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

[louawalters]

On 4/24/2021 at 2:39 PM, Zurv said:

haha.. i still don't have it yet .. maybe it will be 6 weeks. That said, the dealer (maybe to make a deal) said 3-4 weeks. In the meantime i keep spending money. ugh.

 

but the weather is getting nice. I have my shots. Roses should be blooming soon.. 

Hi there, I am another Rockna Wavelight DAC user here.  I feed via Pink Faun I2S Ultra being fed power from Farad external power supply.  In terms of the fuse - I have asked rockna a couple of times what amp fuse, and I do not get a response.  Assuming the small size (dimension wise).  What differences did you notice going to SR Orange?  I use blues on everything else within my audio chain but have not yet gotten around to change the fuse on the Rockna, which I have owned since last Aug.

 

Any one have an opportunity to compare USB to I2S?   I originally used USB going out of SOTM but once I got the PF I2S and built a custom streamer, I have not tried.  

[louawalters]

22 minutes ago, Zurv said:

*sigh* - back into grumpy mode again. The i2s card has the channels reversed.

When i ordered the card there is an option to pick which dac it is for. 

 

Also either of the PinkFaun cards worked when internally powered by the computer... so. yeah.. there is that too.  I an external linear, which does work, but take up way to much room and likely makes zero diff. 

On the wavelight dac there are three i2s modes to choose from.  Not sure Wavedream has the same modes.   Select i2s mode 2 and the channels no longer are reversed.   I too have a PF i2s card with the top level clock

    I seem to be shying away from i2s and almost prefer USB.

[louawalters]

13 hours ago, Zurv said:

flipping thru the options i don't see an option for different modes. hrmm.. there are 2 inputs on the back. Maybe they are different.. but..  no documents came with the unit. The manual online is from 2014...

How would you change it on the WL?

 

On the plus side, the popping i was getting from the PF USB bridge is gone. Disconnecting the battery pack on the AQ diamond cables did the job. It was still only an issue related to the PF, but i feel a little bit better that something is working. :)

I'm still loving the unit, but i think this is the last time i'm getting costly gear from out of the way places/vendors. RE: Rockna 

 

Are you finding any change when switching clocks on your wavelight? local/streaming? I don't. (i only have the OCXO clock on the PF - but i didn't expect it to. I wanted to make sure i wasn't missing something. Now i know.)

So far my fav sound is going thru HQplayer.. but I have one album on my PC. :D 

For WL the I2S mode is in the menu  - I2S mode 1, 2 or 3.   But strangely enough, there is no option for local or remote clock.

I built a custom end-point with PF 12S no fan, no HD, and it runs Euphony Endpoint.  It is a new generation low power AMD, so uses a big ass copper heat sink to cool CPU (no CPU fan).  6 cores so no issues running HQPlayer.  ROON server sits on the other side of the house, network is fiber single mode into the audio room, where it terminates to ether regen.   I am finding that I actually prefer the sound of USB straight off of the motherboard.  To me it sounds more organic.  I2S to me sounds slightly more lively but can sound forced on some recordings.   I am using an external power supply (FARAD) to power the pink faun.   I have a JCAT USB XE on order, and will try that (with the Farad external power supply).   I am not expecting much of a change.   I am currently using HQPLAYER, and find that it does make a subtle improvement.  I do not use RAAT streaming protocol at all, even without HQ up-sampling on the endpoint, Euphony allows to stream using NAA protocol from ROON and that sounds significantly better.  In my system, moving ROON server out of the stereo room, as well as the spinning hard drive, made the biggest improvement.      I am contemplating upgrading to either the Wavedream Balanced or Holo May.   I am not sure how much of an improvement I will actually realize though.    I upgraded from a PS Audio Direct Stream, and yes the Wavelight was better, but it wasn't night and day.   Upgrading the streamer, IMHO made a more significant improvement.   BUT - the rest of my system is fully balanced, and I wonder if a fully balanced R2R is the way to go.   Still very much unsure.  @zurv, is your WD the Standard Balanced version or the Signature?

 

 

[louawalters]

4 hours ago, PavelDosko said:

... without comment ...

 

what OS uses your streamer ? PF I2S is not for linux based streamers with Intel processors 

Most I2S (pinkfaun.com)

Yup - I learnt that the hard way.  Although I knew there was a possibility that it wouldn't work with my initial Intel Board.   I now have AMD board and using Euphony Stylus.  No issues whatsoever....  Just not sure I prefer it to MB USB....

[louawalters]

5 hours ago, PavelDosko said:

I prefer SOTM tx USBexp card to connect Rockna Wavedream

Thanks Pavel!   Is there anyone here in North America who has replaced the fuse in the Wavelight DAC?   I have sent a couple emails to Rockna on this topic and they go unanswered.     Its typical with 1/2 the voltage the current value doubles, but I am not sure that is the case with this fuse?

 

Was there a significant improvement?   When I switched to SR Blues in my DS DAC there was a noticeable bump up in sound quality.

[louawalters]

On 6/25/2021 at 10:44 AM, ds2k said:

The fuse is in the power inlet. I use SR Orange fuses for both Wavedream DAC and NET. 

What was the improvement with the SR orange?

[louawalters]

2 hours ago, ds2k said:

When I started experiencing fuse upgrade few years ago I really cared about fuse type (fast/slow blow…) and fuse rating (how many ampere…)

 

Now I no longer care about exactly match of fuse rating. Just make sure it is high enough. 

That in lies the problem  SR Orange fuses are expensive, too low, and it blows, too high and circuit boards get fried :-)

 

SR Orange in WaveLight should make a noticeable difference, just not sure what value to purchase for North America.

[louawalters]

I found the answer, with a magnifying-glass the fuse in my WL DAC is a T6.3 250V for 115AC.

[louawalters]

23 hours ago, PavelDosko said:

Try Euphony Stylus, without Roon

Agreed.  Euphony Stylus memory playback kills Roon in terms of sound quality.

[louawalters]

On 8/14/2021 at 4:35 PM, Saleh84 said:

Hi Prinz,

 

That's definitely interesting having all these dacs at once to play with! Would be looking forward to hear what you find out.

 

Its been a long time relatively since i got my WD. Generally speaking, I have came to notice while trying many audio devices over the past years, that when you plug a new device in, for the first few hours or a day/two, sound signature usually tend to be real close to what the final sound will be but lacking some details/refinement, maybe even some dynamis. Then somehow things go south, north and the sound keeps on changing for a while. I attribute this to breaking in the internals, caps, resistors, etc. With R2R dac which i owned two of them so far, I noticed its usually a longer process than other equipment. I could be wrong, could be placebo, but that's my own finding. Some people don't believe in break in, and yeah it could be simply imaginations or AC fluctuations. But i do believe in break in. I can't remember the stages I've been through with the wavedream signature, but there was a time in like a week/two weeks in, where it became a bit sharper, lost some mids/body, then came back to balance. 500 hrs should show u what it would be like really, the rest is tweaks in the settings up to your liking and a proper source. Its sensitive to that esp with clock setting on local. If unsure of source, use stream.

Its a great capable dac, but after all it boils down to your preference. Just make sure to give it proper play time before you decide if its your cup of tea or not.

Hi - completely agree here.

 

I have a Wavelight, with Orange SR fuse.  I have owned the dac for just over a year.  I have recently upgraded the clock to my EtherRegen (Afterdark Emperor Double Crown) which made an immense improvement overall.  I really love the ROCKNA Wavelight, and feel with the upstream clock improvements it has really improved overall ability to place instruments in their own space, and really highlight the true texture of instruments..  However (and I suppose I am nitpicking), I sometimes notice almost too much presence region on some recordings.  Others have reported this with the WL as well.   I am trying to see if I can resolve with some cable changes.  Power cord is currently Lessloss c-marc, and interconnect is Grover Huffman Pharaoh Balanced.   I'm told there is a family resemblance between the WL and WD, with the WD providing more of what the WL offers with less of that emphasis on upper mids.   

 

What Power cords / interconnects are y'all using with your ROCKNA Dac?  

I have also tried High Fidelity Revel and CT2 with the ROCKNA, and didn't like either of them with this DAC.  Too "digital" sounding.

I really like the LessLoss, and they were wonderful with my previous PS DS DAC, not sure they are the best match with the Rockna?

 

FWIW, I am using the Synergetic Research Galileo SX USB cable between my custom build endpoint and the Rockna - and it is amazing!  

 

I am looking to tame those upper-mids just a wee bit....   Pre amp is PS BHK Signature with NOS RCA 12AU7s....  Its dead neutral!

 

Thoughts / Opinions welcome based on experience (what you used and like, vs didn't like with your Rockna).

 

Thanks

Lou