WANDLA 2.0 GoldenSound Gen 2 DAC / Preamplifier

WANDLA GoldenSound Gen 2 - It’s all about finding your sweet spot

While keeping all great features of the original, WANDLA GoldenSound Edition Gen 2 manages to improve on three great features, called Impact+, Tube Mode and Spatial Enhancement. In Gen 2 Ferrum's engineers completely overhauled them and each got their own Ferrum Sweet Spot Tuning! Something great just got even better.

The EISA awarded WANDLA continues to be one of the best DA converters in its league. WANDLA GoldenSound Edition managed to add three great features. One to enhance the sheer impact in the lower frequency, one to simulate the warmth of a tube stage and one to offer an enhancement in the third dimension. With WANDLA GoldenSound Edition Gen 2 these three features, called Impact+, Tube Mode and Spatial Enhancement, were completely overhauled and each got their own Ferrum Sweet Spot Tuning! Something great just got even better.

Three great features just got even better. Impact+, Tube Mode and Spatial Enhancement were completely overhauled and each got their own Ferrum Sweet Spot Tuning!

• Gen 2 Impact+:  You can now control your low-end sound signature by choosing one of seven predesigned settings of bass and dynamics and adjusting its level from 10% to 130%.
• Gen 2 Tube Mode:  You can now choose your tube sound signature by choosing one of five popular tube designs (EL34, KT88, 300B, 2A3 and 7062) and adjusting the level of its effect from 10% to 200% in search of your personal perfect setting.
• Gen 2 Spatial Enhancement:  You can now independently toggle the spatial effect, select your output mode (Headphones/Speakers), and engage the new Transient Compensation to fine-tune the imaging in search of your preferred setting.
• Gen 2 Elevated digital headroom:  Higher immunity to intersample overs even in bypass mode at full output level, allowing you to play back any music free from additional distortion, and enjoy a high-quality sound.
• Gen 2 New Voltage Adjustment:  The WANDLA GoldenSound Edition benefits from a hardware level output voltage adjustment of standard WANDLA, allowing the user to swap between just below 10 Vrms output to a just below 4 Vrms output. This is facilitated via a dedicated hardware voltage divider, allowing the user to select lower output voltage and ensure compatibility with all amplifiers, without a need to use any digital volume control, or to have analog volume control components in the signal path.
• Gen 2 Dynamic Digital Filtering:  WANDLA has three ESS digital filters to choose as standard and, as a world first, two digital filters created for Ferrum by renowned filter-maker Signalyst, know for their HQPlayer app. More filters will follow after interacting with WANDLA users.
• Gen 2 Proprietary amplification:  Fully balanced modified IC pre-amplifier, fine tuned for WANDLA.
• Gen 2 Optimized Digital inputs:  Specially programmed USB, and tuned coaxial and optical S/PDIF, AES, ARC (TV) and I2S ports, optimized for audio.
• Gen 2 Made for HYPSOS:  WANDLA performs beautifully right out of the box, but you can take its performance above and beyond when pairing it with HYPSOS. Using the proprietary Ferrum Power Link (FPL) connection with 4TSD voltage sensing, both components will perform to their absolute maximum, unleashing unheard-of musicality.

• New features include elevated digital headroom, spatial enhancement, tube mode, impact+
• Proprietary fully balanced modified IC pre-amplifier, fine tuned for WANDLA GoldenSound Gen2 Edition
• Specially programmed USB, and tuned coaxial and optical S/PDIF, AES, ARC and I2S ports, optimized for audio
• Proprietary optimized ARM chip offers the shortest signal path possible, making 5 chips redundant
• Four proprietary Signalyst filters
• Proprietary 4-pin Ferrum connector for HYPSOS
• Balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA line outputs
• Digital and Analogue volume control
• EES Sabre ES9038PRO with selected filter
• Remote control included

• Impact+ :  The original GoldenSound Edition featured a base shelf and an additional peak to provide a beefier, more realistic sound signature. WANDLA GoldenSound Edition Gen 2 evolves this by offering seven distinct shape settings (Reference, Ref+, Smooth, Kick+, DD-Comp, DD-Comp+, and Sub-Bass). Instead of a single fixed enhancement, you can now select from these profiles – including specialized compensation for dynamic drivers – and regulate the total impact level from 10% to 130%. This allows you to perfectly tailor the output to your specific sound system, headphones, or soundtrack. Enter Gen 2’s Impact+ with Ferrum Sweet Spot Tuning.
• Tube Mode:  The original GoldenSound Edition added the sweetness of the second harmonic. With GoldenSound Edition Gen 2 apart from adding artificial 2nd harmonic, Ferrum introduced the sound signature of five tubes (EL34, KT88, 300B, 2A3 and 7062) with reproduction up to the 7th harmonic. Experience the tube sound, without the associated negatives like big and bulky components, excessive heat production, not to mention the costs of tubes. To take things further, you can also regulate the levels from 10% to 200% in search of your personal perfect setting. Enter Gen 2’s Tube Mode with Ferrum Sweet Spot Tuning.
• Spatial Enhancement:  You can now independently toggle the spatial effect, select your output mode (Headphones/Speakers), and engage the new Transient Compensation to fine-tune the imaging. Spatial Enhancement originally had two modes, which were tailored for speakers and headphones separately. GoldenSound Edition Gen 2 introduces Transient Compensation, or T-Comp in short. This setting fine-tunes the spatial enhancement algorithm and reduces how it affects high frequencies, resulting in a vastly more realistic three-dimensional staging. Enter Gen 2’s Spatial Enhancement with Transient Tuning.

What is DDF?
DDF stands for Dynamic Digital Filtering. WANDLA includes several built-in digital filters to tweak the sound — but why dynamic? Because they will change: Users will determine which filters are the best. Ferrum is inviting WANDLA users to vote — tell them what your favorite filter is, and why. They will gather this data to declare the most popular filters, so, as a reward for your experimental efforts, they can progressively replace the least popular filters with new ones. This is a great chance to collaborate and to deeply engage with how filters affect sound, so that you can fine-tune your WANDLA to be perfectly tailored to your preferences.

In WANDLA’s menu, you can choose from a set of digital filters. One is a part of the ESS DAC, and four were designed especially for WANDLA by filter specialist Jussi Laako of Signalyst, best known for the HQPlayer app. Out of the box, WANDLA defaults to the team’s favorite filter — in a sense, Ferrum already gave this setting their stamp of approval. But to deserve the name ‘The Converter’, WANDLA needs to go further. Just adding a static set of filters was not going to do it for them — and more importantly, not for you.

Wandla Digital Filters:

• ESS digital FIR filters:  WANDLA makes use of the ESS Sabre 9038PRO DAC chip. Via WANDLA’s menu, the user can choose from three ESS filters in addition to their HQ filters. Ferrum encourages you to experiment to find out which is your personal favorite.
• Linear Phase Fast Roll-off (ESS Lin-Ph):  A linear phase filter with steep slope after passband (fast roll-off). It has very good aliasing rejection and it has constant delay of all frequencies in the audio band.
• HQ digital filters:  Specialist filter-builder Jussi Laako from Signalyst has adapted digital filters from the HQPlayer app to be implemented in their SERCE module, that lies inside of WANDLA. The appropriate digital filter settings can be made via the menu where the user can make his choice from the two HQ digital filters which are included at launch. You are encouraged to experiment with these HQ digital filters to find out which is your personal favorite.
• Short filter (HQ Short):  Short time domain response, slow roll-off, partially apodizing, single stage filter optimized for transient response. Especially suitable for jazz, blues and similar recordings.
• Apodizing Minimum Phase (HQ Apod. MP):  Minimum-phase version of HQ Apodizing filter. For studio multi-track recordings with focus on transient attack.
• Gauss filter (HQ Gauss):  Apodizing filter with focus on optimal time-frequency response. Provides very good transient response and space information. Good general purpose filter fit for most source content and genres.
• Apodizing filter (HQ Apod.):  Apodizing filter especially for modern recordings. For recordings made in real acoustics or otherwise having notable space information.

More to come in future firmware updates from Ferrum

• DAC chip:   ESS Sabre ES9038PRO
• DAC resolution:   768 kHz/32-bit, DSD 512
• Digital inputs:
  • USB Type-C (up to PCM 768 kHz / 32 bit, DSD 512, DoP 256)
  • I2S (up to PCM 768 kHz / 32 bit, DSD 512, DoP 256), PS Audio® compatible
  • ARC (up to PCM 192 kHz / 24 bit), TV input with CEC
  • AES (up to PCM 192 kHz / 24 bit, DoP 64)
  • Coaxial S/PDIF (up to PCM 192 kHz / 24 bit, DoP 64)
  • Optical S/PDIF (up to PCM 96 kHz / 24 bit*) *may work up to PCM 192 kHz and DoP 64 – depending of customer optical cable and transmitter
• Analog inputs:   RCA
• Analog input Vmax:   9.5 VRMS (2–3.5 VRMS recommended)
• Analog input imp.:   47 kΩ
• Line outputs:   balanced XLR; unbalanced RCA
• Volume control:   analogue with bypass option / digital for DAC operation only
• Output level:  @0 dBFS, 1 kHz sine: 
  • PRO: 8 VRMS balanced, 4 VRMS unbalanced
  • Red Book:  3.5 VRMS balanced, 1.75 VRMS unbalanced
• Frequency response:   10 Hz – 200 kHz +/- 0.1 dB
• DAC THD:   -121 dB (0.00009%); THD+N: -118 dB (unweighted)
• Analog input THD:   -123 dB @ 2 VRMS output level
• Dynamic range analog:   127 dB (A-weighted)
• Dynamic range digital:   119 dB (A-weighted)
• Crosstalk:   -120 dB for 1 kHz, better than -100 dB for 20 Hz -20 kHz
• Output impedance:   22 Ω unbalanced
• Output impedance:   44 Ω balanced
• Power consumption:   10 W idle / 15 W max
• Power inputs:   22-30 VDC
  • proprietary Ferrum Power Link (FPL) 4-pin DC connector (FPL)
  • 5.5/2.5 mm DC connector center positive
• Power adapter:  100-240 VAC to 24 VDC
• Dimensions:  21.7 cm x 20.6 cm x 5 cm / 8.6″ x 8.1″ x 2.0″
• Weight:  1.8 kg / 3.97 lb