Wattson Audio Madison LE

The Wattson Madison LE streamer-DAC features three inputs: 100Mb/s Ethernet, S/PDIF via RCA, and TosLink. There’s no USB, no I²S, no AES3 and no external clock sync. There are no analogue inputs or a remote either. But there is a volume control, and a single-ended 1/4” headphone socket at the front and a pair of RCA and XLR sockets at the back for connecting to an amp. 

Features?

This isn’t perhaps the most comprehensive set of features and functions around, and there are streamers, DACs, and personal audio products that have more extensive feature sets. However, in a very real way, paring back to the basics invites a question: Do you really need more? 

Yes, if you are using the Madison LE as a digital hub or a preamplifier, it will fall short. If you demand balanced headphone listening or require access to a range of filter options, the Madison isn’t the right product. But there’s nothing wrong with being a niche product if you do that niche very well.

Part of the reason it does things very well is its use of a LEEDH volume system. It’s a genuinely lossless digital volume control that makes a lot of sense when used with the matching Madison power amplifier to create a bare-bones system. In a more conventional DAC setting, you can turn off the volume control.

Appiness

The Wattson Music app is the best driver for the Madison LE. Unlike its CH Precision stablemate, this is designed for iOS (there is an alternate app for Android users). The app is as stripped down as the Madison LE it controls, but it does allow the streamer to connect with the usual streaming services: Tidal (and Tidal Connect) and Qobuz (and Qobuz Connect). It also grants access to Apple AirPlay and Audirvãna, as well as a UPnP and DLNA streaming setup. The Wattson Music app is more of a facilitator than the place where your music lives. However, it does allow you to run some basic housekeeping on the Madison LE. These include volume adjustment and source switching, adjusting the display brightness, and even basic speaker placement correction. 

The machine is also Roon Ready, making it an excellent use case for the Madison LE; it’s the perfect partner for a Roon Nucleus or similar. That’s the joy of a basic app. You don’t feel confused about whether to use the music-replay app’s functionality. This is because that functionality isn’t provided with the Wattson Music app. All it does is set up the system to play music well and then get out of the way with the least fuss possible, kind of like the Wattson Audio Madison LE. 

Lively

There’s one other thing the Wattson Audio Madison LE does very well. It sounds excellent! That’s perhaps not quite as much of a niche in audio (hopefully). Still, the lively, exciting and detailed sound is very much at odds with the flat and slightly dull sound often attributed to streaming-ready devices. And, ‘lively’ isn’t code for ‘it can peel paint at 30 paces’, it’s just one of those products with oodles of built-in joie de vivre. 

OK, so if you decide to have a weekend of going through everything in Leonard Cohen’s catalogue, the Madison LE isn’t so exuberant that you will run out of the room smiling. It’s not some rose-tinted optimist. But the Madison LE is like the difference between listening to a Richmond Fontaine album and seeing the band live. The doubt is still there, but there’s more of a positive outlook at the end. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the Madison LE is ‘life-affirming’, but its energy is infectious.

A niche product would focus on the excitement aspect and nothing else. The Wattson Audio Madison LE has got some depth to it, too. Tonally speaking, although we shouldn’t equate physical size to bass depth, the bass notes coming out of the speakers when the Madison LE was in the chain were impressive. It doesn’t overstate bass; it just isn’t shy of the bottom end. Yes, of course, this comes over well with electronica, but it’s also there in real instruments. For instance, Grant Green’s guitar licks take on a more substantial tone. This is the kind of streamer that makes you take someone like Grant Green seriously.

Overlooked

The jazzers of the age were all over Wes Montgomery like a nasty rash. Because Grant Green played in a more funky, less traditional style, he was largely overlooked by the 1960s jazz community. The Madison LE shows those blinding licks (rediscovered in the acid jazz era of the 1990s) are built upon solid technique. It is one of the few that could hope to replicate. The Madison LE brings out your inner musicologist, but not in the sad-faced analytical manner.

The more you play through this pocket rocket, the more you come to like and respect what it does. It doesn’t try to be something it’s not or bite off more than it can chew. It’s clean and detailed, with a close-knit but open-sounding soundstage, and a fundamentally neutral tone. 

Which brings us to the CH Precision connection. Yes, it shares many of those attributes in common with CH Precision digital products, but this isn’t a CH product. It uses a Sharc DSP and twin-DAC layout with a WM8742 chipset. It chose that due to the spline-filtering algorithm, which uses a short-tail filter (which is why it sounds so fast and exciting). All of which makes it very CH-adjacent. There is a commonality of sound as a result. But it’s best to think of this as a Wattson product, not CH-Precision Lite.

No USB

There are downsides. The lack of USB input is the most obvious. This is no longer a deal-breaker, but the absence of any USB audio or bulk storage options might deter some. Also, given the CH Precision connection and that company’s love of power supplies, I’d like to see something a lot more ‘stonky’ powering the Madison LE. But that’s it!

The little Wattson Audio Madison LE impressed me, and it will likely impress you as well. It isn’t flashy, it isn’t infinitely configurable. It has just got it where it counts, right in the sound quality. If you want to enjoy what streaming has to offer truly, this is one of the best entry points. 

Technical specifications

• Type: Two-channel D/A processor, streamer, and headphone amplifier. 
• Digital inputs: one electrical (S/PDIF on RCA), one optical (TosLink), and one Ethernet.
• Analogue outputs: stereo pair balanced (XLR), stereo pair single-ended (RCA); single-ended headphone (¼” stereo). 
• THD: 0.001%
• S/N ratio: >120dB (A-weighted)
• Headphone amplifier maximum output power: 150mW into 32 ohms, 50mW into 150 ohms, 10mW into 600 ohms
• Supported formats: PCM to 384kHz, DSD to 256×. 
• Control protocols: UPnP/DLNA, AirPlay, Tidal Connect, Roon Ready, Audirvãna 
• Control app: Wattson Music for iOS. Wattson Remote for Android
• Dimensions (WxDxH): 17.4 x 18.5 × 5.2cm
• Weight: 1.08kg
• Price: £4,995, €4,995, $4,995

Manufacturer

Wattson Audio SA

www.wattson.audio

+(41) 21 558 70 40

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