[Maxx134]

Did my comparison with Lau. I find the images much larger and closer on HPA4. The sound stage is narrower. The speed is lower.

Please keep us posted on changes as when I heard it the first week it did not appeal to me as much as after second week.
It was odd to me how much it changed for the better...
Benchmark really needs to pre-burn these units in.

 

[Savage4]

Please keep us posted on changes as when I heard it the first week it did not appeal to me as much as after second week.
It was odd to me how much it changed for the better...
Benchmark really needs to pre-burn these units in.

I think I have been running it for 100 hours. The bass quality did improve a lot. Unfortunately after 2 weeks I finally decided to return it. It’s a great unit but just doesn’t have enough power to drive my abyss. At the same sound level you can easily tell HPA4 is running out of juice from the much slower pace of notes, recessed highs and flat image. It was not a fair contest for sure because few amps below 7k can truly uncover the potential of abyss 1266 phi. I also tried HD800s on HPA4. In my opinion HD800s is simply mid-fi in 2018 despite how well HPA4 did its job. Yes the sound stage is great and larger than 99% of the headphones available but we are talking about a 1cm wide sound stage vs a 0.5 cm one. 100% larger yes but not gonna make a night and day difference. In the end I think the used price for HPA4 is highly likely gonna end up in the $1900-2200 range in 2 years. So even though it’s like one of the best amps I ever tried, I would not own a new one.

 

[koven]

I think I have been running it for 100 hours. The bass quality did improve a lot. Unfortunately after 2 weeks I finally decided to return it. It’s a great unit but just doesn’t have enough power to drive my abyss. At the same sound level you can easily tell HPA4 is running out of juice from the much slower pace of notes, recessed highs and flat image. It was not a fair contest for sure because few amps below 7k can truly uncover the potential of abyss 1266 phi. I also tried HD800s on HPA4. In my opinion HD800s is simply mid-fi in 2018 despite how well HPA4 did its job. Yes the sound stage is great and larger than 99% of the headphones available but we are talking about a 1cm wide sound stage vs a 0.5 cm one. 100% larger yes but not gonna make a night and day difference. In the end I think the used price for HPA4 is highly likely gonna end up in the $1900-2200 range in 2 years. So even though it’s like one of the best amps I ever tried, I would not own a new one.

LAu is a hard one to beat..

 

[Savage4]

LAu is a hard one to beat..

Ya for sure. Above it you have Headtrip, WA33, viva845 and others. Hifi sucks you dry.

 

[Benny-x]

Did my comparison with Lau. I find the images much larger and closer on HPA4. The sound stage is narrower. The speed is lower. There is also about 10db attenuation on xlr input on HPA4 compared to its rca input. Pre-amp is excellent and totally blows dave built-in pre-amp away.

According to that comparison, you think the LAu is a better headphone amp for you?

But as far as the HPA4 does in preamp duties (which the LAu cannot do), you're loving it? Are there any other pres you've tried with the Dave or ones you think would be a good match?

 

[Tobes]

My HPA4 finally arrived today.

I've slotted it into my system in place of the Bryston BP26 preamp.
So I can do some comparison of the HP amp, I have my Bryston BHA-1 being driven from the unbalanced outputs of the DAC3L (the the balanced outs from the DAC3 are connected to the HPA4 > AHB2 amp).
I haven't done any pre-amp comparison yet and have only done very brief HP comparison (with the BHA-1).
These two low distortion SS HP amps sound more similar than different. The BHA-1 sounds a bit more 'liquid' at this stage and the the HPA4 a bit drier, but with no edge or grit i.e. very pure sounding. Hard to make a call on detail as both are excellent and have very quiet backgrounds. More listening required to elucidate the differences.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cxzfuevpog2uef9/hpa4_ahb2.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lbvzc8nndh4cjk7/hpa4_system.jpg?dl=0

Edit: With further listening it's apparent that the HPA4 has less of a 'fingerprint' on the music than the BHA-1. Listening through a disparate playlist the differences in recordings are more exposed (than with the BHA-1). Piano sounds amazing through the HPA4/Utopia and they make a great combo IMO.

 

[Maxx134]

. In my opinion HD800s is simply mid-fi in 2018

I was able to increase focus and performance of the HD800 to extreme levels, just check link in my signature..
Hard to believe but a fact that took me over 1.5yrs of daily trials with two hd800 to achieve.

I think I have been running it for 100 hours. The bass quality did improve a lot. Unfortunately after 2 weeks I finally decided to return it.

Right I believe Maybe 50% of buyers will go your route because of the rediculous long time the unit takes to burn in.
You only get a good week of solid use before you expire the 30day return policy...

Ya for sure. Above it you have Headtrip, WA33, viva845 and others. Hifi sucks you dry.

The headtrip does not do the ambience and blacks natural for me...

The WA33 does not do a clean euphorics of tube sound for me, & the elite version is a bit too sterile lifeless for me...

The Viva845 is the only amp without sonic faults detected, but the price goes against my sanity...

 

[Savage4]

I was able to increase focus and performance of the HD800 to extreme levels, just check link in my signature..
Hard to believe but a fact that took me over 1.5yrs of daily trials with two hd800 to achieve.


Right I believe Maybe 50% of buyers will go your route because of the rediculous long time the unit takes to burn in.
You only get a good week of solid use before you expire the 30day return policy...


The headtrip does not do the ambience and blacks natural for me...

The WA33 does not do a clean euphorics of tube sound for me, & the elite version is a bit too sterile lifeless for me...

The Viva845 is the only amp without sonic faults detected, but the price goes against my sanity...

Well I mean I would never know the true power of HPA4. I think the problem with HD800/HD800s is that they are relatively cheap but to fully uncover their potential costs an arm. Even at their extreme, they still have 0 bass. Maybe if you only like baroque music they are good choices. I’m not a bass head btw.

 

[Maxx134]

Well I mean I would never know the true power of HPA4. I think the problem with HD800/HD800s is that they are relatively cheap but to fully uncover their potential costs an arm. Even at their extreme, they still have 0 bass. Maybe if you only like baroque music they are good choices. I’m not a bass head btw.

Yep, The HD800 will always sound best on tube gear..
Oh well.

 

[Savage4]

According to that comparison, you think the LAu is a better headphone amp for you?

But as far as the HPA4 does in preamp duties (which the LAu cannot do), you're loving it? Are there any other pres you've tried with the Dave or ones you think would be a good match?

Haven’t tried a lot of pre-amps for dave yet so really can’t help you. To me Lau works better. It may not be the case for others.

 

[llamaluv]

The WA33 does not do a clean euphorics of tube sound for me, & the elite version is a bit too sterile lifeless for me...

The Viva845 is the only amp without sonic faults detected, but the price goes against my sanity...

I'm going to be auditioning the WA33 and Viva 845 side by side this weekend. Counting down the days... Although my piggybank will need a thorough shakedown.

 

[cradon]

@Savage4 Actually the HPA4 does have enough power for the Abyss. There’s a setting in gain that you can use to increase the volume output for harder to drive cans like the Abyss. I used it myself and found the HPA4 to be one of the best amps I’ve heard with my Abyss Phi.

 

[neogeosnk]

Amp does need burn-in to sound best. I was disappointed at first, then it started opening up. Also, I also thought it didn't have enough power for some of my headphones. Play with the different settings... bottom line, it has waaaay too much power for all my planars and any headphone I own.

 

[Savage4]

@Savage4 Actually the HPA4 does have enough power for the Abyss. There’s a setting in gain that you can use to increase the volume output for harder to drive cans like the Abyss. I used it myself and found the HPA4 to be one of the best amps I’ve heard with my Abyss Phi.

I used that +10db gain. It depends on what amp you compare it to. If viva 845 is tier 1, I would say HPA4 is somewhere tier 4.

 

[twsmith]

Brief follow-up to my initial post on HPA4. I now have about 80+ hours on it, and I think the "burn-in" period has probably made a slight but audible difference. My initial impression still holds though - it is one of the best (if not the best) headphone amps I've ever heard. I continue to be impressed by its incredible resolving ability, neutrality and soundstaging. I feel that it is an exceptional match for the Focal Utopia but I can't comment on some of the other headphones mentioned in these posts.