Oppo HA-1. Some more impressions and theories of relativity.
Over the last few days I've been fortunate enough to be able to extensively listen to the new HA-1, given a break in my work schedule, and I've been trying to formulate my thoughts for you guys in a way that conveys what I'm hearing (may not be standard head fi descriptions but I'll do my best).
These are just my impressions and your mileage may vary.
Warning! Excessive enthusiasm ahead............
Build Quality
- First off I think the build quality is superb. The unit has some heft to it and the chassis and faceplate are top notch. On the front the power button and selector knob have a nice solid click when pressed, and when rotated the selector knob is tight with indents that don't offer too much resistance. The volume knob is liquid smooth and physically turns itself down when switching to high gain. There are no issues with the headphone jacks, SE and balanced. The iDevice USB jack was very tight, but not so much that I couldn't use it and I prefer it this way over a loose connection. On the back all of the input/output terminals are rock solid. I love the display and see no dead pixels and it's tack sharp. QC seems very high. The remote reminds me of the aluminum remote included with Apple products. All menu operations took no time to master. Very well thought out interface.
So how does it sound?
DAC
- Starting with the Sabre ESS 9018 DAC it sounds clear and very articulate. This is a great implementation of a world class DAC, and Oppo obviously has experience with getting the best out of it. I've listened through both coaxial and USB digital inputs and both of them sound fantastic. The DAC retrieves a level of detail in the recordings that I didn't know was possible. Listening to the REDBOOK CD ALAC rip of the 'Grizzly Man' soundtrack (highly recommended), through the LCD-XC, I can hear Richard Thompson shifting in his chair as he's playing his guitar in the first track 'Tim & the Bears'. I could hear him taking some subtle breaths before, but to hear him moving around slightly was something else. Every pluck of his guitar was as if I was in the session with him. The reverberation of the strings, the weight of the lower octaves, the clarity of the upper range. I really did hear every last detail.
With Norah Jones, Feels Like Home (192kHz/24bit ALAC, HD TRACKS), 'What Am I To You?' the lead electric guitar feels so real. Again, the reverberations, the growl, the texture, simply amazing. The bass guitar sounds fantastic, natural, hits low but doesn't overwhelm. Drums have great impact. 'Don't Miss You At All' from the same album puts me in a quiet bar with Norah singing right in front of me and the piano sounds simply....... real.
With Pink Floyd The Wall the HA-1 reveals so many instrumental subtleties. I swear I can hear each acoustical guitar separately in the track 'Mother' with great imaging, and the glass breaking in 'One Of My Turns' and the background tv, and
all of it in this album is so clear and easy to pick out.
Binaural tracks are stunning on the HA-1, but the real magic happens with DSD. To be honest I've never listened to DSD before so I went straight to the Oppo website and downloaded the sample DSD files they have.
. Why haven't I been on this wagon before? Truly stunning.
One thing I don't see myself using much is the bluetooth or iDevice functionality. Bluetooth works great and has good range but I find the sound quality to be a little flat. I don't blame the HA-1 as I find all Bluetooth audio to sound this way. The iDevice USB input gave me a similar feeling as the Bluetooth, but that's more than likely because of the lossy files I have on the iPhone (need the space for pics and apps). The HA-1 DAC definitely improved the SQ over the iPhone DAC, but not my cup of tea.
Amplifier
- The amp section is also a thing to behold. The amp is quiet and I mean dead silent. Turning the volume to max (no music playing) I hear nothing, an empty vacuum of space like silence. The soundstage is perfect. It's just perfect. Not overly 'airy' or congested. It literally gets out of the way of the DAC and presents the music exactly how you would expect. I'm finding that I'm listening at a lower volume than usual because I don't feel the need to pump up the dynamics in the song. I'm talking about all music. Classical, Jazz, Rock, Folk, Classic Rock. I just sit back and let the amp sing in my ears. Complex music is handled with ease. The treble is so amazingly clear and there is no hint of being 'hot', 'bright', or 'sibilant'. Mids are presented naturally and perfect.
And then there's the bass. One word: realistic. I used to listen to my X5/e12 combo with the bass boost
on because I felt the LCD-XC to be a little bright for my taste. Not so with the HA-1. With the HA-1 the bass is so realistic that if it were boosted it would lose the perfect cohesion with the rest the music, the balance with all the frequencies. Listening to Hans Zimmer 'The Dark Knight Rises' right now and the bass with the XC's is phenomenal. On the HA-1 my LCD-2 rev2 sounds too bass heavy and I always loved the bass on those cans. Actually, I was considering selling the LCD-XC because I preferred the bass on the 2's. Not anymore.
This is where relativity comes in.
Relativity
- Every DAP, DAC or Amp I've owned has been a relative upgrade to the previous one. Each time I heard an improvement over the other, and after each upgrade the previous gear sounded flat in comparison, but I've never heard
IT. Same with headphones, but now on the HA-1 each headphone presents their own character so clearly, relative to each other. Before the HA-1 the differences were always there, just not as clear. As I've mentioned before in this thread the relative superior quality of the XC is now crystal clear compared to my other headphones and the HA-1 has allowed them to really shine in a way I was not expecting. Along my head fi journey I've auditioned, upgraded and learned each step of the way. Every upgrade was a relative improvement. Each time I felt I could do better and each time I was right. Before, I was orbiting the head fi black hole just beyond the event horizon not being sucked in. With the HA-1 I've crossed the event horizon and doubt I'll ever be able to escape the truly incredible clarity, realism, and utterly stunning presentation of the HA-1. I may be interested in more tube amps like the WA7 simply because I'm a head fi addict, or some other portable rig like the Cypher Labs Duet but as Maxx134 said in post #210 of this thread... "
this Oppo is the real deal, utterly impressive".
Wrap up
- Since I was a young lad in the mid eighties I've had an appreciation for music that thankfully the wife respects because it occupies a lot of my time and money. I've auditioned many amps and DACs in the recent past from NAD, Schiit, Auralic, Burson, etc. I've only purchased a few pieces because there was always something intangible that felt off to me (nothing beats the old vinyl and "vintage" amp I used to own). I'm big on 'bang for the buck' purchases which is why I have an ALO Pan Am, Fiio X5, and Fiio e12 currently. For my needs these sounded
fine for the price and the more expensive gear never quite lived up to the price tag for me. Well now we have a product that truly hits well above its price and adds no coloration and a host of features not found on most summit fi gear. Hats off to Oppo for the superb, crystal clear, truly natural presentation on the HA-1.
All listening was done using the balanced output to the LCD-2 and LCD-XC. My source players were the Fiio X5 coaxial out and Macbook Pro running Audirvana+. Music files were REDBOOK CD lossless and higher quality ALAC, FLAC and DSD.
