[Clemmaster]

Are yours the international HP-A8C or the Japanese A8?

 

[adiebear]

Plakat- it was not new. It was not shipped in its original box but in a small box, badly packaged with some newspaper and very little bubble wrap (no styrofoam).
Bought it from jauce.com (as I had seen other head-fi-ers had done).
I won't post pics of the damaged box. Boring.
Now I have to wait .
I will definitely consider a new one once I (hopefully) get all my money back.
What is more frustrating is that some very nice DAC/pre's came up for sale locally (not Fostex) once I had bought mine.

 

[Robert777]

  Are yours the international HP-A8C or the Japanese A8?

Mine in the A8C. That explains it then. I really do much prefer the all black version so I am glad I did not import it through Price Japan which I was very close to doing.
 
My portable headphones are the much disliked JVC SZ2000's and they have a European and a Japanese version which sound different. The JVC DX1000 headphones also have European and Japanese versions but with not sonic differences.
 
It is most likely just me but I am fascinated by how the decisions regarding territorial differences are reached.

 

[Clemmaster]

I actually never realized the Japanese one had silver sides...

It's like Marantz: I don't know why they decided to sell the (boring) black version only in the US. Some people might like the Bronze better...

 

[plakat]

  Plakat- it was not new. It was not shipped in its original box but in a small box, badly packaged with some newspaper and very little bubble wrap (no styrofoam).
Bought it from jauce.com (as I had seen other head-fi-ers had done).
I won't post pics of the damaged box. Boring.
Now I have to wait .
I will definitely consider a new one once I (hopefully) get all my money back.
What is more frustrating is that some very nice DAC/pre's came up for sale locally (not Fostex) once I had bought mine.

All in all a very frustrating experience... I hope you can resolve it soon.
The original box is very robust and I could not imagine how the amp might have gotten that damaged in it. Thats the only reason I asked for pictures... if its not the original one but simply bad packaging there's no need to take photos of course.

 

[Robert777]

I really cannot believe I am asking this but could someone please help me understand how to replace the battery in the remote control?

 

[plakat]

  I really cannot believe I am asking this but could someone please help me understand how to replace the battery in the remote control?

 
I just took my remote out of the box for the first time ever...
there's a drawing at the bottom of the remote that might help. At the lower end theres the battery compartment. A slot along the edge of the remote and at the end of that a small lever. Turn the remote over (i.e. keys looking down), battery compartment towards you. push the lever at the left side of the battery compartment to the right (just a bit, it does not move much) and put a finger nail into the long slot of the battery compartment, pull it out. Not as easy as it could/should be...

 

[Robert777]

   
I just took my remote out of the box for the first time ever...
there's a drawing at the bottom of the remote that might help. At the lower end theres the battery compartment. A slot along the edge of the remote and at the end of that a small lever. Turn the remote over (i.e. keys looking down), battery compartment towards you. push the lever at the left side of the battery compartment to the right (just a bit, it does not move much) and put a finger nail into the long slot of the battery compartment, pull it out. Not as easy as it could/should be...

Thank you so much. I am very long sighted. The diagram made know sense to me. Now all I need is a new battery.
I had not planned on taking the remote out of the box either.
My hope is that I can use the remote to select songs on the SD card rather than having to boot my PC up every time I would like to listen to some music.

 

[plakat]

  Thank you so much. I am very long sighted. The diagram made know sense to me. Now all I need is a new battery.
I had not planned on taking the remote out of the box either.
My hope is that I can use the remote to select songs on the SD card rather than having to boot my PC up every time I would like to listen to some music.

Thats a good reason to use the remote... might indeed be easier that way.

 

[GoldfishX]

I recently made an effort to move my gear away from the computer, so I threw together a quick and dirty rig on an empty outlet: My Sony 300 CD carousel, the A8 (as a DAC), a Magni and HD600. So far through my demo CD, I haven't missed a single detail and I'm replaying a lot of music. I originally had my Dac-It as the DAC in the rig, but there was a massive jump in clarity and musicality when I switched to the A8. It's airy and FAST! I really noticed things like the vocal overlays in certain songs (REO Speedwagon's "Out of Season") much moreso. The DAC in the A8 is very good. I do wish I had a better point of reference, but I could live with this full-time. I can't wait to pair it up to a higher-end amp now.
 
I've tried the Magni vs the A8's headphone amp and I preferred the Magni without question. The amp on the A8 just seems underpowered for everything and even harsh.

 

[plakat]

  The amp on the A8 just seems underpowered for everything and even harsh.

 
I don't think so, it fits the TH600/TH900 perfectly. And actually I don't think Fostex were targeting anything else... I would not suggest it as an amp for power hungry headphones like planars, but it does work fine with dynamic drivers.

 

[snejk]

   
I don't think so, it fits the TH600/TH900 perfectly. And actually I don't think Fostex were targeting anything else... I would not suggest it as an amp for power hungry headphones like planars, but it does work fine with dynamic drivers.

Actually it does surprisingly well with the notoriously hard to drive HE6. IMO

 

[Whazzzup]

 

I don't think so, it fits the TH600/TH900 perfectly. And actually I don't think Fostex were targeting anything else... I would not suggest it as an amp for power hungry headphones like planars, but it does work fine with dynamic drivers.

Actually it does surprisingly well with the notoriously hard to drive HE6. IMO

Really? Well that's good to know. I heard lcd3 sounds good as well. But I also agree with plakat I think it's made for th900. I could see it seeming sharp on cans that have strong mids and highs.

 

[GoldfishX]

From what I understand, the TH900's have a relatively low amping requirement. The bass is pretty light on the A8 amp and it is generally mid-centric, so that is probably a good enough reason for the match with the bass-heavy TH900. With the HD600, the difference between A8 and Magni was pretty striking, in favor of the Magni. I would probably be able to live with the A8's amp in a pinch, but I would be looking to upgrade. Also noting, the unit does not tend to get very warm while running. That is my other clue the amp is very lightweight.
 
Again though, the DAC's detailed presentation is the highlight of the package. I certainly wouldn't describe the HD600 has being sparkly, but the details that were coming out of it were amazing.

 

[Whazzzup]

From what I understand, the TH900's have a relatively low amping requirement. The bass is pretty light on the A8 amp and it is generally mid-centric, so that is probably a good enough reason for the match with the bass-heavy TH900. With the HD600, the difference between A8 and Magni was pretty striking, in favor of the Magni. I would probably be able to live with the A8's amp in a pinch, but I would be looking to upgrade. Also noting, the unit does not tend to get very warm while running. That is my other clue the amp is very lightweight.

Again though, the DAC's detailed presentation is the highlight of the package. I certainly wouldn't describe the HD600 has being sparkly, but the details that were coming out of it were amazing.

The bass actually reaches quite far down I find with the a8. Nice sub floor. Say as compared to a warmer tight kicking base of the Hugo.