[DanDorn]

Appreciate the info! What's driving my interest here, I suppose, is curiosity about a transportable tube DAC/amp, never having had OR heard a tube amp. I've read good things about the iFi you mentioned, but at the solid state level, I already have the Chord Hugo, which pretty much rocks soundwise paired with DAP or Mac and is portable enough.

 

[brams]

Appreciate the info! What's driving my interest here, I suppose, is curiosity about a transportable tube DAC/amp, never having had OR heard a tube amp. I've read good things about the iFi you mentioned, but at the solid state level, I already have the Chord Hugo, which pretty much rocks soundwise paired with DAP or Mac and is portable enough.

Since you already have and are happy with the Hugo, I would say just stick with that. It has an impressive array of connection options that the WA8 cannot match. The WA8 will give you a different sound, but only you can say which you prefer despite any posted comparisons.

Having said that I love my WA8 used with a QP1R as the front end; it sounds great with any headphone I have thrown at It. I have never compared it to the Hugo, but I do prefer it to the Mojo. A breif comparison between the Hugo and WA8 can be found here:

http://www.headfonia.com/review-woo-audio-wa8-eclipse-new-transportable-king/3/

If you have the stash then using the Hugo as a front end or alternate to the WA8 would give you maximum flexibility. Personally I'd just choose one and spend the money saved on music or a trip.

 

[DanDorn]

Since you already have and are happy with the Hugo, I would say just stick with that. It has an impressive array of connection options that the WA8 cannot match. The WA8 will give you a different sound, but only you can say which you prefer despite any posted comparisons.

Having said that I love my WA8 used with a QP1R as the front end; it sounds great with any headphone I have thrown at It. I have never compared it to the Hugo, but I do prefer it to the Mojo. A breif comparison between the Hugo and WA8 can be found here:

http://www.headfonia.com/review-woo-audio-wa8-eclipse-new-transportable-king/3/

If you have the stash then using the Hugo as a front end or alternate to the WA8 would give you maximum flexibility. Personally I'd just choose one and spend the money saved on music or a trip.

Haha, good advice.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

  Does anyone here use the WA8 as a "front end" to a 2 channel setup?

 
Only on $85,000 Pass Xs 300 monoblocks...
 
http://www.tonepublications.com/?p=18566
 

 

[nephilim32]

Man. A couple of weeks ago I attended TAVES in Toronto. Mike Liang and Jack Wu are 2 of the nicest, most welcoming people!
I spent over 2 hrs in their expo pairing my AK JR with the beautiful WA 8 while frequently trying out many great headphones like my own blue mo-FI's, Sony MDR Zx10, Focal Utopia/Elear and my favourite the Sennheiser HD 800s. I just couldn't stop!! Mr. Liang was so nice to me and allowed me to take all the time I wanted. He also let me use a 700$ stereo aux/mini jack cable from nordöst to ensure the best listening experience I could have. All in all I have to say that by far and away the woo audio exhibit was my favourite part of TAVES. I just loved it and of course I will be buying the WA 8 at the beginning of next year. I will also try and land a pair of LCD XC's to go with it.

Thanks again Jack and Mike! I am one happy head-fi'er.
I also can't wait to try tube rolling with this beast in the near future.

 

[nephilim32]

Actually I've got a quick question for you. Just wondering if this is safe. I have the Mojo "stacked" with my WA8 right now. The WA8 gets hot, and I know the Mojo has an overheat sensor (at least I think it does) but I'm just a bit worried about the heat. Do you think doing the combo like this is safe? Thanks for the help. 




Thoroughly enjoying my wee transportable set up


 

Deadly!!! Wow. You must be very happy. Awesome rig....a transportable rig no less!
I'm gonna grab the AUDEZE XC's cause I travel a lot and they are quite an amazing closed-back CAN.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Heads up everybody. One week only!
 
http://wooaudio.com/products/
 

 

[ufospls2]

Deadly!!! Wow. You must be very happy. Awesome rig....a transportable rig no less!

I'm gonna grab the AUDEZE XC's cause I travel a lot and they are quite an amazing closed-back CAN.

The WA8 was great with easier to drive headphones, but in the end didn't have enough juice to power the LCD-4 to the levels I would like properly. I would reckon it will work the XC's as they are a bit easier to drive. I ended up returning the WA8, but man did it sound good while I had it. 

 

[sdwong]

NEW Focal headphones pairs exceptionally well with WA8. :basshead:

This is the headphone I want and is the reason I got the WA8!

What cable do you recommend in between the WA8 and Focal?

 

[nephilim32]

The WA8 was great with easier to drive headphones, but in the end didn't have enough juice to power the LCD-4 to the levels I would like properly. I would reckon it will work the XC's as they are a bit easier to drive. I ended up returning the WA8, but man did it sound good while I had it. 

Ah yes! You are right. Just yesterday I got my first stab with the LCD 4's. I paired it with a bryston BHA-1 headphone amp and ran 24 bit FLAC files off my AK JR. Incredible headphone, but very resistive. I was at 92% on 2nd gain setting to really open up those 4's!!! I was thinking about your pairing and I thought if the Bryston has quite a bit of its power reserve used up there is no way the WA8 can't volt up this bad boy. Man, what a power ogre!
Anyway, please let me know when you can about the LCD XC's paired with the WA8. I was thinking of grabbing both items in the near future, so let me know if it's a go... I imagine it should be.
I tried the XC's and they are the most open sounding closed back headphone I've ever heard.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

This is the headphone I want and is the reason I got the WA8!

What cable do you recommend in between the WA8 and Focal?

 
We use Kimber AXIOS and Nordost Heimdall2.

 

[SDBiotek]

Charge Tech is having a sale today on it's portable chargers, if anyone is interested. Can't post a link right now, but the Portable Power Outlet is $99.

 

[moedawg140]

Charge Tech is having a sale today on it's portable chargers, if anyone is interested. Can't post a link right now, but the Portable Power Outlet is $99.

 
Thank you so much for this post!  I wound up purchasing one!  I'll be trying it out during my next flight, most likely CanJam NYC!
 
Much appreciated.

 

[SDBiotek]

No problem moedawg140, I know the ChargeTech unit is a nice way to get some extra hours of run time. I just wish I had waited until now before buying mine!

 

[moedawg140]

No problem moedawg140, I know the ChargeTech unit is a nice way to get some extra hours of run time. I just wish I had waited until now before buying mine!

 
Yeah, I thought the MSRP was a little high, especially compared to the purchase of my non-power outlet capable Anker > 20,000mAh for around $40.  I'm pretty sure once Anker gets a hold of the technology, they will undercut even the Black Friday price of the ChargeTech.