Wadax Studio Player – Trickled down treats

The march of time and global disruptions in trade and economic security inevitably means that prices go up but in certain corners of our industry, the advancement and employment of trickle down technology means that greater value can sometimes be offered back to the customer. Refreshingly then, these products are actually reducing in cost relative to the performance they offer, and rewriting what is possible at certain customer budgets.

Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the new Tidal AP1 active powered floorstanders. Just seven years ago, the best system from Tidal Audio comprising the enormous La Assoluta speakers with additional Subwoofer towers, x4 Assoluta monoblock amps, Precensio preamplifier and matching DAC would have set you back in excess of a million Euros. Today, that same performance level (or better in some metrics) is offered in AP1 plus Contros; a one box system (rather than 8 boxes), 2 speakers half the size (rather than 4), all for under £250,000, almost a quarter of the price.

“Although not a budget-priced component, the Wadax Studio Player is, nonetheless, a bargain that delivers fabulous sound, sophisticated technology, upgradability, and ease of use in a single chassis. I think of it as The One-Box Wonder.” Robert Harley, The Absolute Sound

There are some outfits of course, who play a different game, catering largely for foreign markets where the equipment’s decorative power and ability to communicate financial wealth are uppermost. Performance and sound quality here is something very much secondary to the ownership status and visual shock value conferred by such systems. By definition and by way of justification, these systems also need to provide the consumer with a lot of ”stuff” and the larger and more grandiose that stuff is, the better too.

The very opposite is true then of organisations like Wadax and Tidal, who have discovered that better is better rather than always just bigger, and that by shortening pathways, reducing connectivity, shrinking and sharing power supplies, and distilling technology down from the top of the line statement products into smaller spaces, can often mean huge gains in sound. And if all of this means lower manufacturing and parts costs, then these savings should most definitely passed down to the consumer.

Highly competitive products not only help build brand awareness and customer base but also stimulate the competition to push a bit more themselves, so in a wider sense there is an upside for everyone. In 2007 Nissan produced the R35 GT-R, the poster car for a generation. The R35 rewrote the rules on packaging, production and complexity and sported a drivetrain that was superior to anything this side of a Bugatti Veyron; nothing else out there – supercars included – could live with its pace. At just £58,000 it was a third or even a quarter of the price of the rivals it was dusting, and the likes of Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari had to take a long hard think, and then respond.

“Perhaps the Wadax Studio Player with its lower price point, and its priority of musical intelligibility over demo room fireworks, can be the audiophile Nissan GT-R of this generation, shifting expectations and delivering a new message about how digital music should sound and what we should all expect for our money ?” Richard Morris, Lotus Hifi

Although as Wadax Reference owners we were one of the first dealers worldwide to explore and indeed sell the Studio Player, we are a little late to the party putting pen to paper. Much has been already said then, from Wadax Reference owner Robert Harley in The Absolute Sound to a very extensive report from Roy Gregory over on GY8 and then our very own Alan Sircom in the pages of Hifi Plus magazine. All these professional investigations unequivocally confirm what we all expected from Studio, something truly special which takes up a bold and compelling position in the current marketplace. Like the Tidal Contros Streamer/DAC, Soulnote E2 phono preamp and indeed the new Tidal AP1 speakers, Studio Player is one of those rare gifts which comes to market maybe only once every five years or so, breaking new ground technologically and gifting the enthusiast everything he ever wanted in a much simpler and more affordable package, and in doing so, changing perhaps for good, consumer expectations at a particular price position.

Before we press play though, one needs to digest what Studio Player actually is and everything that it offers the end user. On functionality alone, there is very little out there that matches exactly. As I write here now, I am struggling to think of a perfectly mirrored product. CD and SACD playback, MQA-CD, Tidal direct, Spotify direct, Qobuz streaming and file playback via UPNP, Airplay and a Roon endpoint (currently in certification). Fixed or variable output, variable output voltage and variable output impedance, Digital output, XLR and single ended analogue output, headphone module (the latter two due soon) and expansion capability for an external clock and power supply (see Munich 2025 !).

Here at Lotus we have CD players and transports to sell you and plenty of wonderful DACs too, many of which have inbuilt streaming capability so just need to be plugged into the home network. But only with Studio can I offer you all this functionality in just one box. There is a volume control as well and whilst we prefer using a dedicated preamp, it’s a credible option if you are aiming for just a 2 box system or do not have funds yet for a high quality linestage.

Whilst the inbuilt streamers found on many DAC’s are perfectly competent and welcome, they are rudimentary compared to the functioning inside Studio Player. Using Studio’s digital output connections it is actually possible to use the unit just as a pure streamer and when you do this, and AB compare it into a third party control DAC against other well regarded streamers from the likes of Innuos, Antipodes, Grimm, Melco etc. it soon becomes clear that the streaming device in the Wadax is not some cursory add on, but something highly substantial which would cost well into 5 figures if it could in some way be extracted out and sold on its own.

Whilst Wadax will soon release a version of Studio as a pure DAC sans transport – and this may be favourable to some – it is also true that CDs have made a significant comeback in the past few years. After a long and intense period of customers acquiring streaming capability, people are now swinging back and realising that CD is far from dead and can offer a wonderful alternative, along with the psychological and emotional benefits of playing physical media in a slower, more considered and ritualistic fashion.

As hinted at, in 2025 will also release two add-ons for the Studio, the separate power supply unit and the external clock unit. The cost is expected to be around the same or slightly less for both units than the Studio itself and one can imagine the benefits of each, increased authority and dynamic ability, an even lower noise floor and an even cleaner and truer rendition of the music with greater insight and fine detail.

“After a couple of hours Elliot said, should we switch? To me the answer was very clear and with a loud shout as he was standing to make the switch I screamed NO, let’s keep listening. There really was NO need to compare. There was no comparison. The subtleties of the music, the depth of image and bass, clarity and effortless manner of reproduction of what I have listened to so many times was transformational. This is not a good or great product but a remarkable product in all aspects, especially relative to the CH C1.2 at the same price point.” Elliot G, Whatsbest

But right now, we actually love Studio Player for what it is in a single chassis, the functionality it offers and the sheer value that you the customer receives. We believe that it is more than enough for almost every single customer out there and comparable with almost any digital source that has gone before. The bandwidth of its appeal is enormous; perfect for a customer with a more modest system (integrated amp, standmounts perhaps) who is shopping in the common ground of £20,000 – £30,000 for a DAC and decides to up his budget by 20% or so to make what will probably be his very last ever purchase as far as front ends go. But then equally, the customer with a high level reference system running into multiples of six figures, should also be auditioning Studio Player. As we warn with many of Tidal Audio’s products, the retail price of £37,500 tells you precious little about how good it will sound or how competitive it will be against rivals which may have originally cost far more money.

If you have read anything around the Studio then you will probably already be familiar with some of the main descriptors. Rich, sumptuous and deeply textured, huge soundstaging, a big bold enthusiastic sound which is immediate and fully formed, wasting no time in leaving the system and the speakers … tactile, intimate and emotionally immersive. It clearly has the exact same DNA as the big Atlantis Reference, exactly what Wadax followers and aficionados were all hoping.

Many commentators have also deliberated on Studio’s high sense of musicality and on first take I would obviously agree but it might pay dividends to examine that term a little closer. On a rudimentary level saying something is “musical” is really just saying that you like it, or it speaks to you in some way but across 13 years of demonstrations with customers I tend to now liken it more to structure, melody and timing more than anything else. Roy Gregory in his two reports on Studio Player has made particular mention of the effortless way in which the unit unravels the placement of notes and the spaces and interrelationships between them. I would agree with all of this. The Wadax sound has that uncanny ability to effortlessly interpret and conjure forth the musical structures and phrases of a song not just in a natural and unforced manner but in a way in which those patterns and the interlinking of sounds come across as musically profound and meaningful, full of creativity, artistic skill and intention. Pleasure and enjoyment then at maximum tilt.

These are difficult concepts to describe but then it’s as easy as it is difficult to hear and appreciate them in person. Flat earther’s might use the word “tuneful”, other listeners might point out the Wadax’s glorious sense of unhurried flow. Certain keen listeners will spot the way in which the high detail levels do not simultaneously trip the unit up – as witnessed on so many other digital sources – and other customers might comment more on the actual perfectly fitting notes within the patterns, and to quote The Absolute Sound, how ‘Jimmy Cobb’s trumpet sound had a bell-like clarity and freedom from artifact that was breathtaking’.

“The Studio Player is so clearly the class of the field and sets the bar so high, that it’s also clearly beyond the immediate reach of the competition. If you are shopping for a digital solution in this price range, you’d actually need a pretty compelling reason NOT to choose the Wadax. It does disc replay as well or better than equivalently priced, dedicated players. It plays locally stored files with considerable musical aplomb and streaming services better than anything I’ve heard anywhere near this price.” Roy Gregory

In 6 months now, across various shop demos and a good handful of home installs, it is always the same with Studio Player. It deals its hand very quickly. Like that Soulnote E2 phonostage, the music is fully developed and formed into the room to an extent that surprises or even shocks, not just in its size, its hinting of dynamic potential and boss level soundstaging, but also its sheer tingle factor and “nearness”, as if it has been ripened another 10% more, and other DACs somehow gave you the music prematurely before the necessary digital alchemy was fully complete. Other articles and indeed the manufacturer’s own website delve fairly deeply into Wadax’s unique musIC feed forward error correction process that lays at the heart of both Studio Player and the Atlantis Reference, and much like Hemingway cables, when you familiarise yourself with this new level of technology, it’s almost possible to identify it in action. The Dohmann Helix turntable that we first brought to the UK with its MinusK isolation system was another product that gave a similar effect; so compelling was its out the box performance that it was clearly obvious that you were in the presence of a very clever and new way of doing things.

In presentational style, Studio also shows you rather swiftly that the perception of detail isn’t the most important driver to the musical truth or pleasure that the medium can give, especially when that sense of detail has been falsely augmented. The same is true for the speed and bite of leading edge, the degree to which soundstage and space has been over-sharpened and enthusiastically excavated, the way in which certain frequencies have been brought to your attention a little more than others. Studio shows you that leanness, brightness and sterility are not the inescapable hiccups of digital. Similarly, rhythmical flow, textural weight and fleshiness of notes isn’t colouration or a declaration that vacuum tubes lurk somewhere beneath, but a sign that that ever so fragile information is there already, fervently trying to pass through your BT router. You just need a very sophisticated method to correct all the myriad of errors inherent in the digital music making process in order to unearth it. In the Lotus demonstration rooms, as we go through the hierarchy of DACS, from Brinkmann to Vitus to Thrax, to Studio, Tidal Camira and Bugatti MP-1 then finally the Wadax Atlantis Reference, as neutrality and invisibility inexorably increases, so too does richness, saturation of timbres and harmonics.

“The delicate micro-information and expressive nuances in the musical signal are obscured by inter-reactions between power supplies, clocking, grounding, analog circuitry and the digital to analogue converter. To further complicate things, these non-linearities and error mechanisms are load dependent, varying with signal amplitude. Together they form the core of what we have all come to recognize as “digital sound. WADAX technology is founded on the unique musIC process, a sophisticated feed-forward error correction system that operates in the time domain. By mapping the error mechanisms of a chosen DAC chip under load using Adaptive Delta Hilbert Mapping, we can develop an algorithm that examines the incoming signal and calculates the induced error that will result. By applying an inverse signal at the input we can real-time correct for the time and phase error that is so musically destructive in other, conventional decoding systems.” WADAX

The Studio is a joy to handle and a doddle to install. It’s weighty and meaty with superlative build and solidity. It is clearly cut from the same cloth as the mighty Atlantis Reference. It is a unit that inspires confidence and is plug and play within seconds. Simply remove from the box, insert power cord, connect to your power amp or preamp using the rear XLR sockets and then connect to the network using the Lan socket. An early review made mention of some early teething bugs but none of these exist now. In all my installs and in all my time handling Studio in my demonstration room, I have never had a single issue whether that be finding the unit on the network, playing music through any streaming service or any need to power cycle or reset the device in any way.

On the front panel or the remote, one can toggle between CD/SACD or Streaming with the touch of one button. For Tidal Direct simply select the Studio as the output in the Tidal App. For Qobuz and computer files on the network, you can use your UPNP client of choice. I generally prefer JLPAY. Just select the Wadax Studio in the audio output settings and then hit the right handed triangle.

If you increase the volume to maximum then the player informs you that you are in Line out mode. It will stay like this on further power cycles unless you start reducing the volume at any point. Most owners will of course be using this Line out mode but you can play the unit straight into a power amplifier and this works well; you can expect very good result given the constraints of not using a dedicated linestage. Firmware updates are handled automatically and there are a host of software and hardware changes in the pipeline: Roon certification, Airplay, Single Ended output and Headphone port.

In the settings menu you will also find options for Output Voltage and Impendance. No article on Studio would be complete without explaining  these powerful controls which serve to contour the sound to user and system preference.

The voltage has just 3 settings at 1v, 2v and 4v. As you might expect this generally changes how forthright the sound is, how much impact and overall energy balance is present. At the higher 4v you have a seemingly stronger and more intense delivery of sound which may suit systems with a gentle, laid back or softer overall rendition. Moving down to 2v and 1v you reduce the sense of percussiveness whilst allowing more delicacy and nuance to shine through. I used 2v exclusively for all my listening but I can well imagine other setups using one of the settings either side.

The DAC’s output Impedance is even more useful though. Here you have 16 different settings ranging from 0 ohms to 600 ohms, and with half of these residing in a fine 7-10 ohms range. This isn’t something you adjust by looking up the specs of your preamplifier. No, the Impedance is best adjusted by ear to suit your listening tastes and system. Setting it at zero is perhaps a good starting point where the music has the most slam, staccato, pace and rhythmical shape. As you increase the impedance you introduce more and more smoothness and liquidity to edges and the flow of the music. This in practice is immensely powerful and can be fine adjusted even to suit a particular mains cable or interconnect that you happen to be using. If you are using Studio straight into a power amplifier with its internal volume then the Impedance and voltage settings will also likely prove invaluable tools.

Negatives ? Well there could be a USB/SPDIF input although its not strictly necessary because the unit does cover all bases. I prefer a printed manual as well although the PDF manual is a good one and obviously easy to print out yourself if you do want a hard copy. I don’t really have any user interface gripes nor software gremlins though; user operation is slick and well thought out. As a dealer I would like a version without the transport as some customers will not like the redundancy if they intend only to stream but then that unit is in the works and not too far away. RCA out is also needed as XLR may also preclude the odd customer but that option is also coming very soon too. The only other gripe is availability. Worldwide demand has meant only a trickle of new units into the UK but that also is changing slolwy as the headquarters in Madrid adapts to a new and much larger future.

Studio Player is one of those extremely well judged products. We have had it out in the wilds now for a good six months and I have watched numerous customers engage with it and created a decent number of new owners too so I now have a really good grasp on how people respond to it. It has universal appeal and a very high want factor, partly because of its growing reputation, partly because of its smart looks but then also partly because everyone wants a small slice of the peerless Atlantis Refence DNA in their own home. Everything about Studio from the stylish but restrained aesthetics, the adamantine build quality, the ease of use and high functionality, and the loftiness of the company behind the product, inspires great confidence and desire. The fact that it is so competitive at its price point is the icing on the cake. It is very very easy purchase to make.

The majority of people who have the necessary means will want to buy a Studio Player for themselves, that is my honest feeling; it just has that magical combination of traits. Even customers with elaborate mega DACs from yesteryear are already trading these in to move into the Wadax family with the option to increase performance even more with external PSU and Clock at some point in the future. This is something completely new, a totally different path and a world which will only deepen as time progresses. As early supporters and investors of Wadax and proud custodians of the Reference, we are over the moon with how this product has so far taken off and are very excited about what else is in store in future years.