[tortie]

Im thinking of getting an RA1 to compliment my arriving RS1, but Im concerned about its humming problems that that current/previous RA1 owners in this board are complaining about. Especially in sensitive cans like the RS1.

Others say its dead silent. What is your personal experience with the RA1? Does it hum or not? Please give your input

PS. Im taking about the originals NOT the clones.

 

[OneMalt]

Put me down for dead silent.

 

[lextek]

I had the battery version paired with the RS-2s. Dead silent. Sounded very, nice together.

 

[tortie]

Thanks for the reply's guys.

I've PMed some of the other members here who have RA1s and some of them say that the RA1 that they have hums at low volume. Then there are some posts like these and another one in which RA1 owners complain about hissing/humming on their amp.

Pair that with excellent reviews like this one in 6moons:
"RA-1 was one of heightened "suchness" due to the eerie quiet of its DC battery supply....RA's silence was inaudible, a vacuum or black hole. Under signal, this utter absence of background mist deepened contrast..."

MSNBC
"...the Grado (RA1) is clean-sounding and quite accurate. It’s one of my favorite sounding amps in any price range. All of Grado’s own headphones sound great through this little device, and so do Sennheiser 600s..."

What is also interesting to note based in my searches of reviews here and in the web is that people's views about the RA1 are usually at both ends of the spectrum. Some totally love it, while the remaining segment thinks its a piece of cr*p.

 

[MegaMeee]

dead silent clone

 

[Sugano-san]

Quote:

Originally posted by tortie What is your personal experience with the RA1? Does it hum or not?

It does not hum, but -- like any other amplification device on this planet -- it has a tiny bit of noise (hiss) in the background, but the volume of that hiss is very, very low. As a matter of fact, it would be surprising if there were nothing at all (nothing audible and also nothing measurable).

Any amplifier -- battery-driven or not -- generates a little noise; a complete elimination of any noise would most likely be technically impossible to realize, especially in light of the allegedly cheap components used in the RA-1. What you *can* do, however, is take effective measures to minimize noise, and I think the RA-1 is a case in point.

I use the battery-driven RA-1, and I can assure you that you need in-ear phones such as Etys and a very good hearing to even become aware of that low-volume background noise. But the distance between signal and noise is so huge that you can safely forget about the noise. It does not interfere with the music at all and you do not hear it in the pauses betwen pieces. The noise level from the recording and from the source itself (any format) is considerably higher than what I described above.

I hope the above is helpful, but I could not vote in the poll because you neglected to include "ultra low level hiss" as an option.

 

[arj]

mine, no problem. Dead silent.

 

[Sugano-san]

Quote:

Originally posted by arj Dead silent.

Yes, as I said, you need a very good hearing to become aware of it in the first place.

 

[tortie]

Quote:

It does not hum, but -- like any other amplification device on this planet -- it has a tiny bit of noise (hiss) in the background, but the volume of that hiss is very, very low. As a matter of fact, it would be surprising if there were nothing at all (nothing audible and also nothing measurable).

That is my dilema. I myself have never heard of the RA1. But I think there is a huge difference between a tiny bit of noise compared to eeirie quiet., low-volume background noise will not be the same description as dead silent. Maybe, just maybe there is a production batch that is not up to specs.

 

[Sugano-san]

Quote:

Originally posted by tortie a tiny bit of noise compared to eeirie quiet., low-volume background noise will not be the same description as dead silent.

I have two replies for you:

1.) There is no such thing as a "dead silent" amplification on this planet, not even in the $10,000+ range, let alone a $350 battery amp with (allegedly) cheap parts. I mean, what do you expect? A miracle? A perpetuum mobile?

If you think this is even a theoretical possibility, think again. Those who wrote that their amps are "dead silent" have simply not noticed the noise, precisely because its level is so low. What you have to do is stop searching for a noiseless amp and instead adjust your expectations to reality.

I recently had the manufacturer of a well-reputed (and much more expensive) headphone amp on the line, because I thought something was wrong with mine, as it had a tiny bit of background hum. He told me that that's completely normal and that only one customer out of 500 is able to even notice it. Just like the hiss of the RA-1, that hum does not interfere at all with the music, so I decided to forget about it and simply enjoy the enchanting sound that this unit produces.

As Jim Hagerman says so correctly: "The most important consideration is sound. Is the noise audible or intrusive under listening conditions?"

2.) Why haven' you tried the RA-1 for yourself? Go out and listen to one. Or order one with a 30-day money back deal. I would bet you won't be able to detect the noise anyway. Do you like the sound of the RA-1? You'll never know unless you try it out. Is the noise audible or intrusive under listening conditions? In my view it's not, and I am a happy owner of a RA-1.

You "think" there's a huge difference?!? Unless you stop toying with unrealistic concepts such as that of a "dead silent" amp and start experiencing the RA-1 (or any other amp, for that matter), you will probably never understand why "information is not knowledge".


I trust the above is helpful.

 

[tortie]

Quote:

What you have to do is stop searching for a noiseless amp and instead adjust your expectations to reality...There is no such thing as a "dead silent" amplification on this planet, not even in the $10,000+ range, let alone a $350 battery amp with (allegedly) cheap parts. I mean, what do you expect? A miracle? A perpetuum mobile?

Actually im not looking for a perfect noiseless amp, I just dont want to end up with an amp that hums or hisses.
Quote:

You "think" there's a huge difference?!? Unless you stop toying with unrealistic concepts such as that of a "dead silent" amp and start experiencing the RA-1 (or any other amp, for that matter), you will probably never understand why "information is not knowledge".

My point was that if there was a slight noise, even minimal noise, a lot people would not describe it as "dead silent".

But as you pointed out:
Quote:

He told me that that's completely normal and that only one customer out of 500 is able to even notice it.

So it may just be that they cant notice the hum or hiss. I just hope Im one of them

Quote:

Go out and listen to one. Or order one with a 30-day money back deal. I would bet you won't be able to detect the noise anyway. Do you like the sound of the RA-1? You'll never know unless you try it out.

Yup, I agree that generally that would be the best possible way to choose an amp, or go and listen to amps at a meet. But I dont live in the US. With the time and money wasted with shipping amps back and forth from my country, I dont think it would be the best way for me.

That's why I try to do research and ask people who have tried those amps so at least I could make a sound decision with buying my amps. It would be a blind decision, I agree, but with my situation, what choice do I have?
Quote:

I trust the above is helpful.

Yes it is. Thank you for your input

 

[Sugano-san]

Quote:

Originally posted by tortie Actually im not looking for a perfect noiseless amp, I just dont want to end up with an amp that hums or hisses.

You may want to have a serious look at the Ray Samuels XP-7. From what I gather Ray is very concerned about noise reduction.

www.toddthevinyljunkie.com

 

[tortie]

Will do. Thanks again.

Now back to our regular program...

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Originally posted by tortie What is also interesting to note based in my searches of reviews here and in the web is that people's views about the RA1 are usually at both ends of the spectrum. Some totally love it, while the remaining segment thinks its a piece of cr*p.

If it cost $1200 and sounded the same, they would not think it was a piece of crap

 

[tortie]

Yep. I've been reading past threads here and it seems the RA1's popularity really took a dive once it was uncovered that it was made up of cheap components.

But personally, I dont care about the inside components as long as its quality of sound is good.

JMT's sig says it all "If it sounds good, it is good...."