchblack background, precision, resolution, air and a sensation of effortless playback.

[ted_b]

It is obvious that you have no idea what you're talking about.

 

You guys aren't the first to hear a piece of digital equipment and come to vastly different conclusions (different rooms, different ears, different systems, different times, different levels of break-in, etc). Let's keep this at a reasonable (i.e no personal attacks) debate level. This is/was a good thread. I want to learn more about this manufacturer, from reasonable owner/listener feedback. Thanks.

[FATHER]

It was not my intention to be disrespectful of offensive . My apologies. johndoe21ro is an honorable member of the audiophile community ; i really appreciate him... But i still don't understand his blunt conclusions regarding the Wavedream DAC. Maybe something went wrong during the testings he made and i suggest repeating them... This piece of equipment is really special.. If i have to use just one word to describe the sound it delivers that would be : pure.

[ADCO]

I cant speak for the Rockna DAC as such but I have tried the Audiobyte Hydra Z DDC, made by the same people against an Audiophillio with an HDplex power supply and a borrowed BADA and it was as good as the BADA and better the the audiophillio ...in some ways subjectively better than the BADA at twice the price when the HDPlex power supply was attached to the Hydra Z....

There is a good quality build on this unit as well . I know, or more specifically I read the the Rockna DAC actually incorporates the Hydra Z implementation on its USB input so one would hope with that and the excellent DAC chips used it would be off to a very good start.

[FATHER]

I read the the Rockna DAC actually incorporates the Hydra Z implementation on its USB input

 

That's correct..

[cchang]

I've my new Wavedream Signature on backorder. Hopefully it would arrive by coming Jan.

BTW, the media server Wavedream NET is released. Initial impression at dealer is promising. Both CD & file replay via I2S are very good sounding.

 

[CKKeung]

I've my new Wavedream Signature on backorder. Hopefully it would arrive by coming Jan.

BTW, the media server Wavedream NET is released. Initial impression at dealer is promising. Both CD & file replay via I2S are very good sounding.

 

Hi FATHER & cchang,

 

I visited the Rockna dealer showroom in Hong Kong 2 weeks ago and I have the same opinion as yours : The Rockna Wavedream DAC is great!

 

However, please note that I auditioned the new Wavedream DAC which has the new Rockna proprietary 26-bit R2R modules and a new analog output stage. It must be significantly better than the previous Wavedream dac which used lower-bit R2R modules supplied by MSB.

 

Two friends of mine were so confident after hearing this standard 26-bit Wavedream version dac that they paid down-payments and preordered the Wavedream Signature version DAC which has 27-bit modules.

[FATHER]

Mine is Single Ended , with MSB Signature buffered modules.

[MikeJazz]

It is obvious that you have no idea what you're talking about. I own a Wavedream DAC and i bought it because it's really great... It has everything i was looking for : pitchblack background, precision, resolution, air and a sensation of effortless playback.

 

I recently experienced a msb playing less brilliantly and apparently the reason was that MSB needs a long break in. Which I have to admit as possible since I heard glorious sound from msb in previous times. So maybe the wavedream also suffers for that need of break in...

[ADCO]

I heard from the owner of Boston based Steriodesk , Fred Crane, a dealer of no ill repute that Rockna is soon to be launching an "entry level" DAC with new modules called the Wavelight....this will be interesting

[firedog]

The new verison doesn't use the MSB modules. They now have their own solution.

[johndoe21ro]

I don't want to discredit Wavedream in any way. On the contrary... Maybe the distributor has made a mistake by sending an unbroken DAC to compare against the well settled ones that I had prepared. I was not the one who borrowed them but a good friend of mine.. and it's been well over an year since the comparison took place and I guess it's too late now to ask any questions and solve this old enigma.

[Sunya]

Being built around a FPGA the DAC can be easily modified, so maybe it was improved with time passing.

 

Wavedream DAC | Rockna Audio

 

From Rockna website:

 

All building blocks of the Wavedream DAC concernig digital processing are built entirely on a single piece of programmable silicon – a FPGA . With a FPGA, it’s internal hardware architecture could be described by a piece of software (actually, a very complex one). When upgrading the Wavedream with new firmware, you actually change it’s hardware. This system allows great flexibility, obsolescence protection and let us improve the sound of your dac by changing its internal architecture, or add new cool features, or improve the existing ones.

[Sunya]

A preview

 

6moons audioreviews: Rockna Audio Wavedream

[Saleh84]

well, new owner in 2020. last post in 2016, wonder how alive this thread is.

anyway, it's been a bit more than a month with; Rockna Wavedream signature balanced.

all I can say, what an absolute winner of a DAC! I think I have landed my end game here. I got so impressed that I had to register to leave my feedback, as I felt not enough information is available on the forums about this awesome DAC.

I haven't heard every converter out there, but I had a denafrips terminator for a year and a half, heard chord Dave extensively in my setup, and I know two people who own AC kassandra ref ii which is very well regarded as a top dac, and I have heard their system many, many times. I preferred the sound of Rockna over all of these, as it struck a perfect balance to me, and was the most life-like out of all of them. no additional beautification/ euphoric sound, no lack in any aspect, not mechanical nor clinical, not exaggerated, very "musical" and organic yet very detailed and dynamic. just an exteremly pure and truthful rendering of any track you throw at it! the main job of a DAC, executed perfectly nonetheless.

I believe this company deserves much more exposure for such performance/sound. maybe such positive feedback I just wrote would help. yes, I would recommend this DAC to a friend, actually, would highly recommend it!

I've just ordered the accompanying streamer, Wavedream NET, to have a pure I2s source (currently singxer SU-1 and laptop after I sold my Aurender N10), which according to what I read elevates the performance even more. is that even possible lol? anyhow will post an update when I get that. another month of wait...!

[VerdantAudio]

A buddy of mine has one of these in his system and will tell you it is the best DAC he has ever heard and I know he upgraded to it from a Chord.  

 

That being said, we were just discussing this and he would also tell you that upgrading your server does far more than upgrading your DAC.  I also had a customer tell me that upgrading to Antipodes CX made far more of a difference than any DAC upgrade they ever made.  I don't have equipment in this league but would tell you that moving from a PC to a Roon Nucleus did more to my system than upgrading my DACs did.  

 

I know it is a little off topic but seems like it might be relevant.  Full disclosures, I am a displaying Chord dealer and have access to the Rockna and Antipodes lines.  Want to disclose any bias.