The Waxwing Thread

[My adventures in stereo]

Happened to come across this thread , as I was looking for the Puffin
Interesting product, usability got a boost with the app
Have been circling the puffin for a while, will look in to the waxwing now

 

[Balle Clorin]

Time to get the thread back on the tracks.

Just arrived today .... really impressive device.

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Bottlehead and Parks Audio are in the same area and also know each other..

 

[antcollinet]

Bottlehead and Parks Audio are in the same area and also know each other..

Just made a related post, linked below - I am amazed how much better it is compared with my previous pre (admittedly costing less than 1/4 the price)

Is the purpose of this device to make vinyl LPs sound more like CDs? If so, I will consider getting one.

It comes pretty damn close to me.



Sorry, didn't know about this thread - if mods want to merge mine in here, feel free:

Can a phono pre make so much difference to surface noise?

For the last few years since I first resurrected an old turntable ive been using a Project Phono Box preamp (close to the cheapest I could get at a local dealer at the time). Since then I've replaced the turntable with a Rega P3, and am using the AT VM95ML cartridge. I have a number of old...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[AaronJ]

Is there any latency when using the "magic" feature?

 

[Bob from Florida]

Is there any latency when using the "magic" feature?

I don't think so, but how would you know?

 

[AaronJ]

I don't think so, but how would you know?

Only time you would notice is the moment the stylus makes or breaks contact with the record. If we're talking about 100-200ms that's nothing to me, but I would find 1 to 2 seconds to be a little unnerving I think.

 

[Bob from Florida]

No perceptible delay on needle drop.

 

[My adventures in stereo]

Recent adopter of a Waxwing
Switched from a Parasound XRM and am very pleased with it
Did not notice any lag with magic feature turned " ON"

 

[LewisWaddo]

I get really good needle drops using the waxwing optical out to my Hi-Md (MZ-NH1) haha

 

[copperblue]

The upgrade from my Cambridge Audio Solo that I didn't know I needed...
This looks very interesting indeed.

 

[LewisWaddo]

Recent adopter of a Waxwing
Switched from a Parasound XRM and am very pleased with it
Did not notice any lag with magic feature turned " ON"

No perceivable lag.

 

[Bacek]

Anyone knows if spdiff output is galvanicly separated trough transformer internaly or stright from chips?

 

[Bob from Florida]

Anyone knows if spdiff output is galvanicly separated trough transformer internaly or stright from chips?

Send Shannon a message at Parks. He is very responsive.

 

[antcollinet]

Anyone knows if spdiff output is galvanicly separated trough transformer internaly or stright from chips?

No, but if you ask Shannon Parks, he will tell you. Contact email here:

Parks Audio

Waxwing - the new standard for phono preamp performance - from Parks Audio.

parksaudiollc.com

Or message on facebook here: (He normally responds within a day)

Parks Audio LLC

Parks Audio LLC. 1,313 likes · 13 talking about this. The official Facebook page of Parks Audio LLC and the Waxwing Phono DSP

www.facebook.com

 

[Martin]

Very interesting phono preamp. If my setup wasn't fully balanced I would be very interested in giving it a try.

Martin

 

[Brian Hall]

I ordered one and received it today. I have around 500 old records inherited from my dad. Ranging from 1953 to 1985. Some are still in great shape, others are in bad shape, with scratches, lots of pops and other issues. It seems like he used to remove and discard the inner sleeve and just put the records back in the outer sleeve.

First test was a classical album from 1958, Dvorak's New World Symphony. It sounded bad previously. Not worth listening to. I hooked up the Waxwing and the same record sounds great. The Waxwing grading rated it an F. The Magic function removed ~90% of the problems with it.

Second test was an original copy of Miles Davis's Kind of Blue from 1959. The Waxwing rated it at C+ quality. It sounded like a brand new record with the Magic function turned on.

Last test was one of the few new records I have purchased, Led Zeppelin 4. It sound good before and still sounded good with the Waxwing.

I'm impressed and recommend the Waxwing to anyone listening to records. I didn't expect it to work as well as it does. It really can make records sound almost as good as a CD.

 

[Brian Hall]

Very interesting phono preamp. If my setup wasn't fully balanced I would be very interested in giving it a try.

Martin

It has optical and coax outputs to connect to another DAC if you don't want to use the analog out.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

It has optical and coax outputs to connect to another DAC if you don't want to use the analog out.

I assumed he was referring to the turntable side of the audio chain. Which would mean connecting the balanced output on the turntable to an unbalanced input on the Waxwing.

That said, given how amazing the magic function is, it might be worth routing the balanced turntable output into a balanced ADC, then optically to the Waxwing, then optically back to the DAC. For example, using the AD/DA routing mode on an RME ADI-2 Pro. [Edit: never mind... Waxwing only has analog input]

 

[Martin]

It has optical and coax outputs to connect to another DAC if you don't want to use the analog out.

I assumed he was referring to the turntable side of the audio chain.

Bingo!

 

[antcollinet]

I didn't expect it to work as well as it does. It really can make records sound almost as good as a CD.

That is my impression also. Not perfect but pretty damn close.