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Next, I used Cardas's all-natural Clear Beyond interconnects and speaker cables to connect the Wandla directly to the RCA inputs of the Parasound Halo A 21+ amplifier driving the Heretic AD614 speakers. This is my highest-resolving, most uncompressed amp-speaker combo, and it gave me the feeling I was experiencing the "real" Wandla, which now sounded clear and solid and considerably more color-saturated than it had with the wire-wart supply. In my notes, I wrote "Studio sound with flair!"

The next thing I noticed with the 300W A 21+ powering the 97dB/2.83V/m–sensitive Heretics…

Description: Digital/analog converter based around ESS Sabre's ES9038PRO chip. It is also a single-input (RCA) analog preamplifier. Digital inputs: AES3, PCM up to 192kHz, 24 bits, DoP 64; TosLink, PCM up to 96kHz, 24 bits; RCA, PCM up to 196kHz, 24 bits, DoP 64; USB-C, PCM up to 768kHz, 32 bits, DSD 256; ARC, PCM up to 196kHz, 24 bits; I2S, PCM up to 768kHz, 32 bits, DSD 256. Plus, MQA decoder and renderer (all inputs). Output impedance: balanced, 44 ohms; unbalanced, RCA 22 ohms. Power consumption: 10W (idle), 15W (max).
Dimensions: 8.6" (217mm) W × 8.1" (…

Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server; Denafrips Terminator Plus, HoloAudio Spring 3 DACs.
Preamplifier: HoloAudio Serene.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo A 21+, Elekit TU-8900.
Headphone amplifiers: LTA Z10e, Feliks Envy.
Loudspeakers: Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a Gold Badge, Heretic AD614, Genelec G Three.
Headphones: HiFiMan HE R10P and Susvara, JPS Labs Abyss Diana TC, Meze Elite, Koss ESP 950.
Cables: Digital: Manufacturer's own USB (with Wandla), AudioQuest Diamond USB (with Denafrips and HoloAudio DACs). Interconnect: Cardas…

I measured the Ferrum Wandla with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). As HR had told me he much preferred the sound with the optional Ferrum HYPSOS power supply, I performed a complete set of measurements using that supply (set to the appropriate 24.0V), then repeated some of the tests with the wall-wart.

Looking first at the Wandla's behavior as a D/A processor, Apple's USB Prober utility identified the Wandla as "Ferrum WANDLA" from "HEM" with the serial number string "12 mb=HEM014964;serce=HEM015368." The USB port…

The love of music can drive human beings to astonishing lengths. For Prinz, cofounder/owner of California's Amoeba Music chain, that fervor revolves around the work of country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. Despite the often-outlandish mythology that's grown up around this…

Girard explains how this not knowing drives history and…

HE-R10P
In Herbworld, HiFiMan's HE-R10P closed-back wood-cupped planar magnetics are performing at a level equal to or above that of every other model in my headphone herd. In daily use, their comfort and grainless presentation conspire to make them disappear. The R10P's focus and resolve (and $5499 price) are almost equal to HiFiMan's $6000 Susvara. Its transparency is almost at the Abyss AB-1266 level. The 83dB-sensitive Susvara are open-back. When my room is quiet, they exhibit a blacker background than the 30 ohm, 99dB-sensitive R10Ps, where I can always hear the vibrating walls…

There was a time in London, in the mid-'80s, when a party would invariably close with a couple of Pogues songs. It didn't matter what music had preceded them—it could be reggae or soul or whatever—but the Pogues would be played, to enthusiastic sing-a-longs by the party guests. Even I was known to join in occasionally.

As often as not, one of the songs would be the Pogues's cover of Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town." It didn't matter that the song had been written about Salford (a city in Greater Manchester): Everyone would…

That quest may be ongoing and never-ending, because our tastes and preferences evolve over time, money comes and goes, and we're simply never satisfied. And even if we are, eventually, we're audiophiles, and the industry always offers something interesting and new, or…