[ishmaelk]

Hi, everyone.
I don't know if I'll be capable of replacing the battery like @Sam L did. I have also a XD05 (first one, not the SE) and the channel imbalance at lower volume is crazy for IEM.
Can anyone recommend me a replacement under 300€? How is the ifi hip dac compared to the HE-2? It doesn't have the looks, that's for sure, but what about performance?
Cheers, everyone.

 

[Charlie Norwood]

Hi, everyone.
I don't know if I'll be capable of replacing the battery like @Sam L did. I have also a XD05 (first one, not the SE) and the channel imbalance at lower volume is crazy for IEM.
Can anyone recommend me a replacement under 300€? How is the ifi hip dac compared to the HE-2? It doesn't have the looks, that's for sure, but what about performance?
Cheers, everyone.

The hip-dac looks great... and sounds great... If I was at home I could try and compare them directly but don't have the HA-2 with me for the rest of the week.

The hip-dac is sonically superior to the xd-05 basic (which is what I have) but the xd-05 has more i/o options. The hip-dac is quite limited in that it only has usb-input. I upgraded the op amp in the xd-05 and it's much better, but I still prefer the hip-dac for music. For movies and video games, I think the xd-05 is better suited to handle.

iFi is known for some channel imbalance in their products at very low volume levels, but I don't get any on the hip-dac, so either the volume necessary to show imbalance is too low to be really audible (like it is on the idsd micro black label) or there is no channel imbalance, either way it's fine.

The hip-dac does have a somewhat higher output impedance, which can lead to hiss on higher sensitive iem's - anything 16ohm or under has a chance to pick up noise, not a guarantee as some 16 ohm IEM's have a decently high sensitivity rating, but so far that's where I've noticed it. I've also cleaned noise a little bit with an isilencer+ from ifi as well.

In general, the portable dac/amp category has suffered as of late as companies have been focusing more on android-based DAPs.

I love the hip-dac (listening to it as I write this) and I would suggest trying the hip-dac, but only if you can return it. You also need to use the balanced output to get the best from the hip-dac, so if you are planning only running it in SE, I would probably look at the EarMen TR-Amp instead - it's more than the hip-dac but still in your budget.

 

[ishmaelk]

The hip-dac looks great... and sounds great... If I was at home I could try and compare them directly but don't have the HA-2 with me for the rest of the week.

The hip-dac is sonically superior to the xd-05 basic (which is what I have) but the xd-05 has more i/o options. The hip-dac is quite limited in that it only has usb-input. I upgraded the op amp in the xd-05 and it's much better, but I still prefer the hip-dac for music. For movies and video games, I think the xd-05 is better suited to handle.

iFi is known for some channel imbalance in their products at very low volume levels, but I don't get any on the hip-dac, so either the volume necessary to show imbalance is too low to be really audible (like it is on the idsd micro black label) or there is no channel imbalance, either way it's fine.

The hip-dac does have a somewhat higher output impedance, which can lead to hiss on higher sensitive iem's - anything 16ohm or under has a chance to pick up noise, not a guarantee as some 16 ohm IEM's have a decently high sensitivity rating, but so far that's where I've noticed it. I've also cleaned noise a little bit with an isilencer+ from ifi as well.

In general, the portable dac/amp category has suffered as of late as companies have been focusing more on android-based DAPs.

I love the hip-dac (listening to it as I write this) and I would suggest trying the hip-dac, but only if you can return it. You also need to use the balanced output to get the best from the hip-dac, so if you are planning only running it in SE, I would probably look at the EarMen TR-Amp instead - it's more than the hip-dac but still in your budget.

My experience with balanced ifi amps is that the SE output is lacking. They're way better balanced, but most of my headphones have only SE cables.
I'll definitely check that EarMen TR-Amp. It looks just like what I'm looking for.

 

[gerelmx1986]

I grabbed one again as now i have the digital out cable for walkman.

picked it from @denis1976 for only 100€

 

[gerelmx1986]

Charging the oppo Ha-2 is done via micro-B or via A port?
And to let Ha-2 act as a battwry pack?

 

[MikeyFresh]

Charging the oppo Ha-2 is done via micro-B or via A port?
And to let Ha-2 act as a battwry pack?

http://www.oppodigital.co.uk/User-manual-HA-2.html

 

[gerelmx1986]

Arrived

 

[gerelmx1986]

I am really liking it. As DAC versus my wm1A inboard dac there is not so much sonic difference. But yea more power

as amp it retqins the sound of wm1A SE uncolored while adding power (mode C)

 

[gerelmx1986]

Oppo HA-2 Revisited (Re-Reviewed)

I got my Second Oppo HA-2 for 100 euro from a fellow head-fier.

Yeah another Down the memory lane review.

I am not an Audiophile of Graphs and mesurements, more of the one who seeks perfect sound quality. Yes I've reviewed the HA-2 here on HF years ago but now that i have other gears and more Hi-res content i decided to reconsider it again.

Unboxing /Accessories

The HA-2 comes in a Black carton Box with the brand OPPO englossed with silver font. Inside this simple box are two plastic trays, one holds the Amp itself, the other holds th Paper, accesories and a charges with Oppo propietary VOCC Rapid charge.

Among the accesories included:
* Two harnessing rubber bands
* An USB-micro B to Micro-B for android devices
* An Lightning to USB-A for Apple devices
* A USB-A to micro-B for charging and data transfer
* 3.5mm to 3.5mm interconnect
* Charger

User interface/Usability

Technically speaking here we don't have a UI, but the device is easy to use.

On the back we have a selector with 3 positions: A, B and C. An USB-A Female for input mode A (for apple) and charging your devices (Powerbank mode) and a USB-Micro B for android MAC and PC.

On the front we have the Volume pot which clicks to turn the device On and Off, a 3.5mm Line In (Mode C)/Line out (Modes A, B) and a 3.5mm Headphone jack.

On the side we have 5 LEDs, a Button to see charge capacity and toggle Powerbank feature on/Off. Pressing this button for 20s reboots the device. A bass bosst switch to turn on/off bass-bosst and a Gain selector to select L or H gain.

Of the 5 LEDs, four serve as battery status indicator, the topmost one which is blue color, tells you wether the HA-2 is charging your device in powerbank mode. The bottom most is bi-color LED (Green and red) to denote low battery.

Sound Analysis

Test equipment & Music

Music is classical music as usual with me ranging from FLAC 16/44.1 to FLAC 24/352.8 and DSD up to DSD256

Devices include:
* NW-WM1A Walkman DAP by sony with same music specs as the Oppo (up to DSD256 /PCM 32/384)
* NW-A25 Walkman DAP from sony (PCM only up to 192/24 and DSD64 as DoP)
* WMC-NWH10 Sony digital ouput cable for walkman
* HEADPHONES / IEM
*MDR-Z1R Sony flagship 70mm driver HP
*IER-M7 Sony Monitoring quad-BA/Side IEM
*IER-Z1R Sony flagship hybrid IEM (12mm DD for bass, BA for mids, 5mm DD for high)

Oppo HA-2 As DAC + AMP (Mode B)

The bass is a present bass, a bass that is always there. This signature didn't go well with both IEM, specially the IER-Z1R which accentuated the bassy signature of the HA-2. With the full size MDR-Z1R, the bass was more manageable and more neutral but was still always there on some tracks.

On well mastered tracks the bass was too polite and didn't reach as deep as the WM1A, which also has more rumble on this regard noticeable on Organ music in DSD tracks. This was also noted on the IER-M7 which it has hard slamming bass for a BA IEM.

Using bass+ (Bass boost) only worsened the bassiness of the HA-2 so I ended leaving this off. Enabling high gain, at times with M7 and IER-Z1R made the bass more noticrable and more prominent, hence i did not use bass+ on H Gain.

Mids: The mids seem more foward (A25) or quasi similar (WM1A): Some times the mids apparead as shouty on both Z1R but not so with the IER-M7, overall presentation was quite similar to both walkmans, only that the walkmans don't display shoutiness on the mid-range and perhaps a bit recessed on the A25

Highs: The highs on the HA-2, while not rolled-off to extremes, they're not the most resolving or extended highs. The crispiness of string pluckings on Guitars, harps and harpsichord as well the bare-hammer hitting the strings of certain fortepianos is gone on the HA-2 compared how the WM1A nad A25 deliver these crsipy responses. Another wow factor for the WM1A specially is how it fleshes out the nuances of the music giving the instruments a more life like appareance, this for example Bach's six partitas and sonatas for solo violin (Grumiaux) or a stradivarius cello on a 3-CD set of boccherini cello concertos (Julius Berger). The stradivari have a special thing to them that ypu can say oh it is a stradivarius. On the HA-2 they sounded bland and meh, just like normal Violins.

Sound-stage and separation

On well mastered recordings and recordings with excellent stagung qualities the oppo has no problem displaying it, but most instances all music sounded like recorded in a studio or cramped up/compressed up, specially when engaging H Gain. Thing that does not happen on the WM1A which is capablle of displaying soundstage for even small churches.

Oppo HA-2 as amp only (Mode C)

A mixture of HA-2 coloration and walkman coloration. adding more bassy signature while retaining the spacious sound of walkman.

TL;DR
A swiss-army knife DAC/AMP from the now defunct Oppo digital, with many Input optuons including analogue IN, Powerbank to recharge your phone/DAP (only via USB-A port). Audio processing features up to DSD256 PCM 384/32, bass boost and High gain.

Featuring an ESS Sabre ES9018K2M it has a nice sound quality with a strong bass presence and slightly rolled highs impairing detail retrieval and staging

PROS
Almost all popular music formats supported 32-bit/384kHz & DSD256
Handy Powerbank feature
Enough headroom to drive demanding HP/IEM
Digital as well analogue Input options
Compact and stylish design
Hardware bass boost

CONS
Short battery life (7H as DAC + AMP)/(13H as AMP only)
Bassy signature (may be a pro for some)
Cranped soundstage, unless recording has it very obvious

 

[Rufus07760]

If in need of 2 ha2-se's pm me.

 

[BLacklWf]

I also have one in a pristine condition with all the boxes, etc.

 

[brendon42]

I don't know if this has been mentioned on here, but I found a solution for a usb-c cable that won't cause my phone to charge the oppo ha2. This cable from ebay works but I wanted something longer. Since it says "OTG on both ends" I thought to get the iFi OTG adapters for both ends (one micro usb and one usb-c) and it works perfectly. I bought a small usb cable from monoprice to connect them. No charging!

 

[Aryaal]

Is it still worth it to get a Ha-2 in 2021 (or 2022 I suppose)? I thought about getting a used one on ebay because I always wanted one years ago before I had the money to get one, but now that I have the Monolith THX portable, I'm curious to see what people still think about the Ha-2 compared to the newer competition. Still worth trying? Save my money?

 

[vlach]

Is it still worth it to get a Ha-2 in 2021 (or 2022 I suppose)? I thought about getting a used one on ebay because I always wanted one years ago before I had the money to get one, but now that I have the Monolith THX portable, I'm curious to see what people still think about the Ha-2 compared to the newer competition. Still worth trying? Save my money?

The Mojo has better sound quality. I have both.

 

[Aryaal]

The Mojo has better sound quality. I have both.

But I don't really want a Mojo, and it's in a completely different price range anyway, so not exactly on my radar.