[Radio_head]

Oppo showed this at CES.  From Soundstage Global:
 

Another new headphone amplifier/DAC that I was lucky enough to get a peek at was from Oppo, called the Headphone Amplifier HA-1. This attractive little unit makes use of the same 9018 ESS Sabre DAC as their BDP-105 player, and features a fully balanced, class-A headphone amplifier. Both XLR and standard full-size headphone outputs are provided on the front while your choice of XLR or RCA analog inputs are provided around back. Digital inputs include one AES/EBU, one coax, one optical, and one USB. The circuitry is said to be fully balanced, and is housed inside an aluminum chassis.

One of my favorite aesthetic features of the HA-1 is its full-color front-panel display, which illustrates menu options and source selection as well as VU and spectral meters. Volume control is fully motorized, and can be changed either by hand or the supplied remote. Although more technical information was not available at the time of the interview, Oppo reps did state that the HA-1 is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2014, and will be offered at a price “around” $1200 with a two-year warranty.

 

[Icenine2]

Man that is cool!  Thx Radio_Head

 

[Lucky87]

Thanks Radio Head I was hoping for it to come out the first quarter.  I decided to pull the trigger on the Oppo BDP-105 and at a $1200 price tag same as the Oppo 105. I needed a new 3D/Blu-Ray player anyways. Breaking in the 105 for the past couple of days and it sounds great so far.

 

[elrod-tom]

  Oppo showed this at CES.  From Soundstage Global:
 

Another new headphone amplifier/DAC that I was lucky enough to get a peek at was from Oppo, called the Headphone Amplifier HA-1. This attractive little unit makes use of the same 9018 ESS Sabre DAC as their BDP-105 player, and features a fully balanced, class-A headphone amplifier. Both XLR and standard full-size headphone outputs are provided on the front while your choice of XLR or RCA analog inputs are provided around back. Digital inputs include one AES/EBU, one coax, one optical, and one USB. The circuitry is said to be fully balanced, and is housed inside an aluminum chassis.

One of my favorite aesthetic features of the HA-1 is its full-color front-panel display, which illustrates menu options and source selection as well as VU and spectral meters. Volume control is fully motorized, and can be changed either by hand or the supplied remote. Although more technical information was not available at the time of the interview, Oppo reps did state that the HA-1 is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2014, and will be offered at a price “around” $1200 with a two-year warranty.

 
Awesome...thanks for posting this!  Looks like it could be a great addition to the marketplace for DAC's/Headphone Amps!

 

[TheHills44060]

I wish the unit's controls were configured differently so that the chassis was wider than it is deep so it looked better on a rack and matched more closely to standard sized 17" width gear (not to mention the rest of Oppo's own product line).

 

[boatheelmusic]

Then peek at the new Cambridge Audio 851D.......

 

[mrscotchguy]

Has anyone heard anything new about this since CES?

 

[Lucky87]

Yeah any OPPO HA-1 news from CES? I would like to see a video of it in action..

 

[Gradius]

For that price it needs to be pretty good.
 
Some competition:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00DBWZ3XS/
 
Review here:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/673033/review-yulong-audio-sabre-da8-reference-dac

 

[ben_r_]

I cant wait for this to come out and start seeing some reviews on it!

 

[Harris]

I had a chance to spend time with both the Oppo HA-1 and Oppo PM-1 Planar Magnetic Headphones during CES.
Not a lot of time, but some first impressions given they are still in prototype form.
 
The first was that I was somewhat shocked by the size and heft of the HA-1. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this is a seriously heavy, deep, and substantial unit! I kept comparing to the Sony units, but they are media players, and despite the physical similarities, the HA-1 is purely a DAC and Amp. 
 
I was able to listen to the headphones using a portable Astell and Kern unit, as well as my smartphone, and finally in a quiet location with the HA-1. As good as the Astell and Kern was, the combination of the PM-1 and the HA-1 was nothing short of sublime. Very open, airy, musical, and comfortable. I never had a sense I was hearing hardware, in fact quite the opposite.
 
Within moments, I started tearing through some tracks, mostly high-definition, but some not, just to hear the music with fresh ears. The prices aren't set, but most folks seem to have them in the right ballpark, with each product around the same price point plus or minus a few. I don't want to mention any pricing, since that is still in flux. 
 
With so many folks using their BDP-105 as the center of their system, and I suspect with much of the playback coming from a HD, or connected computer as much as optical discs, these products make perfect sense for Oppo, and I suspect that when we and others have a chance to review them, they will quickly rise to the favored components categories.
 
I'm looking forward to their final release!
 
One reason I tested the headphones with my phone, as well as my MacBook Pro, was that they aren't so large that one can't travel with them, so I was curious how they did with the more meager headphone amplifiers in those devices, and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. This hasn't been the case with some of the Hi-Fi Man models which really were a bit useless with similar units driving them. I kicked myself for leaving my Audioengine D3 in my room, so couldn't try them with it.
 
My hunch is that the final models will be no-muss, no-fuss, and solid as a rock. The HA-1 certainly looked and felt totally bombproof!
 
Not sure this is much for you to go on till they ship, but it's all I have at the moment to report!

 

[mrscotchguy]

I had a chance to spend time with both the Oppo HA-1 and Oppo PM-1 Planar Magnetic Headphones during CES.
Not a lot of time, but some first impressions given they are still in prototype form.
 
The first was that I was somewhat shocked by the size and heft of the HA-1. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this is a seriously heavy, deep, and substantial unit! I kept comparing to the Sony units, but they are media players, and despite the physical similarities, the HA-1 is purely a DAC and Amp. 
 
I was able to listen to the headphones using a portable Astell and Kern unit, as well as my smartphone, and finally in a quiet location with the HA-1. As good as the Astell and Kern was, the combination of the PM-1 and the HA-1 was nothing short of sublime. Very open, airy, musical, and comfortable. I never had a sense I was hearing hardware, in fact quite the opposite.
 
Within moments, I started tearing through some tracks, mostly high-definition, but some not, just to hear the music with fresh ears. The prices aren't set, but most folks seem to have them in the right ballpark, with each product around the same price point plus or minus a few. I don't want to mention any pricing, since that is still in flux. 
 
With so many folks using their BDP-105 as the center of their system, and I suspect with much of the playback coming from a HD, or connected computer as much as optical discs, these products make perfect sense for Oppo, and I suspect that when we and others have a chance to review them, they will quickly rise to the favored components categories.
 
I'm looking forward to their final release!
 
One reason I tested the headphones with my phone, as well as my MacBook Pro, was that they aren't so large that one can't travel with them, so I was curious how they did with the more meager headphone amplifiers in those devices, and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. This hasn't been the case with some of the Hi-Fi Man models which really were a bit useless with similar units driving them. I kicked myself for leaving my Audioengine D3 in my room, so couldn't try them with it.
 
My hunch is that the final models will be no-muss, no-fuss, and solid as a rock. The HA-1 certainly looked and felt totally bombproof!
 
Not sure this is much for you to go on till they ship, but it's all I have at the moment to report!

Thank you very much! This may be the first real impression. I hope others decide to comment on their impressions.

I do have one question, were the PM-1s terminated with a 1/4" or the balanced connector in the configuration you tested?

 

[Harris]

Hi,
 
The TM-1's that I tested terminated in a 1/4 plug, and there was a step down adapter for use with a mini-jack, not sure of the manufacturer of the step-down cable. 
 
We did joke about using the HA-1 with a huge battery as a carry-on for in-flight use! Hey, let me get rid of that dinky little USB DAC and fire up the HA-1 for that 45 minute commuter flight!

 

[mrscotchguy]

Website update, now "Late April"

 

[Harris]

Hello!
 
A quick update on the Oppo PM-1 Planar Headphones.
 
I'm working with a finished production sample of  the new headphones for an upcoming review and here are some brief impressions. This is based on a review sample, so the final packaging details, etc. might be different, as they aren't shipping yet.
 

I was in my office when I received shipping confirmation from UPS, so when I got home the box from Oppo was waiting for me.




 




So, I dropped everything to open the box. First impressions, this is one heavy box for a pair of headphones!




 




I had my son pick up the box, and asked him what he thought was in it, and he said maybe a blu-ray player or something due to the weight.




 




Then I opened it up and there was a lovely soft case, with extra earpads and cables.




 




Finally I got a whiff of the finish on the beautiful wooden box! Just great!




 




At this point everything is first-class, the box, inner box, and finally the wood box.




 




Opening it revealed the headphones, which look just wonderful and which were lighter then I remembered or expected. 




 




The primary cable is beautiful with a substantial cloth covered OCC cable, all fittings are solid, well-designed and as they should be for a product of this caliber. The cables have small mini-jacks that go into each side of the headphones.




 




I plugged in the long cable, to use with my laptop, and looked for a step-down adapter to a mini-jack from the phone plug, but there wasn't one, so I looked in thee cables in the case, and found the short mini-jack cable.




 




The sound is superb, and over the weekend I tried them with different gear to get a better sense of their performance. If I had to summarize the sound footprint, it would be "Effortless, subtle, neutral, but with a bit or warmth, to a believable musical finish". At no time did I "hear" the headphones or technology, they simply moved out of the way so that my experience was of listening to music, not technology.




 




As I type this I'm listening to the Van Morrison's Moondance remaster, and it has never sounded better!

I can only imagine what they will sound like when connected to the new HA-1 amplifier. I did get to listen to a pre-production model of the headphones during CES with the HA-1 and it was superb, but when the new amplifier is available that will complete the product cycle.




 




I'm pretty sure that these are going to be a hit for Oppo. Every aspect of the unit I have is well-thought out and executed. Surprisingly they are also very efficient, and sounded great with my MacBook Pro, the new Korg DS-DAC-100M, the Cambridge Audio DAC Magic, the Oppo BDP-105, and the AudioEngine D3, and in all cases, they drove the headphones without a problem, which was a really pleasant surprise.

 

Many of the planars I've used, such at the HiFi Man, seem very demanding of the amplifier circuit, but the PM-1's are nowhere that finicky. I did find a richer, fuller sound with higher output sources, such as the BDP 105, so I think when paired with a dedicated high quality headphone amp, that the phones will really hit their peak. My brief test with HA-1 revealed an incredibly substantial unit, and design, so I suspect that when paired with the PM-1s, it will be a positive synergy.

 

One last note. I had the headphones on last night for several hours straight as I worked on my computer. And.. no stress, or discomfort. In fact they were so comfortable that I kept walking around with them an forgot I had them on, and they weren't even plugged into anything!




 




I hope this helps. We will publish a full review on MacEditionRadio.com in the coming weeks.

 

Harris