[Nostoi]

Is so strange... No balanced output from the DAC and an Amp fully balanced...

I just heard from Audio-Technica HK about why the DAC is RCA only and they replied simply: " Hi, thanks for your suggestion and support. We’ll consider your suggestion for our next phase."

Useless.

I also asked about purchasing on-line, they replied: "Hi, we don’t sell online. Please contact our distributor at: http://www.yeefook.com.hk/about-en.php"

Also fairly useless.

I guess units will populate the internet once it's been out there for a while. As ever, Audio-Technica's marketing philosophy is lamentably incompetent.

 

[GU1DO]

am not interested in the DAC but the amp look promising

 

[Nostoi]

am not interested in the DAC but the amp look promising

More interested in the amp myself, if only it was readily available.

 

[GU1DO]

More interested in the amp myself, if only it was readily available.

yeah for that price it is very tempting

 

[realmccoy]

I saw the amp on the dma website that led me to this thread. I am also interested at the amp only, but I might wait till someone post some reviews before deciding

 

[Terriero]

I just heard from Audio-Technica HK about why the DAC is RCA only and they replied simply: " Hi, thanks for your suggestion and support. We’ll consider your suggestion for our next phase."

Useless.

I also asked about purchasing on-line, they replied: "Hi, we don’t sell online. Please contact our distributor at: http://www.yeefook.com.hk/about-en.php"

Also fairly useless.

I guess units will populate the internet once it's been out there for a while. As ever, Audio-Technica's marketing philosophy is lamentably incompetent.

It's horrible when you write a lot to ask something about a product or products that you want to buy and the company or on-line shop answer you with a "copy-paste" or with vagueness.

About the AMP, like I said, the only thing that I don't like is that it has the gain selector in the back.

 

[GU1DO]

is the tube inside rollable ? what tubes they used , i couldn't find any info in the manual ?
https://www.audio-technica.com.hk/templates/index/file/AT-BHA100_UM_EN.pdf

 

[Nostoi]

is the tube inside rollable ? what tubes they used , i couldn't find any info in the manual ?
https://www.audio-technica.com.hk/templates/index/file/AT-BHA100_UM_EN.pdf

All four tubes are ECC83S, so I guess it's possible though hard to know given how little info there is.

 

[Nostoi]

I'm told both of these are now available at Jaben. That's as good as it gets for international distribution. Even though it seems the amp is on the warmer side, and not really my cup of tea, I may just order one to satisfy my curiosity.

 

[Nostoi]

Now available from both Jaben and Zep. Just ordered one and will be happy to share impressions when it comes.

 

[Nostoi]

There is a very detailed review of both these units here. It's in Japanese but can be translated. I've not read it in depth yet, but I like this guy's blog and finds his reviews generally accurate.

 

[dadracer2]

There is a very detailed review of both these units here. It's in Japanese but can be translated. I've not read it in depth yet, but I like this guy's blog and finds his reviews generally accurate.

Wow that is detailed! Very balanced review.

 

[Nostoi]

Wow that is detailed! Very balanced review.

It is and this guy really knows his Audio-Technica. Hoping to receive mine soon, though Jaben told me there was a delay from Audio-Technica..

 

[llysender]

I've been playing with a few different dacs with the showroom BHA100 and I have to say that the amp takes on whichevers dac colouration very well. The BHA100 itself colours slightly bright with quite abit of added air and still remains very thight unlike the feliks echo which gives a smooth upper end which I find to be not as pleasing personally.

Of my modest collection of entry level stuff I found the Fiio K5 pro to pair the best with BHA100. Honestly as long as the sound is on the warm side and of the thickness you like it should work. I found that besides the tasteful treble boost the amp is mostly transparent and its main function is to bring the dynamics of your headphone up and to clean up any micro grain. As a side result vocals have this interesting fade effect(I think upper mid/treble decay might be slightly stretched as well have to listen more).

If you dont mind a +2.5dB bass shelf eq to 200hz I found the SMSL M500 to be very nice as well. Personally I favour this pairing as vocals are sufficiently thin so they don't get in the way instruments while still being forward.

Personally I dont really like the DAC100, its feels like saber but without enough bass body and quite a intense upper mid that doesnt pair with the BHA100. Quite hard to justify unless you like AT upper mid colouring taken to the extreme.

Headphone pairing wise I would say it really depands on what DAC you pair with it but I personally found that Bass neutural headphones(AWKT,SRH1840,ADX5000 demo) pair best to get the most of the increased dynamics. Bass biased headphones(AWAS demo,WP900 demo,R70X,MSR7) while you still get a nice sound you dont get as strong a slam as the bass neutral headphones.

I'm personally getting the BHA100 tomorow, will see if it was just bad dac pairing when I tried a couple of months back or it needs burn in. I feel that despite being a hybrid it can potentially replace my iha-6 as it has no issues pushing the R70X on XLR.

 

[llysender]

Just a quick update, the amp needs at lest 32hrs break in to stabilize to a usable sound. Right off the when opening the sound was quite bloobly with an intense upper mid/vocal presence. Even now even though the amp has opened up alot it still has abit too much upper mids intensity at lest compared to the demo unit at the AT tree house. Its mostly ok but badly recorded electric guitars can get grating.

Just curous do all tube amps go though this break in phase as I dont think I've ever experenced it with solid state amps.