Ferrum WANDLA Goldensound Edition

Reference DAC with HQPlayer filters, flexible tone control, and new GS features

Ferrum has a very distinctive approach when it comes to tailoring sound to personal taste and system needs. Their first product was a power supply designed to improve the performance of other components – and allow additional fine-tuning.

The OOR amplifier offers a bypass mode that sounds different from running the signal through its volume control. And WANDLA stands out by having enough processing power to run selected filters by Jussi Laako (HQPlayer) inside the unit – which is why that ecosystem was integrated right away.

On top of that, you can choose how tone control is handled: digital, analog (still adjustable via remote!), or bypass where the signal is passed at full level.

Connectivity is another strong point: HDMI ARC, I2S, AES, USB-C – just to name a few.

A true endgame DAC – now with new features in the Goldensound Edition.

Software

Spatial Enhancement

Increases soundstage width and depth, improves separation, and keeps frequency response untouched. It’s not a simple echo effect. It’s not crossfeed either. Two variants are available: Headphone and Speaker mode.

Tube Mode

Designed to recreate the sonic character of typical tube amplifiers at the DAC level. This is not an EQ – instead, software reconfigures how the hardware operates.

Impact+

Impact+ is essentially an EQ profile – not to overwhelm you with bass, but to noticeably increase musical punch.

All three software features can be used at the same time.

Hardware

Elevated Digital Headroom

Modern music often pushes loudness to the edge of what’s technically possible – and tends to offer less usable dynamic range. A DAC usually has about 3 dB of margin to interpret such signals without hitting its own limits and creating distortion. The WANDLA GS Edition adds another 3 dB so the new software modes won’t introduce distortion either.

Hardware-Level Voltage Adjustment

WANDLA’s output level can be high enough to overload some downstream amplifiers. Previously, output reduction was done in software, which could reduce headroom. The GS Edition performs this adjustment in hardware, preserving full dynamic range.

Technical Specifications