[lastethica]

 
Yes, I'd say with either my Grado SR-80e, SR-325e, or Phillips SHS4700, it sounds better with the PHA-1A than with the A17 alone.  on the Sony MDR-1a or the Bose QC-25, I'd be hard pressed to find a difference.  But the Grado are my favorite phones when open back are appropriate, and I use the Phillips to wear as a fall asleep.  I just leave the PHA-1a plugged in on the nightstand as I fall asleep and the amp and player both stay charged even if I fall asleep with the amp still on.

 
 

 
Yes. IMO, way better.

 
just received my pha-1a, tried to test with my laptop which only use realtek alc serie 2, but i couldnt found the differences? i felt so hopeless,
but when i tested it with my ip6p i could hear clearly the differences, i even have 2 of my friends tested it afraid of my expectation clouding my ears becs the laptop trial but no, they also hear the differences. its clear pha-1a is way better than ip6p dac.
will try it with nwz tomorrow. 
thank you for the advises.

 

[freitz]

I was wondering if anyone is using this for travel with a small macbook / laptop and iphone 6? I am considering picking this up before my trip to use with my Audeze EL-8's and my Shure SE 535's.

 

[Krutsch]

  I was wondering if anyone is using this for travel with a small macbook / laptop and iphone 6? I am considering picking this up before my trip to use with my Audeze EL-8's and my Shure SE 535's.

I use my PHA-1A exactly for that, with both my MacBook and a Sony Walkman NWZ-A17. It pairs really well with my Shure SE535 IEMs, which really benefit from the extra power.
 
For me, for mobile use, it's endgame.

 

[freitz]

 
I use my PHA-1A exactly for that, with both my MacBook and a Sony Walkman NWZ-A17. It pairs really well with my Shure SE535 IEMs, which really benefit from the extra power.
 
For me, for mobile use, it's endgame.

I ended up going with the Chord Mojo since I could get it in 1 day and needed before travel. I will have to check this one out at some point.

 

[Xtraforcz]

Hello everyone I just bought Sony PHA-1A yesterday but I noticed the usb port is unaligned and is too tight to insert a usb cable (Need quite amount of force), the headphone jack also unaligned too. Should I take it back for a replacement? Head fi doesnt give me permission to insert image so i could not help expressing my situation using images.

 

[Jackson 6]

Just got mine, and it's fine, so I recommend you should get a replacement. Using it with the A17 and the MDR 1a replacement phones leads me to conclude that I would have to go quite high up in the AK range to get anything significantly better. Undisputed world masters at 320 kbps purveyance,bar none, and it looses nothing to the AK jnr on high rez.

 

[Jackson 6]

Does anyone know where I can get a replacement micro b cable replacement for the Walkman? It's a two pronged design going into the dac.

 

[Krutsch]

  Does anyone know where I can get a replacement micro b cable replacement for the Walkman? It's a two pronged design going into the dac.

I believe Sony has outsourced all parts management with https://www.encompassparts.com.
 
See if you can order something from them; let us know if this works, because I've wondered the same.

 

[Jackson 6]

No Joy.

 

[Krutsch]

  No Joy.

Did you even try?
 
https://www.encompassparts.com/item/10556368/Sony/1-848-855-12/Cable,_Usb_Micro_B-wm_(Us,canada)​

 

[Jackson 6]

Thanks for that, I don't live in the us/canada, doesn't seem to be available, don't know or trust the website, Sony aren't answering the phone, looks like I've got a useless hunk of expensive alu, with only a limited time to send back. Brilliant. All bells and whistles on their website, no spare cables available on trusted sites. And the only sony shop in my area hasn't a clue what it is. I feel like having a very long and pronounced bout of swearing.

 

[moemoney]

Thanks for that, I don't live in the us/canada, doesn't seem to be available, don't know or trust the website, Sony aren't answering the phone, looks like I've got a useless hunk of expensive alu, with only a limited time to send back. Brilliant. All bells and whistles on their website, no spare cables available on trusted sites. And the only sony shop in my area hasn't a clue what it is. I feel like having a very long and pronounced bout of swearing.

 

[moemoney]

I'm not 100% sure but I think any USB Mimi will work, the 2nd part of that connector I think is for the A17 so it can be charged, while connected

 

[Krutsch]

  Thanks for that, I don't live in the us/canada, doesn't seem to be available, don't know or trust the website, Sony aren't answering the phone, looks like I've got a useless hunk of expensive alu, with only a limited time to send back. Brilliant. All bells and whistles on their website, no spare cables available on trusted sites. And the only sony shop in my area hasn't a clue what it is. I feel like having a very long and pronounced bout of swearing.

You should call encompass and ask them how to obtain parts in your region. Trust me, Sony has world-wide logistics like few other companies. You just need to find the right contact point.

 

[Jackson 6]

I'm not 100% sure but I think any USB Mimi will work, the 2nd part of that connector I think is for the A17 so it can be charged, while connected

No, it's a unique design, and seemingly totally unavailable in my pigmy 20 million rate country. I'll give compass a call.