Can Hi-Fi Audio Actually Be FUN?

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

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[@feedboy2112]

I’ve had my Waxwing for six months, and I love it. It’s versatile, powerful and sounds great. Plus, you can output analog to your amp or digital to a DAC. If you hide it behind other gear in your setup, nobody listening to your collection will ask “Is that a digital preamp?”.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Good point!

[@VictorEnnis-n1w]

Wow I only mentioned this to you a short while ago as a possible review item if you were open to it and you already are checking it out. Thats awesome. Thanks so much for the fun and in-depth review. Glad to know you are one who is always willing to have an open mind towards other components and ideas outside of the rigid only all analogue all the time mentality. Great video my friend.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Thanks, Victor! Yes - I think it was a week or so after you brought it up that I reached out to Shannon Parks about it. Amazing piece of equipment!

[@davidtexter913]

Your ability to review and present value-added products is refreshing and appreciated. Many may not even know these items are an option... And your sponsored reviews presented honestly are a great aspect of your channel. Keep it up, keep it growing! 😉

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Thank you,David, that means a lot! 🍺

[@michaelmorris7552]

That's wild, I didn't know there was such thing... Thanks!

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

I didn't either, Michael! Glad I did. 🍺

[@MaxKnoxwille]

Actually THE MOST interesting youtube channel about music and equipment! Also the production quality is so damn good. The sound, lights and color are properly tuned. Pleasure to watch and listen. Thank you so much!

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

You are way too kind, Max 🍺

[@TheCollectorCave]

I'm still at the entry level stage of this hobby and building up a library of records fairly quickly (it's addicitve and I'm already running out of room with my current setup), but I absolutely love learning about this stuff. My hope is that when I get to this stage of the hobby all this wonderful info I'm taking in from channels like yours will help me make the best decision for myself and my tastes. Thanks, this thing seems awesome!

[@crazyprayingmantis5596]

I've been in this hobby for long enough to know that people spend lots of money on I piece of gear and then they're stuck with whatever that sound signature is, then they try to bring other components in that brings its own flavour and hopefully together they make magic sounds and people can spend a long time and a lot of money searching for that magic match. It would be a shortcut if you had a device where you could unlock yourself from the hard baked in "sound signature" of any piece of gear and could make your system sound however you prefer. Some people like to have full control of their spaceship. ☺️

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Vinyl has been my heart and soul for decades. Like you, learning about the playback experience, and sharing what I've learned, is gold to me. I'm running out of room as well 😂😂😂 🍺🍺🍺

[@yutopia7]

When you showed off your record doctor x, I’m like “wow that’s so cool!!! I guess I’ll hold off on buying it for myself until my next birthday.” Now for that same $500 I can get a wax wing… yeah forget record doctor, I want WAXWING!!!! I’ll just keep spincleaning my record without the vinylvac. 😂 by the way, thank you so much for sharing this with us. I don’t really read into the latest-and-the-hottest-in-the-vinyl-world too much and it’s presentation of magical products like this that blows me away before I own one. Seriously, it’s like learning about the latest toy from Apple for vinyl. I use Rotel A12 MKII integrated amplifier and I always thought it’s built in preamp is good enough and I never owned a preamp, so I always toyed around with the idea of buying one, but based on what I read and my instinctual feeling, even though that’s not much of an argument, I thought getting another expensive non-tube preamp isn’t worth it and it probably sounds the same (I have technics 1210 GR turn table, ATVM540ML stylus, and KEF LS50 Meta speakers + SVS SB1000Pro Subwoofer). Anyways, now THIS is the preamp for me to buy! That is until you show me another cool product. Subscribed.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Thanks for subscribing - and welcome! That's a great way to put it - it did feel like being presented with a new Apple product. Especially given that the features can keep coming and being improved on with software updates. Great setup you have by they way!

[@scottfarnum2989]

Thanks so much for the recent review of the Waxwing digital phono stage. There are so few reviews for this amazing product and your review was right on target. I've owned one for a few months now and I'm sure I have yet to explore all the capabilities. Absolutely a fun product. My only concern is that the software is such a big part of the functionality and uniqueness of the product. I worry given the small company that they will stop supporting the product. Any worries here on your part?

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Hi Scott! If it cost a bit more I would have a little concern that it will eventually be unsupported. Fortunately the software, as it is now in its current iteration, sounds great. If it were to go unsupported tomorrow the unit would continue to function. If it were $1000+ I might have more of a concern 🍺

[@dougwhittet5538]

I got mine soon after they were released late last year and totally agree with your positive review. An awesome product. I hope your review will encourage others to give it a try.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

I hope so as well, Doug!

[@OldGuyHifi]

What a cool product. I reach out to them and see if they have a review sample.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

You won't be disappointed. Great product.

[@btsr2553]

Dear Rick, thank you so much for this, as always, great product presentation. Well, once again you have piqued my interest. I've been thinking for hours about what to write. Should I write something? Or just keep quiet. Rick, you deserve my opinion. You come around the corner with this "WAXWING", which is supposed to optimize the sound from the records. I'm a fan of digital amplifiers. My motto is "garbage in, garbage out". If a recording is good, it's good. If the recording is bad, it doesn't get any better. Well, you can digitize the recording of the vinyl and then post-process it on the computer. Hmm, now the funny strange thing called "WAXWING" does it beforehand and "on-the-fly". So easy. How does it do that? With a digital sound processor. OK, that's all in a chip with a piece of software. The software is then controlled with an app via iOS or Android using a Bluetooth connection. The menu items show settings such as Warmth and Air. Then come Grade, Magic and Bass Boost. The latter an abomination for a high-end enthusiast. Hmm .. I can still accept Grade and Magic, perhaps. But I wondered what would happen if I didn't adjust anything except the necessary settings? Is it better than my beloved handmade Gold Note phono preamp from the land of pizza and noodles? Rick, you're destroying my fixed phono worldview, aren't you? No, you're probably expanding it. The intelligents mostly look for faults in themselves first, the unfortunate rest always look for them in others. I have to digest that now, but it may well happen that this strange thing somehow finds its way to me. Thanks again for this video and all your efforts. Please keep up the good work. Take care and a hearty "Servus" from Bavaria.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Greetings my friend! The way I look at it is similar to you. I am an analog purist at heart as my system will show, but I can't dismiss digital and I have to give it a fair assessment. That's what made the Waxwing so much fun. I'm also a techie (which is strange given my desire for an all tube signal path), and I enjoyed adjusting the Waxwing settings to try and replicate the sound of my main system. Folks who have digital components in their system will love to add this.

[@VinylRescue]

Very interesting! I was interested in the Puffin, but the price sorta steered me away. I see that this goes for $499 on Amazon so I'll stick with my Little Bear T11s. I could see trying out all the features would be fun!

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

It was the features, and their quality, that drew me in. 🍺

[@neilfisher7999]

Very interesting. I had no idea that even existed. I guess I need to add this to my upgrade list. Thanks for the review.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

I didn't either, Neil. Not until a viewer brought it to my attention. Glad he did!

[@EARLandPEARL-c3i]

I would buy it just to get rid of the pops,ticks and surface noise

[@edosborne8324]

Own a Puffin and love it. Also, an analog guy and can’t find any audible downside to Shannon’s phono stage. Truly amazing.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

I was impressed even more than I knew I would be given Shannon's excellent track record.

[@VinylNerdDesign]

Great review! Are you keeping your test model? I've had mine since January and it is flat out amazing!

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Hey there! If I didn't have another phono stage that I absolutely love I would have kept this one.

[@tomh8544]

Wow. I stumbled upon this video accidentally and so glad I did. That thing is a feature packed, little piece of magic. I enjoy tweaking my digital rips of LPs with Audacity. The Waxwing presents another level of control. I assume the analogue output of this device can be fed into Audacity and saved as a digital file, is that correct? Thanks for the great review of this very interesting product and keep up the good work!

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

It really is a great device, Tom. If you are able to connect it to a device using the analog outputs you could certainly use Audacity to save it.

[@crsirias08]

Rick. Will you keep it and use it as part of your system? If not why not?

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Hi Carlos! If I wasn't a "tube head" I would definitely keep it. As it is I have two systems, both with tube phono stages that I love. Those aside, and if I weren't married to tubes, I would use this without a second thought.

[@thinkIndependent2024]

Nostalgia thanks Rick watching this review reminds of few things Nikki 6 talking about the time they put Jack Daniels in a syringe and later realized we could just drick it Hello!!! I and my autographed Stevie Ray Vaughan album that I can't play because I don't have a full Vinyl rig at the moment. Trust me I've studied recorded music's history back to 1850 Analogue just means approxmate duplicate. As always I Enjoyed the review,Thanks for the hardwork!!!! P.S. its possible to duplicate the circuit out a vinyl cutting machine and put it on the output of a DAC.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Cheers!!🍺

[@JWD1992]

This looks perfect for creating digital transfers. I can only imagine the potential for old 78s that are maybe the only surviving copies of the recordings they contain. Surface noise reduction and EQ correction in real time!

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

It is extremely cool. A very fun and capable unit!

[@chrislj2890]

I'd just like to have that feature to track the time on a stylus after recently finding out that a micro linear type can fail without warning and destroy a record.. I was watching some very good videos by Peter Ledermann of Soundsmith and realized my stylus of choice has the possibility to break my heart, lol.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

I just learned something new Chris. I hadnt heard that about the micro linear stylus. Was the video on the Soundsmith channel?

[@chrislj2890]

@@TheJoyofVinylRecords Yes, it's this one here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zqm2ZHqpmZJrras It starts at the 2:35 mark referring to the microline type. I hadn't heard anyone mention this before and it's kinda scary.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

@@chrislj2890 Thanks, Chris!

[@fsarfino]

Excellent you finally got one!!! I absolutely love mine & consider it an extremely high value product at a very reasonable price point.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

I really enjoyed playing around with the menu options. Incredible its versatility

[@johnloupis9344]

Those $1 and $2 albums on Discogs are looking more appealing 😉.

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Right??? 🍺

[@jmsafree]

So Rick, how did it fare in an A/B with your Tavish? joe

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

I will always be a tube guy and tubes will always sound better to me (unless it's bad design). If I weren't married to tubes this would a top digital phono stage contender. It's feature-set can't be beat.

[@jmsafree]

@@TheJoyofVinylRecords Do you think it is possible to add it to the chain with your table and phono preamp and disable everything except for the Magic feature? That feature alone would help us all with older and worn records. I would consider buying that product, if that was possible.

[@jmsafree]

or, I could get a signal switcher and plug my turntable into it and have the two phono preamps as the outputs into my pre-amplifier. I have enough inputs on my preamp to handle it. Anybody have suggestions for a good quality signal switcher (not sure if that is the right terminology). Joe

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

@@jmsafree I don't think so, as it's primarily a phono-stage. I agree - the Magic feature is very cool. I was impressed with it.

[@craigboyd6600]

@@jmsafreeI use one from Schiit that’s really good build and quiet.

[@rofgabor]

oh no, what's next: convert a song to 0s and 1s and then convert it back to analog with a thing called DAC? No, thank you :) But seriously, what a cool toy! I am just worried it would lead me too far away from what it is supposed to sound.

[@crazyprayingmantis5596]

At some point someone else somewhere decided how its "supposed to sound" But today YOU can decide for yourself how you'd PREFER it to sound (if you prefer to)

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

I'll always be an analog purist but I really enjoyed the Waxwing and it honestly sounded amazing.

[@rofgabor]

@@crazyprayingmantis5596 that's a valid point, but I would argue that that process is different. My problem is not with the gear, I think it's genius but with myself, I can't use an EQ properly either (so I disconnected it :) )

[@rofgabor]

@@TheJoyofVinylRecords I will always be an analog novice and enjoy it like a baby :)

[@crazyprayingmantis5596]

@@rofgabor Well maybe there's a device that can fix you. 😆

[@dobieprime]

I have to ask this....I don't consider myself an "audiophile". I appreciate hearing their reviews and there are several I follow and learn from, but I feel most of them are just showing off. I believe that its the music that counts. So, I suppose I am a "musicphile" but...I don't believe in labels. That as it may be, I am one that uses tone controls. I can't listen to anything flat. I've done this all my life and I don't see myself changing. I have tried, it just doesn't work for me. The Waxwing...basically it's using, along with all the other great things it does, digital tone controls to mold the sound. How does that balance against tone controls being used on an amp along with it? Does that question make sense?

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Your question does make sense and thanks for asking it. There’s nothing wrong with tone controls. I have gone through the “audiophile” phase of condemning them and changed my tune (no pun intended - or was it?) over the years. Nobody can or should dictate what sounds good to someone else. When folks change speakers or amps they are essentially changing tone and in a more expensive way. They just won’t admit it and couch it in terms to disguise it. Ok. Rant over. I want this hobby to be open to everyone. So back to your question. You wouldn’t want to use the waxwing in conjunction with your amps tone controls. It does a great job doing it for you on its own . Just bypass the tone controls on your amp if you can. If not - then set them to neutral (meaning 0) if you opt for the Waxwing. If you have any questions please reach out. I could talk about this all day ( and I do 😂).

[@dobieprime]

@@TheJoyofVinylRecords thank you so much for your response. I’m glad to know I’m not alone in my feelings.:)

[@sidesup8286]

There are down to Earth reasons for everything. Sometimes magic is distortion added as with tubes which results in a softer sound. Perhaps someday someone will prove that the apparent exceptional depth and dinensionality of tubes is because they have better phase response than transistors. Sometimes bad things like distortion is a seemingly positive thing to our human ears. Further proof that good stereo reproduction is just an illusion. I try to avoid paying big amounts of money. I would rather learn how to create those illusions myself. I try to do it without cheating like increasing 2nd order harmonic distortion to sweeten and soften the sound. If your sound is truly ultra clean, it doesn't need sweetening and softening. Probably a lot of people out there could use a device like the one reviewed. I remember how lots of decades ago we cheated by buying super FI lps, which made our stereos sound better than they really were. At least compared to how they sounded on the usual pressings. Our stereos would go from being a chariot back to a pumpkin again.

[@pnichols6500]

You can't make your stereo sound better than it really is. Like watching a TV commercial with the great picture and thinking it's better than your TV, it's your TV showing the picture, same with your stereo.

[@sidesup8286]

Playing something like a great Sheffield Labs lp or Analogue Productions lp will make your stereo sound way better than usual. In fact it will make it sound like a better quality stereo. The stereo had that capability all along, but playing a better recorded recording brings out more of the potential of the stereo, what your average recording doesn't. It'not like the stereo itself got better,. Most people would take my analogy of a stereo going from a carriage to a pumpkin the "right" way. No one would seriously think that anyone meant that putting on a better record would.change the internals and design of a stereo system.

[@pnichols6500]

@@sidesup8286 A good stereo makes everything sound better than a lower quality stereo, I get your point, but as my equipment improves every record sounds better, not just the "audiophile" pressings, but yes, they do show what the equipment is capable of over a lower quality pressing.

[@Tendervittle]

Very impressed with mine - finger licking good

[@carminedesanto6746]

I heard about the Wax Wing 🪽 a while ago ….i would have liked to have balanced XLR cable output as an option ..that eliminates the ground wire . I hope that you have a great time with this phenomenal unit .

[@TheJoyofVinylRecords]

Hey, Carmine! I often wish my amp had an XLR input.