[AuburnEagle23]

Hello there everyone, been sometime since I last posted.  However, after finally breaking down, and getting a good sale on Amazon, finally picked up a pair of Sennheiser HD700s.  So far I am thoroughly enjoying them, they are HANDS DOWN, the most comfortable headphones I have owned, feels like I literally have air sitting on my head.
 
First off, before I start, I realize there have been multiple other threads dedicated to this combination of devices, however; after scouring through posts, I have not found answers to the questions I have listed below.
 
I am currently driving the HD700s with my Asus Xonar Essence STX soundcard in my PC.  I do a lot of work on the PC, as well as gaming, and I was curious what the communities thoughts were about this combination vs the Wooaudio WA7 Fireflies.  I have been researching getting the WA7, and was about to purchase the WA7 today, until I noticed that it is not recommended to operate the WA7 for periods longer then 10 hours, and I am typically on the computer 10-16 hours a day.  Therefore I have a few questions that are listed below.
 
Question 1: 
 
What would the recommended settings on my Asus Essence STX be for the HD700s?  Currently I have the followed settings:  2 Channel Audio, PCM 96 Khz, PCM checked and Dolby Headphone checked (I know the Dolby headphone doesn't do much if anything in 2 channel mode).  I have tested the 8 channel mode with the same other settings and it is much louder and almost "tinny" sounding, not sure if I like it.
 
Question 2: 
 
What would be the difference between the STX and the WA7? Since the STX clearly has the power to drive the HD700s, since I am running them at 70% mixer volume and 50% application volume and that is quite loud already, but I am curious what "sound" difference the WA7 is going to deliver and if the $999-$1399 investment is truly worth it.
 
Question 3: 
 
What is everyone's experience with the WA7 as far as durability, longevity of the tubes during extended duration use?
 
Question 4: 
 
I read a couple reviews that the WA7 does not come with a USB cable or a power cable, although they are standard cables, I was curious if this was just an error in multiple shipments or Wooaudio is simply being cheap in not sending the unit with all cables needed for the connections the device has due to the fact that not everyone will be connecting it to a pc.

 

[AuburnEagle23]

bump

 

[AuburnEagle23]

Nobody has any input?  Bump though for the weekend!

 

[AuburnEagle23]

Liam, thanks for the insight.  I am for just trying to get a general consensus of if I would be able to notice a significant difference in the gaming I do and in the music I listen to.  I personally do not have a plethora of lossless quality files that I listen too, typically I listen to Pandora/Iheart radio and I am not sure what the overall quality of those streaming services is too say a disc version of the songs.  I am quite a novice in terms of the various ways music is produced.
 
As far as the durability of the tubes, that is good to hear that I wont have to worry about them burning out persay, if I use them daily for 8-16 hours.

 

[Shaffer]

Liam, thanks for the insight.  I am for just trying to get a general consensus of if I would be able to notice a significant difference in the gaming I do and in the music I listen to.  I personally do not have a plethora of lossless quality files that I listen too, typically I listen to Pandora/Iheart radio and I am not sure what the overall quality of those streaming services is too say a disc version of the songs.  I am quite a novice in terms of the various ways music is produced.

As far as the durability of the tubes, that is good to hear that I wont have to worry about them burning out persay, if I use them daily for 8-16 hours.

As you don't really listen to music, buy an O2 and save yourself a good deal of cash. Good luck.

 

[AuburnEagle23]

Well I listen to music regularly when I am on the computer.  But do you just not consider streaming services music, lol?

 

[Linchpin]

Most streaming services are not all that high quality, as a matter of fact 128kbps files are not uncommon for them. Unless you're using Spotify premium which I believe is 320kbps or Tidal which is lossless there is not point in investing a lot into a setup since you're going to limited by the poor quality files you're going to be feeding into your high-end hardware. If anything the more you spend the worse your poor quality music will sound.

 

[AuburnEagle23]

How do they manage to achieve loss less quality when the other giants of streaming service are not?  Also do any of you use it, do you feel the $19.99 is justified for what is offered?

 

[Solarium]

  Hello there everyone, been sometime since I last posted.  However, after finally breaking down, and getting a good sale on Amazon, finally picked up a pair of Sennheiser HD700s.  So far I am thoroughly enjoying them, they are HANDS DOWN, the most comfortable headphones I have owned, feels like I literally have air sitting on my head.
 
First off, before I start, I realize there have been multiple other threads dedicated to this combination of devices, however; after scouring through posts, I have not found answers to the questions I have listed below.
 
I am currently driving the HD700s with my Asus Xonar Essence STX soundcard in my PC.  I do a lot of work on the PC, as well as gaming, and I was curious what the communities thoughts were about this combination vs the Wooaudio WA7 Fireflies.  I have been researching getting the WA7, and was about to purchase the WA7 today, until I noticed that it is not recommended to operate the WA7 for periods longer then 10 hours, and I am typically on the computer 10-16 hours a day.  Therefore I have a few questions that are listed below.
 
Question 1: 
 
What would the recommended settings on my Asus Essence STX be for the HD700s?  Currently I have the followed settings:  2 Channel Audio, PCM 96 Khz, PCM checked and Dolby Headphone checked (I know the Dolby headphone doesn't do much if anything in 2 channel mode).  I have tested the 8 channel mode with the same other settings and it is much louder and almost "tinny" sounding, not sure if I like it.
 
Question 2: 
 
What would be the difference between the STX and the WA7? Since the STX clearly has the power to drive the HD700s, since I am running them at 70% mixer volume and 50% application volume and that is quite loud already, but I am curious what "sound" difference the WA7 is going to deliver and if the $999-$1399 investment is truly worth it.
 
Question 3: 
 
What is everyone's experience with the WA7 as far as durability, longevity of the tubes during extended duration use?
 
Question 4: 
 
I read a couple reviews that the WA7 does not come with a USB cable or a power cable, although they are standard cables, I was curious if this was just an error in multiple shipments or Wooaudio is simply being cheap in not sending the unit with all cables needed for the connections the device has due to the fact that not everyone will be connecting it to a pc.

I currently have the STX II 7.1, for which I use with the HD700. I use 8 channel audio, PCM 44.1 Khz, Analog out Headphones, with both Virtual speaker and Dolby headphone off. I am completely satisfied with this setup as a solid state amp goes, but I was curious how would a tube amp sound with the HD700. So I ordered the WA7 like you did, but it was more of a splurge. Now that I think back I might have spent the $800 to upgrade my HD700 to HD800 instead.

 

[Solarium]

  How do they manage to achieve loss less quality when the other giants of streaming service are not?  Also do any of you use it, do you feel the $19.99 is justified for what is offered?

I think unless you're only planning on using PC to stream the lostless files, spotify premium would be a better choice. I stream it while driving using my LTE data on my iPhone, plugged into the AUX of my car and it works amazing. I've compared the 320 bitrate spotify songs with their FLAC versions and the difference is minimal. Spotify premium is $10 a month. I like its music discovery a lot better than its alternatives.