It does seem like this is a hybrid... From Woo Audio's description, "The result is the warm sound of vacuum tubes and the superpower of MOSFET amplification..." (Which usually makes for a great sounding combination, IMO).
Yea. I kinda want this thing. Im afraid if its not good enough it will sour me on tubes. The way current works on tubes its " always on" so this might be beast mode. Kinda dope AF Im still mad that quidelix dac dosent come with swappable battery
How does it compare sonically to desktop tube amps like MT-604? Does it sound nearly as good as the Fireflies amp? 20:10 - you did kinda answer that actually
I am watching this video, and all I can think of is to try a dumb setup: source -> ifi micro iUSB3.0 + Farad Super3 Furutech 9V -> Woo Tube Mini this setup will not only provide 2.5A at 5V of linear power but will also clean much of the noise that comes from the PC/Laptop/mobile device
It's like he's chasing the sun with his table. Is this a way to warm up the tube?🤣 JK love your work, a portable tube dac/amp is a nice idea. I might wait for the next version that fixes all the issues you mentioned.
Hey, Zeos! I'm interested in that balanced cable you were using on the Koss kph40. Found your link and added it to my cart, but before i buy, i need to ask you a question. The cable looks very heavy and I'm concerned that the weight could cause the thin vermicelli type cables that are soldered into the kph 40 ear cups to break. I'd like to run the kph 40 in balanced from my 2 portable dac/amps (Fiio Q5s and BTR7). Do you think that the weight of the balanced cable might cause extra excessive stress on the 40's cups and cause them to break the solder joints? If so, do you have any suggestions on how I might be able to prevent this? The skinnyness of those non detachable kph 40 cables is a real concern to me.
Could you use it purely as a tube DAC from a PC into a Fosi V3 amp with a 3.5mm or 4.4mm to RCA cable and then run the Tungsten off of it with a spade to XLR adapter cable & Woo Audio's Premium 4-pin XLR Balanced to 4.4mm Pentaconn Adapter?
I don't see why not. You would just have to find the volume that gives you the correct voltage to act as an XLR or RCA input to the amp you are using. Also 4.4 to RCA won't work since RCA isn't balanced. The grounds will likely have continuity.
@@ZReviews Thanks, I was going to use a Chord Mojo 2 as the DAC and a Cardas iLink 3.5mm to RCA cable to the Fosi V3 but now I think I'll try this little beast instead of the Mojo.
Okay, now I'm wondering what pads those are on the Portas cuz Yaxi pads don't come with holes in them, so did you put holes in Yaxi pads or did you find some other pads?
Literally didn't hear any of the tube ringing through my Arendals. But of course every time I get a tube component I flick the shit out of the tubes to test the microphonics and every time its not that bad. But of course my ears are probably broken. Even in middle school my upper treble hearing was not great.
This is so nerdy. I will wait for V2 for the issues to be worked out.... but this is hilarious. I think it would maybe be a good pairing with my iFi GoBlu for toobing a Bluetooth signal... thoughts on that? Aesthetically they would go nicely together too. Also, I've gone through two kph40s and sadly they aren't built solidly enough to not break when used on my big head. It's sad because I love them... but I'm not buying them more than twice. Sad :(.
The Koss KPH40s are terminated in 3.5mm though right? Doesn't going from a balanced 4.4mm to unbalanced 3.5mm hurt the headphones in some way? Could sworn Abyss said something about this.
Is the woo audio tube mini tube amp compatible with usb otg cables for plugging it into the fiio m11 dap? I use the sennheiser hd 600 while commuting on the bus. I tried my fiio k3 to my fiio m11 dap and the fiio k3 to my fiio m11 did not work even when being connected to the usb c from the fiio k3 to my fiio m11 usb c port. I tried to use the battery from the fiio m11 to power the fiio k3 usb c port but nothing worked. I ended up using velcro from my fiio q3 to my fiio m11 and it works perfectly, I even tried 3m magnets but it was too weak and a box of velcro that I bought from target works. I use velcro to my anker 10,000 mah portable power bank to my sony xperia 1 iv and connect the anker power bank from the usb c port to my sony xperia 1 iv and the anker portable power bank is like the size of a portable samsung ssd. I had to resort to a diy power bank to my phone since only certain phones have external battery cases. I have battery care enabled on my sony phone so my phones battery won't degrade.
Why does this not have a USB C female input like most DAPs ? Woo just had to be different I guess. It is like Schiit with the damn switches on the back of their products. Inconvenience is not a desired feature.
try to run the Tube mini with ifi micro iUSB3 with an upgraded power supply, I know it is dumb but we are already in dumb teritory. Or if you want to really go insane, use a USB split from ifi and the power side plug it in to a hi quality linear 5v power supply and the signal side run it with a USB filter. 🤣🤣🤣 Realistically I would not run tubes out of any USB, unless I can provide power from an external source, not from USB.
Zeos, yo once reviewed a portable (luggable ) tube amp, which could have an additional dedicated power block, I think you compared it to the Little Bear B4-X. Do you remember it and if so, would you be so kind as to let me know what it was called? Thank you. Keep up the good work.
Seems like a reasonable price considering the features and brand. After all it is supposed to be improving the sound on headphones that may cost thousands of dollars.
If only this had female type c port. There is no reason in 2023 to have anything but type c. Especially considering type c can power 240w max so there is literally no reason apart from super backwards compatibility which this device isn't made for anyways. The only place this would work great would be for using in front usb ports of a pc. But then again that noise would be devastating. Wish you tested it on pc front usb ports. But have to tip our hats to jack 🫡. Next Gen would be so good too especially with most of the drawbacks solved. Especially that ringing
