Woo Audio WA11 Review / Preview - Head-Fi TV
Jun 17, 2020 at 9:10 PM Post #601 of 774
There is a gain switch on the WA11 itself. It only affects the sound that's coming out from it, not what that's going in.

I suggest that you take a look at what this product is actually. It may help to answer all your questions already. :)

I understand what the product is. We were taking about two different things. I was wondering if lowering the volume of the input going into the WA11 degraded sound quality. I thought you were calling that gain. Now I understand you were referring to the switch on the WA11.
 
Jun 18, 2020 at 12:11 AM Post #602 of 774
So back to your original question, when you can’t listen past 7 o’clock with your LCD-MX4 & HD800S, is your gain switch on low of high?
 
Jun 18, 2020 at 2:12 AM Post #604 of 774
Ether 2 and AFC on high gain, balanced, at around 8 o'clock.

Fostex TH900 on high gain, single-ended, at around 7 o'clock.

I found the imbalance started to disappear at around 6.5 and up, so I'm fine using high gain on my headphones. While on IEM, low gain is a must as noise start to creep in once it turns past 7 o'clock. It's almost unusable with sensitive IEM unfortunately.
 
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Jun 18, 2020 at 7:54 AM Post #605 of 774
I find the volume pot most sensitive around 6-9 o'clock. Thereafter, I will need to turn it up by a lot to get an incremental volume. That's why it seems that the usable volume range is pretty narrow.
 
Jun 18, 2020 at 8:03 AM Post #606 of 774
I used the SP1000 with WA11 with the usb-c digital out of player to usb digital in on WA11. It sounds awesome and can highly recommend. If you use WA11 you should use the digital in as the synergy of dac/amp inside topaz is more important than the dac of the player.
[Mod Edited: FS removed]
Not sure what's the point here of buying a $3k DAP if you're just going to use the Digital in of the WA11. Might as well get a cheap android.
 
Jun 18, 2020 at 9:44 AM Post #607 of 774
Not sure what's the point here of buying a $3k DAP if you're just going to use the Digital in of the WA11. Might as well get a cheap android.
Convenience maybe? So that he doesn't have to dup his tracks on the AK as well as a cheap Android? Then when he goes out, he can go out with the AK alone without having to carry an Android/WA11 setup?

Anyhow, it seems he's put up or sold his WA11 anyway.
 
Jun 18, 2020 at 10:15 AM Post #608 of 774
Convenience maybe? So that he doesn't have to dup his tracks on the AK as well as a cheap Android? Then when he goes out, he can go out with the AK alone without having to carry an Android/WA11 setup?

Anyhow, it seems he's put up or sold his WA11 anyway.
Yeah okay I can get behind that. I meant if you are only using your AK with the WA11, seems like a stupid idea.
 
Jun 18, 2020 at 11:07 AM Post #609 of 774
Yeah okay I can get behind that. I meant if you are only using your AK with the WA11, seems like a stupid idea.
Well @audiocraze didn't divulge all his/her use cases (nor was there a necessity to do for this thread), however to assume that he's solely using the AK only with the WA11 isn't very wise either.
 
Jun 18, 2020 at 11:12 AM Post #610 of 774
Well @audiocraze didn't divulge all his/her use cases (nor was there a necessity to do for this thread), however to assume that he's solely using the AK only with the WA11 isn't very wise either.
Fair. I was saying if anyone only buys a AK only to use with a WA11 through digital in, that's not a very wise thing to do. If you casually happen to have a AK that they have bought to use on its own and use it with WA11 too then that's a different story.
 
Jun 18, 2020 at 11:29 AM Post #611 of 774
Fair. I was saying if anyone only buys a AK only to use with a WA11 through digital in, that's not a very wise thing to do. If you casually happen to have a AK that they have bought to use on its own and use it with WA11 too then that's a different story.

Maybe you have to buy one SP2000 yourself and pair it with the WA11 to figure out what the hype is all about.
 
Jun 18, 2020 at 11:37 AM Post #612 of 774
Whilst we’re talking about the WA11 USB DAC, has anyone found that music apps find it slow to recognise it? I’m not certain if there are additional protocols or initialisation communication going on compared to other DACs but at least on my Mac & my iPad, it seems to take awhile for it to recognize the WA11 DAC.
 
Jun 18, 2020 at 11:41 AM Post #613 of 774
Maybe you have to buy one SP2000 yourself and pair it with the WA11 to figure out what the hype is all about.
Tried most AK DAPs. They all sound like overpriced and underpowered garbage. Meanwhile, the Sony WM1Z is something I can get behind, too bad it doesn't have a USB DAC mode.

Edit: Casually searched WM1Z USB DAC and looks like with a firmware update, it now has a USB-DAC mode. Welp looks like I am going down this rabbit hole
 
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Jun 18, 2020 at 11:42 AM Post #614 of 774
Whilst we’re talking about the WA11 USB DAC, has anyone found that music apps find it slow to recognise it? I’m not certain if there are additional protocols or initialisation communication going on compared to other DACs but at least on my Mac & my iPad, it seems to take awhile for it to recognize the WA11 DAC.
Works as a normal DAC on both Android and Windows so no problems for me
 
Jun 18, 2020 at 11:48 AM Post #615 of 774
Tried most AK DAPs. They all sound like overpriced and underpowered garbage. Meanwhile, the Sony WM1Z is something I can get behind, too bad it doesn't have a USB DAC mode.

I was wondering if it was just me. After returning 3 DAPs after being unimpressed, I think I’m done buying them for awhile. I’m not sure what the online reviewers of these things are hearing that I’m not.

Good to know about the WM1Z.
 

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