Quote:
Originally Posted by bart
Mark, thank you for your thorough explanation! 
Have you ever compared the result with or without the external boxes?
I can see from where the additional benefits might come, but I'm a bit puzzled with first converting digital to analogue, then again to digital, and a third time back to analogue (in fact a fourth time if you consider the original signal was analogue).
Of course, when you do room correction, this is needed.
Another interesting comparison would be, to send the original analogue signal from your Esoteric directly to the amps in the Valors, without room correction...
You see, the brand has me intrigued!
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Bart,
The short answer is "yes I have..." to each and every one of those scenarios. I've run Wavelet v1 units with 3 different speakers systems:
AERIS (initially with XILICA DSP-4080 professional DSP, then Wavelet V1
- Esoteric C-03 Preamp
- Esoteric P-03U Transport and D-03 DAC
- upgraded preamp to Esoteric C-02
CALIBER XD (custom) integrated with dual FOUNDATION subs
- Esoteric C-02 Preamp
- upgraded to Esoteric P-02 Transport and D-02 DAC
- sold C-02 preamp and due to D-02 being one of only 2 Esoteric DACs (D-01 being the other) with volume control sections, ran with no preamp other than volume control in D-02)
VALOR with V1 and now with V2
- initially ran with no preamp other D-02 volume control section
- very early in 2021, borrowed a Sanders Sound preamp (bespoke based upon CODA design and upgraded by Sanders...) ran with that until December 23rd of this year
- now running with an Esoteric C-02X preamp
During each of these configuration timelines at every system change after preamps and DACs were properly burnt in (and Wavelet), I gave some good
amounts of running and listening time with the 03 generation and the 02 generation
- Transport digital signal output straight into Wavelet
- DAC Analog outputs direct into analog inputs of Wavelet
Note that when you go from dual-AES outputs from Esoteric P-03U or P-02 to a single digital output into any non-Esoteric DAC, the result I've heard here and also anywhere else is great but always less than what results when you use full dual-ESLINK connections between an Esoteric transport and its matching DAC.
Note I've not done that nor will I take the time to do it the C-02X preamp I just bought or the Grandioso stack for obvious reasons including these results with prior Esoteric gear were always true;
- a superior sonic result always happened matching an Esoteric Transport and Esoteric DAC together
- while the performance of the C-03 feeding the Wavelet v1 was a very close race, there were certain aspects I remember liking better in how the C-03 conveyed transients and air. One may also have been vanity (full disclosure. <LOL>)
- with the C-03 feeding Wavelet versus D-03 and later D-02 feeding Wavelet (the nuance here is that with D-03 feeding Wavelet, I needed Wavelet's volume control, with the D-02 I set Wavelet to what amounts to unity gain and used volume control in D-02), the race was much closer
- that all went away with the Esoteric C-02; the difference was much more stark and the gap much bigger so much so, the use of Wavelet when I was able to have the C-02 preamp over not using the preamp could not have been rationalized
- when the C-02 preamp had to go for life reasons, it was a noticeable step down in realism and organic/tonally fully musical playback reverted to P-02 and D-02 feeding the Wavelet without preamp in the middle but still better than abandoning preamp and DAC and sending transport digital output direct to Wavelet
- with the arrival of the Sanders Sound preamp, the performance improved in terms of organic, tonally rich musical playback using the external pre despite the fact it's only about $5-7K if memory serves....
Please note that with the use of the grade of power cords and digital cables I leverage, that's enough alone to bump up the performance of anything they drive as well.
Wavelet V2's arrival and post break-in:
- the level of DSP performance and internal DACs in V2 up'ed the game substantially with Wavelet towards it being an all-in-one capable device and
for single digital input connections, better than most things out there IMHO and based upon what I'm hearing...
- the use of the Sanders preamp was still better versus running from D-02 straight into Wavelet v2 however the gap was narrowed by the huge jump
in the aforementioned Wavelet V2 internal make-up...
- that all went away in the week after the C-02X Esoteric preamp arrived. That beast is a big leap from the tremendous performance of the older C-02 to my recollection; the C-02X truly shows all the signs of what they claim, i.e. that heavy trickle-down from the Grandioso C1 preamp is present within.
- The use of the C-02X even in its first 8 days of burn-in proved to be a preferable sonic result to me in terms of clarity and speed of bass and upper
frequency extension, transients and air being step up in the C-02X feeding Wavelet analog versus going from D-02 or P-02 straight to Wavelet V2
- Full disclosure though; Wavelet V2 makes it a VERY tough fight and I am literally splitting hairs on the differences (and the vanity gene may be in the mix as well <LOL>)
FYI,...I am able to effectively take Wavelet fully out the mix as all but an external crossover. VALOR in the case of my speaker's build has 3 XLR (analog inputs) to its internally powered drivers and 2 pairs of binding posts fed by 4 external channels of amplification. You can have VALOR built to only require 2-ch externally. You can also have the VALOR built fully internally powered requiting 4 analog XLR inputs thus still requiring an external crossover. There is now way to go from my DAC or preamp direct to VALOR as the crossover is needed.
That stated however, I can (and do with each round of testing and frequently just because its fun or instructive or a better result for a given recording, disable "Stereo Unfold" ("Omnio") processing and output totally. This done from a mobile device or laptop. I can toggle ON/OFF/ON/OFF to my heart's content
I can also disengage / engage (rinse repeat) Room Correction literally on the fly from a mobile device or laptop as well. Taking away Room Correction also disables OMNIO but disabling OMNIO still allows you the choice of running with Room Correction.
The above options toggled on or off allow you to run with one of Wavelet's 8
"Contour groups" saved into memory independently.
There is a "BYPASS" button where Contours, Channel level adjustments, OMNIO and Room Correction are all turned off on the fly, again from mobile device or laptop so that Wavelet V2 is literally a passthrough crossover.
In short, yes, I've tested every variant you mention and a few other scenarios as well.
Essential things to get Wavelet to perform at its best:
- get a SOTA external LPSU (Uptone Audio 1.2 or HDPlex 300W are both often used
- get a good, fast and accurate DC umbilical
- don't use the wall wart included with Wavelet (obviously)
- a good rack and vibration / isolation guarding is of course a good thing...
Unless you are literally dealing with an analog master tape that was recorded fully with analog technology AND the mastering is limited to direct to LP minimal connect cutting lathes, you will have "digital" somewhere one or more of the recording, mastering, remastering, production cutting/writing process so I hope we can agree to ignore the source material's genesis.
Then we also have to discard the human brain in the mix which is the probably the grandaddy of all Digital Signal Processors (DSP) :-)
Wavelet v2 is now a feature rich single-box contender (after the original source) that brings SUT/OMNIO, Room Correction, etc...to the table. Whether or not you will benefit further by using an external DAC versus the internal, and external preamp versus the internal volume control section literally depends upon the other gear in the comparison...
Hope this all helps...the Rabbit Hole runs mighty deep :-)