Wavelength Audio USB Spacelator

Wavelength Audio USB Spacelator

Wavelength Audio recently released their new USB isolation device; the USB Spacelator. The Spacelator comes with its own wall wart power supply made by Triad Magnetics.

I have tried numerous USB devices over the years, but I have never experienced anything like the USB Spacelator.

A few words about my setup:

All the front end components (including the Spacelator) are powered from a Shunyata stack.  

A Roon Nucleus+ streams to a Sonore Signature Rendu  SE Optical that outputs USB to a Playback Designs MPD-8 DAC. USB cables were Curious Evolved .8M.

Listening was done with Stax SR-X9000 headphones powered by a Headamp Blue Hawaii SE amp. Also, Wilson Alexia 2 speakers powered by Ayre MX-R Twentys were also used in the evaluation.

Some early impressions:  

The solidity of the connectors along with the attractive front and back panels were first rate.  I loved the illuminated back panel ! 

Sound with the Triad was quite good. I substituted an UpTone Audio JS-2 amp (7v) for the Triad. Sound was more dynamic, larger, and more engaging.

The ease I hear in the midrange and highs is simply outrageous. The resolution and transparency are the best I’ve ever heard from this DAC.

Check out Wavelength Audio’s Facebook site for more info. (The image came from Facebook.)

Price: $500

I’m looking forward to other folk’s impressions.

I received this unit last week. It produced an immediate improvement in my system. Better spacial cues, dimensionality, and a general uptick in overall sonics.

I want to listen for another week before temporarily removing it and commenting about what I'm hearing with and without. But at $500, I'm thus far incredibly pleased with the purchase. 
 

Had a look at the Wavelength site and it doesn't say what this unit can cope with. 24/192? 24/384? 24/more?

It handles everything I presented to it; DSD256 and up to 24/384- the limits of the Playback Design MPD-8.

No specs on their page ... very unusual.

On 6/18/2023 at 5:10 AM, bogi said:

No specs on their page ... very unusual.

It's a USB reclocker so I doubt that there is a speed limitation. Those usually occur with D-D conversion devices

could someone explain why do we need to reclock the USB ? 😅

2 hours ago, davide256 said:

It's a USB reclocker so I doubt that there is a speed limitation. Those usually occur with D-D conversion devices

When hovering on product picture this text appears:

"This is a FS/HS USB isolator and reclocker which will clean up and isolate the computer from the DEVICE end (DAC or whatever). There is a HOST port which will draw a maximum of 45ma and the DEVICE side which is powered from the wall wart supply. The wall wart supply enters the USB Spacelator and is filtered and the regulated with a ultra low noise regulator to power the DEVICE side and the VBUS/GND of the isolated DEVICE."

It does not seem to be only a reclocker.

> clean up and isolate ... VBUS/GND of the isolated DEVICE

That looks like galvanic isolation with VBUS/GND filtering. Mentioning "GND of the isolated device" does not bring me other sense. How otherwise could be input/output grounds isolated?

Topping HS02 provides 1.5kV isolation level and max. 800 mA of isolated and filtered power for device. Measurements are available on manufacturer page as well as on some blogs and forums (Archimago, ASR).

Intona USB isolator (more models) provide also information about isolation level (2.5kV or 5kV) and max, currents for device without and with external power supply (for example 500/2000 mA). Intona provides some graphs like output voltage vs output current. Measurement are available on Archimago blog and ASR.

I found some evidence on Wavelength Audio Facebook that it should provide galvanic isolation. But level of isolation and max. current for device are not provided on the product page. Measurement on that Facebook page is only illustrative since it does not provide details about measurement setup.

I have an Intona USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Isolator 5kV  and think the Wavelength is much better sounding in my setup.  But yeah, Wavelength doesn't provide much data or info.

8 hours ago, CG said:

The instruction sheet for the USB Spacelator explains that "The power supply is sent though a linear filter, then regulated to 5V/500ma before it hits the Device USB connector."

Thanks. I did not find those 500mA mentioned on their web.

Mercman prefers Spacelator over Intona and you prefer Spacelator over HS02.
Spacelator mentions it is also a reclocker.

But: Is there any difference between USB hub and USB reclocker?

mansr wrote some years ago in other thread:

On 3/10/2019 at 1:56 PM, mansr said:

The USB reclockers on the market are hubs, plain and simple.

Then, do Intona and HS02 also act as a reclocker or not?

@Miska wrote about Intona few days ago in HQPlayer thread:

On 6/18/2023 at 11:55 PM, Miska said:

It is otherwise like USB hub, but it is not visible as a USB device at all. Unlike USB hub which is USB device in itself. Instead, Intona works on lower level, at physical level below the USB protocol level.

'MC RME' user at ASR wrote:

Quote

The operating system does not see the Intona, it does not use precious USB resources - a big advantage against all other isolators with hubs included.

'MC RME' at ASR writes about HS02:

Quote

Well I have the HS02 in front of me and there is no hub anywhere to see, nothing enumerates at all. I searched the ADuM4166 data sheet and there is no hub mentioned as well. They just reclock to reduce possible jitter, it doesn't mean the chip wastes precious USB 2 resources. Neither in Device Manager nor via USB TreeView the unit/chip is visible - it works fully transparent, like the Intonas.

and Superdad replies:

Quote

The Intonas operate completely differently than the ADuM4166.

From the ADuM4166 datasheet:
Upstream and Downstream
Upstream and downstream refer to the directions of the data flow on the bus. Upstream means toward the higher tiers of the USB device hierarchy (closer to the USB host atop the hierarchy), and downstream means toward the lower tiers of the USB device hierarchy (farther from the host). ADuM4165/ADuM4166 include an upstream facing port (UFP) and a downstream facing port (DFP) to allow insertion into an existing connection between a DFP (connecting to UD+ and UD–) and a UFP (connecting to DD+ and DD–).
Hub
A hub is a USB device that provides additional connections to the USB, including at least one DFP. Typically, a standalone hub has a UFP that connects to the DFP of another device, and multiple DFPs of its own to expand the number of devices that can be connected to the USB. The combination of a single upstream connection to multiple downstream connections creates a star topology. Each additional hub connecting its UFP to another DFP of a hub adds a tier in the USB hierarchy. The ADuM4165/ADuM4166 add between one and two hub plus cable delays, and accordingly, for a device integrating the isolator into a UFP or a DFP, two fewer tiers can be added to the hierarchy for that isolated USB port.

and 'MR-RME' replies:

Quote

There is no hub in the AD chip - nowhere. The word 'hub' is only mentioned as comparison reference for the signal delay that the AD chip causes, and further explanations to the difference between the AD chip and typical hubs.

It is not so easy to understand the implementation differences, but to simplify, a question: Could Intona and HS02 be also considered as reclockers?

I am not an expert like those guys seem to be, so it's not appropriate for me to comment on that.

22 hours ago, CG said:

The instruction sheet for the USB Spacelator explains that "The power supply is sent though a linear filter, then regulated to 5V/500ma before it hits the Device USB connector."  That aligns with the specified maximum current in the USB 2.0 standard.

This doesn't sound like the power lines would be galvanically isolated. Like they are on Intona.

Key is that none of the USB pins have galvanic connection through. Not the ground, or any of the other pins.

14 hours ago, bogi said:

It is not so easy to understand the implementation differences, but to simplify, a question: Could Intona and HS02 be also considered as reclockers?

Yes, although the USB clocking is pretty irrelevant aspect.

4 hours ago, CG said:

If you don't apply power there, the Spacelator plain doesn't work.

I didn't realize this previously. This is real difference against Intona and HS02. They work (and I like that this way) without external power supply. The option to use external power supply is provided only because of devices which are powered from USB and which need more than 500mA (Intona) or 800mA (HS02).

Why do I like it? My DAC does not require VBUS when USB connection is in data mode. It is required only for a fraction of a second when DAC is powered up or USB cable is plugged in for initial handshaking. After that I physically disconnect VBUS (I am using this adapter thing). In this  case, filtered VBUS is connected to USB cable on HS02 side but not on DAC side because of that adapter.

So I like the approach without external power supply since my DAC does not require it and it makes HS02 less expensive. But on other side, who knows. HS02 and Intona operation is then powered from computer power which needs to be filtered. I could imagine that quality of that filtering may affect the result in some extent. I did not do HS02 listening test with and without an external power supply.

8 hours ago, Miska said:

 

This doesn't sound like the power lines would be galvanically isolated. Like they are on Intona.

 

Key is that none of the USB pins have galvanic connection through. Not the ground, or any of the other pins.

 

Then it looks Spacelator does not implement galvanic isolation of input and output USB ports in the way how Intona and HS02 does it. That's looks like the reason why Spacelator does not work without external power supply. It looks to me that Spacelator generates device side USB signal out of external power supply, somehow controlled or switched (without galvanic connection) based on computer side input signal.

I found yet one formulation on Wavelenght facebook (no galvanic isolation mentioned):

"Hey all I am releasing today the USB Spacelator v#1.12. The latest version has a very low noise linear regulator system. This is a HS/FS/LS isolator with super parts inside. The downstream portion of the USB is reclocked with a low jitter clock. This makes it perfect for isolating computers and streamers from your USB DAC or Interface."

Now someone will need to measure a DAC with the thing and see if it makes things better or worse...

I'm not very motivated myself, because it needs yet another external power. I have way too many already.

9 hours ago, CG said:

Strictly speaking, since the transformer has no direct connection between the primary and secondary windings, this makes it galvanically isolated from the AC mains common mode current path.

That's still only about power lines. But USB signal of course requires data wires. When they wouldn't be isolated, that's not a galvanic isolation. I could imagine full isolation with galvanic to optical and optical to galvanic conversion between input side (powered by computer VBUS) and output side (powered by LPS). If an electrical switching method is used to switch output signal based on input, then there will be some measurable resistance (impedance) between input and output side, like mentioned 2.5kV for Intona and 1.5kV for HS02. Please correct me if my thinking is incorrect.

4 hours ago, Miska said:

Now someone will need to measure a DAC with the thing and see if it makes things better or worse...

 

I'm not very motivated myself, because it needs yet another external power. I have way too many already.

 

I did and posted the results in another thread.

More power cables, or any cables, are always a nuisance.  I'm with you there.  But, little comes for free in this life.

12 minutes ago, CG said:

I did and posted the results in another thread.

Link?

7 hours ago, bogi said:

Then it looks Spacelator does not implement galvanic isolation of input and output USB ports in the way how Intona and HS02 does it.

How do you know that?

Cost is about 2x compared to equivalent Intona (7054)... And still notably more than 7055-C which is USB3 (SuperSpeed) isolator.

1 hour ago, Miska said:

Cost is about 2x compared to equivalent Intona (7054)... And still notably more than 7055-C which is USB3 (SuperSpeed) isolator.

 

OK.  Maybe they don't work equally.

One person I know owns both and prefers the Wavelength Spacelator to the Intona.  (See above for this comments.)

I own both an HS02 and a Spacelator.  I prefer the performance of the Spacelator.  The HS02 sits in its box.  (OT:  I wish I knew of a reasonable and reliable way to sell excess stuff like this.)

Everybody has their own priorities and preferences.  I am not willing to criticize anybody's personal selection.

3 hours ago, CG said:

 

How do you know that?

I wrote "it looks Spacelator does not implement galvanic isolation". Not that I know! :)

Miska previously stated in HQPlayer thread discussion that Intona and HS02 provide galvanic isolation.

And in this thread Miska wrote "This doesn't sound like the power lines would be galvanically isolated. Like they are on Intona." as reaction to "The power supply is sent though a linear filter, then regulated to 5V/500ma before it hits the Device USB connector."

Maybe Miska could explain, where he sees the difference against Intona.