A wonderful pairing at night time.
I'm wondering if you've been able to compare your new WA7 sound signature to other DAC/Amps you have laying around?
New from Woo Audio - WA7 Fireflies (3rd Gen)
- Thread starter bluestorm1992
- Start date
I'm wondering if you've been able to compare your new WA7 sound signature to other DAC/Amps you have laying around?
Oh wow, the Diana can be driven off thatA wonderful pairing at night time.
What about the Stealth?
bluestorm1992
Headphoneus Supremus
I am still waiting for my Stealth! I put down my order in late August and have been waiting ever since.Oh wow, the Diana can be driven off that
What about the Stealth?
bluestorm1992
Headphoneus Supremus
Most of my other source gears are portable stuff (check out my signature) so it may not be a fair or meaningful comparison here. As for Diana V2, I am very satisfied with this pairing. I am coming from using Xiaudio Broadway to drive it, then moved on to a transportable system of using C9, and finally now landed on the beautiful WA7.Oh wow, the Diana can be driven off that
What about the Stealth?
ZMF Verite Open Camphor Burl -> RME ADI-2 DAC FS -> WA7 3rd Gen
Anyone know what the output impedance is? I had the v2 with the Hi / Lo-z toggle, that seems to be gone here. Assume it's fairly low seeing as its driving the Diana's
I couldn't find this info either, I asked Woo Audio. I think your assumption of it being low is correct as it's driving my Diana v2 and Focal Radiance without changing their sound signature / blowing up the bass like an OTL tube amp I tried a while ago.
Ahhh Focal's with OTL is definitely an .... experience
Ahhh Focal's with OTL is definitely an .... experience
Heh yeah I had a Feliks Audio Echo Mk. 2 for a bit and it was nice with my ZMFs and Sennheisers, and just ridiculously bad (as it is expected to be) with my Focals & Planars, I just mentioned that as a test for the WA7, which seems to have a low output impedance.
TheMiddleSky
Headphoneus Supremus
Most of my other source gears are portable stuff (check out my signature) so it may not be a fair or meaningful comparison here. As for Diana V2, I am very satisfied with this pairing. I am coming from using Xiaudio Broadway to drive it, then moved on to a transportable system of using C9, and finally now landed on the beautiful WA7.
Which one you like more for Diana v2 then? Between WA7, Broadway and C9?
Can't wait for you comparison with Stealth as well!
Khitzi
New Head-Fier
Hey. Any chance you can give me your impressions of this amp/dac with your Sennheiser HD 800S headphones? I've had my eyes on this little amp for a while but never pulled the trigger. With this one offering a pre-amp and balanced connection, it may push me to purchase if it makes a good combo with the HD 800S.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
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.
bluestorm1992
Headphoneus Supremus
It will be a hard pick for me as I find them to excel in different aspects, but I can say that I am very happy with WA7 now.
Starting with the Broadway (balanced). I use it with Burson Composer 3XP and superconductor interconnects. What I get is the true sense that the headphone is reaching its potential and delivering a “balanced sound”, but still within V2’s overall signature of being intimate and musical. When I moved to C9, the sense of effortless from the amp decreases, but the overall performance is still OK while I gained the transportability.
I moved away from C9 because the fact that it cannot be charging while using it bothers me, and it does not deliver a very noticeable tube sound. When I compared D8000 Pro with V2, both from C9, D8000 Pro is a clear winner - not because V2 is not great, but it is more of a synergy matter. C9 is mostly a SS amp with a tiny hint of tube sound. This seems to work well with D8000 Pro’s analytical and clean signature but not so much with V2’s intimate and musical signature.
Finally, to WA7, first off I really like its form factor. The Xiaudio + Burson stack is great in its performance but took up way too much space for me. As for the synergy, I think WA7 definitely pairs better with V2 compared to C9, and I attribute this to the warm and deep tube sound from WA7.
Hey. Any chance you can give me your impressions of this amp/dac with your Sennheiser HD 800S headphones? I've had my eyes on this little amp for a while but never pulled the trigger. With this one offering a pre-amp and balanced connection, it may push me to purchase if it makes a good combo with the HD 800S.
Yup, it’s great! I tested the WA7 3rd Gen against my RME using the HD 800s as well and couldn’t really tell them apart, so I think that by using the WA7 you wouldn’t be leaving on the table. IMHO it drives the 800s to their full extent.
JM
New Head-Fier
Welp – I took the plunge and ordered one. I've never owned a piece of audio gear in the <$1000 range.
I've been desirous of having an amplifier for my Sennheiser HD 660S headphones and this unit seemed to tick off the boxes I wanted:
I've been desirous of having an amplifier for my Sennheiser HD 660S headphones and this unit seemed to tick off the boxes I wanted:
- ESS Sabre DAC
- 4.4mm Balanced Input (also 6.3 standard)
- Internal power source
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