New from Woo Audio - WA7 Fireflies (3rd Gen)
Sep 21, 2021 at 10:03 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 403

bluestorm1992

Headphoneus Supremus
Joined
Jul 29, 2020
Posts
3,176
Likes
8,622
Location
Virginia
Hi everyone,

Woo Audio is launching the latest version of their popular product - WA7 fireflies (3rd gen). I have had the pleasure to use it as an early customer over the past few weeks and thoroughly enjoy this product! I will post some basic info on this post, and share my personal impressions on the second post.

The product page is also up!

https://wooaudio.com/amplifiers/wa7-3rd-generation

General info:
This new model is greatly improved and is the BEST sounding, most features packed WA7 - ever.

- new internal power supply with IEC connector for aftermarket premium cables. No more external brick.

- new ESS SABRE DAC chip

- more common tube (12AU7) which are widely available for upgrades

- fully-balanced design with 4.4 INPUT / OUTPUT

- balanced 4.4mm / unbalanced 3.5mm pre-out for powered speakers

- powerful enough to drive Diana v2 by ABYSS with exceptional sound.

WA7_1.png
WA7_2.png
WA7_3.png
 
Last edited:
Sep 21, 2021 at 10:03 AM Post #2 of 403
My WA7 3rd Gen Impressions

I have the pleasure to purchase the new WA7 Gen 3 as an earlier customer. After using it for a couple of weeks, I am pleased to report that I am much impressed by the tube magic coming out of a device in such a small form factor, and I won’t hesitate to recommend it to my friends as their desktop source gear.


A bit of my myself. I have mostly been a portable person using IEMs and DAPs, but I also own several headphones including Abyss Diana V2, Final D8000 Pro, and ZMF Verite Open. Before owning WA7, I have experience in certain desktop gears, including XiAudio Broadway amp + Burson Composer DAC and Cayin C9 as the transportable hybrid amp. I listen mostly to vocals in Asian pop music.

IMG_5462.jpeg


I bought WA7 to serve as a more permanent desktop piece, mostly to drive my headphones, but also for some of my IEMs. I am impressed at two levels: the versatility in this device, and the excellent tube sound. Below, I will introduce the new WA7 from these two angles.


Versatility in Functionality

IMG_5491.jpeg


The WA7 Gen 3 features the input/output options that can suit almost all the needs you can think of. First, on the front panel, it now features a 4.4mm balanced output and the 6.3mm single-ended output, along with an orange power indicator light. When the device turns on, you will also see the two beautiful orange tubes. It is just gorgeous to look at during night times. The new 4.4mm output is a big push in my purchasing decision as most of my IEMs are terminated in 4.4, and I am also getting more of my headphones cables in the 4.4 configuration.

IMG_5469.jpeg


Moving to the back panel, WA7 offers two ways of input: USB or RCA. The USB mode is my most used mode. In this mode, the WA7 serves as an integrated DAC &AMP. Simply connect it to your computer with the stock USB cable and you are good to go. Inside WA7, it includes the ESS Sabre chip, which is a major step up from the previous generation in the DAC function. For users who want to bypass the internal DAC, no problem, the RCA function is your friend. Simply make the switch from the back panel and use the RCA-in from WA7 to connect it to your DACs. This will not only work with desktop DACs but also with portable DAPs. This is a big plus to me as I use my DAP a lot and I store most of my music there. As a result, being able to directly connect my DAP with WA7 gives me a consistent listening experience across different use cases: I use daps on the go with my IEMs; when I am on my desk side, I simply tie it to WA7 and start using headphones. I frequently use my R2R portable DAP LP6 as the R2R DAC source to WA7. In this pairing, I can enjoy the organic R2R sound along with the warm tube sound, which works amazingly well for vocals.



Finally, the WA7 can serve as the preamp for poweramps or powered speakers. This is achieved with the 3.5mm and 4.4mm output on the back panel. This will help add the tube sound in your audio chain in various systems. I do not own poweramps or speakers so I will let other users share their impressions here.


In general, WA7 offers a wide range of use cases: SE and balanced PO, an integrated DAC/amp or a pure tube amp, or a preamp. It offers an ultra-versatile experience in such a compact package.



Sound impressions


I use WA7 with both of my headphones and IEMs, and I am happy to report that it works well across the board.

As a general sound impression, the first thing I notice is the amazing tube sound. I did not have much experience in tube amps before. Cayin C9 is a hybrid amp and it only offers a hint of warmth in the tube sound. Compared to that, the “tube signature” is much more apparent in WA7. If I were to describe it, this is a deep sound, which I believe is created by the resonance and reverberating in sound. Along with that, it is the warmth and smoothness it gives to the music that works particularly well with vocals. Now, let me share some more specific pair-up impressions.


With IEMs:


I use my WA7 with Oriolus Traillii, UM Mason FS, and UM 3DT. With IEMs, you do get some background noise when no music is playing, but it is gone once the track starts. A general impression I get from using these three IEMs with WA7 is that the sound is full, smooth, and with excellent dynamics. I also notice that the vocals seem to be closer to my head compared to using my other DAPs. This could be due to the fact that the vocals are now more present in the tracks. The one pair up I particularly enjoy is Oriolus Traillii. It is known for its balanced, musical, and coherent signature; but for some, the midrange can be a bit lean or recessed. WA7 further extends the coherence of Traillii but helps quite a lot in strengthening the midrange – making it full and less recessed. The ultimate experience is an ultimate natural and balanced timbre from this pairing.

IMG_5470.jpeg



With headphones


Abyss Diana V2


40B7C32D-CD4A-4331-9666-89B15DB565BF.jpeg


Mike recommended this to me as his favorite pairing for daily listening and I wholeheartedly agree. Diana V2 has an intimate and warm signature. It is not an ultra-transparent headphone and is more forgiving for the quality of the music. Though, I want to point out that V2 is not lacking in details in any sense. To me, V2 is trying to strike a balance between detail retrieval and making the music enjoyable for daily use. I am happy to report that WA7 simply doubles down the strength of V2. With WA7, interestingly, the vocals do not strike me as being too intimate but rather balanced instead. This pairing gives an ultra-fun and musical experience that makes me reach out to it much more often.

ZMF Verite Open

I spent a certain amount of time with this pairing. VO has the ZMF house sound of being thick, a bit soft, and warm. I don’t think its detail retrieval is as good as the other two planar headphones, but I enjoy it for its natural timbre. With WA7, the sound gets very warm and actually reminds me of the signature of Verite Closed (which I also owned before). I think if you like ZMF’s house sound a lot, you will enjoy this pair up immensely.

Final D8000 Pro

Initially, I was worried that this pairing will not go so well because the signatures are very different. D8000 Pro is clean, analytical, balanced, and some may even say cold sounding. Interestingly, this pairing works really well for vocals. With D8000 Pro, I am more picking up how deep the sound is and the excellent resonance in the vocals, making it a truly immersive experience. Overall, this pair-up seems to reach the midpoint between warmth and transparency, but in a balanced and enjoyable way.


Verdict

The all-new WA7 3rd gen is a device that delivers excellent sound quality and achieves versatility in many aspects. It works well with a wide range of gears I tested, and it achieves all this in such a small form factor. Finally, I think the price point of it is very very reasonable. To me, it is like the gateway drug to the world of tube amps, but at the same time I also wonder how much better can other tube amps deliver compared to the amazing WA7 3rd gen - it is already so great as is.
 
Last edited:
Sep 21, 2021 at 10:16 AM Post #3 of 403
The latest video from Abyss and Woo Audio.

 
Sep 21, 2021 at 9:43 PM Post #9 of 403
Definitely interested, would be great to have comparisons with similar priced tube amps.
 
Sep 22, 2021 at 6:28 PM Post #10 of 403
Well... I pulled the trigger with essentially no reviews out there. I'm a fan of DAC/AMP small form factor desktop solutions, once I get them in and my Hart Audio 4.4mm connector (so I can use the balanced output) I'll compare the new WA7 to my RME and hopefully write about it here.
 
Sep 22, 2021 at 6:54 PM Post #11 of 403
It uses a 12V filament so 6SN7 cannot be used. All 12Axx series is compatible, however.
I hope people will indulge me in asking a tangential question. I’m thinking the WA7iii will be my first tube amp. I did a quick look up of the 12Axx series and saw that they differ in gain and headroom. Can anyone explain to me in a non-technical way what that implies in terms of actually using the variants in a WA7iii?
 
Sep 27, 2021 at 3:43 PM Post #13 of 403
Got a chance to listen to the WA7 Fireflies with an LCD3 at Canjam over the weekend for about 15 minutes. Very enjoyable experience! Went through some typical rock tracks I've heard a million times and the warmth of the instruments was something else. Love the design and form factor of the amp, hope to hear it again someday! :)
 
Sep 27, 2021 at 8:28 PM Post #14 of 403
So I got the new WA7 3rd Gen today and I spent the last 2 hours A/B testing it against my RME ADI-2 DAC FS. I tested them against each other using both of them as standalone DAC/Amp combos, and also when using the RME as the DAC and comparing the RME's own amp against the WA7's. I did a similar comparison in the past comparing the RME's amp section against a Feliks Audio Echo Mk 2 where I could consistently spot a difference.

In the case of the WA7, I couldn't. It sounds just like the RME. I tried using my Diana v2, ZMF Verite Open and Focal Radiance - 3 headphones with significantly different power requirements - low impedance low sensitivity planar, high impedance highish sensitivity dynamic driver, and low impedance high sensitivity dynamic driver. I used short track sections to test for sound stage ('Stay' off the Interstellar soundtrack), sub bass rumble (2049 opening off the Blade Runner 2049 OST), and bass slam (kick drums in Reapers by Muse). In all cases I could not spot a difference.

Whether this is good or bad really depends on you what you're hoping to get. It also doesn't mean that you won't be able to spot a difference. It's also possible that if I find the time to do more A/B testing I will be able to reliably spot a difference. Finally note that it seems like compared to the broader community I'm not one that tends to notice minute details / differences, but personally, I think I can conclude that at the very least the WA7 is not an especially "tubey" sounding amp, I guess it's more similar to a low distortion hybrid amp like the Schiit Lyr and such that generally sound like solid state gear.

Now I have to choose if I want to give up on the RME's EQ section and stick to just the WA7, or keep the RME's DAC and use the WA7's amp as a stack, or return the WA7 and stick to the RME. The WA7 sure is pretty :) It also doesn't take up a lot of space, it stacks beautifully with the RME (they are the exact same depth and have a very similar color / finish). The WA7 also has the option of tube rolling.

I'd also be happy to take requests - I have a ZMF VC, Aeolus, Auteur, Eikon, an HD 800s, as well as the aforementioned Diana v2, VO, and Focal Radiance. If you want me to do a comparison using your test track / headphones that I have on hand I'd be happy to.
 
Last edited:
Sep 27, 2021 at 9:15 PM Post #15 of 403
A wonderful pairing at night time. :)

1CE0D259-D0ED-4954-B866-AF70E0390002.jpeg
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top