I and others have posted about this channel imbalance problem at cold temperatures. For me, Oppo had to replace the main board and potentiometer and it worked fine after that. I suspect there was a common defect in early units that they later addressed. Since you need parts, you probably need...

Here’s a very interesting article on balanced headphone amplification by one of the most respected manufacturers in the industry: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better

Regarding the Yggy 24 bits, JA is saying that it truncates the last 4 bits rather than dithering, resulting in higher distortion than traditional designs: When you have 24-bit data but 20-bit DACs, you need to dither those data to match the DAC. Otherwise, simply chopping off the 4 LSBs, called...

JA's measurements are the only reason to read Stereophile. Absolute Sound doesn't perform measurements, so there's no useful info there. The subjective reviews in both mags are completely useless, unless you want to learn some purple prose to write a love letter to your honey bun.

The Yggy sure don't smoke the HA-1 in terms of measurements https://www.stereophile.com/content/schiit-audio-yggdrasil-da-processor-measurements

After talking with Oppo tech support, I learned that the Sonica DAC and HA-1 have the same low output impedance on the pre-outs, 100/200 ohms on RCA/XLR. That, along with the published output voltage, which is only slightly lower on the Sonica than the HA-1, means they should have similar preamp...

Just got my Sonica DAC today. I'm using it as a preamp for my power amp. Was anyone else thrown off by the volume slider display? Most volume controls get loud really fast, so I'm used to setting my volume around 9 or 10 o'clock on the dial (e.g., on the HA-1). So when I first hooked up and...

Anyone have an HA-1, HA-2SE, and HD600/650/6xx? If so, how much of a difference in sound quality can you hear between the 2 amps at moderate volume (like 9:30 on the HA-1 volume knob) with the Senn? To put this in perspective, I just spent an hour switching between my iPhone 7 and HA-1 playing...

Anyone using the Tidal app for Windows 10 PC through the HA-1 via USB having problems with weird distortion that goes away when you restart the Tidal app? This doesn't happen with any other source, just Tidal. Very annoying.

I've been having problems with that using the Tidal software for Windows 10 PC. If I use the Oppo Asio driver in exclusive mode, it works fine for a few songs but then starts getting distorted. It plays fine if I choose the default driver, but then it's getting downsampled. I'm wondering if I'm...

No, I didn't have any headphones plugged in today. I was using the HA-1 pre-outs (RCA and XLR) to drive an amp for speakers and a powered sub. Source was a PC connected via USB.

My HA-1 has powered off by itself twice today during playback. I press the power button to turn it back on and it resumes as normal. Has anyone else experienced this or have a clue what the problem is?

It's not like Oppo's abandoning the headphone market. They still have their headphones and mobile DAC/amp, which they just updated. Their mobile amp is more appropriate for their headphones, which are more mobile oriented and are easy to drive, so the HA-1 is really a product ideal for other...

The pre The pre-out is op amp, not class A discreet.

  I didn't realize you wanted to output DSD. I don't know anything about that, just that it's usually a big hassle. I wonder if you might be better off just using the analog output from the disc player to the HA-1 for DSD and USB for everything else. But this is an area I know nothing about.

I'm curious why you want to do this instead of using USB, optical, or coaxial.

Received mine yesterday, serial number 586. Spent about 3 hrs listening so far and comparing it to my HD600, both amped and plugged straight into my iPhone. Very happy. It sounds very very similar to the HD600, but I've decided that I generally like pop music better through the HD6XX because it...

I may have found one https://www.audeze.com/products/accessories/4-pin-dual-3-pin-adaptor-cable

No, the outputs in back are separate from the headphone outputs in front. The former are driven by op amps and the latter by expensive class A components.

A guy in one of the modding forums rewired his HA-1 so his class A balanced output was connected to the dual XLRs in back instead of the front balanced headphone out. He really loved the results. I tried connecting the 1/4" out to my power amp for my speakers but it was way too quiet. I'm sure...

The best way to discourage greedy resellers (not people who changed their mind) is to refuse to buy from anyone who tries to sell these for a markup, and just wait for the next drop or buy from sellers selling at the list price or less.

I would assume that low gain would be used either way with the PM1. Just see where you have the volume set at your normal listening volume. If you have to turn the volume way past the halfway point, then increase the gain. But other people who actually own that combination could chime in on what...

That sales person was mistaken, the HA1 uses an "analog potentiometer" as that same website states. The comparison to digital convenience relates to usability, not sound. And digital volume control has nothing to do with distortion at high volume. Volume controls usually become a factor at very...

Why wouldn't the PM1 work well with the Explorer2 also? I've only heard the PM3, but I've read lots of users saying it doesn't even need an amp. These Oppo headphones are designed to be easy to drive and work well in a lot of different situations, in contrast with other planar magnetics that may...

Sounds like you're really intrigued by MQA. In that case, I would just get the Explorer2 and PM1 and be done with it. There's no point in getting the HA1 too, since whatever subtle benefits you get from MQA would probably be negated by adding all those extra unnecessary analog stages. The PM1...