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


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hi club members,

 

Since about week I own Wavedream signature SE version.  It's paired with dedicated passive PC with Pink faun ultra OCXO clocks. Really wondering what and if improvements Wavedream NET would add.

 

I stream only, Tidal + roon.

Should I switch to quobuz and or HQ player?   I want more organic, less digital sound, I guess like all of us here :)

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Hi Prinz,

 

If new unit, from my personal experience give it at least 500 hours of play time for sound to settle/stop changing and finish break in. It can sound relatively harsh in its early days, just like any other audio component breaking in.

Try linear filter or NOS, more R2R sound than hybrid which has speed but more delta sigma like sound vs linear.

And yes your source plays a big role in sound signature. Try it with different servers if you can, the sound will change. I have the NET and i like it, but its not the only option out there.

 

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Hi Guys,

 

thank you for your help and response.

I have purchased Rockna in blind, I like it and it's a high quality D/A for sure. What I am doing right now - within next two weeks I will compare Rockna to few D/A in similar price range. Today I brought Chord Dave while in the next 14 days I will have Maitner MA3, DCS Bartok and maybe Mola Mola Tambaqui. All will be played in same setup, same cables, whenever possible - in pure DAC mode and via USB only. I don't want to complicate the process, that is why at least till the end of comparisons I will stick to ROON, while later on, after tests I will investigate your suggestions - Euphony.

 

I've got some initial observations already vs DAVE, but It is too early to make bold claims. My Rockna has not more than 150hours currently.

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On 8/13/2021 at 2:59 PM, Saleh84 said:

Hi Prinz,

 

If new unit, from my personal experience give it at least 500 hours of play time for sound to settle/stop changing and finish break in. It can sound relatively harsh in its early days, just like any other audio component breaking in.

Try linear filter or NOS, more R2R sound than hybrid which has speed but more delta sigma like sound vs linear.

And yes your source plays a big role in sound signature. Try it with different servers if you can, the sound will change. I have the NET and i like it, but its not the only option out there.

 

 

Hi Saleh84,

 

After Initial observations I seem to prefer Linear or Hybrid. Minimal and NOS do not bring my attention.

Also I found that Rockna due to just average quality aluminum chassis is very sensitive on the placement and type of material the DAC stands on. Really, much more sensitive than other DAC's I had.

After audition I will report what I found vs other DACs, it wont be a review, but rather a few lines of key observations.

 

I have a question, which is quite important for me at the moment. My Rockna has around 150 hours of playing. What should I expect in the next 200-300 hours of burn in? Same level of changes like on the beginning of the process?

Will the changes in sound quality slow down now, or not really?

 

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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.

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Hello Saleh84,

 

thank you for your input.

I do have pretty similar experience with burn in process, that the final sound signature should be pretty close to how the device sounded at the very beginning. I really hope this will be the case here, as I was pretty amazed when I plugged Rockna for the first time.

 

I will report my findings in comparison within these DAC's, but please expect a post after around 3 weeks from now.

 

I have a question regarding clock settings: local and stream. How should I interpret the difference? Does it mean that with "Local" turned on - the clock scheme relies more on Rockna internal clocks, while with "Stream" turned on - the key role of clock management is taken by the source (my audio PC)?

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Completely the opposite of this interpretation from what Nucu/rockna told me, even yours makes sense based on clock profile names. Here is what what i have been told:

Local will "lock" the dac clock on the better streamer clock, like in case with NET. It will follow the better clock.

Stream is when you are doubt the source quality, the dac clock will keep refreshing itself to maintain best sound possible instead of following the source clock.

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I found similar explanation to yours on some other forum, but was confused with the profile names, that is why I preferred to double check. In my system "local" sounds slightly thicker, more bloating, more lush. "stream" slightly thinner with less boomy bass, with slightly better overall control over the sound. Both are good, its difficult for me to claim which one is diffidently better.

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Till now I had Chord Dave and DCS Bartok in my house.

 

I found Chord Dave a great all rounder, very good balance between detail, precision, timing, focus and gentle warmth, delicate organic sound. What it liked in Dave was weight, focus and precision of low frequencies. I also liked that the sounds are smoothly moving from one to another, without any rush and with no sharp cut offs. My Rockna that time (had 150h that day) was worse in these two aspects. After 250h of burn in - Rockna is more or less the same in these areas and I dont find these to be weak points anymore. In my system and for my preference - I like Rockna more, but let's say it is one small step ahead, not a day and night difference.

 

DCS Bartok - I didn't like it at all. Actually I tried to listen to it three times, and could not last more than half an hour each time. Simply speaking it was all about the detail, precision, lifeless presentation without any emotions. Actually I found it to remove any possible emotion from the music. It was not harsh or over-detailed but basically there was absolutely no pleasure with that DAC.

To be honest I took my Singxer SDA 6 Pro, hooked it up and liked the sound much more than DCS.

Absolutely not my cup of tea.

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Good choice Prinz! Had an aurender N10 earlier, the NET bested it in every aspect. 

Now get yourself a decent short HDMI to connect I2s))

My choice was AQ 48 dragon 60cm (replacing an AQ diamond). Its expensive but that's me, i have a full AQ loom and love thier PSS cables 

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  • 1 month later...
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

 

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From my experience I would recommend good copper cables if you want the sound to be with good weight, mass, color and texture. Transparent Audio Powerlink Reference is a cable I can recommend in blind for anyone who search for pure emotion in music, rather than analysis and focus on details.

Generally speaking - Transparent Audio Cables are amazing cables for people who want to have fun with music.

 

From silver cables I would say there are only two brands that count: Kondo and Siltech, but still.. silver has specific sound signature, IMHO - sounds like shades of gray rather than full color palette.

That is all IMHO and I dont want to discuss this.

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  • 2 months later...
1 hour ago, PavelDosko said:

and one more question - is it neccesary to have Roon licence to operate Rockna NET ? Is Qobuz supported by Rockna NET ? 

 

thanks

these questions I can answer:

 

1 - yes, you need to purchase Roon licence separately. When you turn on and setup your NEt, you will be asked to input your Roon login.

 

2  yes - Qobuz and Tidal both are supported by Roon, therefore they work on NET. I use them both

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