[Maxx134]

And so, I was looking for a longer USB cable as I shifted my hardware around. I began googling here and there.

And so it seems like a USB cable without the 5V power (Data+/- and GND only) MAY help in the SQ as there's no noise introduced into the cable at all.
(I used 'MAY' here as I don't want to go into debate regarding digital cable )

I found Elijah Audio Isolate CU and Michael advised to do a simple test to see if my DAC can work with the 5V.




No. It didn't work.

I'm using JRMC 20 with ASIO driver. It cannot playback.

I did also emailed OPPO Service to ask them about it, below is their reply.


Any comments? Or did I do a bad job in testing? I used electrical tape to cover the 5V pin.

I tried this a while back and neither the oppo HA-1, or the schiit "wyrd" worked without that power alive.

My next idea it to reroute the power separately by using two cables.
Also they make a cable which separates the power conductor from the others internally and is shaped flat..

Hi All,

I need a little advice from all of the gurus on here...  

I just purchased a Oppo HA-1 a month ago.  I'm having some odd performance issues with it.  The sound out of the balanced outputs (not headphone) just don't seem to preform up to par with the rca outputs.  I'm connecting this to a Creek Evolution 50a and a Little Dot MK VI+. So speaker output and headphone output seem flat but seems much better with rca.  I though it may be cables so I've tried some custom pure silver xlr cables(way to bright but still lack luster) off ebay and now I'm on some kimber hero xlrs, still same isisue.

How can I test if there is an issue with the XLR output?  Maybe it is just the synergy between the Oppo DAC and the Evo 50a?  That doesn't make a whole lot of sense since the rcs works well.  If it is a synergy issue, what DAC would you replace the Oppo with?  

Jeff    

it was stated way back in this thread that the rear connections are opamp based and take a bit of burn in and was stated to be a bit lean at first untill break in.
I haven't experienced this myself as I never used them but thought it would help to know this.

I would like to add. I own the Oppo HA-1 plus a decent tube Amp. With average tubes in it still beats the HA-1. With good tubes it runs circles around the HA-1. I often switch between the two set at the same volume and it is night and day difference. The amp section of my Oppo HA-1 is basically retired. Only use DAC and remote volume control.

ok so I know it was a bit misleading as I believe you are talking about a $2k woo wa22,
But I like to know if you were comparing with the ha1 balanced out or the single ended out.
To me the balanced out makes a considerable improvement and specs show HA-1 as the more powerful unit,
Although I see your point about the %5 improvement and the tube sound could easily give you that.
Definitely an excellent amp that woo..

 

[Badas]

ok so I know it was a bit misleading as I believe you are talking about a $2k woo wa22,
But I like to know if you were comparing with the ha1 balanced out or the single ended out.
To me the balanced out makes a considerable improvement and specs show HA-1 as the more powerful unit,
Although I see your point about the %5 improvement and the tube sound could easily give you that.
Definitely an excellent amp that woo..

Yeah, I'm not that silly. I have a long history of comparing Home Theatre equipment.

I tested using the best of each amp. The balanced outputs of both (one of the reasons I went WA22 was for balanced). I set up using a piece of music I don't like so I wouldn't form a opinion before testing. Both amps were level matched in volume (admittedly by ear). Then I threw on 3 different types of music and just switched between balanced connections using the same headphone (Audeze LCD-3). Woo won every time. Sometimes by a tiny bit. Sometimes by a mile. Especially on bright treble soundtracks. The gap is also increasing all the time as the Woo breaks in. The Oppo amp duties are officially retired. I'm just using it for DAC and volume control only.

I wasn't the only person to come to the same conclusion as well. I did a blind test on my wife (she has no ear also) and she vastly preferred the Woo. Stating it was so lush. Lush is what the Oppo is missing.

Don't get me wrong. The Oppo is a great kit. I feel proud to own it. Unfortunately it's just I have heard better than it.

 

[Svatopluk]

Why are you comparing the HA-1 and you're WA-22 with upgraded tubes?  I'm sure the WA-22 has a little more intensity and why not. After all, you have twice as much invested in it and it's a great tube amp.
Nothing wrong with preferring tubes over solid-state I guess but it's kind of hard to compare the two in the same manner.

 

[Raptor34]

  Why are you comparing the HA-1 and you're WA-22 with upgraded tubes?  I'm sure the WA-22 has a little more intensity and why not.After all, you have twice as much invested in it and it's a great tube amp.
Nothing wrong with preferring tubes over solid-state I guess but it's kind of hard to compare the two in the same manner.

"After all, you have twice as much invested in it"   I think that's the reason.   Just bragging I guess and it is very tiresome.   All right already, your rich, we get it!   I've tried a few very good headphone amps that I own with the HA-1 pre-outs and they all sounded very good out of it but the all in one design of the Oppo is more than very good, especially with the  PM-1's.  I have no need for further comparisons.  The HA-1 does it all extremely well.   Give us a break BA.   You have literally closed this thread down with your pimping of the WA-22.     

 

[Herueyes]

  "After all, you have twice as much invested in it"   I think that's the reason.   Just bragging I guess and it is very tiresome.   All right already, your rich, we get it!   I've tried a few very good headphone amps that I own with the HA-1 pre-outs and they all sounded very good out of it but the all in one design of the Oppo is more than very good, especially with the  PM-1's.  I have no need for further comparisons.  The HA-1 does it all extremely well.   Give us a break BA.   You have literally closed this thread down with your pimping of the WA-22.     

 
You gotta hand it to Badas(s) he is definitely a pimp!!! He pimped Hastur 

 

 
for no less than two HA-1 stands ain't that right x RELIC x

...
 
 
I said it once, twice & Now I'll say it for a third time... Badas(s) You Da' Man.... Go on Player!!!!!
 

 
 
Now I myself can do a bit of pimpin' and I will say and give Kudos to the HA-1 for having absolutely no Hum
while my Teac UD-501 was making my newly acquired Woo Audio WA6-SE Hum like there was no tomorrow...
 
 

 
I was about to switch power and rca cables, etc... but then I decided to switch to the HA-1 and
Presto... No Humming... the quiet passages are once again quiet!!!! Thank you Oppo!!!!

 
 
Peace...

 

 

[Maxx134]

Wow nice pimping goin on here..

Makes me feel small.. lol


I actually like looking at pimp setups so lets not be to hard on memebers who to me are not boasting at all but proud of what they have and share insights regardless we come off better knowing more from any posts and to tell the truth I don't see anything comparable to the HA-1 except from audio-gd but my dream setup from the oppo would only be the "head dac":

I believe in this hobby it makes more sense on the wallet to just save and make big leaps and skip all the stuff in the middle..

The oppo happens to make the biggest leap toward end game at the smallest hurt on the wallet so its going to stay for a long time..

 

[olegausany]

But soon a little bit more affordable and flexible US setup will be available

 

[Raptor34]

   
You gotta hand it to Badas(s) he is definitely a pimp!!! He pimped Hastur 

 
Yup, that be true 

 
for no less than two HA-1 stands ain't that right x RELIC x

...
 
 
I said it once, twice & Now I'll say it for a third time... Badas(s) You Da' Man.... Go on Player!!!!!
 

LOL
 
 
   
   
Peace...

 
 
Exaclty 

 

[x RELIC x]

Spoiler: Quote:

You gotta hand it to Badas(s) he is definitely a pimp!!! He pimped Hastur :blink:




for no less than two HA-1 stands ain't that right x RELIC x:wink_face: ...


I said it once, twice & Now I'll say it for a third time... [COLOR=0000FF]Badas[/COLOR](s) You Da' Man.... Go on Player!!!!!





Now I myself can do a bit of pimpin' and I will say and give Kudos to the HA-1 for having absolutely no Hum
while my Teac UD-501 was making my newly acquired Woo Audio WA6-SE Hum like there was no tomorrow...





I was about to switch power and rca cables, etc... but then I decided to switch to the HA-1 and
Presto... No Humming... the quiet passages are once again quiet!!!! Thank you Oppo!!!!:atsmile:


Peace...  

LOL!

 

[Badas]

Why are you comparing the HA-1 and you're WA-22 with upgraded tubes?  I'm sure the WA-22 has a little more intensity and why not. After all, you have twice as much invested in it and it's a great tube amp.
Nothing wrong with preferring tubes over solid-state I guess but it's kind of hard to compare the two in the same manner.

I don't know how we got on to it. I was just asked to quantify my test. Which I did.

"After all, you have twice as much invested in it"   I think that's the reason.   Just bragging I guess and it is very tiresome.   All right already, your rich, we get it!   I've tried a few very good headphone amps that I own with the HA-1 pre-outs and they all sounded very good out of it but the all in one design of the Oppo is more than very good, especially with the  PM-1's.  I have no need for further comparisons.  The HA-1 does it all extremely well.   Give us a break BA.   You have literally closed this thread down with your pimping of the WA-22.     

Okay I get it. No more talk. Fine, quite happy to not share my knowledge and experience. I was just asked the question over the balanced outputs. I thought it would be rude not to answer. Boy I wasn't expecting the backlash to answering a question. Also for the record "I'm not rich". Just comfortable.

Agreed. Let's talk HA-1. The unit is fantastic. I love the pre-amp options, display and the all in one approach. Oppo make great products.

 

[Badas]

You gotta hand it to Badas(s) he is definitely a pimp!!! He pimped Hastur :blink:




for no less than two HA-1 stands ain't that right x RELIC x:wink_face: ...


I said it once, twice & Now I'll say it for a third time... [COLOR=0000FF]Badas[/COLOR](s) You Da' Man.... Go on Player!!!!!





Now I myself can do a bit of pimpin' and I will say and give Kudos to the HA-1 for having absolutely no Hum
while my Teac UD-501 was making my newly acquired Woo Audio WA6-SE Hum like there was no tomorrow...





I was about to switch power and rca cables, etc... but then I decided to switch to the HA-1 and
Presto... No Humming... the quiet passages are once again quiet!!!! Thank you Oppo!!!!:atsmile:


Peace...  

Dude. My first stand was broken accidentally by my son. I wrote and asked Oppo if I could buy another. Which they were so nice to let me. No pimping. Now rather than throw away the damaged stand I spun it backwards so the damage wasn't that visible and used it for my Woo. That all. Not that any of this was your concern.

As for talking about the wonderful HA-1. Yes great comment. Others should no as a pre-amp it has zero noise. I can confirm both outputs are as low as it could possibly be.

Feeling a little ganged up on here. Can we please ease off a bit?

 

[Herueyes]

 

Spoiler: Quote:

 

LOL!

 
 

 

 
 

Dude. My first stand was broken accidentally by my son. I wrote and asked Oppo if I could buy another. Which they were so nice to let me. No pimping. Now rather than throw away the damaged stand I spun it backwards so the damage wasn't that visible and used it for my Woo. That all. Not that any of this was your concern.

As for talking about the wonderful HA-1. Yes great comment. Others should no as a pre-amp it has zero noise. I can confirm both outputs are as low as it could possibly be.

Feeling a little ganged up on here. Can we please ease off a bit?

 
 
Hey Listen we all adults here... Methinks

 
This was just some really funny Schiit that's all...
 
This is Head-Fi not facebook and no one is bullying anyone... (Although there maybe some Haters...

)
 
I don't care what type of equipment you got and what your standard of living is and so on and so forth...
 
Did you see how many cans Maxx134 had on that coat rack??? Amazing and Really Nice...
 
I say to each his/her own and if you feel ganged up on then maybe you need to step back from being a 
 
Keyboard Warrior and get back to the basics... By posting a pic of 2 HA-1 stands (regardless of their condition)
 
in this thread you set yourself up for some critique!!! I ain't mad at you... In my book
 
It's Hastur that bears the brunt of responsibility on this one...
 
I stand (pun intended) by what I said previously... Nuff' said...
 
 
Peace...

 

[tuatara]

Dude. My first stand was broken accidentally by my son. I wrote and asked Oppo if I could buy another. Which they were so nice to let me. No pimping. Now rather than throw away the damaged stand I spun it backwards so the damage wasn't that visible and used it for my Woo. That all. Not that any of this was your concern.

As for talking about the wonderful HA-1. Yes great comment. Others should no as a pre-amp it has zero noise. I can confirm both outputs are as low as it could possibly be.

Feeling a little ganged up on here. Can we please ease off a bit?

Send one of your stands down south and I'll throw in a good word for you
 
Only had my HA-1 for a few days and very little time up on it so I'm reluctant to make any judgements that could come back to bite me, but, I just might ever so slightly prefer the HPA-V200 as an amp at this stage.
To be fair the Violectric has had several months of use so plenty of time to tune into it. I'm also using the Oppo balanced out with the LCD-2 and HP-1 against se on the V200 .
We'll see what a couple of months use of the Oppo brings. Love the remote though, so nice to lie out in the lazy boy and adjust the volume to suit.

 

[Badas]

Send one of your stands down south and I'll throw in a good word for you

Only had my HA-1 for a few days and very little time up on it so I'm reluctant to make any judgements that could come back to bite me, but, I just might ever so slightly prefer the HPA-V200 as an amp at this stage.
To be fair the Violectric has had several months of use so plenty of time to tune into it. I'm also using the Oppo balanced out with the LCD-2 and HP-1 against se on the V200 .
We'll see what a couple of months use of the Oppo brings. Love the remote though, so nice to lie out in the lazy boy and adjust the volume to suit.

I really thought the HA-1 changed during a breakin period. I still maintain it did. So it is best to put some hours on it.

The remote is great. One of the big selling points for me.

 

[tuatara]

I really thought the HA-1 changed during a breakin period. I still maintain it did. So it is best to put some hours on it.

The remote is great. One of the big selling points for me.

Moved in into my bedroom system(replacing the V200) which gets much more use during the week so should rack up the hours fairly quickly.
I mainly use the Fidelio X1/W1000X  there so it'll be interesting to hear those combos.
I never rush into judgements on audio gear, had initial thoughts come back and bite me on the arse too many times. Almost every item I've purchased over the years has an element of disappointment in the beginning. I hated the RS1 Grados when I first got them in 2003 but they're still with me, don't get much use now, but do enough each time they're dragged out to justify their continued presence in the stable. 
Having said that sometimes first impressions never improve, bye bye ATHW5000.