At a glance
- Device type
- D/A converter
- DAC architecture
- Delta-sigma
- D/A converter
- ESS ES9038PRO
- Analogue outputs
- XLR, RCA
- Digital inputs
- USB-C, AES/EBU, coaxial, optical, HDMI ARC, I²S
Ferrum WANDLA GSE Gen 2
The second generation of the WANDLA GoldenSound Edition: Impact+, Tube Mode and Spatial Enhancement have been redeveloped and can now be fine-tuned in profile and intensity. Add the Signalyst filters, the ESS Sabre ES9038PRO converter chip and an output level that adapts to any amplifier in hardware.
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Ferrum GSE Stack
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At a glance
- Device type
- D/A converter
- DAC architecture
- Delta-sigma
- D/A converter
- ESS ES9038PRO
- Analogue outputs
- XLR, RCA
- Digital inputs
- USB-C, AES/EBU, coaxial, optical, HDMI ARC, I²S
Why we recommend it
The converter we most often plug in ourselves. The Goldensound Edition adds HQPlayer filters and tone controls you will actually use: rather than imposing a fixed character, the Wandla adapts to your headphones and your taste. Paired with the OOR it forms the stack we recommend to customers more than any other.
See all recommendations →Ferrum WANDLA GoldenSound Edition Gen 2
Reference DAC and preamp with HQPlayer filters and redesigned GoldenSound tone shaping
Ferrum has very distinctive ideas about adapting the sound to your system and your taste. The first GoldenSound Edition of the WANDLA added three features for this: Impact+ for more weight in the low end, Tube Mode for the warmth of a tube stage and Spatial Enhancement for a more three-dimensional image. In Gen 2, Ferrum has completely reworked all three. Each feature can now be fine-tuned, which Ferrum calls “Sweet Spot Tuning”: instead of a fixed effect, you choose the profile and the intensity yourself.
Everything that defines the WANDLA remains: the fully balanced design with the ESS Sabre ES9038PRO converter chip, the SERCE DSP module, the digital filters by Signalyst (Jussi Laako, developer of HQPlayer), the choice between analogue and digital volume control or bypass, and connections ranging from USB-C via I2S and AES to HDMI ARC. With the HYPSOS power supply on the Ferrum Power Link, 4TSD voltage sensing is added.
One feature has been dropped: Gen 2 no longer supports MQA.
New in Gen 2
Impact+
Impact+ gives the low end more weight and definition without flooding the music with bass. In the first generation this was a fixed bass shelf with an additional peak. Gen 2 offers seven profiles: Reference, Ref+, Smooth, Kick+, DD-Comp, DD-Comp+ and Sub-Bass, including dedicated compensation profiles for dynamic drivers. You set the intensity from 10 to 130 %. All processing runs at 64-bit precision.
Tube Mode
Tube Mode brings the sonic character of a tube stage into the converter, without the heat, the bulk and the cost of tubes. The first generation added the second harmonic for this. That setting is still available. On top of it come the sound signatures of five well-known tubes: EL34, KT88, 300B, 2A3 and 7062, reproduced up to the seventh harmonic. You set the strength of the effect from 10 to 200 %.
Spatial Enhancement
Spatial Enhancement makes the image wider and deeper. The spatial effect, the output mode (headphones or speakers) and the new transient compensation T-Comp can now be switched independently. T-Comp processes high-frequency transients more precisely. The result is a more natural sense of space, without the shifts in imaging that traditional crossfeed often causes.
Hardware
More digital headroom
Modern recordings are often mastered right up to the limit. Between the samples, peaks above 0 dBFS can then occur, so-called intersample overs, which can overload a converter. The GoldenSound Edition has additional digital headroom for this and stays free of such distortion even in bypass at full output level.
Output level switchable in hardware
With 8 V on XLR, the WANDLA delivers more level than some amplifiers can handle. The GoldenSound Edition therefore switches to Red Book level (3.5 V balanced, 1.75 V unbalanced) via a dedicated voltage divider. This lets the converter work with any amplifier, without digital volume control and without additional analogue components in the signal path.
Already own a first-generation GoldenSound Edition? Ferrum provides the Gen 2 features for the original GoldenSound Edition and for the Converting Plug-in as a free firmware update.
Who is the WANDLA GSE Gen 2 for?
For anyone looking for a neutral reference DAC with preamp who wants to tailor the sound to headphones, speakers or the recording when needed. Together with the OOR headphone amplifier and the HYPSOS power supply, it forms the Ferrum stack we recommend to our customers more than any other.
Technical Specifications
| Design | Fully balanced DAC with preamp, proprietary modified IC amplification stage |
| DAC chip | ESS Sabre ES9038PRO |
| DAC resolution | 768 kHz / 32-bit, DSD512 |
| Digital inputs | USB-C (up to PCM 768 kHz/32-bit, DSD512, DoP256) I2S (up to PCM 768 kHz/32-bit, DSD512, DoP256), PS Audio® compatible HDMI ARC (up to PCM 192 kHz/24-bit), TV input with CEC AES/EBU (up to PCM 192 kHz/24-bit, DoP64) Coaxial S/PDIF (up to PCM 192 kHz/24-bit, DoP64) Optical S/PDIF (up to PCM 96 kHz/24-bit; up to PCM 192 kHz/24-bit and DoP64 depending on cable and source) |
| GoldenSound features | Impact+ (7 profiles, 10–130 %) Tube Mode (2nd harmonic or 5 tube profiles, 10–200 %) Spatial Enhancement (headphones/speakers, T-Comp) |
| Digital filters | ESS filters and Signalyst filters (Dynamic Digital Filtering) |
| MQA | not supported |
| Analog inputs | RCA |
| Analog input Vmax | 9.5 V RMS (2–3.5 V RMS recommended) |
| Analog input impedance | 47 kΩ |
| Line outputs | Balanced XLR; unbalanced RCA |
| Volume control | Analogue with bypass option / digital for DAC operation only |
| Output level | @0 dBFS, 1 kHz sine: PRO 8 V RMS balanced, 4 V RMS unbalanced; Red Book 3.5 V RMS balanced, 1.75 V RMS unbalanced |
| Frequency response | 10 Hz – 200 kHz ± 0.1 dB (analog inputs) |
| DAC THD | -121 dB (0.00009 %); THD+N: -118 dB (unweighted) |
| Analog input THD | -123 dB @ 2 V RMS |
| Dynamic range | 127 dB analog, 119 dB digital (A-weighted) |
| Crosstalk | -120 dB at 1 kHz, better than -100 dB for 20 Hz – 20 kHz |
| Output impedance | 22 Ω unbalanced, 44 Ω balanced |
| Power consumption | 10 W idle / 15 W max. |
| Power inputs | 5.5/2.5 mm DC (centre positive) Ferrum Power Link (FPL), 4-pin, for HYPSOS 22–30 V DC |
| Power adapter | 100–240 V AC to 24 V DC |
| In the box | WANDLA GSE Gen 2, power adapter, power cord, remote control, USB cable |
| Dimensions | 21.7 × 20.6 × 5 cm (W × D × H) |
| Weight | 1.8 kg |
Data sheet
- Device type
- D/A converter
- Built-in DAC
- Yes
- DAC architecture
- Delta-sigma
- D/A converter
- ESS ES9038PRO
- Digital inputs
- USB-C, AES/EBU, coaxial, optical, HDMI ARC, I²S
- Max. resolution
- PCM 768 kHz/32 bit, DSD512
- Analogue outputs
- XLR, RCA
- Output level
- 8 V (XLR) / 4 V (RCA), switchable to 3.5 / 1.75 V, variable
- Streaming/network
- No
- Headphone outputs
- No
- Pre-amp output
- Yes
- Weight
- 1.8 kg
- Product type
- DAC
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