Wadia 121 Decoding Computer

It's been almost two years since Wadia first talked about it, Wadia's new 121 DAC should be available in Q1 2011.  May be they have been waiting for their deal with First Sound to close before launching this new little baby (Milan-based owner of Sonus Faber speakers and Audio Research amplifier, recently acquired Wadia Digital).

The entry-level 121 will be in the same chassis as the other 1-series components (151 amp/dac, 170i transport, and 171i transport).

• 4 digital inputs (2 x RCA, 1 TOSLINK, 1 USB) 
• USB inputs up to 24/192kHz (unconfirmed whether its asynchronous or not)
• Featuring Wadia's proprietary Digimaster (3.x) up-sampling reconstruction filter
• "Swift Current" analog section - discrete high quality operational amplifiers
• "Direct connect" line level output with volume control
• 1 x XLR, and 1 x RCA analog outputs
• Dual headphone jacks with discrete output (both 1/4" and mini jacks available on the left side of the front plate)
• All functions controlled from included remote control
• Est. US$1,500-$2,000

Wadia also offers two higher-end stand alone DAC models in its line up including the  521 Decoding Computer (Digimaster 2.5, Burr-brown 1704 multi-bit chip) and 922 Mono Decoding Computer (mono, DigitMaster 1.4, 8x1704 per channel, Isolated Digital Coupler Arrays). 


We were impressed with the PowerDACmini 151 and really looking forward to audition the Wadia 121.