Waxwing vs full analog for living room setup

[Bland_username42069]

I prefer to teach people how to fish. If that doesn’t work for you, feel free to ignore the post, or better yet, add something helpful.

Yeah he’s already got that fishing rod sorted. I’ve added my experience and comments previously.

 

[Balle Clorin]

I have one. I use it for 78s

Magic will have no effect on good condition stereo records because they won’t be scratched…

And I find magic can audibly degrade the sound of a record.

I ever confidence Shannon will improve the algorithm though.

You are missing my point, Magic is only 1/10 of what Waxwing has yo offer, My records are pristine so Magic is only used on others vcrappy records , like my wife’s parents stuff

 

[Bland_username42069]

You are missing my point, Magic is only 1/10 of what Waxwing has yo offer, My records are pristine so Magic is only used on others vcrappy records , like my wife’s parents stuff

I use it for mono reggae and African 7s where super mono and magic can really help as condition of records can be a bit sketchy. I use the eq functions to play 78s, I use bandwidth to cut out surface noise etc . So I use a lot of functions on it and it’s easily the best phono stage at any price for a wide range of records in my opinion.

But if you’re just playing clean stereo records then ops Ifi will get the job done just as well - I believe it’s very well regarded - so personally Id spend the $500 on records from my experience.

 

[antcollinet]

Magic will have no effect on good condition stereo records because they won’t be scratched…

It's about more than scratches - it improves any crackly surface noise - including from dust/debris.

 

[Bland_username42069]

It's about more than scratches - it improves any crackly surface noise - including from dust/debris.

It doesn’t - it only does clicks and pops.

Why would you even have surface noise on a good condition stereo record to begin with

 

[DVinylfan]

While it's quite ridiculous that a music replay medium should be subject to such a limitation as 'surface noise', we are where we are

 

[DVinylfan]

Sooner or later everyone with a turntable needs a Waxwing

 

[Salt]

Sooner or later everyone with a turntable needs a Waxwing

Should be integrated into any preamp or headphone amp in the century of digitals
...
... just as simple as phono inputs in past decades were integrated in preamps and amplifiers.

 

[Geo2160]

If anyone is still following, i ended up ordering a MiniDSP PocketADC which, subjectively, sounds a little better than the Wiim Amp Ultra line in. I also ordered a Waxwing after reading all the comments from this thread. Does anyone know how long Parks Audio takes to ship them? My order is stuck at "received" for 8 days now.

 

[JeffS7444]

If anyone is still following, i ended up ordering a MiniDSP PocketADC which, subjectively, sounds a little better than the Wiim Amp Ultra line in. I also ordered a Waxwing after reading all the comments from this thread. Does anyone know how long Parks Audio takes to ship them? My order is stuck at "received" for 8 days now.

Did you order via Amazon? IME, since the pandemic, that sort of thing has been pretty standard practice for Amazon.

 

[Geo2160]

Is there any other way to order it to Europe? The Parks Audio website directs me to amazon.us

 

[Shotgun Rico]

If anyone is still following, i ended up ordering a MiniDSP PocketADC which, subjectively, sounds a little better than the Wiim Amp Ultra line in. I also ordered a Waxwing after reading all the comments from this thread. Does anyone know how long Parks Audio takes to ship them? My order is stuck at "received" for 8 days now.

I ordered mine on Amazon and it came in within 3 days. I also have Prime.

 

[antcollinet]

Is there any other way to order it to Europe? The Parks Audio website directs me to amazon.us

I can order it direct from Amazon UK. Also seems to be on Amazon.de

 

[Geo2160]

I can order it direct from Amazon UK. Also seems to be on Amazon.de

For both of them the Shipper/Seller is marked as Amazon.us, so it's basically the same thing. I had a chat with an Amazon rep, he told that the order should be shipped this week and also marked it as expedited, since it's already on track to be late.

 

[interrofang]

I'm in the market for a phono preamp, upgrading from an Art DJ Pre-II. Is the Waxwing really such a revelation that folks make it out to be? I've been hesitant to upgrade the preamp because, in my mind, most preamps are pretty basic opamp circuits with some capacitors for the RIAA curve. Then there are variations in implementation, like discrete designs (Skoll F) or tube-based circuits (EAR834p). Is the Waxwing really the bee's knees?

Rest of setup: Fluance RT85 w/ Ortofon 2M Blue --> Art DJ Pre-II --> Schiit Lokius EQ --> Nobsound NS-02g Pro (JLH1969 clone) --> Elac DB63 speakers.

 

[Salt]

See it as an ADC with additional skills for phono use.

 

[staticV3]

The Waxwing's magic lies in its configurability and ability to integrate into an already DSPed system.

Something like a WiiM Amp running room correction, loudspeaker correction, subwoofer integration.

Using it this way, you can gain much higher sound quality than from an all-analog system.

But if you aren't interested in DSP, then trying to shoehorn a Waxwing into an analog system like yours will be frustrating.

 

[morillon]

I'm in the market for a phono preamp, upgrading from an Art DJ Pre-II. Is the Waxwing really such a revelation that folks make it out to be? I've been hesitant to upgrade the preamp because, in my mind, most preamps are pretty basic opamp circuits with some capacitors for the RIAA curve. Then there are variations in implementation, like discrete designs (Skoll F) or tube-based circuits (EAR834p). Is the Waxwing really the bee's knees?

Rest of setup: Fluance RT85 w/ Ortofon 2M Blue --> Art DJ Pre-II --> Schiit Lokius EQ --> Nobsound NS-02g Pro (JLH1969 clone) --> Elac DB63 speakers.

The vinyl setup is a bit modest to justify waxing... it’s well-suited to a decent, classic analog prephono setup.

 

[interrofang]

But if you aren't interested in DSP, then trying to shoehorn a Waxwing into an analog system like yours will be frustrating.

Ahh, yes, of course! I kept thinking like it was a purely analog device, I forgot to mention the rest of my setup lol. For digital I have a Schiit Mimir that also routes into the Lokius via XLR then to the Nobsound amp. So it's reasonable I could plug the Waxwing into the Mimir via optical to make use of the DAC. Although that seems secondary; I'm just checking reviews now and the Waxwing's feature-set is pretty wild. Now I can understand why people rave about the DSP on this thing.

 

[Shotgun Rico]

I use a Waxwing and its dsp settings are excellent. Even if you didn’t use the settings (not sure why you wouldn’t) it still sounds fantastic on its own.