[ckhirnigs113]

Quick update on my noise issues with my iHA-6. I have found two setting combinations that seem to work well with my two headphones. I use low gain/high current out of the 4-pin XLR with my Meze Elite and the background noise is barely noticeable. With my OG Auteur I’m also using low gain/high current but I’m using the high output impedance single-ended headphone jack. There is no noise at all using this combination with the Auteur.

I couldn’t resist a good deal on a set of Audio Sensibility Statement SE Copper XLR interconnects. Those are due to arrive Monday, so I’m hoping some of the noise issues will magically disappear using the XLR inputs. Fingers crossed!

Side note, my OG Auteur (300 ohms) did not sound great out of the balanced output of the iHA-6. The treble was a bit shrill and female voices sounded a bit thin. I believe the culprit is the extremely low output impedance of the XLR jack. I switched to the high-impedance SE jack, and everything sounded great again. No more shrill highs, and female vocals smoothed out with a little more body to the sound.

 

[AnamCeoil]

Quick update on my noise issues with my iHA-6. I have found two setting combinations that seem to work well with my two headphones. I use low gain/high current out of the 4-pin XLR with my Meze Elite and the background noise is barely noticeable. With my OG Auteur I’m also using low gain/high current but I’m using the high output impedance single-ended headphone jack. There is no noise at all using this combination with the Auteur.

I couldn’t resist a good deal on a set of Audio Sensibility Statement SE Copper XLR interconnects. Those are due to arrive Monday, so I’m hoping some of the noise issues will magically disappear using the XLR inputs. Fingers crossed!

Side note, my OG Auteur (300 ohms) did not sound great out the balanced output of the iHA-6. The treble was a bit shrill and female voices sounded a bit thin. I believe the culprit is the extremely low output impedance of the XLR jack. I switched to the high-impedance SE jack, and everything sounded great again. No more shrill highs, and female vocals smoothed out with a little more body to the sound.

Hey friend; sorry to hear that you have been having the background noise issues, and hope you can get it resolved.

Would you say the Cayin is a good combo with the Auteur? I seem to recall someone saying this amp was better with planars such as Caldera, but maybe not amazing with ZMF dynamics. I have an Atticus and LCD-XC I would love to run this with if a good match…with all the output options, it seems like it could be a great “one and done”.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

Hey friend; sorry to hear that you have been having the background noise issues, and hope you can get it resolved.

Would you say the Cayin is a good combo with the Auteur? I seem to recall someone saying this amp was better with planars such as Caldera, but maybe not amazing with ZMF dynamics. I have an Atticus and LCD-XC I would love to run this with if a good match…with all the output options, it seems like it could be a great “one and done”.

I think the single-ended headphone jacks with their higher output impedances work really well with my Auteur. I’ve owned many ZMFs over the years, but I have only tried the Auteur with the iHA-6. I didn’t really like the Auteur out of the 4-pin XLR jack. I think ZMF dynamics play better with higher output impedances. If my iHA-6 didn’t have all the noise/distortion issues, I’d definitely be keeping it as my main solid state amp. I actually still might keep it at this point since I have found a few settings that don’t have bad noise issues. I’m hoping that using the XLR input might help even further, so we’ll see.

 

[capetownwatches]

With my OG Auteur I’m also using low gain/high current but I’m using the high output impedance single-ended headphone jack. There is no noise at all using this combination with the Auteur.

Glad you've found a way to listen without noise but it addresses the symptom, not the cause.

I couldn’t resist a good deal on a set of Audio Sensibility Statement SE Copper XLR interconnects. Those are due to arrive Monday, so I’m hoping some of the noise issues will magically disappear using the XLR inputs. Fingers crossed!

I'm keen to read your feedback on running the Bifrost balanced into the iHA-6.
Do try the Auteur from the 4 pin output again once cabled this way.

Side note, my OG Auteur (300 ohms) did not sound great out of the balanced output of the iHA-6. The treble was a bit shrill and female voices sounded a bit thin. I believe the culprit is the extremely low output impedance of the XLR jack. I switched to the high-impedance SE jack, and everything sounded great again. No more shrill highs, and female vocals smoothed out with a little more body to the sound.

I enjoy my HD6xx from the high impedance output from time to time.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

I finally got the Audio Sensibility XLR cables in today. I plugged them between the iHA-6 and Bifrost 2. Like magic, all the noise issues I was having with the amp disappeared when using the balanced input. I guess whatever is wrong is only affecting the RCA input.

Anyway, all in all I’m happy with the amp’s performance at the moment. I tried all the gain/current settings and only found one specific combination that still has loud distortion, low gain/low current out of the 4-pin XLR jack. Weirdly, there is no noise when i switch to high gain/low current. There’s also no noise when using either single/ended jack with low gain/low current selected. I can live with this one little issue. I’ve decided to keep the amp at this point. Thanks to those of you that have been following and helping me along the way!

 

[ckhirnigs113]

Do any of you iHA-6 owners get the Mod House Tungsten? I’m assuming this amp will have plenty of power to drive these headphones, but it would be great to get some verification of the combo working well together.

 

[Polky74]

Which type of the two amplifications do you prefer with the HD800S and why? Thank you.

 

[skeeb23]

Which type of the two amplifications do you prefer with the HD800S and why? Thank you.

Funny to see this post as I'm listening to the HD800S right now on the iHA-6. I am finding that I prefer the SE High OHM output the most. Smooth dynamics and gives me more volume play. On some noisier tracks it also seems to have tamed it slightly. Still has that big stage and full FR range. I don't find it to do anything to make the bass any fuller, but it's still a big and full over all sound for the iHA-6. So far, great amp to pair with the 800S.

 

[Polky74]

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since that distant 2016 when Cayin launched, almost silently, the iDAC-6 and iHA-6 pairing, one seemed the ideal companion for the other, but time has done what it wanted done from the beginning, consider them complementary but not necessarily and inextricably linked. The iHA-6 is still very current due to its size, value for money, general performance and versatility. I can't comment on the DAC because I've never listened to it. Thanks to the halving of the list price, the iHA-6 which already in 2016 was considered by many to be a best buy, is even more so today. Small but very heavy, very powerful, extremely refined with its double type of amplification which is a spectacle in itself and above all with a practically transparent sound. I use it with all the dongles I own (iBasso DC04PRO-L&P W1/W4-Questyle M15-CayinRU6/RU7) and thanks to it I can finally enjoy my beloved Sennheiser HD800S to their maximum potential. Its best feature (besides the power to drive anything) is that it is simply transparent and that doesn't mean being aseptic, sterile or soulless as you might think but rather it welcomes the sound of the DAC it is amplifying and makes it the " its sound" (what every amplifier should do in my opinion, but almost no one does) allowing the listener to grasp all the nuances and differences of the dac/dongle to which it is connected, even the most hidden and apparently insignificant ones. The sweetness of the RU6, the musicality of the RU7, the precision of the DC04PRO, the power of the M15, the analytical nature of the W1/W4... everything will be revealed without possible misunderstandings. The HD800S, which if not driven well seem too bright and with very timid bass, become floorstanding speakers as sharp as razors but as musical as real wooden speakers, and it is not just a question of quantity of current but above all of intensity, cleanliness, fullness and quality to work the miracle. For lovers of planar headphones there is the current amplification mode which makes them shine even more, removing the typical veil that inadequate amplifications add to that type of headphones. In a word the iHA-6 is a stratospheric amplifier! When things are done well they are ageless and it is like that, it is ageless, also because it makes the new super-dongles sound wonderful, very far from its time but close to ours. For 600/700 euros you cannot buy any amplifier that can come close to it and most likely even by spending much more, perhaps with four times its cost we are almost there.

P.S. I always recommend everything in balance, it deserves it.

 

[Polky74]

Taken by the desire to test the capabilities of the iHA-6 this evening I purchased a Hifiman HE6se, I just hope I didn't exaggerate... do you think I should set it to high current (5w) or low current (7w)? Thank you.

 

[Andykong]

Taken by the desire to test the capabilities of the iHA-6 this evening I purchased a Hifiman HE6se, I just hope I didn't exaggerate... do you think I should set it to high current (5w) or low current (7w)? Thank you.

High gain and high current.

 

[Polky74]

@Andykong Would it be possible to know how many watts per channel the iHA6 can supply at 50 ohms?
Thanks.

 

[Polky74]

Current amplification with the legendary Tin Audio P1... a dream pairing!!!

 

[Polky74]

 

[Polky74]

If you don't know what gift to give your beloved iHA-6, I would suggest a brand new HE6seV2 ($500/600) like the one that just arrived to me. This pairing is simply terrifying in both performance and price. A magic!!!

P.S. High gain - High current