Ive thought about the Wandla but have not heard one. I understand that you can run both the OOR and Wandla via a single Hypsos (with the addition of splitter and additional Ferrum Connect cable) but my experience with OOR both with and without Hypsos has solidified my personal position of Hypsos is required to get the best from the OOR and I would imagine the same to be true with Wandla espeicially considering its location in the chain, and my OCD would drive me crazy until the Wandla was being powered from its own Hypsos.
Gzuz jeff why all the suplarative filler? Well reader, because adding another Hypsos adds to the overal cost aproximately another $1.1 - 1.5K cost depending on cabling picked out to compliment it (prmairly power) Heck, even using a single Hypsos the cost of the splitter and additional FC cable is @$300 last I did the rough add-up in my head, that also adds some to the overal cost of Wandla putting it into a range of where the thing better well sound absolutely phenominal becuase you are in that $4-5K msrp territory where there are already established performers and you’re not far at all from stepping into a next tier up altogether…
With that said - it does not mean that I wouldn’t like to hear one in my setup and decide for myself one way or another becuase I am curious as I’ve been quite pleased with the OOR stack SQ/Perfromanc to Value ratio.
Unrelated to the original question about the Wandla, I am curious about your personal thoughts (that is if you have done this) comparing the Oor with and without the Hypnos. I’m not looking for the typical explanation as to why the external psu makes it better, I understand that part.
What I’m curious about, and this is for a friend not for me, is the Hypnos absolutely necessary for the Oor. Could the Oor still be a great amp on its own without the Hypnos. Given the used pricing has brought it down to a nice entry point as a package, I wonder if it still holds solo?
Got the replacement Wandla.
I have used it for a total of 30 hours with volume control mode, HQ apod, and stock power supply. This is my first ESS Delta Sigma.
Chain:
USB > Red > AES > Wandla > XLR > v550 > XLR Dana reference > Utopia OG.
First impression and comparisons with the 2541.
Frequency response: The Wandla sounds like a dead straight line. More treble and more sub-bass (A tad). The 2541 sounds like an inverted U-shape (Nothing extreme).
Soundstage: I keep hearing about the big soundstage of the Wandla. For me the 2541 is bigger overall but not so much. Depth goes to the Wandla in the delimited space. Listened to pacing sounds coming at me and out. I jumped out on a few songs.
Resolution: Goes to Wandla, there is more overall. Imaging is sharper and less “Blurry”. There is a song(I need to look for it), where there is a pacing sound that goes left to right. With the 2541 was just a sound, with the Wandla it sounds like someone is welding with sparks and all.
Timber: 2541 sounds more natural with less treble and sub-bass. The Wandla sounds digital, but not by much. Female vocals go to the 2541. The Vocals are more forward and take the center of the stage with more weight. With the Wandla, they sound less “solid”.
If I have to choose one right now, I will go with Wandla. Because of new toy syndrome and less forward mids. With the 2541 I was reaching the volume pot for almost every song. Keep in mind I am mid-sensitive.
I’m currently participating in a tour with this combo, have heard it before and enjoyed it with the Utopia which was a bit surprising to me. I will first use it as a pre-amp for a few days before I plug any headphones into it, and yes I’m aware of this non-feature no using the headphone and pre-amp at the same time *headphone unplugged before using pre-amp function with speakers
Looks like I am late to respond as you can draw your own conclusion by now but…
my answer is Probably not , maybe it’s going to depend on personal preferences, the upstream behind the amp and the headphones. Also I am wondering if I’d a tried the amp first with stock psu brick, then the Hypsos if I might have been more prone to say the Hypsos is a nice to have addition and not necessary. Also, if I was not using it with Susvara.
Without the Hypsos the Susvara is less dynamic and overall the sound is to me more linear than I prefer - the Hypsos adds wieght behind dynamics and fills out the sound with the Susvara. Could I live with out the Hypsos perhaps - especially if it wasn’t driving Susvara - but that is what I bought my OOR stack for.
In any respect - I myself am quite satisfied with the Ferrum OOR/Hypsos in the chain I’m using it in. I liked it better than the Bliss in the same chain thus Bliss was sold and the OOR remains.
The WANDLA GoldenSound edition will be available exclusively at headphones.com in North America, and through Ferrum dealers in other regions.
It will retail for $3295.
For existing WANDLA owners, an upgrade will be available for $600 at a later date.
Hey guys, i need some help deciding about my next amplifier upgrade. I currently own the OOR + HYPSOS but i have started disliking two aspects about their sound:
Lack of bass punch/impact;
Weirdness with the soundstage, i can’t describe this one very well;
It took me a while to fully understand what i like and what i dislike with this amp, some new headphones in my collection helped a lot with that.
The important thing for me though is that i will be importing a new amp to Brazil, so size and weight are very important factors to consider. Budget-wise i would want to stay as close as possible to the OOR + HYPSOS combined price but i want to understand which amp will bring a real upgrade to the table and how much will that cost, i am aiming for the used market btw.
So, sound-wise bass punch/impact is my #1 priority, but i am looking for an overall upgrade over the OOR. Oh, and my headphone collection is full of inefficient planars, lol.
You are def could use a pass labs hpa1 used but maybe too big and xpensive
Used or new violectric and v222 or v281 are very very close to what youre looking for, relatively small for their price range, the v222 has very very decent bass punch but is more neutral than bassy per se, the v281 on the other hand is more warm (quite warm) than it is bassy but its bassy enough
This one is also big and heavy but im including schiit mj3 cause its very good and great for your planars
Youd like headamp gsx mini probably but above have much better synergy with stuff in general
The v281 is actually on my shortlist, i love what i am learning about this amp recently and so far it looks like the better choice for me. Whatever amp i pick over the OOR + HYPSOS it must be capable of driving my hard to drive planars (HE6, 1266 and Tungsten).
Hey guys, i had the idea to try the v281 as a pre-amp for the OOR since i have heard that the WANDLA outputs up to 12V and the OOR is supposed to really like that high input signal.
I must say i am absulutely mind blown by the difference the v281 did to the OOR, it went from almost unable to drive the Tungsten to driving the Tungsten better than the v281 itself.
Was i late to this finding? Like, is it a well known fact that the OOR needs a much higher input level compared to other amps to really shine?
As far as i know line level is 2.2V via SE and 4V via XLR and most amps, if not all, are designed to work with those levels. Is the OOR really different???
