[crazyhank]

I picked up a WA8 a couple weeks ago to use at the office. My initial impressions are very positive. I'm mainly listening through my UE 18+ CSX iem's. With the stock tubes (the delivered driver tube in mine is a Thomson) I find the imaging is very good, detail retrieval strong, and overall quite pleasant. I do find that vocals in the middle of the soundstage have a slight veil, vs ones that are to the side. I also got the Sylvania 6BF7 upgrade driver tube and enjoy this configuration a bit better, with vocals really blooming, the bass being a bit deeper, and that center veil disappearing. Overall I find the soundstage to be quite wide but not very deep which can sometimes lead to some congestion in the middle of the soundstage with complex multi-instrument music. It is really well suited to acoustic, bluegrass, and jazz.

I also tried the WA8 with my Audeze LCD2's. I usually use these in my main rig (Benchmark 2 Dac -> Leben CS300 -> LCD2) where the LCD2 + Leben combo is magic, especially with the right tubes. With the WA8 I definitely enjoyed the LCD2's, although the soundstage isn't as big as with the Leben and overall the control and impact, especially in the bass, isn't at the same level. The WA8 has no problem driving the LCD2's, with a comfortable volume around 5.

Overall I think the WA8 is a great option for people who need some portability and a smaller footprint. The Sylvania driver is definitely worth it if you vocals are at the top of your list.

Hi there, I just bought the WA8! How did you swap the tubes? Did it require soldering? Or do they sell pre-made with the circuit board? Thank you!

 

[stringgz301]

They sell them pre-soldered onto a swappable pcb on their website.

 

[blackgreen15]

At one point in time, a boombox was portable. This works for my use case which is 'unable to sit still long enough' and wandering around the house. Not that you couldn't take this out on a nice day. Final Audio 8000pro and LCD I4's.

 

[AnakChan]

Nice, a few of us used the OmniCharge too :-

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/woo-audio-wa8-review-head-fi-tv.801369/page-27#post-13354348

 

[blackgreen15]

This is where I heard about it, to be sure! It wasn't until I knew there was something with that potential for play-time upgrade that I was willing to pull the trigger. The 5 vanishing lights would have been a constant obsession, otherwise.

 

[Ike1985]

Can you guys recommend some good cables for Wa8, need:

Usb A to B
3.5 to 3.5
Usb c to b

I heard wireworld are good cables.

 

[Ike1985]

is the WA8 working with the omnicharge these days?

 

[Ike1985]

I'm looking at this one, seems robust. What do you think

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XHKVQ3V/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_fabc_XWBPFbYR6EAQ8

 

[emilsoft]

I too have issues with the dac, tested them on windows 10 and mac os, but no dice. Unfortunately i’m overseas and shipping is horrible for me. Please share if it gets resolved. Good luck!

Did you get the issue resolved ? I also need to send mine in - it will be costly. Reading about so many dac failures here makes me think this is a manufacturing flaw - I wish Woo would do the right thing here even if we are out of warranty.. I don't want to have to be sending in my WA8 every 1-2 years for repairs. It certainly hasn't helped with my confidence for the brand.

 

[jamington2004]

Hi bought a used Woo WA8 a couple of weeks back and a few hours listening in and my iPhone suddenly stopped recognising it. Tried a new cable assuming it was that - same.

Tried plugging into a laptop - device not recognised. Can’t find anywhere online about downloading special drivers so not looking very promising!

Any ideas anyone? If something on the DAC is knackered is it fixable by a decent electronics engineer?

Thanks
Jamie

 

[AnakChan]

If it's truly a faulty DAC, then I think your best bet is actually having it fixed by Woo Audio themselves. Did you talk to the former owner if he/she had encountered any intermittent issues with the DAC before?

 

[jamington2004]

Thanks - sounds very expensive with shipping to and from UK to US plus whatever costs . Waiting to hear back from owner they bought direct from Woo but not sure if in warrantee

 

[b0ssMax]

Sorry, didn’t see this before. I contacted woo audio and they responded that i need to send it back. Unfortunately, i’m overseas and shipping is expensive so i never got to it. I‘m still hoping i can get it fixed but for the meantime, i;ve been using it as an amp only.

In the other thread i think there was 1 or 2 other member/s that had a similar issue.

Did you get the issue resolved ? I also need to send mine in - it will be costly. Reading about so many dac failures here makes me think this is a manufacturing flaw - I wish Woo would do the right thing here even if we are out of warranty.. I don't want to have to be sending in my WA8 every 1-2 years for repairs. It certainly hasn't helped with my confidence for the brand.

 

[jamington2004]

I contacted Woo and they were extremely helpful, and recognising the original owner as a good customer, even out of warrantee they have offered to fix FOC!
Just cost me £30 to send back via UPS.....

 

[emilsoft]

I contacted Woo and they were extremely helpful, and recognising the original owner as a good customer, even out of warrantee they have offered to fix FOC!
Just cost me £30 to send back via UPS.....

That’s lucky - I unfortunately had different experience
->>
We can inspect your WA8. The cost for the out of warranty inspection/repair is $80 + any repairs + return shipping

So it might cost a fortune to repair what’s seems to be a model fault (seeing as same problem is happening quite a bit here)

I’ve decided to stay put and just use it with line in. It’s unfortunate as before I was eyeing to purchase another Woo amp but I don’t have the confidence now as soon as I’m out of warranty there could be significant costs - 1 year warranty for such expensive products is not great. Chord offer 3 years for the dacs and Sennheiser 2 for their HD800s.