Wadax • Studio CD/SACD Player

by Dennis Davis | October 16, 2025

Is there any segment of high-end audio that embodies the human search for meaning more than the forty-year development of the CD player? We like to think that the development of technology happens at light speed, yet refinements to digital sound have been far from fast-moving. Stereo recordings on LP became available in the late 1950s, and it took about 25 years before the compact disc “replaced” the LP. Yet here we are, over forty years after the release of the first CD, waiting for that technology to catch up with the sonic quality available from vinyl playback. Efforts to make the silver disc sound more like music have continued, but, for the most part, real improvements in sonic performance have remained just out of our grasp.

When k.d. lang sang about “Constant Craving” back in 1992, she might have just as easily been describing the unrequited pursuit of a one-box CD player that satisfies our musical requirements without breaking the bank. While the craving for truth may never be satisfied, the search for better sound should not be as difficult. In theory, there is no reason digital performance should not eventually equal and even surpass analog musical reproduction.

Despite a very slow start, over the last decade, some dramatic improvements in digital reproduction have finally taken place. The Wadax Reference components have certainly advanced the goal of improving musical reproduction, but their cost and space requirements are prohibitive. The Reference system is massive in every way -- with separate units for server, DAC, power supplies, and transport adding up to a room full of boxes. The cost adds up to “If you have to ask” territory, approaching a half million dollars. However, that breathtaking cost left the trickle-down door open to the possibility of a system that would fit the space and budget limitations of less-affluent music lovers.

The Wadax Studio Player, introduced at the 2024 Munich High End show, offers to condense the core attributes of the Reference system into a single box that’s a lot easier to afford and accommodate. The Studio Player can fit in a studio apartment as easily as a recording studio. That single-box is large enough to include a DAC, a CD/SACD transport, a streamer, and a volume control for those who wish to run the player into an amplifier without a line stage. Priced a shade over $40,000, the Studio uses the same DAC boards as the Reference system. The streamer is certified for Roon, Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz and Audionirvana, allowing you to run streaming apps from your phone or tablet. The Studio’s software is upgradeable over the Internet, and the hardware is modular, allowing for future upgrades, while two optional Studio-line units have already appeared: the external Power Supply Unit and the multi-frequency Clock.

All Wadax products use the company's in-house digital technology, founded on what it calls the "musIC process," a sophisticated feed-forward error-correction system that operates in the time domain. By mapping the error mechanisms of a chosen DAC chip under Adaptive Delta Hilbert Mapping, Wadax developed an algorithm that examines the incoming signal and calculates the induced error (both linear and nonlinear) that results. By applying an inverse signal at the input, Wadax corrects for the time and phase errors in real time. The process requires a massive number of mathematical operations and considerable data transfer -- 12.8Gb per second. Processing is done at 128-bit internal resolution to precisely render the output and generate the smallest feed-forward corrections.

No one with an ounce of common sense would expect the Studio Player to reach the same level of performance as the Reference system, but there is a difference between reaching perfection and getting damn close. In addition, there is the issue of system context. Unless you surround a Wadax Reference system with equally ambitious electronics, you may not fully appreciate the Reference’s potential. In more modest systems, electronics will narrow the gap, and with my Audio Research electronics, Nordost Valhalla 2 cabling and Wilson Alexia V loudspeakers, I’m placed in the position of fully embracing the potential of the Studio line, while I might miss out on some of what the Wadax Reference has to offer.

Although I own the excellent Neodio Origine CD player, silver discs have played second fiddle in my system. The Wadax Reference system, even under show conditions, has demonstrated far more musical sound than any other digital system I have heard. The CH Precision D1.5 CD/SACD player that I reviewed failed to create enough enthusiasm to make me change disc players. That is a shame, because a lot of current classical music is recorded digitally and is only available in digital form. To enjoy newly recorded classical recordings, the choice is stream, download or spin an optical disc.

Although the Studio Player is large (18 7/8"W x 10.5"H by 17 1/8"D) and heavy (66 pounds) for a disc player, it is surprisingly manageable because of the brilliant packaging in which it arrives. The large cardboard carton was strapped to a pallet and dropped at the top of my driveway. I lifted off the outer cardboard carton and found the Studio Player packed in its own Pelican-style case, complete with wheels and retractable handle. Inside the case, the Studio was swaddled in a synthetic satin hood and cocooned in thick high-density foam. I positioned the Studio Player on the top level of an HRS RXR rack with an HRS M3X isolation base beneath. I powered up the unit, inserted a CD, and after listening for a couple of hours, I set the player on repeat, where it stayed for several days of break-in.

After break-in, I explored some alternative supports to squeeze more performance out of the Studio Player. Wadax supplies steel cones with the Studio, fitted with outer cups that fit over the spikes and attached with set screws. Those cups function more as furniture protectors but do nothing to improve the sound. Removing them produced an improvement in focus, clarity, and dynamics. I then experimented with a variety of feet from HRS and Neodio, but I settled on a set of AcouPlex feet (with PEEK threaded adapters) brought back from the Munich High End Show. At first, I used the threaded AcouPlex feet to level the Studio Player, an essential step with any disc player, and an especially important one with a player capable of so much. The sound improved even more after a visit from near-neighbor Stirling Trayle of Audio Systems Optimized. In addition to checking and optimizing my settings, he threaded the feet up snug with the unit and leveled the Studio Player using the cones on the HRS stand.

The Studio impressed me even before listening to it because of the sheer simplicity and intuitive nature of its operation. The back panel includes an on/off rocker switch, balanced analog outputs, an RJ45 input for Internet connection, connections for the optional Clock and Power Supply, a ground connection, and digital outputs (XLR, RCA and BNC). All functions are operated from the unit's touch screen. In the upper left corner of the touch screen are three stacked buttons, one each for Settings, Disc Playback and Streaming Playback. On the right is a vertical slider for the volume control.

On powering up for the first time, the Studio Player defaults to full output mode. If you use a line stage between the Studio and your amplifier, that’s where you will leave it. Press the middle button, and the Disc Playback window opens. Most of the controls are self-evident, so pressing the upright triangle button opens and closes the disc drawer. The middle stop and skip buttons are universal. The right-hand button is a right-facing triangle and controls play and pause functions. Additional controls are brought up by touching the caret symbol (^), which brings up a repeat button and forward/reverse buttons.

The top button brings up a Settings menu, with options to adjust phase, volume step, hybrid-SACD disc layer to default to, clock, output impedance, and output level. The bottom button is a globe, and touching it takes you to the Studio Player’s streaming function. While it allows control of streaming directly from the touch screen, streaming is best handled from apps on your mobile device -- for example a Qobuz account app and the Roon app. Once those are installed on your mobile device, you can choose Wadax as your output device.

Wadax supplies a remote control that duplicates most of the functions as well as allowing you to put the unit in standby. I tended to make all adjustments at the touch screen, with one exception. If you wish to skip to a particular track of a CD, the direct numerical keypad on the remote is quicker and far more precise than counting through tracks on the screen.

I recall the days before streaming when some pundits advocated shutting down your computer and router while listening to music to prevent sonic grunge from infiltrating your system. Today you would be hard-pressed to find an audiophile without a streaming setup, and, for many, that is the primary source of music in the home. For those who have abandoned physical media, an audiophile front-end begins and ends with a streaming DAC and a server.

Playing streamed files on the Studio Player is certainly convenient, so I began my evaluation with file playback. Most streamed music heard at audio shows ranges somewhere between inoffensive and appalling. While much of that is a result of the electrical grid and lousy networks used at shows, it makes you wonder why exhibitors opt for streaming when much of the problem could be resolved with a CD player or, better yet, a turntable. However, unless you live in a convention hall, you should be able to achieve far better streaming quality at home. Experience with the Studio Player has finally convinced me that a future where the sound quality of streaming is getting closer to that of playing physical media. The sound of streamed music on the Studio Player is remarkably convincing.

The Studio Player's streaming function combined with current apps provides a stunning level of convenience. You sit in your listening chair with a portable device (I used an iPhone) that you already own, loaded with a couple of apps like Roon and Qobuz, and play music to your heart's content. As I write this, Mal Waldon’s new album Candy Girl is streaming through the Studio Player. I only heard of the album hours ago in an Instagram post from Sam Records, then saw it pop up on Qobuz’s New Releases page. Then I read a Gramophone review of Anastasia Kobekina’s upcoming album of Bach cello suites. Neither her website nor Amazon showed if, when or where a physical copy could be preordered, but selections from the album were found on Qobuz within moments. All of this was accomplished without leaving my listening chair.

Just how good is the Studio Player’s streaming sound? I did comparisons with some of my favorite music, where I have the same performance on LP, regular CD and, in many cases, on UHQCD with MQA Studio. Víkingur Ólafsson's Debussy/Rameau is among the best-performed and best-sounding of all modern piano recordings. Qobuz found both a standard “CD Quality” version as well as a 24-bit/192kHz version. The “CD Quality” version lacked everything -- dynamics, depth, and the tonal quality were unexceptional. The 24-bit/192kHz version was significantly better, closely matching the sound of a physical CD. Only when a UHQCD disc [Deutsche Grammophon UCCG 46093] was slipped into the Studio Player were the slight shortcomings of the high-resolution streamed version obvious. The disc reproduced greater dynamics, and the tonal color had more texture. As a performance to demonstrate the Studio Player’s streaming prowess, however, this recording proved how good the Studio Player’s streaming is.

How does the Studio Player’s streaming cope with larger-scale music? Martha Argerich’s performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos.2 & 3 (with Claudio Abbado conducting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra on Deutsche Grammophon) are well recorded and impressive in any format. Listening to a high-res version downloaded to the Roon server, I was impressed at how close the sound quality came to what I had previously heard, either streamed or from the standard Deutsche Grammophon CD. Only when confronted with the UHQCD version [Deutsche Grammophon UCCG-41070] was the contest ceded to physical media, which better reproduced hall sound, depth, and dynamics.

This may sound like faint praise for the Studio Player’s streaming performance, but let me put that into perspective, because it's certainly not intended as such. Until now I've been a streaming agnostic; I had heard little in either streamed or downloaded music to raise any enthusiasm. Previous experience suggested that non-physical media were struggling to match digital discs, let alone vinyl. But the Studio Player has demonstrated that the technology to deliver great-sounding music without a physical disc is coming of age. Combine its musical qualities with the access offered by the better streaming services (and a high-quality network) and streamed music is starting to deliver.

Let’s now talk about the main reason a music lover wants to own a disc player. Just as CD players started to grow digital inputs, they began to offer streaming, but I doubt anyone in the market for a Studio Player is thinking of disc replay as a convenient accessory to a streaming DAC. If they are, they will likely be changing their minds once they experience the Studio Player’s disc replay. There are some who think streaming and downloading have replaced the need for physical media, just as there are those who think that CDs sound as good as vinyl. However, the prime reason the Studio Player has generated so much excitement is because it is a downsized version of the Reference system, and demonstrating just what that means in musical terms is best done using its CD/SACD transport. The fully loaded Reference system, which I have been lucky enough to enjoy several times in different situations, is the only CD player that has tricked me into thinking I’m listening to a world-class turntable. Or more significantly, it allowed me to forget that I’m listening to CD. Given price and size of the system, Reference performance is out of reach of all but a very few. So naturally, the question is, how much of that slice of heaven is available to the rest of us with a Studio Player?

The answer is an exceptionally large slice. The Studio Player allows you to enjoy standard Red Book CDs, as well as the higher-resolution SACDs and MQA CDs. When a disc is inserted, the touch screen displays either the universal compact disc logo or an SACD logo. When play is engaged, the screen also displays the disc’s resolution. In the case of MQA-encoded discs, the CD logo is replaced by the MQA logo, and, in addition, the resolution of the disc is identified -- 44.1 for CD, DSD64 for SACD and in the case of MQA either 88.2 or 176.4.

From the opening bars of the first disc that I slipped into the transport, the one I chose to begin breaking in the player, two things were immediately obvious. First, the Studio Player produced bass lines with authority. Beginning in the early days of the compact disc, early adherents claimed that one of the advantages of the new technology was its ability to produce realistic bass notes. But the bass sound of early CDs was a one-note wonder, and next to good LP sound, much of the bass produced by CD players seemed anemic and two-dimensional by comparison. Each disc I played on the Studio Player demonstrated a more energetic, dynamic sense of bass that has been long promised but rarely delivered. This was not just from blockbusters known for subterranean bass. Just as a specific frequency will sound different depending on the instrument’s unique timbre, the accuracy of a CD’s bass reproduction will sound different from one CD player to the next, depending on a player’s ability to accurately reproduce the harmonics and overtones of each note. If those are not accurately reproduced, your SPL meter will show a low frequency, but your ears will hear that something is missing. Across my CD collection, the Studio Player filled in the blanks around those low notes that seemed barren with other players.

The second thing that stood out was the sheer density produced by the Studio Player. By that I mean the rich tonal "substance" of the music. The Studio Player's sound suggests that Wadax is producing an oil painting where other players produce a water-colored version of the same music. That recognition reminded me of the surprise I had when my eyes first focused after cataract surgery, and I saw just how faded certain colors had become over time. The Studio Player produced a similar jolt of recognition -- of just how much I had been missing.

One of the first discs I listened to was a recording I have heard so many times that it is imprinted on my brain -- Michelangeli’s performance of Beethoven’s 1st and 3rd Piano Concertos on Deutsche Grammophon. Before the CD was released, I had practically memorized the music from the LP [Deutsche Grammophon 2531 302], which was released in 1980. Later, the 1997 CD became one of my digital reference discs. My “go to” copies are now the SHM SACD [Deutsche Grammophon UCGG 9520] and SHM CD [Deutsche Grammophon UCCG 4886]. I have always been drawn to enigmatic performers like Michelangeli and Carlos Kleiber. The core attribute of this enigmatic performance is its unique sense of musical flow -- the intensity of rhythm that sounds more right the better the playback system, Michelangeli’s reclusive nature and his death in 1995 deprived me of seeing him perform, but this recording inspired me to travel to Vienna to experience the Musikverein, the site of the live recording.

With the Studio Player, Michelangeli’s focused energy explodes out of the speakers, Carlo Maria Giulini’s almost telepathic control of the Vienna musicians becomes more obvious, and the Musikverein’s wonderful acoustic (and the different renditions of that acoustic in the various iterations) is more obvious than ever. If bass and density are the Studio Player’s most obvious sonic characteristics, it’s the natural sense of timing it brings to the performance that connects them together.

As good as the streaming of Víkingur Ólafsson’s Debussy/Rameau is, it is even better when heard from disc. I own a vinyl LP, the original standard CD, and now an UHQCD [Deutsche Grammophon UCCG 46093]. As soon as it becomes available, an MQA version and a clear vinyl version will be added to the pile. The Studio Player’s CD reproduction of Ólafsson’s piano sound is a master class in mechanical reproduction of tonal density -- the rich colors are more lifelike than I have heard from any CD player. Add to that the whip-sharp but subtle dynamic graduation, and the two combine to capture a sense of musical flow so accurately that it is easy to forget the system entirely, to believe that you are listening to a real piano in real acoustic space.

I listened to both the SACD and CD layers of Vivaldi’s La Stravaganza performed by Rachel Podger and Arte Dei Suonatori [Channel Classics CCS SA 19503]. I’d always been disappointed by the sound of the CD layer, even played on the excellent Neodio Origine. It had sounded a bit shrill and threadbare, compared to the much better-sounding SACD layer. The Studio Player pushed the sound of the CD layer much closer to the rich tones and expansive stage depth of the SACD.

The Studio Player also excelled at reproducing jazz. The first such disc I reached for once the unit was turned on and warmed up was Getz/Gilberto, the new Impex hybrid SACD [Verve/Impex IMP 8335]. This follows the company’s earlier 1-Step LP boxed set that set the standard for jazz reissues. So as I listened to the SACD, I compared it to the Mt. Everest of LP reissues. I was not shocked to hear that the vinyl version still reigned supreme, but I was surprised by how close the SACD came to it. It was only lacking the last degree of, for lack of a better term, "tube glow" from the vinyl. With jazz disc after jazz disc, regular CD or SACD, the Wadax Studio brought a sense of body, presence, and immediacy to the sound, while maintaining depth and dimension.

Neil Young’s Massey Hall 1971 [Reprise 43328-2] is a CD that sounds good on almost any system. As good as the CD sounds, compare it to a copy of the two-LP version [Reprise 43328-1] and then try and convince me that CD sounds as good or better than vinyl. However, if you are hearing it with a Studio Player, the comparison between the two formats draws much closer. The Studio makes the fewest compromises I have yet heard with this CD. The soundstage is not so huge as with vinyl, the guitar sound lacks a little body, the voices are just shy of perfect presence and communication. Yet the Wadax Studio scales the performance so naturally that it might make you think the LP sounds a little overblown and exaggerated. With disc after disc, I found that the Studio allowed me to "see" further into the music than any other disc player, save the Wadax Reference.

The Studio‘s variable output allows those who use it as a standalone digital source and forego a preamplifier, connecting the Studio‘s outputs directly to a power amplifier. That’s nothing new. A few decades ago, I owned a Wadia CD player with the same functionality, but I found that it sounded much better run through a preamplifier. There was a time, not that long ago, when passive volume-control units were in vogue, but those suffered the same sonic shortcomings as Wadia’s digital volume control.

I tried the variable outputs of the Wadax, connected directly to my Audio Research amplifier. Although the Wadax Studio did a better job than I recall hearing from my Wadia player or any passive unit I ever built or tried, it still sounded better with a preamplifier in use. The fact that it’s a cut above the average variable output/direct connection is probably the result of Wadax incorporating adjustments to alter the Studio's output level and output impedance, to better match the input characteristics of the amp being driven, something that I found made a difference with my Audio Research amplifier. For someone starting out, without a turntable or preamplifier, Wadax lets them get into the game with less money down and start to enjoy great digital sound. And if your space demands a minimalist, low-box-count system, the Studio Player makes that possible too.

You could compare disc after disc played with the Wadax Studio, trying to identify how they compare and differ. Ultimately, the Studio's most important attribute sneaks up on you: it changes listening habits. First, I was spending much more time listening to music than I had done in an exceptionally long time. Second, most of that time was spent listening to the Studio rather than my turntable. I used to warm up the system with a CD or two, then switch to vinyl. As days stretched into weeks, I was listening predominately to the Studio Player, and often not even turning on the phono stage to warm it up. This happened not because I was working on a review, but because I was enjoying my CD collection so much that I was digging into its forgotten corners. In fact, I found myself digging through my collection so much that I decided to reorganize it, to make it easier to find favorites and explore the occasional treasure.

That is not to say that the Studio Player has pulled even with the best vinyl playback, but it has closed the gap and awakened a whole new sense of excitement about music. Most tellingly, it has redirected the focus of my inquiry, allowing me to recognize that the differences between digital and analog playback are not as linear as I once thought. The Wadax players, whether Reference or Studio, allow you to experience music in an engaging and convincing way without trying to sound like vinyl. They share some of the same qualities as the best vinyl -- rich colors, rhythmic fluidity, and musicality. But they also add something that all but the best direct-drive turntables struggle with -- a sense of timing that places each note in the right place at the right time. I have no way of attributing that success to any aspect of Wadax’s technology, but whatever they are doing works.

The Studio Player is pricey as CD players go, and it is still unclear what the ever-changing US tariffs will do to the cost for US buyers. In context, however, the price is still less than many of us have tied up in analog playback. Between turntable, tonearms and a couple of cartridges, my analog rig is still 50% more expensive than the cost of a Studio Player. Considering how much I enjoyed the Studio Player and how much musical excitement it has generated, it is hard to underestimate the value of this remarkable product.

I feel like Norma Desmond asking Joe Gillis in Billy Wilder’s classic Sunset Boulevard: “You there, why are you so late? Why have you kept me waiting so long?” For many, I imagine, the long wait for a one-box digital player that ticks enough sonic boxes is over. It certainly is for me.

Wadax S.A.
Ulises 108 2A
28043 Madrid, Spain
www.wadax.eu
info@wadax.eu

Associated Equipment

Analog: Spiral Groove SG1.2 turntable with Centroid tonearm, Lyra Atlas Lambda stereo and Etna mono phono cartridges, Fuuga phono cartridge, Nordost Valhalla 2 tonearm cable, Audio Research Reference Phono 3 SE phono stage.

Preamplifiers: Audio Research Reference 6 SE, VTL TL-6.5 Series II Signature.

Amplifiers: Amplifiers: Audio Research Reference 160S, VTL S-200 Signature.

Digital: AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt digital-to-analog converter, Neodio Origine CD player.

Speakers: Wilson Audio Alexia V.

Cables: AudioQuest Dragon power cords; Nordost Valhalla 2 interconnects, speaker cables and power cords.

Power distribution: AudioQuest Niagara 7000 power conditioner, Nordost Quantum QB8 AC-distribution unit and Qx4 power purifier, Furutech GTX D-Rhodium power outlet.

Supports: HRS RXR rack, MSX Isolation Bases, Damping Plates, and Vortex footers; Neodio Origine B1 supports, Stillpoints ESS rack and Ultra 5 footers.

Accessories: VPI MW-1 Cyclone record-cleaning machine, Disc Doctor cleaning fluid and brush, DS Audio ST-50 stylus cleaner, VPI "magic bricks," Audio Physic cartridge demagnetizer, Shunyata Research Dark Field Elevators, Orb Audio static-charge eliminator, Acoustical Systems SMARTractor, Ortofon DS-3 stylus-pressure gauge, Shaknspin2 wow and flutter analyzer, Level Developments PEL .02-200 machinist's level.

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