mobanmarketI can roll out of bed and install a $10,000 phono cartridge while finishing my coffee, but I postpone DAC installations until I am in the exact right mood to handle the potential stress—especially DACs with a touch screen and a complex menu. To my delight, Ferrum Audio’s new Wandla digital converter was completely stress-free to install. It took only minutes to connect the USB-C cable, the Cardas Audio Clear Beyond interconnects, and 24V DC power adapter.
Connecting the power adapter caused a power-switch symbol to appear on the front panel touch screen. The moment I touched it, I smiled like the Cheshire Cat, because I saw a USB-C symbol, a loudspeaker symbol, three dots in a box, and a volume control bargraph. That told me the Wandla recognized my chosen input and was waiting for a signal. All that remained was for my Roon Nucleus+ server to recognize and enable the new DAC, which it did without prodding or reprimand. For me, that was a wow moment, a good start to what promised to be an interesting review.
I reviewed Ferrum’s first product, the trailblazing HYPSOS stand-alone power supply, and their second, the OOR headphone amp in Gramophone Dreams #57 and found them both to be smart and good-sounding—an auspicious start for this new company from Eastern Europe. These first products led with style and followed with innovation and thoroughly considered engineering. The software control in the HYPSOS felt like it was designed by engineers who knew what they were doing and finished the job. In today’s feature-obsessed marketplace, that’s rare.
Ferrum products are made in Poland at an engineering and manufacturing company called HEM that was founded at the beginning of this century. For its first 20 years, HEM was a highly respected “OEM” making digital and amplification products for other companies. The HYPSOS was their first product under their own Ferrum banner. Since my OOR and HYPSOS reports, Ferrum has introduced two more products: the $1795 ERCO DAC/headphone amp and the $2795 Wandla DAC/preamp, which I will be describing here.
Description
The Ferrum Wandla is a two-channel digital/analog converter that comes in a stylish-looking, modestly proportioned chassis measuring 8.6″ wide, 8.1″ deep, and 2″ high and weighing only 3.9lb. The Wandla’s chassis matches cosmetically and stacks perfectly with Ferrum’s HYPSOS power supply, which is recommended with the Wandla but not required.
The Wandla’s conversion job is handled by an ESS Sabre ES-9038PRO chip, which, according to the ESS data sheet (footnote 1), “handles up to 32-bit 768kHz PCM, and DSD256 via DoP and native DSD1024 data in master or slave timing modes. Custom sound signature is supported via a fully programmable FIR filter with 7 presets.”
The Wandla offers three of those ESS filters plus two “HQ” filters created for Ferrum by renowned filter maker Signalyst, known for their work on the HQPlayer app. These filters are called HQ Apodizing and HQ Gaussian. The others are ESS Linear Phase, ESS Minimum Phase, and ESS Apodizing.
The Wandla sports a full roster of back-panel digital inputs: AES3, supporting PCM rates up to 24/192 and DoP up to DSD 64; TosLink (PCM up to 24/96); electrical S/PDIF on RCA (PCM up to 24/192); USB-C (PCM up to 32/768, DSD up to DSD 256); HDMI ARC (PCM up to 24/192); and I2S (PCM up to 32/768, DSD 256). The Wandla offers full MQA decoding.
The Wandla has one analog input; the single-ended signal stays analog and becomes “truly balanced” internally; the Wandla’s analog circuitry is fully balanced. There are two analog output pairs, one RCA and one XLR.
In a Positive Feedback interview (footnote 2), Ferrum Founder and CEO Marcin Hamerla stated, “Perhaps the most important part of the Wandla is the completely new I/V circuit, i.e., the current-to-voltage converter, which connects the DAC IC to the rest of the converter circuit. Our new I/V chip, completely developed at HEM, is the main element responsible for the Wandla’s sonic signature.”
During my auditions, I presumed that the main cause of the Wandla’s high ease-of-use factor was that “All software, including the USB interface, was developed in-house at HEM.” Say amen, brothers. The warranty is for three years.
Listening with line-wart supply
Before the Wandla arrived, I had already decided to start my auditions with compositions featuring impact and rhythm, with drums playing heavy beats loud. I decided this because DACs employing sigma-delta chips, and especially the esteemed ES9038PRO used in the Ferrum, have higher punch, slam, and PRaT factors than most NOS R-2R DACs, which in my systems show good PRaT—but not conspicuous PRaT—and direct my attention more toward lyrics and melody.
I started this month’s auditions with the Wandla connected directly to the Feliks Audio Envy 300B headphone amplifier, which I auditioned for this month’s Gramophone Dreams column. I opened the Envy’s volume control to full and operated the Wandla’s with its sturdy palm-sized remote. This simple system exhaled resolution and clarity.
I played the marching Mamady Keïta composition “Djabara” off Keïta and Sewa Kan’s album Wassolon (24/96 FLAC, Mamady Keita/Qobuz). This drum-powered track revved my brain completely. The Wandla playing Wassolon using its wire-wart power supply seemed well-suited for this kind of music, as were HiFiMan’s reference-quality HE-R10P planar magnetic headphones, which, in concert with the DAC and amplifier, brought a high level of verity to Wassolon‘s voices, drum, and bird sounds.
In lieu of audience applause or jangling keys, I use bird sounds to test a component’s ability to reproduce complex, low-level harmonics. With the Ferrum DAC, these drum and bird sounds felt immediate and vital, but the body of the sound felt brittle and pinched.
Drums enjoy being sigma-delta-ed, and so do pianos. The Wandla driving the Feliks Envy powering my HiFiMan R10P planar magnetic headphones turned high-speed rhythms, fast turns, and airy piccolos into a delirious aural fantasy.
My lifelong crush, Martha Argerich, delivered a dazzling version of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, arranged by Nicolas Economou, on Winter Music (16/44.1 FLAC, UME/Tidal). PRaT was off the charts. Thrills came easily. But compared to the considerably more expensive Denafrips Terminator Plus, melodies felt inhibited, and there was a subtle but distinct metallic hardness that infused the body of every note. Reverb tails were shortened. When I double-checked these observations with JPS Labs’ Diana headphones and through my Heretic AD614 speakers, that metallic hardness was still there. Those experiences inspired me to connect Ferrum’s HYPSOS power supply.
Help from the HYPSOS
My Cheshire Cat smile returned when I connected the Wandla to Ferrum’s hybrid digital-analog HYPSOS power supply. The OLED display lit up, indicating that the HYPSOS had recognized the Wandla and was feeding it 24V DC without stress or menu-reading meltdowns. (The Wandla will work with any DC voltage between 22V and 30V.) I only like digital when the sound is stress free, and when the software makes my life easier, not more cussingly convoluted. The Wandla-HYPSOS hookup made menu-surfing a pleasure.
The $1195 HYPSOS mated instantly with the $2795 Wandla, creating a hip-looking two-chassis $3990 DAC. The HYPSOS’s effect on sound quality was immediately obvious. That hardness was relieved. Martha Argerich’s Winter Music became supple and distinctly more three-dimensional with clear, vibrating open spaces between notes.
This power supply upgrade is something I wish every audiophile could experience. It is not subtle, and it leaves no doubt about how much a component’s source of energy affects the flow, luster, and body of reproduced music. I am curious to see if John Atkinson will detect a difference in the Wandla’s measured performance using the optional HYPSOS.
Checking for accuracy of tone, I played violinist Midori’s intense Bartók Violin Concerto No.1 Op.21, with Zubin Mehta and the Berlin Philharmonic (16/44.1 MQA Sony Classical/Tidal). My secondary goal was to compare the Wandla’s MQA rendering to my memories of how spectacularly the dCS Bartók Apex played it—but alas! The Midori Bartók sounded off. The Wandla’s touchscreen indicated that the Wandla was switching between MQA and straight 16/44.1, and that’s what it sounded like. I checked Roon, and it showed it was inputting “MQA Studio.” I tried another MQA file, this one featuring French pianist Samson François playing Debussy (16/44.1 MQA Parlophone/Tidal), and it behaved the same way.
After raising my eyebrows and shrugging my shoulders, I moved on to a 16/44.1 version of Samson’s Debussy on Qobuz, and there, the sound was nothing short of glorious: full, bright, alive, and colorful. Listening with the Feliks Envy and the HiFiMan R10P planar magnetic headphones, the Wandla’s tone was good, emphasizing the tinkly side of the keyboard. With Meze Elite planar magnetics, the left-center of the keyboard came forward, adding weight to the sound. The Elite’s refined resolution made sustain and reverb tails into events worth savoring. The JPS Labs Diana headphones added more torque to the bass region.
Footnote 1: See esstech.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ES9038PRO-Datasheet-v3.7.pdf.
Footnote 2: See positive-feedback.com/high-fidelity/ferrum-wandla-dac.
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COMPANY INFO
HEM/Ferrum
Aleje Jerozolimskie 475
05-800 Pruszków
Poland
sales@vanaltd.com
(631) 246-4412
ferrum.audio
ARTICLE CONTENTS
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Specifications
Associated Equipment
Measurements
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