May I ask those of you who have this how you are doing with it?
When it works it’s great but currently there is an issue with the Roon upgrade and the OS not being compatible. I reached out to Waversa last week for an update and haven’t received a reply. Do you own one?
No, I don’t own one but I upgraded my system and think I probably need a new source. The Waversa looks like a much better machine than my Nucleus (Rev B I think) and has the advantage of also having a network switch with power. However, if you have a WCore 3 that you can’t use that isn’t a good ad for it! A week is a long time.
Is there anywhere Roon servers are listed? I looked at Roon partners and find Roon bridges and such but servers are conspicuously absent.
If you can get a Waversa Core3 from a reputable dealer you’ll be ok. Like I said when they work they are excellent. Not sure if there is a “list” but there are lots of quality products in the market.
Thank you!
I hope Waversa fixes your problem.
The WCORE is a stunningly great Roon Core and foundation for a superb digital playback system. I have owned and heard countless digital audio systems over the last 15 years and I have no intention whatsoever of moving away from this unit. If you understand the challenges of digital playback systems, you will appreciate Waversa’s approach. There really is nothing like it, particularly when you pair it with a Waversa DAC using the the WNDR protocol. The sound quality is a 10/10. That said, I have had annoyances over the last 3 years of owning this unit that weren’t unfixable, but certainly annoying and frustrating.
Firstly, I am also a victim of this latest Roon update brick. After I updated the WCORE a couple of weeks ago, the WCORE was no longer seen by the Roon ecosystem. I reached out to the dealer I purchased it from and confirmed this is a known issue that Waversa is apparently working on. I have no idea the priority of this task and what resources are dedicated to this fix, but as of today there is no firmware update and no communication as to the status of the fix.
Prior to this issue, I did have to flash the firmware TWICE when Roon was no longer outputting sound. It was traced back to the WCORE and a FPGA flash resolved the issue immediately. The problem is, the FPGA flash process is a royal PIA! You have to download a very specialized software to a Windows machine which was terrible for me being a Mac-only guy. Additionally, it relies on a Blaster II hardware device (not the easiest to find and not cheap) and directly connecting it to a ribbon cable connector on the INSIDE of the unit. Sorry, no over-the-air or SD/USB update option. It is essentially flashing the chip directly. The instructions were very good, so once I had what I needed and everything was connected, the process completed successfully. ’m a retired computer forensics technician, so other than pissing me off to have to go through this, I was able to do it. But hell, I couldn’t imagine the non-techy having to navigate those waters.
Will I sell it? NO WAY. I have never heard anything better. For that reason, I will endure and tolerate its idosyncracies. Fortuanaly, this is not a frequent occurrence. The chip issue happened twice, but since I’ve turned the unit off as opposed to leaving it on, the problem has not re-appeared.
Anyway, I’m desperately awaiting this fix.
Thank you Jeffrey,
I couldn’t do what you did.
I got an email from Waversa yesterday. The fix is to reload the OS. The instructions were attached. I have to send the Core to a local tech and hopefully they can do this without issue.
I tried to attach the file for your reference but was unable to
Thanks Marty, I just sent you a PM. But since I am new here it had to be approved by a moderator. Should be in your inbox shortly.
A WCore is coming on trial within a few weeks. I hope I like it and also that I can manage it if I do. I’m relieved to hear that the problem with the new update may be solved and wish it had been quicker.
Exciting news Susan. Keep us posted. I’m curious to hear your impressions of the WCORE. What DAC are you using?
I’m using a dCS Rossini DAC. I am grateful to be able to hear the Waversa with it, in a week or two. There is something not quite right about what I am hearing now.
The WCore3 arrived. It is lovely! The sound is simpler, prettier, clearer and more substantial. We did also have a Rossini clock here. For our music and taste the WCore is much better.
My only objection to it is that the ports for the network cables are too cramped. And I would like a usb slot for Roon database backups. I had two SSD drives with the nucleus so alternated backups to them, but I can’t figure out what to do now. I have iCloud space but I think Roon doesn’t use it. My Dropbox keeps telling me it is full when it is empty, so I don’t trust it. You are not supposed to backup to your laptop. All I can think of is doing a backup daily, manually, without any scheduled backup with a share to a drive attached to my laptop… seems awfully complicated.
Hi Susan,
Thank you for sharing your update! I’m not surprised to hear you are please with the sound quality of the WCORE. It really is an exceptionally engineered device and the sound quality is a testament.
I couldn’t agree more with the ethernet jacks. They could stand to be placed further apart. I have some high quality ethernet cables with bulky connectors which are challenging to connect and disconnect.
As far as the backup options, I know you can add an SSD drive internally to the WCORE. I assume that can be used as storage for not only music but backups. I would suggest reaching out to the dealer about adding the SSD and if it can be used for Roon backups.
Happy listening!
Thank you for your support, Jeffrey,
Sound is nice! The dealer commented on how well engineered the WCore is.
I am occupied with putting the music into the drive the dealer has now put inside it. He suggested I tag it first to give me the album titles I need rather than editing them, but that is difficult too so I didn’t. There are a lot of split albums. It is mostly classical music.
I have had little gaps in play, both in streaming, which is not abnormal, and which I dismissed, and rather more obvious gaps when playing downloaded files since I loaded music in the drive. Up to four an hour.
Yes I can put backups on the drive. Roon advises making several in different places.