Greeting from Toronto ☕️on a rainy afternoon ..I’m still running the MT 604 from Xduoo…this looks interesting. I run the Denafrips Ares 12-1 DAC …so this seems like a nice match . Thanks for this very interesting video.

First of all, great review, as usual, brother. Secondly, there are two dac/amp combos for around $500 that I would love to see you review and compare: Fiio K9 AKM SMSL DO400 I'm looking for a reference-like dac/amp combo for around $500 and I'd appreciate your recommendation.

absolutely right , one do not need to spend $500 for a tube AMP , and I would say to start with tube AMP ( at least for Headphone users ) one can try xDuoo's own TA-26s and TA66 which are both cheaper and easier to get doing tube rolling

@andreasjensen8451

17 күн бұрын

But those are otl amps. The ta20 plus is a class a hybrid. So they behave differently. The ta 20 plus wouldn't care if you plugged a 32ohm headphone into it. But the ta66 wouldn't like it. The better option for cheaper xduoo than this is the Mt series. They are also hybrids

Thank you very much for the great review.☺

Good advice, Thanks!

I’d be interested in seeing a cable management tour and how all the gear is actually powered, looks like a lot to contend with and it would be helpful to see how you handle it. Good video.

Hey 👋 I'm tempted to add the WA7 Fireflies 3rd Gen to my rme adi-2 Pro SE, but I read a comment from someone saying they A/B'd it blind and couldn't hear a difference between the balanced rme amp... Do you think it would provide a distinct audio flavor worthy of the perchase? 🤷🏼‍♂️

@NoThemeReviews

24 күн бұрын

It really depends on the tubes. Woo Audio does a good job matching tubes with lower harmonic distortion, so it is possible someone might not really hear an appreciable difference. Then again, it’s not like tube amps change the sound dramatically. In my experience, even a good OTL amp with well-matched tubes only do a few things: add some bass emphasis, decrease clarity by some amount, and marginally affect treble. The “warmth” of a tube amp is simply the harmonic distortion and decrease in clarity. Actually…now that I think about it, I found a cheap DAP many years ago that replicated a tube amp sound. I still have it. I think I will do a quick review since it’s always interested me. The funny thing about that DAP is that it is clearly not operating properly-there’s too much audible hiss through the 3.5mm, the THD is actually in the audible spectrum, and so when I listen to music, those imperfections kind of replicate the “tubeyness” of an OTL. Soooo…yes, I think it’s possible you might enjoy the WA7, but it’s also likely you might not think there’s much difference with it in your chain. Honestly, I don’t see the reason to buy the latest WA7. If you can afford and find the WA7 2nd gen (at a much lower price than the 3rd gen) then I’d suggest going that route. It’ll be cheaper obviously but then you’d also have money left over to do some tube swapping.

@DeadEyeBeaky

23 күн бұрын

​@@NoThemeReviews I ask because here in the UK there is a mint 3rd Gen being sold with 3 sets of tubes for £1,000 on a popular auction site... I'm tempted but as you say it's all down to cost vs performance.

@harackmw

19 күн бұрын

@@DeadEyeBeaky If performance is what you are after I don't think the Wa7 is going to interesting, considering the price. It simply looks great on a desktop, and if I was being honest it is really just another hybrid tube amp adding a hint of warmth and rolled off smother treble than my ADI-2. If I was better at EQ, I might be able to replicate it the sound, hard to say. My HD800s likes it better than my ADI-2 though, though it depends on the genre; some genres of music, I didn't hear much differance, some I did.

@harackmw

19 күн бұрын

@@NoThemeReviews Dude please tell us or do the review of the DAP you were talking of, that sounds so interesting!