weyskipper

Thanks Chris, great list. Tidal is terrific. I am playing it through the Aurender x100, couldn't be easier. I am slightly depressed, thinking about all the time I spent ripping 4000 CDs... Now it's all available online!

Chris, thanks for the review. I have come to a similar conclusion. It is a really interesting product. Given all the great features, it just seems like a no brainier to want this product. But then you listen to it... and it dissapoints. The part that puzzles me is why so many people rave about it. I find the sound harsh and tiring, not what I would describe as musical at all. Looking at the rest of the thread I can see there will be many who don't agree with me.

Thanks for posting. Great pics. I am still astounded how they managed to get the sound out of the Intuition. Most of the components are pretty normal, but the sound is sublime. Maybe less really is more...

The reviews are now starting to arrive. This review reflects exactly what I have found Wadia Intuition Power DAC – Reviews | TONEAudio MAGAZINE

Excellent, I look forward to see what you think. Unfortunately, the only outputs on the Wadia is the speaker out, would have been very interesting to see how it plays into a Krell 403 - but unfortunately not possible. Keep me posted.

Would be interested to hear what you thought. I do use it with the Wilsons, a really good match.

I have, the Devialet is very good, but was no match for the Krell+Weiss+audio research combo I used. The Wadia on the other hand is a real option for replacement for this stack. As always there are pros and cons with all. There are many features of the Devialet that makes it very impressive, but when it comes to sound it is just not up there. I suspect once you've listened to both you may come to the same conclusion.

Here is a quick update on life with the Wadia Intuition. I have had a few learnings over the past two weeks: - The USB port appears to provide better sound than optical or coaxial. I have not tested AES. - In my system the USB cable did make a difference, however, it wasn't massive, but worthwhile. - Keep the power as clean as you can. - In JRiver, set the buffer size to hardware default. I found it produced clicks otherwise when switching resolution. - A week of running in makes a difference it then appears to be stable. - The analog inputs are pretty good, my sense is that is equalised to reduce harshness. I am not so sure whether I like this, but it is quite minimal so I can live with it. I will not be using it primarily for analog input. Depending on your listening configuration, you may want to see whether you like the sound. Overall I can still highly recommend it. I would be really interested to hear what others are finding. An area of great interest for me is whether a change from the MacMini to CAPS or Aurender is a worthwhile change. For the moment I am quite happy with the MacMini, but always open to suggestions.

I use a Transparent HPUSB. In the context of my system it works. However, I can discern greater differences on any other part of the system than on the USB. I have for instance found that power conditioning and cables makes a remarkable difference compared to quite a small difference in USB. But having said that, context is very important. A HiFi is a system of components. If you have a top class amp, pre-amp, speakers, interconnects, speaker cables, power conditioning etc., it is quite likely that you will hear the difference between USB cables. Therefore, it is virtually impossible for someone with a system that is completely different to yours to make a recommendation. Your USB cable is less important than just about any other component. But it is not to be ignored in the right context. On my high horse now, but I find it incredibly arrogant of some people to say that USB cables are the equivalent of snake oil. If they understood the basics of USB audio transmission they would realise that the data stream is prone to error and the better cable will provide a better result. I suspect that these guys have not even taken the effort to understand that USB has quite a few sub-protocols and the same protocol is not used for a file copy as a music stream. Off the horse now!

I think you are correct, but the information re the Intuition is scant, so worth confirming. It appears that they have used very standard off the shelf components. For example they use a standard Sabre ESS DAC. When I looked at this thing on paper I thought, oh dear, another Devialet with cheap components, but it is really quite different. The music is amazing. I have not enjoyed my music as much in years.

I am uncertain what your dealer is referring to. I was able to plug in my standard banana plugs with no issue.

The demo was at my home, the configuration was: - MacMini with JRiver - USB connection - Wadia Intuition - Wilson Watt Puppy 8 - Nordost Valhalla speaker cable - Nordost Valhalla power cable - Quantum QX4 power conditioner I have since purchased an Intuition because I was so impressed. It is obviously difficult to describe the sound on the internet, so I will try an contextualise as much as possible. My existing system is MacMini, Weiss DAC 202, Oyade Firewire, Nordost Valhalla interconnects, Audio Research Ref 5, Krell Evo 403, Nordost Valhalla speaker cable, Wilson Watt Puppy 8, Quantum QX4 power, Valhalla power cables. The existing system for me is a great sounding system. It had beautiful staging, 3D and very accurate. The combination of the Audio Research and the Krell 403 worked beautifully and provided the finesse of tubes with the punch of solid state. Very hard to fault. The shock was that the Wadia Intuition did ALL of this plus it delivered an even more convincing sound stage and smooth as silk volcals. 95% of the time the existing combination was perfect, but with some vocalists it was a bit harsh. For example Bjork's "I've seen it all" from Selmasongs is a hauntingly beautiful song, but could be a bit harsh and unpleasant. The Wadia renders even challenging songs like this beautifully. For me the biggest challenge was to overcome my own mental challenge of saying that a $8000 unit cannot possibly replace a $50,000 combination. Over many years I have tried multiple all in one units that were hyped up but couldn't match or even come close to the existing system. I won't mention the names of the existing flavour de jour, but I have listened to most of them. I eventually resigned myself to the fact that high-end HiFi weighs a ton, runs hot, has lots of ugly cables and is finicky. Not so anymore, the Intuition is truly high end and should be treated as such. I am a convert, I am really thinking of getting rid of all the old stuff, not because it is bad, it is actually pretty amazing, but I now have a small box that does sound superbly. My suggestion is to get a home audition as soon as you can, then you can decide. Once I started listening, I couldn't stop.

I am interested to hear what others are thinking of the Wadia Intuition. I auditioned one last week and was completely blown away. I initially thought of using it in my study as a second system, but I am now on the verge of making it my main system. Hard to believe, but true. Any thoughts?

That's a great question, but I will have great difficulty putting it in words! Both are terrific DACS, I live with both. I currently use the Amarra 305 in my study. The Weiss is obviously more straight-forward to install. Sonically, the Weiss has similar definition to the Amarra, but it has a bit more full-ness / roundedness. This could be down to many factors. I use a standard DB25 to XLR on the 305 and also I suspect the power supply is not quite as good. The Weiss has the benefit of XLR connects, so I use the Nordost Valhalla there. Hope that makes sense.

Thank you all for the input. I have installed Audirvana 1.1.1 plus. It works well. I have come to the conclusion that certain systems require certain players. My system does not go well with Audirvana. It becomes too bright and harsh. I have auditioned quite a few DACs and players over the last two years. Here is my subjective assessment of all I have heard. I obviously like my current system. I wish Amarra was stable then I would love it 100%. I own a Metric Halo ULN 8 / Amarra 305. It is great, but not as good as the Weiss as a DAC. Yes, I know it does much more. But I am a simple guy and I want one on-off switch. I had a Wadia 781i. Highly commended. But does not do 192k. So I went for the Weiss. Tried a Cambridge DAC as an experiment. Sold it quickly, too boomy. Tried a DCS Debussy. Incredibly analytical. No soul. Left me cold. I have now tried the Aurender player. It is really very good. But it does not go well with my Weiss. I suspect it is the SPDIF combination. The Weiss is superb on FireWire - hard to match. I suspect many of us are perfectionists and want everything to be 100%. If Amarra had no bugs, ie played 192 without glitches and didn't crash at least once a week, it would be close to 100%. If I could give advice to Sonic Studio, tell your customers which version of the OS X and iTunes actually has been tested and proven. Also, give them a script to turn off everything on the Mac that is not needed. It's that simple - and obvious. I don't buy this nonsense that Linux sounds better than Mac or PC. The key question is can you control the processes? On a Mac a I am confident it is possible, but I expect the software providers to wake up and provide the service to do this. Sonic Studio, you are on to a a great thing - but get your act sorted out - quickly. Aurender, might just have a player with FireWire soon. I will buy one in a heartbeat if you don't sort out the nonsense.