Wonder product?

Puffin etc. been around for some time.  DSP I think.

Do a search.

The Puffin is great mainly for poorly recorded albums and mono records if you don't have a mono cartridge. I use it on my secondary TT. It is a fantastic equalizer. The owner is also outstanding and fixed an issue on a 5 year old unit at zero cost. It is easy to self update to newer versions. It is not a toy but an amazing piece of digital engineering. In the end, it's like the Loki Max, mainly ignored by the old school audiophiles. I'm old but not old school.

The Puffin is a great entry level phono stage that does a lot of cool things and has more than enough gain to drive any cartridge. 

I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "wonder" product, but I can't think of anything at its price point that would be better.  Better / more expensive phono stages will have more dynamics and detail than the Puffin is capable of. 

From what I've read, it sounds like the Waxwing is an evolution of the Puffin and provides the ability to make adjustments through an app.

One cool feature is you can setup your Azimuth with the Puffin. I feel it is good value for money as long as you are not a purist. I own a Fozgometer to setup azimuth and I have a decent analog rig therefore I would not have this in my main system. In a second system like Bayliner said. All day long. It’s very versatile and I would have no issues someone buying this for their first phono stage. If you have a MC cartridge you might spend the money on a used Stepup transformer instead which would run you same if not less money and have better sound. I hope this helped. 

@baylinor 1+ I have the capability to do all that the puffin does and more with my preamp/processor and having this kind of capability is amazing, but my preamp is now up to $15,000 and I am sure the Puffin is a lot less expensive.  

The only thing I do not see in the literature is a signal to noise ratio. I am also not fond of electronic azimuth setting. the stylus has to be 90 degrees to the record surface and this is easy to see on a mirrored surface. I am also concerned about the ADCs and DACs in the unit. Those in the MiniDSP SHD are not satisfactory for a high end system. The SHD Studio with outboard DACs is a much better deal. Park mentions a digital output which would allow use of an outboard DAC. 

It sounds like you could be having a good conversation with Shannon Parks, the owner. Just email him and he will contact you for certain. One of the better audio dealer anywhere. Actually there are only a handful of adjustments I usually make on the Puffin, azimuth is not one of them. 

Thanks for the replies.

I called it a wonder product not second-guessing the audio quality but because both units seem so versatile.  I'm truing to imagine how it adjusts azimuth for example.  It can't be a matter of gain between channels since a simple balance control does that.  As you can see, I'm not great with electronics knowledge.

And even extreme azimuth angles off 90 degrees does not have much effect on channel balance. (I’ve measured this.) More likely the Puffin can be set to operate like a Fozgometer. But I agree with Mijostyn, after years of trying to adjust azimuth electronically for best crosstalk numbers, I now just set the cartridge so the stylus fits symmetrically in the grooves, which is usually 90 degrees of azimuth or darn close to it. Anything other than 90 degrees with respect to the stylus tip causes aberrant stylus and LP wear and probably forms of distortion that have nothing to do with crosstalk. IOW, the cure for unequal crosstalk is worse than the disease, in my opinion.

I think the Puffin/Waxwing is probably better than the equipment of a lot of purists who have mid-end and even upper-mid-level equipment. I've never owned one and never will because I have a Millennia LOCi and a very sophisticated digital processing rig, but from what I've read it's very competitve with everything under a couple grand, especially if you have any contact with older recordings such as 78s. I regularly recommend it to 78 collectors. It's a godsend for 78s especially because most of the preamps out there are total crap in various ways, e.g. not allowing for stereo, colored electronics, incorrect EQ curves. The Puffin allows for the adjustments necessary to get the most out of old recordings and has a few 'bonus features' like Super Mono and Magic. In most cirumstances, I'd take this over any 78-oriented preamp under $3k, mostly because the other options are terrible.

The new Waxwing requires you to control it with a mobile device, but I wouldn't think it would be difficult to find an old Android tablet for a few bucks to use as a dedicated remote control. 

I'm also curious to know how it stacks up specs-wise with higher-end stuff. I've looked around for that information but haven't found the greatest answers.

Darn this discussion. I just bought the Waxwing to replace my Puffin. This was the last piece of the puzzle I couldn't control via remote. Just had to be done.

I use the Puffin with my Rega Planar 8 turntable and APHETA 3 MC cartridge. I don't feel that the Puffin is holding back the sound of the turntable at all, although I would like to try inserting a SUT better the P8 and Puffin.

I've not tried using the analog outputs on the Puffin. Mine has the optical digital output, which I run into an external DAC (Gustard X18). Super happy with the sound and features. But I may upgrade to the Waxwing at some point for the convenience.

I bought a second hand Puffin with COAX out due to a recent addition of a Hana MH which outputs 2mv. The controls allow you adjust the gain, which was instrumental to bringing the cart to life. It’s basically an adjustable SUT. Perfect solution to cart swapping.

Output to a Liberty DAC II it holds nothing back. Add the Magic feature to reduce minor pops on older records and it’s a multi-win product.

I’m sure the Waxwing works just as well if only more convenient.