Wadia 270, Operation Manual

Avoid allowing static shocks to be applied to the inputs or oufputs. To prevent static shocks,

touch any grounded surface, such as the Wadia 270 chassis, before connecting or removing
a cable. It is unlikely that a static shock will damage the 

unit, but it may cause he Wadia 270

Compact Disc transport circuitry to “lock-up” (see Lock-Up

 under Trouble Shooting in 

Appendices).

While the Wadia 270 CD Transport supports all currently accepted high-quality transmission

formats for digital audio, we recommend using the ST glass-optical cable that is included

in your accessory kit or another high-quality ST glass-optical cable.

Wadia Digital was the first company to use glass fiber-optic data transmission in digital audio.

We have continually improved this format and believe that it offers the best, most consistent

performance of all the available options. Based on our experience, here is a list of digital

interface methods in descending order of performance:

1. ST-type Glass optical (as implemented by Wadia, with high quality glass-optical cable)

2. AES/EBU using XLR connector

3. Coaxial S/PDIF  cable using BNC connector

4. *Coaxial S/PDIF  cable using RCA connector

5. TOSLINK plastic-optical cable

* These 

lower quality formats are not supported by the Wadia 270.

The quality of any of these transmission methods depends on the quality of the cable and the

sophistication of the transmitter and receiver. For example, a high-quality coaxial S/PDIF  cable

can out-perform a low-quality AES/EBU cable. A high-quality AES/EBU cable may out-perform

a poorly-implemented glass-optical system.

We recommend that if you are using a coaxial S/PDIF  connection, have the cable terminated

with a BNC connector. This will provide higher performance than an RCA connector.

Your Wadia 270 comes with an RCA/BNC adapter that can be used for experimentation

between different types of coaxial S/PDIF  cables.

Again, we highly recommend that you take advantage of your dealer’s experience and,

most importantly, trust your ears.

Connect your chosen cable from the appropriate digital output on the Wadia 270

to the corresponding digital input on your Decoding Computer.