[Jodet]

Just had it arrive this afternoon. Got a black one with remote. Looking forward to spending time with it this week/weekend to evaluate. Tons of good reviews!
once the AHB2 is in stock, I plan to get one to try as well.

You'll like the AHB2 a lot. I'm using one with a Quad PA-One+ preamp.

 

[DarKu]

Dang, is it really that good? Have you compared to Chord Hugo TT2

I have many headphone amps at home that are not listed in my profile but none of them can really compete with HPA4. That is why I didn't make a comparison to other amps in my review, HPA4 will just obliterate any of them.
Saving now for one

 

[Nicknick]

Hi,

I own the HPA4 since December 2018, when I bought the unit from the german dealer Axmann Audio. From the very beginning I knew that the HPA4 was nearly unbeatable. It is connected via XLR to a Bricasti M1 SE. To get best results, I have adjusted the Bricasti XLR outputs to +23 dbm. With this adjustment M1 and HPA4 are a perfect team.

With this duo I drive a Sennheiser HD800S and a Beyerdynamic T1. May be I will add a Mysphere 3.2 after its first revision. I have never heared the Senn and the Beyer so clear, dynamic and powefull.
But you have to bite the bullet: in Germany it costs 3900 €, including remote.

Martin

 

[Slim1970]

Anyone use the HPA4 with the Susvara's and how does the pairing sound?

 

[bimmer100]

Anyone use the HPA4 with the Susvara's and how does the pairing sound?

I do own a pair of susvara and they are one of my favorite pairs of headphones yet very very difficult to drive properly. Curious what you are using with your pair... assuming you own a pair?

I had just tested susvara with the hpa4 and have to give it a solid thumbs up!
It does require it to be near maxed out but it doesn’t sound thin whatsoever like most other amps. This truly does make the susvara sound very good and to their true potential imo. I am running with about a 4dB boost and maximum line in volume. And about 85-90% headphone volume depending on what I listen to. Getting close to solid 95-100dB which I rarely ever listen this loud but the susvara is capable of sounding extremely clean with this amp. Likely 110dB is possible and not sounding thin or shouty which is what I’ve experienced when using susvara’s with about 98% of headphone amplifiers. I’m picky....
The hpa4 can be up to 10dB boost for line in, and I didn’t use any boost at first and found myself nearly maximum line and max vol... but now am using 4dB boost like I said. Gives me enough headroom for classical... barely. Modern music you will have more headroom of course.

But I won’t mention names of other amps.. I’ve tried most amplifiers and several even more expensive than this hpa4. Only a handful of amps can power susvara properly and that are under 3K.

Albeit the hpa4 may get the susvara there, I’m surely not listening that loud. I usually am around 80-85dB and this amp allows the susvara to sound full and proper. (Thumbs up!) when the amp is not proper for the susvara then they will sound thin or shouts, usually top end is bright and miss and bass recessed a bit.

I was truly worried, since I had tried some other thx amps that simply did not cut it for the susvara imo. The hpa4 is the flagship with thx 888 dual mono and significantly more powerful, yet expect that you won’t have a ton of headroom yet the sound quality will surely please you up to very reasonable levels.

My two cents. Hope this is helpful.

 

[Slim1970]

I do own a pair of susvara and they are one of my favorite pairs of headphones yet very very difficult to drive properly. Curious what you are using with your pair... assuming you own a pair?

I had just tested susvara with the hpa4 and have to give it a solid thumbs up!
It does require it to be near maxed out but it doesn’t sound thin whatsoever like most other amps. This truly does make the susvara sound very good and to their true potential imo. I am running with about a 4dB boost and maximum line in volume. And about 85-90% headphone volume depending on what I listen to. Getting close to solid 95-100dB which I rarely ever listen this loud but the susvara is capable of sounding extremely clean with this amp. Likely 110dB is possible and not sounding thin or shouty which is what I’ve experienced when using susvara’s with about 98% of headphone amplifiers. I’m picky....
The hpa4 can be up to 10dB boost for line in, and I didn’t use any boost at first and found myself nearly maximum line and max vol... but now am using 4dB boost like I said. Gives me enough headroom for classical... barely. Modern music you will have more headroom of course.

But I won’t mention names of other amps.. I’ve tried most amplifiers and several even more expensive than this hpa4. Only a handful of amps can power susvara properly and that are under 3K.

Albeit the hpa4 may get the susvara there, I’m surely not listening that loud. I usually am around 80-85dB and this amp allows the susvara to sound full and proper. (Thumbs up!) when the amp is not proper for the susvara then they will sound thin or shouts, usually top end is bright and miss and bass recessed a bit.

I was truly worried, since I had tried some other thx amps that simply did not cut it for the susvara imo. The hpa4 is the flagship with thx 888 dual mono and significantly more powerful, yet expect that you won’t have a ton of headroom yet the sound quality will surely please you up to very reasonable levels.

My two cents. Hope this is helpful.

Thanks for chiming in. I do own the Susvara’s and I was using the Pro iCan with them but they didn’t sound very musical with it. Then I started using the Pro iCan as a preamp for the Burson Timekeeper power amp and this combo took the Susvara’s to new heights. I recently sold my Pro iCan and now I’m looking for a replacement amp and the HPA4 has my interest.

 

[syn959]

I do own a pair of susvara and they are one of my favorite pairs of headphones yet very very difficult to drive properly. Curious what you are using with your pair... assuming you own a pair?

I had just tested susvara with the hpa4 and have to give it a solid thumbs up!
It does require it to be near maxed out but it doesn’t sound thin whatsoever like most other amps. This truly does make the susvara sound very good and to their true potential imo. I am running with about a 4dB boost and maximum line in volume. And about 85-90% headphone volume depending on what I listen to. Getting close to solid 95-100dB which I rarely ever listen this loud but the susvara is capable of sounding extremely clean with this amp. Likely 110dB is possible and not sounding thin or shouty which is what I’ve experienced when using susvara’s with about 98% of headphone amplifiers. I’m picky....
The hpa4 can be up to 10dB boost for line in, and I didn’t use any boost at first and found myself nearly maximum line and max vol... but now am using 4dB boost like I said. Gives me enough headroom for classical... barely. Modern music you will have more headroom of course.

But I won’t mention names of other amps.. I’ve tried most amplifiers and several even more expensive than this hpa4. Only a handful of amps can power susvara properly and that are under 3K.

Albeit the hpa4 may get the susvara there, I’m surely not listening that loud. I usually am around 80-85dB and this amp allows the susvara to sound full and proper. (Thumbs up!) when the amp is not proper for the susvara then they will sound thin or shouts, usually top end is bright and miss and bass recessed a bit.

I was truly worried, since I had tried some other thx amps that simply did not cut it for the susvara imo. The hpa4 is the flagship with thx 888 dual mono and significantly more powerful, yet expect that you won’t have a ton of headroom yet the sound quality will surely please you up to very reasonable levels.

My two cents. Hope this is helpful.

Hi bimmer100, Congrats on the HPA4. Are you using Spring DAC with HPA4? For me the sweet spot for XLR line in boost with my Sping 1 was +8 dB. That allowed for a volume match with my DAC3 HGC to do side to side comparisons switching back and forth.

I was disappointed pairing the Spring with HPA4 before I remember about the line boost feature. That’s what made me purchase the DAC3. After setting line in boost for Spring I liked it a lot more and at least for me very difficult for me to tell the two apart.

 

[Roasty]

After the last few posts.. I went out and ordered one. I hope it will keep me satisfied for a long long time. it should be here in a few days time, along with the dac 3b. cant wait!!!

 

[M Siau]

Anyone use the HPA4 with the Susvara's and how does the pairing sound?

This past weekend HiFiMan only had one Susvara on the show floor and they brought it to the Benchmark booth to be driven by the HPA4, and anytime someone wanted to listen to them they would send them to our booth where people were loving the combo! Even when the room was loud the HPA4 was able to drive the Susvaras to a level that was able to drown out the background noise.

The hpa4 can be up to 10dB boost for line in, and I didn’t use any boost at first and found myself nearly maximum line and max vol... but now am using 4dB boost like I said. Gives me enough headroom for classical... barely. Modern music you will have more headroom of course.

In regards to the "boost" this is designed to normalize or match the volume between two inputs so you can switch between the inputs and not get blasted with a louder volume. this is simply changing the same relays that are used in the volume. -30 with 0 boost is exactly the same as -40 with 10dB of boost or -34 with 4dB of boost. in all three of these settings the relays will be in the exact same configuration thus they will sound the same with the same amount of headroom.

Hope this helps!
- Michael

 

[phthora]

After the last few posts.. I went out and ordered one. I hope it will keep me satisfied for a long long time. it should be here in a few days time, along with the dac 3b. cant wait!!!

Where? I am looking to do the exact same thing, but can't find them in stock.

 

[Roasty]

Where? I am looking to do the exact same thing, but can't find them in stock.

I'm in Singapore, and ordered through one of their authorised agents. They inform me the dac and amp should be reaching Sg in a few days time. I ordered the dac a while back (long backorder apparently). They have the amp in silver, but had to order in the black which I wanted.

 

[phthora]

I'm in Singapore, and ordered through one of their authorised agents. They inform me the dac and amp should be reaching Sg in a few days time. I ordered the dac a while back (long backorder apparently). They have the amp in silver, but had to order in the black which I wanted.

Well, darn. That's not going to work. Thanks for the reply though, and happy listening.

 

[M Siau]

Where? I am looking to do the exact same thing, but can't find them in stock.

In our stock room we have shelves for the HPA4 and the DAC3B to sit when they are fully assembled tested and boxed up for shipping but we have never had a single unit on the shelf... We are working as hard as we can to fulfill all our back orders! you can place an order on our website and be added to the que and we will ship the units the day they are built!

 

[YooperAudio]

In our stock room we have shelves for the HPA4 and the DAC3B to sit when they are fully assembled tested and boxed up for shipping but we have never had a single unit on the shelf... We are working as hard as we can to fulfill all our back orders! you can place an order on our website and be added to the que and we will ship the units the day they are built!

That's because you guys make great stuff that's not overpriced.

 

[tunes]

I am considering purchasing either the AHB2 or the HPA4 for use with CHORD DAVE and Susvara and or Abyss PHI TC. Has anyone compared the AHB2 to the HPA4 yet with Susvara.....? I was also considering the PASS Labs XA25 but don’t really want an amp that runs super hot and requires a long on time to get to peak sound. That’s why I gave up on tube amps.