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Wadia 170i and Benchmark Dac1 - anyone try it?

I noticed that some Agon members have replaced their CD player with the new Wadia 170i and a dac. I've been look for a transport for my Dac1 to replace the DVD player I'm currently using. I've demoed some CD players acting as transports to the Dac1 and have definitely noticed an improvement in sound especially in the bass over my five year old DVD player. Interestingly my new Sony 350 Blu ray player sounded much worse as a transport (coax) than the cheap Dvd player which cost one fifth as much.

Any feedback on the new Wadia 170i (as compared to other transports) would be welcomed.
adasilva
teddy_bear
112 posts
 
Yeah, and all CD transports sound the same
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
What are you comparing? CD or DVD or BD as your music source?

Perhaps it is a software bug for your player. Perhaps it is using the DRC processing to reduce dynamic range. The other possibility is that you are not sending redbook CD 16bit/44.2Khz to the Benchmarkl but PCM 24/96 or 24/48 which opens the door to errors in upsampling conversion.

Also - one other thing - most Sony devices do something to the digital output to prevent copying. If the source is copy protected then it limits coaxial/optical output to 16 bit 48 Khz. If you were playing a DVD with good 24 bit/48 Khz sound then it was truncated to 16 bit - thta may be your problem right there.

Check DTS setting, Dolby Digital Setting,48Khz/96Khz setting, Audio DRC setting, - default is normally "Auto" which means you get a compressed audio signal NOT wide dynamic range (no compression). Also check Downmix setting - there are a lot of ways you may NOT get what you want. In some cases the HDMI connector to the TV will be enough to set the audio settings so that it is compressed for TV!

Sony are a PAIN with their hard to use and understand manuals...
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Let me try to make it more clear: If the two audio transports are reading the CD or DVD or BD in a "bit-transparent" manner then it should sound identical coming out your DAC1 (no matter which player or which digital connection is used). If it does not sound identical (which you have reported) then something is being done to modify the bits!
lightminer
164 posts
 
That is also my understanding.

TeddyBear - the thing is that re-clocking is relatively new. What people are saying is that if the DAC re-clocks the data at its input, then it is independent of transport.

I don't know 100% if this is true, but this seems to be where things are heading. The Bryston also re-clocks.
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
I just installed a 170i, ruining digital coax into the digital-in of my Playback Designs MPS-5 CD/SACD player. My first impression is very, very good.

Hopefully I'll get time this weekend to do some critical comparisons with the original discs vs. the lossless output from the my 160G iPod Classic. If so, I'll post a more in-depth follow up or maybe a Review.

Dave
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