Ferrum WANDLA 2.0 DAC

The Wandla is an excellent DAC. It is detailed, transparent, but it is also enjoyable! The HQ filters are what really bring to life this DAC for me, once they are engaged, it becomes easier to discern sound separation in complex mixes. It is hard to say which input option is more musical... After owning it for about a month, USB sounds engaging with slightly larger images, optical feels a bit more "studio like" maybe more mid forward, and AES seems to be a bit more airy and open than optical (both digital signals sent from the RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE) - all of these impressions being subjective and the differences are very small - but hey! Ferrum wants us to try the filters, if you can't hear the difference between filters then maybe be happy with a Chinese DAC that also performs well. The bass is tight and present to the bottom of the 20Hz region and the realism took my breath away. I love the looks and the screen is responsive - like a good smartphone. I like that you can change the light on the Fe logo and the screen can stay dark after a few seconds. Also, the screen and the material on top of the unit is not a "finger print magnet" as the HDV 820 can be. I bought this DAC because I wanted more engagement from my analytical/cold speakers and headphones - and this DAC certainly helped with that. Headphones dot com was good at answering questions and following up with the shipment. The only downside... the Wandla was sent with USPS - which for me its not as reliable as UPS. Thankfully, it arrived safely.

Really impressive DAC, outperforms many in this price range, and hypsos kicks it up a notch.