My WDS-1 has arrived!
My initial impressions are a bit shorter than I thought they would be since instead of listening all night, I realized as I went to set it up that I had zero available room on a stable surface, so I began the lengthy process of moving the entire audio system to its permanent rack simply to give the WDS-1 an appropriate home. Such tasks are never quick ones and usually involve rummaging through parts bins looking for adapters and cables still sealed in packages that were sworn to be unnecessary years ago and inevitably discovering that you're short on cables when 20 minutes ago you and an abundance... I'll break this into a few posts since it would be horribly long otherwise.
Initial impressions on receiving the box: Wow, when did Woo get custom printed boxes? Looks good. Maybe he's always had them but the last thing I got from Woo was some headphone stands that were bundled in a plain brown box labeled as a "WA-19" (a non-existent model at the moment...wonder what it was?) and expected the same. Simple thing but a nice touch
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Initial impressions removing it from the box: No question, I knew it from the pictures, but this is hands-down the most gorgeous DAC anywhere on the market. Period. The pictures don't do it justice, it's gorgeous. It's actually more diminuitive in features than the pictures on the site could make you think...it's either bad nor good but the buttons, feet, screen etc have a more compact yet denser look to them in person. It's a good look. The 4 front buttons are solid aluminum, as is the clever little power switch that's hidden....it's actually built into the top left screw cap "ring" on the top (the upper 'foot'). I had to ask Jack where the switch was before I ordered since i didn't see one. It's clearly labeled (or rather, engraved) on the button. (Take that, Wadia and your silly "you don't need a power switch, who would want to turn it off?" approach!) Buttons have that smooth but heavy feel of aluminum buttons in an aluminum socket....very solid feeling. There's a bit of color unevenness on the top black surface (I got the black accents model to match my Woo headphone stands and the rest of my mostly black rig) I suspect it's from the finishing process and will even out over time with cleaning and wiping and the like. Even if it's from the anodizing, it's only visible in direct strong light and I suspect will blend in time. Black anodizing isn't an exact science, and "made to order", it's newly treated metal. In either case, it's not significant, just worth pointing out if going over it with a fine tooth comb.
The serial number being stuck on the back as printed in the old style "Dymo" embossed labels is a fun old world "vintage product" touch for a decidedly new-world product like a DAC. No doubt they've been using those stickers on vintage-style tube amps for a long time...and it's a fun thing for what is certainly the most stylistically ornate DAC chassis on the market.
The jacks on the back are all excellent quality, featuring Woo's custom RCA jacks (each engraved "Woo Audio" around the jack) that any Woo amp owner should be familiar with. The XLR, IEC, USB, and Toslink jacks are the usual fare...not much room for difference there.
