Anyone auditioned the new Wadia Di322 DAC?

[pingpong]

Hi All,

 

as above, has anyone auditioned the new Wadia Di322 DAC?

 

any comments/views are appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Cheers

[speshal]

I had the Wadia 321 Dac which is essentially the same thing minus the DSD capabilities.

 

I thought it was the best sounding SS DAC under $5k. I replaced it with a Lampizator Big 7 Balanced, which is better, but now you're talking about dealing with tubes and a price tag over five figures. (Prior to the Lampi, there are plenty of costlier DACs that I passed on using over the Wadia.)

 

I'm sure the new 322 is similar if not better than the 321, but you can score a great deal on the the 321 now if you don't need the DSD capabilities (the 321 does 24/192).

 

I was actually just talking with a dealer/friend last week who has a couple of 321 remaining. I suspect someone is going to get those for a steal now with the release of the 322.

 

Lot's of people love the smaller bespoke digital companies that have popped up recently, and I do too (i.e. Lampizator). However, there really isn't anything negative to say about Wadia. They've been doing digital forever and you almost never hear someone say anything bad about their products' reliability or sound quality. Heck, one of the best sounding rooms at RMAF was still using one of their older CDP.

 

Now, they have loads of additional infrastructure, engineering resources, service centers, and support via the ARC, Wadia, McIntosh family of electronics. I feel confident in my experience recommending any Wadia that fits in your budget.