Effective immediately, all current Wadia components which include digital inputs are 96 kHz compatible.

Wadia 27ix
Any Wadia 27i units purchased after December 1st are called a Wadia 27ix. The only change brought by the x designation is that the new unit can accept 96 kHz data on any digital input. There is no change in performance at 32, 44.1, or 48 kHz, and no change in price.

An upgrade is available to convert any Wadia 27i to 27ix, contact your local dealer for details. The x upgrade can only be implemented to 27i products: i.e., original Wadia 27 units must be upgraded to the i version before they can accept the x upgrade.

All upgrades must be completed at the Wadia factory (for North American dealers) or an authorized Wadia distributor (outside of the US and Canada.); the cost for this upgrade does not include shipping.

CD Players
Wadia 850 and 860 CD players shipped after November 1st are software upgradeable to accept 96 khz signals from any digital input. Specifically, these units now include all internal hardware required to decode 96 khz signals. The software required to complete the 96 kHz capability will soon become available (as a field-installable EPROM upgrade) at a nominal cost.

This does not mean that these units can now play DVD discs. The transports remain optimized for CD performance only. This upgrade enables the decoding section of the 850/860 CD players to accept and decode a 96 kHz input from any current 96 kHz source, such as a DVD Video Player or 96 kHz tape recorder.

The decoding section still operates perfectly with 32, 44.1 or 48 kHz inputs; other than the ability to decode 96 kHz signals, there is no difference in performance, and no difference in price.

Wadia 850 and 860 CD Players manufactured before November 1st will be eligible for a hardware and software upgrades; pricing and availability will soon be announced. Upgrades should be scheduled through your local dealer.

All Wadia 830 CD Players shipped since introduction already include the internal hardware required to decode 96 khz signals. The Wadia 830 can be upgraded to accept 96 kHz data on any digital input by purchasing the digital input board, available now.

CD Transports
Wadia does not intend to upgrade CD transports - either stand-alone transports, or transport sections of CD players - to play DVD discs. Wadia CD transports remain optimized for CD playback. DVD transports will never play CDs as well as dedicated CD transports because technology like ClockLink and full-disc clamping, which are required for CD performance, are not currently applicable to DVD.

Wadia has always focused its engineering efforts towards optimizing each transport mechanism for the playback of a specific format, rather than making "universal" transports which cannot be truly optimized for the best performance in any format--resulting in compromises for all formats. Wadia understands that our customers expect us to offer industry leading performance in any product we offer---this kind of performance simply cannot be offered in any of the "combi" mechanisms we have evaluated to date.

In Summary
Of course, Wadia will continue to study the proposals for new digital formats, and will announce further upgrade opportunities when (and if) there are formats which become worldwide standards for playback of digital audio information. During the interim, Wadia has taken every possible step to allow our customers to enjoy all of the high performance software available today. We are quite confident that the carefully designed modular architecture of every WADIA product ensures the greatest possible musical performance with current formats, as well as the greatest possible flexibility for the formats of the future.

We will be sending complete pricing and availability for these upgrades as soon as possible. However, we wanted you to immediately know about our strategy, so that you can plan for your own inventory, and properly guide any customers who are planning to purchase Wadia products in the near future.

Thank you for your continuing support and enthusiasm.