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

[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.  

[VerdantAudio]

For endgame server, check out Antipodes.  I have talked to a few folks who said they are completely game-changing devices.  I have no direct experience but know a few folks who have been super happy.  

[VerdantAudio]

I have since become a Rockna dealer and have an idea.  Theoretically, the server is supposed to start shipping in May-June 2021.   There are a lot of back-orders from late last year when we believed that it would ship in February.  Those have to be cleared.  
 

That means new orders hopefully will begin being accepted by end of June but this is not guaranteed.  

[VerdantAudio]

Sorry about not getting back sooner...I was out with my family the day these were coming through and it slipped my mind to pop back in.  

 

The thing that makes the I2S connection work so well with the Wavedream NET server is that it leads to virtually flawless synchronization of the clocks.  If you aren't using a Wavedream DAC and NET Server, I2S will not deliver the same benefit.  Easy enough then connect via USB and select whichever clock is better, DAC or Server/Renderer. 

 

I have the Roon Nucleus+ and the Antipodes K50 attached to my network at the moment and did a little testing.  The most noticeable change in terms of sound is the clock.  With the Nucleus+, the DAC clock sounds MUCH better.  With the Antipodes K50, the Antipodes Clock sounds better though the difference is not as dramatic.  When I had the Antipodes K40 attached, DAC Clock was superior.  You get the point.  This had a bigger impact than any of the filters.  

[VerdantAudio]

As a dealer, I don't have specs at this time on the Wavelight server other than you can attach up to 8TB of memory.  I would not assume it is the same as the Wavedream NET minus the drive.  

 

 

[VerdantAudio]

Trying to find one unit that is perfect in every way is tough.  It would be better if the Wavedream volume control was analog but it is very good.  

 

the best volume control is probably in the new borg audio units.  dune and warp have insanely good R2R volume controls, but they have a delta sigma DAC, though a very good one.