Woo Audio WA8 Eclipse headphone DAC/ Amplifier Review

Equipment used:

Headphones: Hifiman HE-560, AKG K7XX, Audeze LCD-2f, Sennheiser Momentum, HD-650, Oppo PM-2, PM-3, Aurisonics ASG 2.5, JVC HA-FX850, UE900s, plenty of other IEMs.

Music used:

From Röyksopp to Amber Rubarth, Diana Krall to Apoptygma Berzerk, Tom Jones to Sphongle, Yello to Camouflage, mostly FLACs 24/96 or 16/44.1 – some mp3 320kbps, some AAC 256kbps

Depending on headphone high or low gain – no EQ

Disclaimer: samma3a.com  provided me with a demo unit of the WA8. I am not affiliated with Wooaudio or Samma3a.com Though I really highly appreciate what samma3a is doing for the audiophiles in the region!! Thank you so much for letting me test and review this player.

TL;DR:

Pros:

• brilliant sound.
• impeccable sound quality.
• drives EVERYthing (thanks to IEM switch and gain control).
• simple to use.
• might be all you ever need.
• build (and weight) like a tank.
• all tube design (not hybrid).

Cons:

• unacceptable loud pop when switching off or battery runs out.
• no gain control
• expensive!!!
• tubes will eventually die and need replacement.
• not sure about “portability” claim
• can get quite hot
• battery life rather short.

Simply put: Incredible sound quality and a surprisingly wide array of in-ears and headphones that just sound amazing with it makes this an easy recommendation. It’s worth it’s very high asking price. However beware to unplug headphones before switching off or running out of battery. 

Now, the longer version:

Packaging & Accessories:

The Wooaudio WA8 comes nicely packaged with USB cable, a Pelican style, waterproof and shockproof carrying case, power brick and cable and the device itself.

Technical Highlights

DAC Chip: ESS Sabre ES9018K2M (24bit/384kHz); compatible with iOS and Android devices; SET Class A transformer output, drives 8-600 Ohm headphones; all tube design; XMOS xCORE Audio asynchronous USB

Ouput: 

250mW @32Ω

350mW @50Ω

180mW @120Ω

120mW @300Ω

80mW @600Ω

(3-tubeOutput impedance: smaller than 1 Ohm)

Dynamic Range: > 115 dB

Formats supported: 

DSD 512/256/128/64 (24.6/22.6/12.4/11.2/6.2/5.6/3.1/2.8Mhz)

DXD 2x/1x (768/705.6/384/352.8kHz)

PCM 768/705.6/384/352.8/192/176.4/96/88.2/48/44.1kHz

Headphone output:

3.5mm and 6.35mm

Inputs:

• USB 2.0 Type A, works with MacOS, Windows and Linux
• Support for Android OTG and iOS for iOS7 and above
• 3.5mm analog input

Output:

• Headphone out: 6.35mm with adapter to 3.5mm

USB charging:

not available only with supplied charger

Sound effects:

none

Usability and Build Quality

The WA8 is a pretty simple device with the following switches and ports:

1. Volume

Pretty self explanatory, turn the dial, the more you turn the dial to the right, the higher the volume. Feels very nice and smooth with the right heft to it and has a wide enough range to find the exact volume.

1. Power switch

Recessed switch – easy to grab/feel, even when you can’t see behind the device. Not feeling the price on this switch.

1. Tube switch (top of device):

Switches the operation from 3 tube to 2 tube operation. It’s like a gain switch, offering more juice with 3 tubes and longer operation with lower power for less power hungry headphones with 2 tube operation.

1. Digital USB Audio inputs/Analog inputs:

Standard USB 2 input – does not charge the device, only supplies DAC with digital music information up to 24bit/384kHz, compatible with iOS and Android OTG.

Line in: 3.5mm line in for using the WA8 as amplifier only

1. Headphone outputs:

Two headphone sockets, one 3.5mm and one 6.35mm.

Build Quality

It’s a square black (or gold, silver/grey-ish) box. It weighs a substantial 1.1KG which is quite surprising for it’s size, really heavy. Dimensions are: Dimension 6.69″ (L) x 3.6″ (W) x 1.69″ (D) / 170mm (L) x 92mm (W) x 43mm (D)

The enclosure is machined aluminum – it feels great to the touch – unfortunately is quite prone to fingerprints, so have a microfiber cloth around. Other than the the build quality is what you expect for a nearly $2,000 device.

Video Review

Sound Quality Comparisons:

General

Well – the WA8 surprised me. I have heard Woo Audio amps in the past and always liked them a lot for their musicality their smooth but holographic rendering of the music and how you just get “lost in music” with them. But this amp surprised me. When I looked at the spec sheet I thought, well it should run IEMs quite well. And so it did. No hiss with in-ears as low as 8 Ohms. Wow. With a tube amp? Crazy. And it drove all my different IEMs (I stopped trying after around 12). with authority, no matter if they were dynamic driver, balanced armatures or hybrid between both. None them had any distortions and all of them sounded really, REALLY good.

Sure, this device probably sucks with full size over ear headphones – since it’s so good with IEMs it can’t possible drive full-size cans properly. So I started with the easy to drive ones. Oppo PM-2 and PM-3 – they sounded sublime. So I put the 70 Ohm but quite picky AKG K7XX on. Wow, no problem for the WA8. The 300 Ohm Sennheiser HD-650 were like the 250 Ohm Beyerdynamic T90 a feast for the ears.

I say it here on record: I think I never heard the T90 sound that good.

Lastly I thought – HA!! Now I got you WA8 – Planars, I am sure you will suck with Planars. But to my surprise with “only” 350mW into 50 Ohms – my Hifiman HE-560 sounded amazing. How is that possible? They sound full and “round” everything is as it should.

So, wanting to show the limits of this DAC/Amp I must accept defeat. The WA8 is one of the best sounding amps I have heard with my headphones ever. I want one. Badly. But the price is indeed an issue.

DAC use on a Computer vs. line out

The Sabre DAC is implemented so well – there is no harshness, but so much detail. The sound is full and rich without being warm. The WA8 does not color your headphones sound signature but adds a little bit of smoothness to it, that makes your music more enjoyable and you can’t help and at least tap your toes (or go wild and headbang, dance or just rock away to your tunes). The line out does the same to your music but of course you get to a certain extend what you feed in.

Conclusion & Issues

It REALLY can drive headphones from 8-600 Ohm. The clever use of 3 tube vs 2 tube operation via switch, which works as a gain switch of sorts, makes this amp your perfect desktop setup. Thanks to its battery it allows a sort of transportable use – but not on the go use as it’s too heavy for that. The WA8 is considered “transportable” don’t confuse that with “portable”. It’s the same for my Cavalli Audio – that has no battery – which is small and light less than half of the WA8, and also considered transportable.

The WA8 is an “all tubes” goodness, with a brilliant DAC implementation, simple to use and just engaging and fun.

Some of my headphones I would have never thought can sound that great from a small amp like this. Yes, you might accuse me of hyperbole, but I am absolutely in love with the performance of this amp, especially with the picky T90 that I usually run from a BH Crack with Speedball upgrade. The WA8 seems to have no issues with any headphone. And that baffles me.

But (I am tempted to say “thankfully” because otherwise it might be all too perfect) there is ONE major issue. When switching the WA8 off, there is very loud POP sound induced into the headphones. So loud that at the first time I experienced it, I ripped my headphones from my head – fearing for my hearing. The workaround is to unplug your headphones from the amp before switching off – but there should be either: a time relay preventing this or a warning that this will happen on the device. However, on battery power the same happens when the battery runs out and that is something you don’t really control as it happens without warning – so you can’t prepare for that. For a device with such a price tag, this is unacceptable and needs to be addressed.

Minor issues: 4 hours battery life, the unwieldy, non-standard charging brick, price for replacement tubes after expected lifetime of 5000 hours (and how to change them) unclear.

I hope Woo Audio fixes the popping issue before the official launch because with this exception the WA8 is absolutely brilliant, a true audiophile marvel!!

THANKS to www.samma3a.com and @Mazen4samma3a for the review loaner! I will be selling off some other gear to purchase this marvel as soon as possible.