From network to amplifier in a single box
The Emerson ANALOG is a one-stop-shop when it comes to adding network replay to an existing system. Connect Emerson between the network and your amplifier and you are ready to go. But don’t be fooled by the Emerson ANALOG’s outward simplicity and ease of use. There’s nothing simple about taking a music stream from the network and feeding it directly to a line input on your amplifier. Many streaming solutions use multiple boxes cables and connections to achieve what the Emerson does in a single, small box. Therein lie the challenge and the beauty of the Wattson Audio solution.
By eliminating multiple devices, cables, and connections, we also eliminate multiple sources of error. Instead, we control every aspect of the process, from the components selected to the circuit topology, the milled from solid casework to the proprietary software, based on our extensive work with many of the highest profile and most highly regarded brands on the market. The musical results speak for themselves, high-end performance and engineering distilled down to its most minimal form.
Network replay and compatibility
The Emerson ANALOG’s network interface employs Wattson Audio’s own, highly regarded streaming engine. It’s a proprietary solution we build around the Sitara processor from Texas Instruments, which depends on our own, updatable software and which you’ll find in some remarkably high-profile and expensive products. This handles the ever-increasing number of network communication protocols and has been continuously developed and updated since its introduction. Signal handling has been optimized to ensure audio data integrity, transmission reliability and support for Hi-Res file formats (PCM and DSD) without transcoding, all while delivering a smooth and responsive user experience.
Emerson ANALOG’s digital data path is "bit-perfect". We build the digital circuit around an exactingly executed internal clock, with a pair of superb, ultra low-noise oscillators, one to accommodate material sampled at a base frequency of 44.1kHz, the other for 48kHz (as well as any multiples thereof). With only the active oscillator powered, the generation and distribution of the clock signals has been carefully designed to minimize jitter.
The incoming data stream is fed directly to the Cyrus/Wolfson WM8742 DAC, which also delivers DSD to PCM conversion. A sophisticated, loss-less LEEDH adjustment of output level is also available, to provide perfect matching to your amplifier’s input sensitivity or a volume control if required. No output filtering is applied to the DAC, maintaining the straight-line, musically coherent nature of the device.
Thanks to the Wattson Remote for Android and Wattson Music for iOS apps, you can control your Emerson ANALOG, and access your streaming sources from your phone or tablet, respectively.
With its distinctive, compact design, carved from solid billet aluminium and protected by powder coating, the Emerson ANALOG is a surprisingly solid yet discrete addition to any system. But its astonishing musical impact is hard to miss: musical AND engineering integrity delivered by a single, affordable unit.
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Key features
Tech Specs
Network Streaming Resolution | PCM up to 24-bit 384 kHz, DSD64 |
RCA Output Level (0dB FS) | 2.0V RMS |
Signal-to-Noise, Weighted (SNR-A) | > 120dB |
Harmonic Distortion (THD+N, 0dB FS) | < 0.001% |
Very Low Noise Power Supply | < 1µV RMS (10Hz-100kHz) |
Network Input | 100Mbit/s Ethernet |
Analog Output | 1x unbalanced on RCA connectors |
Dimensions (W x D x H) | 4.1 x 3.4 x 1.5 in (104 x 87 x 38 mm) |
Weight | 0.85 lb (387 g) |
Power Supply | 5V DC, external, medical grade |
Power Consumption | 1.5W (idle), 2.5W (playing) |
Supported Compression Formats | WAV, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, WMA |
Control Protocols | UPnP/DLNA, AirPlay, TIDAL connect, Roon Ready, Audirvāna |
Streaming Services | TIDAL¹, Qobuz², airable radios |
¹ requires a TIDAL service account and subscription, not included with the product
² requires a Qobuz service account and subscription, not included with the product
After years spent consulting, designing, and engineering digital and audio electronics for some of the most prestigious brands in high-end audio, the team behind the Wattson Audio products decided to leverage their accumulated experience and expertise to produce a series of forward looking, high-performance and high-value components.
So were born the Emersons and later, the more sophisticated and versatile Madisons, products that incorporated cutting-edge hardware and software solutions in compact, affordable, and elegantly distinctive packages.
There was no mistaking the Wattson Audio products: nothing looked like them and nothing anywhere near the price sounded remotely as good. They say that, "quality will out". In the case of the Emerson and Madison units, the componentry is exhaustively selected, the execution is exacting, the thinking is second to none. The casework is milled from solid, and the software is dedicated and proprietary.
Don’t be fooled by the diminutive dimensions or approachable price: each Wattson product represents a combination of high-end thinking and engineering, distilled down to its most compact, concentrated and performance focussed form. The hardware and circuit design are configured to allow software upgrades to keep digital products current, to allow analogue products to grow with your system. The operational algorithms and analog topologies protect owners from in-built obsolescence and ensure a long and extremely musical working life.
If all of that sounds familiar, it’s because it is!
With so many high-end brands leaning on the same engineers and the same experience that underpin the Wattson products, it’s no surprise that those "big brothers", shot through with the Wattson DNA, sound like echoes of the "home grown" designs. It puts those big and expensive products in pretty good company!