Wyred 4 Sound (ESS Sabre) DAC

[morphsci]

Yep, I agree that the 840c does not lack in resolution. It does not mate well with the K701 using the GSX, but the K340s work very well. The O2s also work well with the 840c.

[postjack]

At this rate I guess we'll have to wait to see what luvdunhill meant by "artificial." There isn't lack of a resolution IMO at least.

i would guess he is referring to that upsampling "sheen" that you get with big upsampling jumps. i typically think it sounds quite lovely but I can see how one could put the word artificial on it, even if literally speaking the word doesn't apply.

[justin]

I'm going to email Justin about a B-stock BHSE for $250.

i can get you a front panel to mount on your wall

[Eric5676]

Fence sitting is tough and I've been deliberating and researching a hell of a lot but the value/performance package of a DAC-2 simply couldn't be ignored any longer so I just placed an order for one and should hopefully have it before next weekend. I'll do my best to post...whatever...when I can.

I had some good chats with several owners and it looks like the best place for me to start. Somehow I doubt I'm going to be disappointed.

[Sherwood]

I hope you won't, as I've placed an order as well. Part of me feels like this thing has jumped the shark already, but that's an odd feeling to have about a piece of electronics.

[Eric5676]

I hope you won't, as I've placed an order as well. Part of me feels like this thing has jumped the shark already, but that's an odd feeling to have about a piece of electronics.

I'll have mine tomorrow it looks like.

What makes you feel like it's jumped the shark?

I feel pretty confident about it with the talks I've had with several owners, some of the reviews and feedback I've seen. I know Rick Cullen and his work as well as the rest of this crew.

I'm impressed with the company and their products. It sounds silly but I'm impressed with the fact that if I call them during business hours someone with a pulse answers me and/or my emails in a timely manner. Barring a real shock, it's obvious that there's a pretty good value/performance ratio going on here.

3 year warranty out of the box on a $1500 or a $999 piece of kit (DACs) tells me these guys are confident in what they've got and they're not going anywhere.

Quite frankly, I'm not really sure how you and I could go wrong here. I've been surprised by some of the positive feedback I've gotten during my information overload recon runs.

I feel good about this and I'm someone who is a notorious fence sitter and can sometimes feel buyer's guilt BEFORE actually buying something.

Not in this case. I'm expecting to be very happy come tomorrow.

Want an example of what I saw? Go to AVS, put "wyred" in that Google search engine at the top of the forum. Before long you're going to run into threads where you've got these high rollers praising the company and their products with the amps going against Anthems and the rest of it. Some of that then trickles down to talking about the DACs and it's the same kind of positive feedback. Plenty more where that came from.

Look at this: http://audioaficionado.org/digital-music-servers/4241-wyred-4-sound-dac2-preview-6moons-com.html

Take note of what kind of forum this is and some of the gear some of these guys have as you skim that. I lost count of how many McIntosh logos for example.

AudioCircles has one or two threads just like that and the same AVS like praise for the amps and the company. I PM'd several of these owners of the W4S DAC-2 in those threads and took note pretty quickly of their backgrounds, some of the high end gear they were using and had used and suffice to say: I'm feeling pretty damned confident and I think you should, too.

[The Monkey]

My guess is you're going to love it. Post pics and impressions asafp.

[Eric5676]

My guess is you're going to love it. Post pics and impressions asafp.

I'll do my best.

[postjack]

yes impressions please. Sherwood is probably talking about jump the shark in terms of the FOTM effect.

my CDP-2 is acting up so I'm considering whether to repair or get a new DAC.

[Eric5676]

yes impressions please. Sherwood is probably talking about jump the shark in terms of the FOTM effect.

my CDP-2 is acting up so I'm considering whether to repair or get a new DAC.

IMO it's not FOTM. Not even close. No way. In a some ways these guys might be a well kept "secret."

Customer service was excellent to the point that the nice lady called me yesterday morning and told me that a buyer had dropped out and they had a new all Black DAC-2 (what I wanted) all set to go and would I like to have it? Sure!

I couldn't be more impressed with their customer service. It's a good sign when you call during business hours and a human being with a pulse picks up under 4 rings.

Yes I splurged for Saturday delivery. Yes it was worth it.

First impressions: It smokes my Cambridge 840c. No BS. It really does. I was surprised to notice it that quickly especially since I really do try to guard myself against that "honeymoon glow new gear is perfect everything else is garbage" that's easy to come by.

Now, obviously I'm going to heavily disclaim myself with the usual "Yes, it's a new toy and I'm giddy" so please take that into consideration but the instruction manual was very clean and well written and I was basically connected, up and running inside of 5 minutes. The USB connection to the PC was easy as well. You install the right driver off the disc and then go into something like Foobar, flip it to 32 bits, max it all out and...oh hell yeah!

I'll be posting pictures but this thing is a dense brick. If you dropped this on your foot accidentally it would be contusion time. You're done.

Build quality impressed me big time right of the box. I'll say that this and the Headamp GS-X are easily the best pieces of equipment that I have and have ever owned. Hands down.

I can honestly say: I can't believe this only costs $1500. Really.

Even my sister who is not exactly the audiophile type came over, looked at it, picked it up, felt the weight and exclaimed: "Whoah, this is some serious equipment."

The pictures don't do this thing justice. Yes, it's not the sexiest looking piece of kit in the world but boy does it have it where it counts. I think that's why it started to catch my eye several months ago.

These guys are about ground up fundamentals and delivering performance first. They did it. In spades. You're going to be seeing and hearing a lot more about these DACS, believe me. FOTM my aching butt. No way.

They've had a great reputation for years with their amps anyways. That's easily going to carry over to the DACs.

The next time I need an amp or something else I'm looking to Wyred first and foremost every time.

The shipping weight was 15 lbs and I can assure you that most of that weight wasn't the Fort Knox like packaging. This thing is uber meat and potatoes from the ground up.

Obviously burn in comes into play but I'm typing this right now listening to Foobar over USB cranked to 32 bits maxed out and I'm here to tell you that yes, I'm hearing the natural warmth that these guys were somehow able to inject into the 9018 Sabre. My hats off to them because I know that's not an easy feat with those Sabre chips.

I'm hearing some details that I haven't heard before. That bright glare that the 840c had is gone. I basically have a best of both worlds thing going here: I think everyone here knows what the strengths of the Sabre chips are and especially the newest 9018. But it's all about the total sum of the parts and this piece of kit is basically a magic black box that I see myself keeping for a long, long time. Nothing but the best components from the ground up.

Sherwood: Get ready to get very excited my friend. No BS.

And again: I suffer buyer's guilt easily and I feel none whatsoever right now.

There's no bling. No flash. No cool pretty touchscreens...every last cent of money you pay is going to kick ass performance, period.

And really: It's not that ugly looking.

Pics and more to come... I apologize in advance. Some of the pics probably won't be that great but you'll get the idea.

[luvdunhill]

How long has this company been around? Would it by definition be FOTM due to this fact alone? Will they survive as long and continually be producing top quality products as say a Krell?

[Eric5676]

How long has this company been around? Would it by definition be FOTM due to this fact alone? Will they survive as long and continually be producing top quality products as say a Krell?

The W4S roots - WYRED 4 SOUND

Good enough for me. Go around some of the other audio forums like I did and just so searches for "Wyred" and see the feedback that comes through about their amps and other products. You'll slowly start to see more DAC feedback as well. Long/short: I'm confident in the company and their long term prospects. Apparently they are as well considering you get a 3 year warranty out of the box.

If I recall correctly: Rick Cullen, at least, worked for PS Audio at one time.

If you look around, you'll still see a lot of people refe highly to the "Cullen modded PS Audio Digital Link III DAC"

Long/short: All of these guys have been in the biz for a long time with excellent reputations and backgrounds.

[luvdunhill]

The W4S roots - WYRED 4 SOUND

Good enough for me. Go around some of the other audio forums like I did and just so searches for "Wyred" and see the feedback that comes through about their amps and other products. You'll slowly start to see more DAC feedback as well. Long/short: I'm confident in the company and their long term prospects. Apparently they are as well considering you get a 3 year warranty out of the box.

Remember Singlepower's feedback and reviews and even more impressive standard warantee?

[tyrion]

I don't think you can compare Wyred 4 Sound to Singlepower. From everything I've seen they are a reputable company.

Eric, glad you ate enjoying the DAC. I was close to buying one.

[postjack]

Remember Singlepower's feedback and reviews and even more impressive standard warantee?

yeah.

all we're saying Eric is we are jaded and cynical and totally fucking hardcore. we are skeptical of any new product.

having said that I do think the W4S stuff is really cool, and I'm glad you are enjoying yours so far. looking forward to pictures and more impressions as you find the time.

[HDen]

good to know you're enjoying the DAC, be sure to keep posting impressions!

Also I don't think it's an ugly dac, just by looking at the pictures you can tell it's built tough, like a tank

[Eric5676]

I respect and appreciate the cynicism all the way. Believe me. I tend to be that way myself.

I lurk a lot more than I post but I am well aware of the Singlepower debacle...I still can't fully wrap my brain around that.

And yes, it's definitely a tank, the way I like my gear. Pics forthcoming soon...

[Eric5676]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3689[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3698[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3697[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3696[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3695[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3694[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3693[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3692[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3691[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3690[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3699[/ATTACH]

I apologize for the amateur shots. Hopefully they're at least good enough where you start getting an idea.

I'll use the language from a few posts ago: IMO at least, I think this is " totally fucking hardcore" gear myself.

Even the power cable is basically industrial grade. Industrial is probably as good of a one word summary as any for the entire piece.

[Aimless1]

Looks great Eric. Looking forward to hearing your impressions as time passes.

I've kind of decided to move on from the DAC3 and have just begun to get a feel for what's out there.

Enjoy

[Eric5676]

Looks great Eric. Looking forward to hearing your impressions as time passes.

I've kind of decided to move on from the DAC3 and have just begun to get a feel for what's out there.

Enjoy

Oh I am. I daresay: My 800s will rarely be leaving my head today. I'll have to be careful.

The good news here is: Yes, you have to be careful and swim through a lot of haze and mediocrity and FOTM, but there is a lot of really good gear out there at very fair prices.

Someone mentioned Krell earlier. Awesome brand, but guess what? If this were a Krell DAC with the same exact hardware and everything it would be 3 grand or more. Same goes with any number of other "big marquee huge name" brands. And as everyone here certainly knows: When you can sell direct you really can save the customer a lot of money.

I certainly understand people being spooked after Singlepower but I'd balance that out with: You have to live and move on. If you do your homework, do your research, and certainly word of mouth is big in the long run...9/10 times at least you're going to land well.

The Singlepower thing was ugly but thankfully...*knocks on wood*...a fairly complicated and rare implosion and mess.

As best I can tell, Wyred has done everything "right" from the ground up. We have other awesome brands out there like Neko and some others that have done everything right and make great quality products at fair prices.

[postjack]

Comparing Singlepower to W4S isn't totally fair, since Mikhail's biggest issue was taking on so much goddamn impossible custom work. If he had stuck to off the shelf models and only taken on a small amount of custom work, ceteris paribus, he could still be the amp king today. In fact, limiting who he does custom work for could have just skyrocketed demand for his stuff. But anywho this topic is covered in greater depth elsewhere.

Eric I see you have an Oppo. is it the SE?

[luvdunhill]

The context the comparison was used is 100% fair. The comparison was the how people reacted to the company, not the company itself.

[morphsci]

No, the comparison to Singlepower always carries the baggage of the lies and fraud that he perpetrated upon his customers whether that is your intent or not.

[Eric5676]

Comparing Singlepower to W4S isn't totally fair, since Mikhail's biggest issue was taking on so much goddamn impossible custom work. If he had stuck to off the shelf models and only taken on a small amount of custom work, ceteris paribus, he could still be the amp king today. In fact, limiting who he does custom work for could have just skyrocketed demand for his stuff. But anywho this topic is covered in greater depth elsewhere.

Eric I see you have an Oppo. is it the SE?

Standard Oppo 83. Connected via Toslink to the W4S. I was one of those first batch preorder guys back when it first came out. Still running like a champ. Great player! Great value!

My Onkyo DVSP1000 is my main music transport connected via SPIDIF and analogs to the GS-X. I use the analogs for SACD and everything else is via SPIDIF through the W4S. Sensational.

The PC is connected via USB for the dedicated music out of foobar and also via coax for my gaming.

I'm letting this thing kind of run and burn in while I use it and it's just an awesome unit. Got into the service menu, which is easy to do, and fine tuned a couple of settings very easily. I already love this thing.

No, the comparison to Singlepower always carries the baggage of the lies and fraud that he perpetrated upon his customers whether that is your intent or not.

Which is sad and unfortunate but I'm pretty sure no one intended that here.

[pompon]

Any compared the W4S with high end dac like Naim, dCS, Esoteric ?