Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies 3rd Gen Review

Designed for serious headphone enthusiasts, the WA7 is not just a piece of gear—it’s a statement piece. Its sleek cube design, glass vacuum tube enclosure, and compact footprint make it an aesthetic marvel. But beneath that minimalistic exterior lies a powerful tube amplifier paired with an ESS Sabre DAC chipset, offering an immersive listening experience that adds warmth and musicality to even the most analytical headphones. Let’s we’ll break down everything you get in the box, the WA7’s build and design, and most importantly, how it sounds with high-end headphones. If you’re hunting for the best tube DAC/Amp combo for audiophile headphone listening in 2025, keep reading.

What You Get

• WA7 Fireflies 3rd gen x 1
• 12AU7 / 5693 vacuum tube x 2
• Glass with anti-slip silicone glass pads x 4
• Standard USB-C [OTG] to B cable x 1
• AC power cord x 1
• Polishing cloth x 1
• Quick start guide

Build

The WA7 has a cool cube design that uses a glass cover that goes over its premium Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tubes. Its bottom half is an anodized aluminum chasis that contains its volume dial and headphone outputs. In my case, the WA7 was a sleek silver, but it also comes in black. I was quite suprised by the size of the WA7 overall. It looks great sitting on any desktop surface, and doesn’t take up too much room. If you’re looking for a DAC/Amp that has a compact size, the WA7 should be on your radar.

Design

Inside of the WA7 is a ESS Sabre DAC chipset powered by XMOS xCORE-AUDIO. It is capable of unfolding resolutions up to 24-bit/384kHz PCM, and up to DSD256. In use, the WA7 is capable of powering tons of headphones. With the selections I used for this review, the volume knob was turned passed 12, and parked comfortably around the 2 o’clock position. That was a bit more than I was expecting but still efficient enough to drive both headphones.

Sound Impressions

Tube amps are designed to add specific characteristics to your headphones, particularly warmth, and possibly depth. With the WA7 being a DAC/Amp combo, it could get more interesting depending on the sound signature of the ESS Sabre DAC chip working in tandem with the tubes to deliver a more unique sound, potentially. I used the HiFiMAN HE1000 Unveiled, Dan Clark Audio E3, and the Final Audio D8000 DC for my testing. Here is what I gathered about the overall sound of the WA7 3rd Gen from these pairings.

Starting out with the HE1000 Unveiled, the WA7 made the sound appear as resolving and expansive as ever, but with a few noticeable changes. The HE1000 Unveiled usually displays this large headspace with tons of empty space in between instruments. The WA7 presented instruments more fully, with more frequency information bleeding into that space to showcase its warmth. Midrange instruments maintain a great depth, while the bass is able to show more wiggle room and rise into the low-mids. This gives sound elements a distinct breath that you can really feel in the mix, especially with jazz, classical, and folk tracks.

Next, I tried out the Dan Clark Audio E3. The first thing I noticed was that more high-end made its way through compared to my last pairing. More of this range of frequencies was pushed forward, adding more airy resonance to the sound signature. It’s a much more consistent tone compared to the lows, which are not as beefy as the last pairing. The bass was much more reserved listening with the E3. There was less of a sub-bass drive and more of a concentration on smoother grooves with note clarity.

The last headphone I paired with the WA7 was the Final Audio D8000 DC, which returned that tube warmth to me. However, the D8000 DC maintained a lot of control with its resonance, which resulted in a very enticing bloom effect that rumbled underneath the sound and formed a body of bass in the middle. Out of the three headphones I tested with the WA7, the D8000 DC gave you the most shape to its warm timbre. Its resonance never appears too foggy, as it maintains a tight sphere of instrumental clarity, artifact retrieval, and texture without sacrificing anything.

Summary

The Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies 3rd Gen delivers exactly what it promises—a visually striking and compact DAC/Amp combo that brings out the emotional depth in your music. Whether it’s the spacious warmth with the HiFiMAN HE1000 Unveiled, the refined clarity of the Dan Clark Audio E3, or the bass bloom and texture of the Final Audio D8000 DC, the WA7 shapes its sound with personality and polish.

Its combination of vacuum tube warmth, ESS Sabre DAC clarity, and robust headphone-driving power makes it an excellent choice for audiophiles who crave both analog character and digital precision. While it may require a bit more volume headroom for certain pairings, its overall performance punches well above its compact form factor. If you’re in the market for a high-end tube DAC/Amp that looks as good as it sounds, the WA7 3rd Gen deserves a top spot on your shortlist.

The Woo Audio WA7 3rd Gen is available at Audio46.