Country of Origin
This review first appeared in January 2025 on fairaudio.de. By permission of the author, it is hereby syndicated from the German original to reach a broader English audience. Ed.
Reviewer: Martin Mertens
Digital sources: D/A converter: Ideon Audio EOS DAC, RME ADI-2 DAC FS with AKM chip; Music server: Antipodes S40with Keces P8 power supply
Integrated amplifier: Audio Analogue ABsolute S
Speakers: Divine Acoustics Bellatrix, Harbeth P3ESR XD, JBL 4305P
Cables: Speaker cable: Cardas Clear Ligh NF cable: Cardas Clear Light Digital cable: Audioquest Coffee
Power strip: Audes ST-3000
Rack: Horns EX
Other: Acoustic elements from Vicoustic
Listening room: 17m², 26 m ceiling
Review component retail: €5'990/ea.
The upstream upgrade. "We convert the music into numerical bit values as 'digital information'. When played back by a computer, we 'translate' it precisely as it was recorded." It's how Philips as Sony's co-inventor of the audio CD explained new tech in the early '80s. We now know that things aren't quite as simple. Bits 'n' bytes require much more care than originally thought. This is precisely why the digital specialists at Ideon Audio already process our digital signal prior to actual D/A conversion. Today we have two components that do precisely that: their €6K Alpha Wave LAN Optimizer 'translates' an Ethernet signal to USB and works between router and streamer/server; and their Sigma Wave USB Isolator also at €5'990 inserts between streamer/server and D/A converter to isolate the USB signal. The crucial question is why. There are many approaches to improve our digital audio. Companies whose main expertise is the analogue sector mostly focus on a commercial DAC chip then develop their own complex output stages and power supplies. Others concentrate on the actual conversion but here too a broad spectrum splits into discrete ladder DACs, integrated circuits and even proprietary algorithms to turn field-programmable gate arrays into custom converter chips.
Then there are Greece's Ideon Audio who also focus on the pre-conversion sector i.e. the prep and processing of our digital source signal; and on custom software to control their DAC chips. They do this with a level of consistency I have never seen from other manufacturers. They go as far as claim that the DAC chip itself is not that crucial, its control code far more so. In my EOS DAC which costs just under €10K works a single ESS ES9026PRO so not even the most current version. Of course Ideon don't neglect the analogue equation either. Here parts selection according to sound and the absence of signal-path capacitors are standard as they are with many others.
However, I see Ideon's unique selling point in D/A conversion as their proprietary controller software. Ideon don't just develop and make very good-sounding DACs, some of which we already tested. A common option also offered elsewhere is a reclocker to upgrade to a de-jittered signal before it ever meets the conversion stage. Ideon offer reclockers for each of their ranges which matches the other models in its range on tech and design. Today we simply don't focus there but on their two new Wave models.
Because Ideon champion digital transmission over USB, their first processing step is to convert LAN to USB. The Alpha Wave LAN Optimizer aims to decouple our streamer from the router signal which is often subject to jitter and noise. Think external LAN card which temporarily stores and buffers data then reclocks it with a high-precision 'femto' clock fronted by a complex power supply. It then outputs over the faster USB 3.0 protocol.
The Sigma Wave USB Isolator goes behind the streamer and in front of the DAC or for the most committed of digital listeners, in front of a reclocker. Its main task is to decouple the digital signal from the ground/earth where interference can creep in. Ideon use special tech to prevent jitter from being amplified as it purportedly does in many more conventional approaches to galvanic isolation. The device also supplies USB's 5V line carefully cleaned and stabilized. That can be switched off if our connected device doesn't require USB power to maintain or make the initial handshake. Both devices arrived in heavy solidly built cases. While the quality of the front panels appears impeccable, the rest of the simpler casework could stand refinement. Ideon practice ongoing R&D to put the digital circuits of the Wave models on replaceable PCB. Should significant developments warrant it, Ideon will offer updated boards to keep their owners current.
