Rockna Wavelight DAC - Thoughts/Experiences

Very nice review from highfidelity.pl.
Contains a short Q&A with the designer on features and things to come.

Google translate is doing a remarkable job with this.

 

No kidding. My colleagues who work on Translate will be delighted.

I don't "need" another DAC, but Rockna is really provoking me...

 

Call me a cynic, but I translate his explanation as to why there is not ethernet audio support in this DAC as "I can sell most audiophiles a '$High End$' sever/streamer box, so why would I undercut my market..."

The sooner Schiit, or heck even a Topping, gets in the ethernet audio business the better.

 

A teeny Pi+Pi2AES, running one of several possible software packages, does everything you need to connect Ethernet-based streaming to a DAC. The main problem with Ethernet-based streaming is that it has many ways of failing, from cranky networks to buggy software. That's where the cost is, not in the hardware.

 

^ Beat me to it. Plus, Pi2AES gives flexibility to go into almost any DAC you want.

 

I hear you guys. On the other hand, it is a digital/computer audio world and device, and that world is networked - its fundamental to it. AES and the like are old specific audio solutions. USB is where it is because it 'fits' into modern computing. Why do I need to put a low cost and robust computer between my computer to make a DAC work optimally? Rhetorical question of course. I look for someone to lead and offer a $99 (or $199) built in board...eventually.

 

Forget AES in this case, use the I2S from the Pi2AES (which is what Rockna plan from their own solution). And like @earnmyturns said, you’re getting into software, server and networking with Ethernet, not like USB, which is basically plug and play.

Edit: I think I mentioned this before, but if Schiit were to get into Ethernet, it would be worth looking at licensing something like the SonicOrbiter OS from Sonore to deal with the software side of things and all the possible rendering modes. Not sure if Sonore would even be interested in this kind of thing though (they were burned previously).

 

If Schiit were at all interested in this (they have said multiple times they are not), it would make a lot more sense for them to work with Ropieee(XL) and maybe Pi 2 Design to 1) apply their efficient manufacturing & distribution to building the required hardware, initially a little box (Eitr form factor) supplementing the DAC; 2) charge enough on the box to generate a revenue stream to pay for software support by the Ropieee devs or others contracted for that. My guess is that 2) is the main blocker, as it would likely make the little box > $500.

We almost always underestimate the cost of software support. I know of several startups (two I was involved in, several others) that got into trouble by focusing on immediate sale revenue and ignoring the engineering and other costs of continued support.

 

One more observation from me since this is off topic. I have 4 Sonos devices on my Ethernet network (that Roon auto detects) I can stream 24/48 to that cost $300 each. A Marantz AV receiver shows up as well (though if I recall it's an Airplay device (so UDP)) that cost $500. These prices include everything else these devices are and do as well. Yes, I am aware of scale (Schitt vs. Sonos), etc.

There will be costs yes, but I don't believe cost/support really is an issue for a standardization around ethernet audio away from the de facto standard of USB and the older/pro audio solutions. I think this is true even in the niche space we are in. I blame other things such as status quo, lack of leadership/disruption/innovation, and the like.

 

The bridge II built-in my (now sold) DirectStream Jr worked flawlessly with Roon. It also allows to control the DAC's volume directly in Roon, which is awesome. The Matrix Element X had the same feature.

I tried my Pi2AES I2S HDMI output, but it doesn't work with the Rokna. The DAC detects DSD 128 when I play standard Redbook content, which obviously sounds horrible!
I ordered a new Pi2AES, as mine is an older revision (that accepts 12V input).

 

Sonos has 1) volume, and 2) a fully integrated stack. What that means is that their support costs are amortized over a large number of copies of a few different models. That's not the case for specialty gear, that can do more than 48/24 (whether that matters is a different question, but it matters to specialty customers who if you are not careful are baying for infinity DSD, MQA, and who knows what else). In addition, if you hang out on the Roon forum as I do a lot, you'll find it's not all sweetness and light in Roon>Sonos land.

 

not because of this post in particular, but your description between the burl and the rockna wavelight.
damn you're making me interested in purchasing the Audiobyte Hydra.Vox.Zap(sister company of Rockna)

 

Hoping the loaner is still in the works; this DAC definitely tickles my interest. Would insightful to put it up against Adagio et al.

 

Would love to be a part of the loaner program but I doubt it since I'm relatively new so I'll just be here eagerly waiting to hear other peoples' impressions on the DAC.

 

To those of you who have owned a Wavelight for a while and had to turn it off for some reason (thunderstorm?) for a while. How quickly does it come back to its best? I currently own an Yggdrasil A2, a Sonnet Morpheus, and a Soekris dac1541 (used to be my work DAC before WFH). Of these, the Soekris gets back to good form fastest after power down, but it's still around a day before it feels back to normal. As you all can see from this DAC roster, I love those resistor arrays, but I will soon be spending considerable time at two different locations and for safety and environmental reasons I plan to turn off the equipment at the away location. Maybe these DACs are just not right for the new circumstances, but I thought I'd ask in case Rockna have design tricks that make their DACs stabilize faster.

 

Just thinking out loud but you may use smart plug to switch it on few days before your travel to keep it ready by the time you reach but will need some working Internet there and use IFTTT to create workflow to manage it in case of bad weather

 

Take it for what it's worth, but the designer of the DAC replied to me in an email that the only significant warm-up time it needs is if it's brand new. If it's not, he says it only needs about 30 minutes.

 

Thanks, Internet at both places, but I'm a bit paranoid about opening up my LANs to WAN access, and whenever I looked into smart plugs, I found a lot of information about their horrible insecurities -- all those IoT devices have old, compromised system software that cannot be updated.

 

I hadn't turned mine off since I received it, but I quickly tried it in my TV/2ch setup this past Sunday.

I always plan for the shortest power interruption when moving DACs around, so it was probably off for at most 3 minutes.

I don't have a reference point in that system, since it was the first time there and that setup is not optimal acoustically (to say the least), but I didn't care much for the sound much.

In that system, the Burl B2 DAC is just rockin', and it sounds good pretty much right away after powering it on! In fact, it is the only DAC I (on occastion) turn off after use.

I feel it gets better over the course of the first ~30 minutes, but it could just be my ears adjusting to it.