AudioByte Vox | Zap vs Rockna Wavelight

The unit that is 4x the price is the Wavedream Signature.  The Wavelight is $4950 while the HydraVox/Zap combo $4500 list.  The difference is the Audiobyte is a pure FPGA DAC while the Wavelight is an R2R DAC with an FPGA front end.  

OCD Guy is not the sole importer of any of these products.  The US and Canadian distributor for Rockna is Worldwide Wholesalers in Canada.  Audiobyte is sold in the US direct from Rockna/Audiobyte in Romania.  I buy Audiobyte direct from Romania.   

I have Wavelights in-stock and am waiting on my Audiobyte stock so I can do a side-by side comparison of the two.  I am going to try each firmware option on the Audiobyte and will be writing up a detailed POV on each.  

I expect two pairs of Vox/Zaps to ship around the 20th of this month.  I will get the compare done as quickly as possible after.  The Hubs will most likely be about a month behind.  

My plan is to compare both of these to a Chord TT2 as well given they are obviously competitive products.  

That is a great question.  It can be controlled directly on the touch screen or via the app.  

Unfortunately the guys at DHL are killing me and my Wavelight has been sitting at the Cincinnati airport since April.  They tell me customs is holding it.  

My Audiobyte Vox/Zap arrived two days ago.  It takes time for the Caps to charge in the Zap power supply and until they are fully charged, the Vox does not turn on.  It does not say this in the manual.  Once up and running, it was easy to setup.  There are two cable (one 5 pin and one 8 pin) that run from the two devices.  Easy to screw in.

After everything warmed up, I did some initial listening vs. the Chord Hugo 2 with 2Go and Weiss 501 as those two I have on hand at the moment.  For streaming to both the Audiobyte and Weiss, I used the same 2Go/2Yu combo.  

The Hugo is is much less expensive and it is obvious.  There is a graininess and sibilance on some tracks along with general lack of detail vs. the other that make it unfair to include further.  I will get my TT2 out of storage in the near future as that is a fairer POC.

The Audiobyte filters have a huge impact on the sound.  Initial test is with Bullet firmware and I found the linear filter a bit bright.  Tonally similar to the Hugo 2 with much sibilance.  Switching to Minimal softened this and the DAC is pretty neutral.   

It is slightly more forward than the Weiss.  The HUB would need to be added to be more comparable to the Weiss as this would add in a Roon ready rendered and more functionality.  

I used three tracks, Be Still My Beating Heart from Sting, Blackbird from Sarah McLachlan and In a Sentimental Mood from Duke Ellington and John Coltrane.  I am using my reference Art Audio Opus 4 mono amps with KR KT88s into Verdant Nightshades.  

Detail was VERY similar between the two DACs.  Tonally the AB is slightly brighter than the Weiss which is not a bad thing.  The Weiss is very warm and tonally is similar to MSB.  Tiny details, especially in Be Still My beating heart come through.  Separation on drumrolls and the complex notes in In a Sentimental Mood were very similar.  

Decay, both in terms of fine notes of the guitar in Blackbird and the piano in Be Still My Beating Hear and In a Sentimental mood were better on the Audiobyte than the Weiss.

In terms of staging and definition, the Weiss has a deep and defined central image.  Instrument placement is focused and clear.  The Audiobytes central image is not as deep and the image is wider than the Weiss.  Placement of instruments isn't quite as focused.  

Basically, initial reaction to the Audiobyte is that it is KILLER for $4500 and is definitely competitive with products that are more expensive.  Looking forward to the Hub arriving next month to see what it can do.