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Back in my bass-player days in the 1970s, I used to do a regular cabaret gig, providing musical support for sundry British stand-up comic acts. I flashed back on those days when I recently watched Fierce Creatures, the John Cleese/Jamie Lee Curtis/Kevin Kline/Michael Palin vehicle, on satellite. There, playing the part of a zookeeper, was pint-size comedian Ronnie Corbett, whom I backed a few times. (He always bought the band a bottle of Scotch—you remember stuff like that!) Ronnie used to open his act with the old "They said Thomas Edison was crazy...they said Henry Ford was crazy...they…
By contrast, Wadia's DigiMaster filter looks at a number of samples and calculates what the shape of the curve should be between them using a "spline" algorithm. This has a much simpler impulse response (fig.2), and it can be seen that it is free from almost all the pre- and post-ringing. This better-behaved time-domain behavior, this better representation of transient information, is the raison d'être of the Wadia filter.
Figs.1 and 2 were generated using special digital data—digital "black" with a single sample high. In practice, all transients on a CD will have passed through an A/D…
But this historic album appeared to have been recorded by what in the UK we used to refer to as "jobsworths"—as in "It's more than my job's worth to let you into Mr. Corbett's dressing room to say thank you for the Scotch," or "It's more than my job's worth to take any special or extra care over this recording." "Play It Loud," says an inset in the CD jewelcase, and I wish I could without wincing, so offputting is the recording's combination of tape overload and aggressive instrumental sounds. But once the Wadia's playback level had been set at an acceptable volume, within very few minutes I…
Against the No.39
The $5995 Mark Levinson No.39 was reviewed by Wes Phillips in the November 1997 issue of Stereophile. Like the Wadia, the Levinson has a built-in volume control, except that it operates in the analog domain. It also has digital inputs and outputs, so I compared the D/A sections by driving the Wadia from the No.39 via the 0.5m length of Mod Squad Wonderlink I. Again, levels were matched at 1kHz.
The $5995 Mark Levinson No.39 was reviewed by Wes Phillips in the November 1997 issue of Stereophile. Like the Wadia, the Levinson has a built-in volume control, except that it operates in the analog domain. It also has digital inputs and outputs, so I compared the D/A sections by driving the Wadia from the No.39 via the 0.5m length of Mod Squad Wonderlink I. Again, levels were matched at 1kHz.
I found differences much harder to detect than with the BAT player, which is not surprising given that both solid-state players use similar DAC and output op-amp chips. The…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Single-box CD player with remote control, digital-domain volume control, 32x-oversampling DigiMaster decoding software operating with 24-bit precision, and balanced and unbalanced analog outputs. Digital inputs and outputs are optional. Digital resolution: 21 bits. Maximum output level: adjustable from 250mV to 4.4V to optimize volume-control action (4.4V RMS default). Measured frequency response: -3dB at 20kHz. Output impedance: <15 ohms. Power consumption: 25W.
Dimensions: 17" W by 7" H (including 0.5" spiked feet) by 16" D. Weight: 42 lbs.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
The Wadia 850 was auditioned in a system featuring primarily Thiel CS6 loudspeakers driven by a pair of Mark Levinson No.33H monoblocks. I also used B&W Silver Signatures driven by a Pass Labs Aleph 3. Comparison digital sources were a Mark Levinson No.30.5 HDCD D/A processor driven by a Mark Levinson No.31.5 transport via an Illuminati AES/EBU cable, and Balanced Audio Technology VK-D5 and Mark Levinson No.39 CD players. Line preamplifier (when used) was a Mark Levinson No.380S.
The interconnects used were all balanced: Madrigal CZ Gel-1 and…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
As supplied, the Wadia 850's maximum output level was 4.33V RMS, this measured at both the balanced and unbalanced jacks. Its output impedance from the balanced outputs was 16 ohms from below 20Hz to 20kHz; from the unbalanced outputs I measured 0.5 ohm! The output signal was in the correct (noninverted) polarity from both sets of outputs. The volume control operated in accurate 0.5dB steps, with superb channel matching. With an indicated setting of "99" equivalent to full level, "87" was -6dB and "75" -12dB. A setting of "5" was equivalent to -47.15dB, with "0"…
Wadia owners who don't intend to use an analog preamplifier should get their dealer to adjust the 850's internal gain setting to give an output that allows them to use the player's digital volume control in this region if they are to get full resolution. In practice, and given the probability that the noise floor is at least partly due to dither, I expect that attenuating the signal by up to 12dB (volume control set to "75") will not result in audible loss of resolution. Certainly I heard no difference in quality with the volume control set to this range.
The 850 offers good linearity,…
Attacking the compact disc has lately become almost a blood sport among audiophiles and audio writers. Not a month goes by that I don't read—often in Stereophile—some vehement statement about how CDs are a musical abomination.
The attack is two-pronged. On one flank, the CD is under assault as being vastly inferior to the "about-to-be-introduced" DVD audio format, with its 96kHz sampling rate and 24-bit word length. On the other, CD is charged with offering absolutely no potential for providing musical satisfaction.
The first line of attack—that we should abandon the CD because…
STEVE EARLE: Train a Comin'
Steve Earle, guitar, harmonica, vocals; Peter Rowan, guitar, mandolin, mandola, vocals; Norman Blake, guitar, dobro, fiddle, Hawaiian guitar; Roy Huskey, acoustic bass; Emmylou Harris, vocals
Winter Harvest WH 3302-2 (CD only). Steve Earle, William Alsobrook, prods.; Wayne Neuendorf, Mike Elliot, engs. ADD. TT: 40:01
Steve Earle, guitar, harmonica, vocals; Peter Rowan, guitar, mandolin, mandola, vocals; Norman Blake, guitar, dobro, fiddle, Hawaiian guitar; Roy Huskey, acoustic bass; Emmylou Harris, vocals
Winter Harvest WH 3302-2 (CD only). Steve Earle, William Alsobrook, prods.; Wayne Neuendorf, Mike Elliot, engs. ADD. TT: 40:01
Steve Earle has taken a mighty rough road. Though Guitar Town gets my vote for Best Country Record of the '80s—the songwriting genius of Hank Williams Sr. with a twang-stomp punk edge, and a fine protest album of redneck rant to boot—…