Rockna wavelight dac/pre or Bel canto EIX dac/pre

[hifinutt]

Some beautiful dac/pre amps out there . Got the Bel canto pre 5 here currently which is absolutely delightly . easy peasy to use , beautifully analogue and organic and sounds very good . thats staying for a long time

Anyway just pondering the bel canto EIX range which is just above the E-one range . loads of dealers , great support with repairs [ coherant audio] . superb remotes . teeny bit pricy like most USA suff . the Dac /pre has a streamer / phono/ dac and can be used as a pre

from the BC guff

The E1X DAC Control Preamp marks entry into our Advanced Integrated Platform that combines our high-resolution DAC, streamer, and phono stage into a single chassis that is designed for music lovers who want an uncomplicated, uncompromised, and exhilarating home audio experience. The E1X sonic characteristic emphasizes realistic and compelling musical expression.
https://belcantodesign.com/home/e1x/e1x-dac/
https://flic.kr/p/2oh6AA6]e1X-dac-stack - Copy[/url] by phil']https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/][/url], on Flickr
now Rockna used to be sold by BD audio who was ex wam and i heard a lovely one . very well made . looks similar to the BC but no idea what remotes are like
they are cheaper than the EIX pre at about 6k or 4.5k ex display .

https://flic.kr/p/2oh5fir]rockna wavelight[/url] by phil']https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/]/url], on Flickr

from the review

The Wavelight’s analogue solid-state audio signal path is fully discrete with a hefty power supply showing off totally separate sections for digital and analogue circuits. Two large toroidal mains transformers and a humongous (for this type of a component) filtering bank of over 100,000mF capacitance on permanent stand-by speak for themselves. The Wavelight DAC/Preamplifier offers five digital (SPDIF, USB, AES/EBU, I2S, optical) and one analogue input, as well as single-ended and balanced line outputs. It can also be used as a line preamplifier with one particular feature – the volume control inside the Wavelight is fully analogue, although it is controlled digitally, thus any precious data truncation and loss can be avoided. All vital controls are physically present on the sleek front panel next to a crisp and large display window. Android and Apple iOS applications are freely available for remote use of the Wavelight DAC/Preamplifier with exact replica of all the functions on the unit itself.


In the company’s product literature, Rockna pledges its allegiance to a, “highly precise digital sound, but with an analogue charm; rich in detail, but free of digital glare” This is where I2S kicks in, as it is a very difficult task to make that claim plausible and, more importantly, audible in a system that doesn’t support I2S. Multiple sources were used and included CD, high-resolution disc formats, internet radio and, of course, a vast selection of all existing high-resolution music files (WAV, FLAC, AIFF) played back either from a dedicated advanced server setup or, occasionally, even from my high-end laptop computer. A lot of time has been spent using commercial streaming services, predominantly Tidal and Qobuz in their highest quality resolution setting
The overall sonic signature of the Rockna Wavelight DAC is very traditional, almost old fashioned in character and colours, but ultra-modern in terms of how its highly musical character happens to be imposed on the listener. A beguiling analogue tonal warmth and true richness of musical detail are complemented by the Wavelight’s ability to react swiftly to any dynamic and tonal changes ruthlessly dictated by the piece of music played. Speaking in digital terms, I often felt like I was listening to the most beautiful Wadia digital sound of yesteryear rejuvenated to be able to keep pace with the most capable and sonically impressive DACs of today. In other words, a high degree of musicality without any dissection of music; detail serving music, rather than the other way around. A very low level of noise serves Wavelight’s enviable dynamic capability very well indeed. From the quietest passages to the loudest moments within a wide variety of recordings, Wavelight exhibited a solid and firm grip that remained present at all times, totally undeterred by anything thrown at it. Soundstaging is also very good indeed and well developed in all three dimensions. Interestingly enough, Wavelight is quite insensitive to any particular genre of music and handles admirably complex classical music as much as small jazz combos or solo singers, etc. Overall, a very versatile performer ticking all the boxes.
https://hifiplus.com/articles/rockna-wavelight-dac-preamplifier/

sounds rather glowing really

anyone tried rockna ? handcrafted in Romania ...

 

[MartinC]

These are products outside my budget and experience but are you aware of the Holo Audio Spring 3 DAC, which has the option of a built-in class A analogue pre-amp? I'm aware of this from the video below, which is a mix of objective/technical info. with a lot of subjective opinion as well (so don't be put of by the very start if you don't care at all about measured performance):

 

[Juancho]

I trialled the Rockna Wavedream SE (16k) and was very under-whelmed. With no upsampling switched in it was seriously unimpressive. With upsampling switched in it did some very weird things. Leonard Cohen has a gravelly chesty voice but it made Live in Dublin sound like he had a very serious chest infection. It also put the image behind the speakers. My big caveat is I heard it at a dealer's, using my preamp, but with the dealer's 20k streamer, speakers and a 20k kt88 power amp. So I never heard it in my own system

 

[karlsushi]

I've been looking at DAC/Pres and there are quite a few well-respected ones around this price range.

I have a Chord DAVE in my small system (doubling for headphone duties) so looking for something that can compete, but ideally not as expensive for my other system. It's all a bit in advance because I'm sorting speakers first, but no harm in looking.

Anyway, the others on my list are:

- PS Audio DirectStream (new version about to be released I believe)
- Metrum Adagio
- Lampizator Amber or Baltic (with volume control)
- Bricasti Design M3

I too came across the Rockna in my search, but there seems to be no shortage of this kind of thing these days.

Not started demoing yet, but if any of the above can get close to the DAVE for a bit less cash, then I'll be very happy. Just seems a ridiculous idea to have 2 Chord DAVEs in the same house, plus they've gone up in price, so a decent wadge of cash nowadays which would set my purchase back a few months.

Would be interested in your thoughts if you get to listen to any of the above.

 

[hifinutt]

karl .. add the EIX pre to your list and give me your thoughts . i would be interested . I am currently a bit undecided whether to get Tony to pimp my pre 3vbs or to go for the EIX pre /dac and see how it compares to the mighty Black ice valve dac

we dont hear much about metrum since they went bust and got up and about again. worth a try

What i like about BC stuff is it lasts for years . In the 15 years since i had it all i have had is a VBS1 die on me . The same dealer i bought from 12 years ago is still selling BC and supporting it . So many brands come and go . even croft has bit the dust . storm audio didnt last long and so many . but BC still goes on. They are very active on FB too

 

[Cable Monkey]

Using a Holo Spring 3 L2 right now. It had the pre-amp option and I was able to obtain an enhanced USB module for it. If you want to hear it Phil just shout!

 

[hifinutt]

thanks so much henry , just passed near you as well !!! will bear that in mind

 

[MartinC]

Using a Holo Spring 3 L2 right now. It had the pre-amp option and I was able to obtain an enhanced USB module for it. If you want to hear it Phil just shout!

I'm curious what you think of it?

 

[Cable Monkey]

I'm curious what you think of it?

It Is something of a revelation. It isn’t easy to describe but from a practical point of view, every input sounds equally good and it is the first DAC I’ve owned where I was happiest doing nothing to my files. No upsampling, conversion or DSP of any kind.

 

[Patu]

I use the exactly same model of Holo as Cable Monkey, even with the same upgraded USB module. With the analog relay based pre-amp module (which is great btw) I can connect it directly to my ATC SCM50ASL's. It's a stunning DAC, even more so when you consider the price.

Before I owned Linn ADSM/3 and auditioned Auralic Vega G2.1 and Mola Mola Tambaqui (both at home in my own setup). I was close to buying Mola Mola, it truly is a great DAC/streamer/pre. But the price was just too steep compared to what it gave me over Linn ADSM/3. Auralic Vega G2.1 was kind of the same story, but very different sound signature compared to Mola Mola. Airy and big sound but way too relaxed, it lacked attack and punch. Little bit boring I'd say. Tambaqui had this huge holographic and deep sound with better bite than Auralic but I had this feeling that it would've benefitted of a separate preamp. Somehow it also lacked that last bite and punch when directly connected to ATC's.

Then came Holo Spring 3. Right out of the box it just sounded somehow correct and right. Superbly natural sound. It had a SLIGHT edge in the sound first but it went away when I got some hours on it and experimented with different XLR-cables. Holo has awesome attack and punch, it's the most dynamic and lively sounding DAC out of the ones I've mentioned in this post. It's also the cheapest option by a huge margin. Highly recommended. Also you can affect the sound quality of Holo with upsampling. It has separate DACs for PCM and DSD, latter being preferred by me. I use HQPlayer with it to give the last touch to the sound quality (everything upsampled to DSD256).

Btw. IIRC, there's a comparison of Rockna Wavelight and Holo Spring 3 at SuperBestAudioFriends forum.

 

[hifinutt]

read this from ollie
Ever since the Soekris DAC landed in my system, it has been ever present in my daily listening habits. It’s abilities have been clear to me, and since the addition of the dual LPSU we made to power it, it has been unsurpassed in sound quality and value for money against anything digital I have compared it to.

However, today we had a real challenger. Something that has been met with universal approval and even garnered positivity around its design from engineering quarters. No mean feat!

Details about the Holo Spring 3 can be found here for those who want to read about it:

magnahifi.com/holo-audio-spring-3-dac-kte-kitsune-r2r-dsd1024/

For the first listening tests we left the Spring 3 with PLL on and connected to the Mutec MC3+USB

The first 10-15mins of listening were, well….underwhelming.

Listening to Lou Rawls - “Shadow of your smile” left me feeling somewhat detached. It was as if there were a thin film between the performance and my ears. We Tired a few tracks but the issue persisted. I put the Soekris back in and pointed out the difference in resolution and transparency to Alan.

It’s always horrible when you have to deliver a bit of negative feedback, but Alan and i have known each other long enough to be able to speak freely.

I put the Spring 3 back in and was a little dumbfounded. The film had gone!

Odd as it is, we sat there and literally listened to the Holo improve every few seconds. Our only thought being that it hadn’t quite warmed up enough when we started listening. Feeling a little more enthused, I played a few tracks and noted that tonally, there was a slightly more developed tone coming from the Holo. It was definitely richer, but without venturing far over into the “warm” territory.

That little extra fullness gave vocals a more human feel and also proved marvelous when listening to Oscar Peterson play piano on Waltzing is Hip. The Dac offered slam and dynamics, but there was still something not quite sitting well with me, although at this point I couldn't put my finger on what.

We played on and I noted a huge soundstage... I mean huge. It made both the vinyl and digital here sound like small scale stuff. Like a model railway feels compared to the real thing. However, to me, I felt it was almost exaggerating the soundstage. Making me feel like I had sat in the front row of the cinema. A clear, definable image was not happening. It was like everything was all over the soundstage…..very odd. I have only heard this once before and that was with a Valve DAC…..I complained then too.

I decided to go to a track that would allow me to truly evaluate what i was hearing, “A Day in the Life” by The Beatles from the 50th anniversary Stereo mix.

Immediately, my concerns were realised. As Lennon sang, it was as though his head was 8ft in size. I pointed this out to Alan, but his lack of intimate familiarity with the track was hindering his ability to hear the same thing, initially. I swapped between DACs, between mixes and consistently the Holo seemed to overblow the vocal. I switched to “She’s leaving home” and this time it was McCartneys turn to become an 8ft swollen version of himself.

Alan and I had discussed pretty much anything we could fathom as a possible reason, but having now heard this “exaggerating” of the vocal and soundstage, Alan suggested we turn the PLL off just to see what happens.

The Setup now Consisted of the Digibit Aria > Mutec > Holo with PLL OFF

Boom…...everything snapped into place. Imaging was now as if it was carved into the mind and with that came some outstanding resolution and detail. Instruments were now EXACTLY where they were meant to be in the soundstage…..just a larger and deeper one than the Soekris could muster, McCartney was now a more realistic size and more importantly, the music became coherent and cohesive.

The transparency and resolution of this DAC was now the stuff of desire. Listening to all of the usual tracks provided a new and improved experience. Nils Lofgren had endless decay on his guitar. Hans Theesink and Terry Evans were particularly resonant and Terry’s voice carried a realistic tonal satisfaction that I haven't heard from any digital hardware to cross my path.

Driving on with The Chain by Fleetwood Mac left thunderous, but highly resolved bass notes hitting the chest. Yello’s “Rush For Joe” became almost an advertisement for how holography in a recording could be achieved. Tom Toms appearing and disappearing as fast as an extra £20 on your universal credit!

The DAC was delivering a musical experience of “vinyl ending” proportions. In fact i said to Alan, “how will vinyl survive this?”

I literally played almost anything I know well and the Holo hit everything out of the park. It’s not like it was ABSOLUTELY MILES better than the Soekris, it wasn't. The Soekris stood up extremely well to this young pretender, but it was better, and it was better in all the most important ways.

Soundstage height, width and depth. Resolution, tonality…..

The Holo made you believe what you were hearing. It had a natural ease of tone, yet did not feel slow or lethargic. It was nimble when required, relaxed when desired and when called upon….it was on fire!

I could go on more, but repetition is boring.

Obviously, we wanted to see what happened when we took the Mutec out of the chain, so we did. However the same issue with the soundstage occurred whether the PLL was on or off. The Holo was markedly better in all aspects with the PLL off and the Mutec in situ. That was a unanimous and bloody obvious decision to come to btw.

So, here is where we get down to the crux of the issue:

Would I buy this DAC?

The DAC on it’s own? No.

For me, there was something completely distracting about the way the Holo presents the soundstage. It’s exaggerating and overblown effect on the vocals and soundstage in general meant I really wasn’t keen on it initially. The last DAC I heard that did this was a Lampizator, and that didn't last long here at all.

However, with the Mutec in place, I would ABSOLUTELY buy the DAC. It’s ability to take 0’s and 1’s and reconstruct them into a sound with absolutely no artifice, no “tells” and no audible indication that this is digital audio, was breathtaking at times. Multiple goosebump moments, singalong moments (sorry AL lol) and moments of pure “wow” made this an afternoon of real enjoyment. This DAC has a digital performance level that hasn’t been seen in this system before. I loved it. Very impressive stuff.

A word of sensible caution:

Based on what happened here today, with the DAC being £3k, you really shouldn’t need to buy a Mutec to make it sound right. Adding a Mutech makes this a £4k purchase and then you are into big big money. Obviously, there is always the chance that something wasn't quite right here today, but if it wasn’t I have no idea what it would be. I am only able to speak about what happened here today. This is a serious DAC, make no mistake.

 

[newlash09]

@hifinutt... Thanks a ton for sharing the beautiful review of the holo spring sir. Loved reading every word of it.
Iam not familiar with digibit aria. But could it be that the digibit aria's output benefits from the mutec, rather than the holo spring being deficient at its inputs.

 

[Cable Monkey]

I did read that review when researching my purchase. I can honestly say I don’t recognise the issues without the Mutec, but then I’ve never had a Mutec to put in.

 

[Patu]

I’ve also read that review before. I’ve owned the Mutec in the past when I used it with Naim DAC. It’s a great device and very useful if the DAC has less than stellar digital inputs. Naim was very sensitive to digital transport feeding it, Holo is not. Especially if you use the SOTA USB implementation instead of the other inputs. I stream with an affordable iFi Zen Stream which is practically a noiseless source for the Holo. I use the Zen Stream in NAA exclusive mode only as a HQPlayer bridge.

 

[hifinutt]

how many UK dealers do Holospring have to support you when they go wrong ?
Bel canto have at least 30 UK dealers to support the product

 

[Cable Monkey]

how many UK dealers do Holospring have to support you when they go wrong ?
Bel canto have at least 30 UK dealers to support the product

They have three outlets globally, China, the US and Europe. L1 and L2’s are factory. The L3‘s are a construct of the Kitsune tuning house in the US. I dealt with the European outlet in Holland.
From the Magna HiFi product page:
3 years warranty, both parts and labor, coverage of one way shipping (return shipping at cost to seller once product is confirmed as a warranty claim issue).

 

[hifinutt]

brilliant thanks . I still prefer to deal with a UK dealer for any issues though

 

[hifinutt]

So the Bel canto EIX pre arrived last week after weeks of anticipation and wondering how the heck you work all those tilt feature etc . It has a streamer and dac and can be used as a pre amp

As john says
The analog inputs are all digitized to 24/192 via a high-dynamic-range ADC located within centimeters of the analog inputs. John Stronczer says that “all audio signals travel through the same digital path and benefit from the advantages of our unique system architecture

So using this with a very modest 30 quid mark grant digital [ decent aes on order ] with a bel canto cd2 as transport into some nice joe henry F5 monoblocks into the tannoy eaton legacy . It replaces a very competant BC pre 3 vbs with a very upgraded sean jacobs dc3 .
the advantages of this pre are 1] its American made and build quality is good 2] the remotes from the e-one will work on it as they are lighter than the metal one supplied 3] its very easy to use
4] there are loads of dealers . and Coherant who kindly loaned it have been around for years , bought my first BC stuff from tony well over 10 years ago now . so lots of support
5]the display turns itself off after 2 hours so you can leave it on 24/7

disadvantages 1] there is no xlr input so can`t directly compare to my pre 3vbs which does

Been playing a number of cds on it since it arrived . its quite an exhilerating ride with live music . John Campbells Howlin mercy [ `down in the hole` and `when the levee breaks `] have hardly been off as its VERY live sounding , that slide guitar and gravelly voice sounding very real and atmospheric . Because of that fairly ` fast ` nature i might just be a bit cautious about putting it with bright speakers but you can adjust the treble etc with the tilt function . However i have played some fairly bright stuff from Mancini which is pretty smooth and ok . This pre would easily match the MFA baby ref v1 which i have had previously . Its somewhat addictive to listen to

Of course the integrated version of this EIX has a class D power amp which will be interesting to compare



Playing Million Dollar baby soundtrack with Clint Eastwood shows up the superb transients of the piano and guitar .. they just PING ...but sound very natural . So far i give this pre 9.5 out of 10 . [ would be 10 if it had an xlr input !!]



Mike Oldfield Hergest Ridge gives the bells a really spooky realism . The tannoys have not sounded so good since I had a sugden a21se on them which is also an exceptional amp
Some years back had the exceptional modwright 36.5 2 box here and i would put it on that level . If i came into some money there are 2 pre amps above the EIX which one would like to hear but they are not cheap !!!

https://belcantodesign.com/home/black-ex/ex-dac/

will pop some pics in soon

 

[garn63]

They have three outlets globally, China, the US and Europe. L1 and L2’s are factory. The L3‘s are a construct of the Kitsune tuning house in the US. I dealt with the European outlet in Holland.
From the Magna HiFi product page:
3 years warranty, both parts and labor, coverage of one way shipping (return shipping at cost to seller once product is confirmed as a warranty claim issue).

If you ever fancy a change for a few weeks
I have a Schiit Gungnir you could listen to & I can give the Holo a try ?
* My mother used to say that God loved a tryer.

 

[hifinutt]

a few pics . quite a bit bigger than E-one range . you can see the pre 3 next to the eix

https://flic.kr/p/2okpmEf]P1080199[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/][/url], on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2okpmEW]P1080197[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/][/url], on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2okp2Gs]P1080204[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/][/url], on Flickr