[akhyar]

^ nope.
I pre-ordered from Song Brothers way back in early June

 

[Uniquexme]

^ nope.
I pre-ordered from Song Brothers way back in early June

 
ah, okok... Coz E1 just have a few in stock yesterday or the day before. 

 

[Badas]

I just purchased a second HP. Which has a balanced cable.
 
Can I run two cans at the same time out of the two different inputs so I can compare how each HP performs?

 

[olegausany]

No you can't

 

[akhyar]

   
ah, okok... Coz E1 just have a few in stock yesterday or the day before. 

 
Stock just came in yesterday afternoon.
There were 2 silver and 2 black at Song Bros, but I believed all are pre-ordered sets.

 

[akhyar]

  I just purchased a second HP. Which has a balanced cable.
 
Can I run two cans at the same time out of the two different inputs so I can compare how each HP performs?

 
No you can't.
IIRC, the balanced output will be muted if you plug in to the 1/4" headphone out

 

[Badas]

   
No you can't.
IIRC, the balanced output will be muted if you plug in to the 1/4" headphone out

Thanks,
 
So I can just push in and out quickly to compare. That won't be difficult.

 

[x RELIC x]

Thanks,

So I can just push in and out quickly to compare. That won't be difficult.

Just remember to do it quickly as it may trip the protection circuit if done too slow, as per Oppo's advice.

 

[Badas]

Just remember to do it quickly as it may trip the protection circuit if done too slow, as per Oppo's advice.

Okay. Thanks.
 
I will power on and off everytime to be sure.

 

[t258jgn]

Just got my HA-1 yesterday.
 
Initial listerning from Focal CMS-40 & Adam Audio ARTist 3 speakers, it seems HA-1 abit warmer than Audio-Gd NFB-28

 

[Tyler J]

It has been around 4 years since I logged on, but I thought I could contribute a bit about the HA-1 as a preamp.  I have been looking for a quality 2 channel pre with a built in DAC and headphone out.  I have been using a Bryston sp 1.7 as a preamp in a  5.1 surround sound system.  I have decided to simplify and go 2.1 and eventually set up a lower quality surround sound when I finish my basement.
 
The landscape has changed in the last 4 years and I am afraid I am out of the loop when it comes to the new technologies.  I still listen through a modified by Modwright OPPO BD-83 regular and SACD.  I intend to start down loading from HD tracks in the future.  Detailed questions about the DACs are better left to someone with more experience with this stuff than me.  My speakers are Joseph Pulsars and my amp is a Bryston 9bsst.  I also just got a Parasound P5 to compare with the OPPO and the winner will stay. 
 
True blue headphone guys can stop reading right now.  As a headphone amp the HA-1 is almost perfect to me and the headphone out is vastly superior to the P5.  I just don;t listen through headphones much since I got the Pulsars.  As a stereo preamp they are very close.  Honestly they sound surprisingly similar through both the analog ins and through the optical out of the BDP-83 using regular CDs as a source.
 
Both units have about 30 hours of break in time if you believe that makes a difference.  Through the analog ins the P5 is just a bit more detailed and even handed with the oppo being a touch warmer in the midrange with a little tiny bit of bloom with vocals.  Using the optical in I can't hear any reliable difference at all.
 
Really it comes down to priorites.  The build quality of the OPPO is a clear step up from the Parasound.  The remote is also very nice, especially compared to the cracker jack box P5 remote.  The screen is very cool and the meters are hard not to love.  
 
The downsides of the OPPO compared to the P5 are the lack of Bass management, tone controls, and a phono stage.  I have an enclosed rack and the OPPO gets very hot, the P5 is cool as a cucumber.
 
The bass management of the P5 makes it very easy to incorporate the sub into my system.  With the OPPO I find myself getting up and tweaking the volume on some songs.
 
The OPPO is a much cooler gadget with the screen and killer build quality.  Bottom line is that they are both excellent for use as a stereo pre.  I will have both for a few more days and I am having a very hard time deciding which to keep. 

 

[aamefford]

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

It has been around 4 years since I logged on, but I thought I could contribute a bit about the HA-1 as a preamp.  I have been looking for a quality 2 channel pre with a built in DAC and headphone out.  I have been using a Bryston sp 1.7 as a preamp in a  5.1 surround sound system.  I have decided to simplify and go 2.1 and eventually set up a lower quality surround sound when I finish my basement.
 
The landscape has changed in the last 4 years and I am afraid I am out of the loop when it comes to the new technologies.  I still listen through a modified by Modwright OPPO BD-83 regular and SACD.  I intend to start down loading from HD tracks in the future.  Detailed questions about the DACs are better left to someone with more experience with this stuff than me.  My speakers are Joseph Pulsars and my amp is a Bryston 9bsst.  I also just got a Parasound P5 to compare with the OPPO and the winner will stay. 
 
True blue headphone guys can stop reading right now.  As a headphone amp the HA-1 is almost perfect to me and the headphone out is vastly superior to the P5.  I just don;t listen through headphones much since I got the Pulsars.  As a stereo preamp they are very close.  Honestly they sound surprisingly similar through both the analog ins and through the optical out of the BDP-83 using rebook CD as a source.
 
Both units have about 30 hours of break in time if you believe that makes a difference.  Through the analog ins the P5 is just a bit more detailed and even handed with the oppo being a touch warmer in the midrange with a little tiny bit of bloom with vocals.  Using the optical in I can't hear any reliable difference at all.
 
Really it comes down to priorites.  The build quality of the OPPO is a clear step up from the Parasound.  The remote is also very nice, especially compared to the cracker jack box P5 remote.  The screen is very cool and the meters are hard not to love.  
 
The downsides of the OPPO compared to the P5 are the lack of Bass management, tone controls, and a phono stage.  I have an enclosed rack and the OPPO gets very hot, the P5 is cool as a cucumber.
 
The bass management of the P5 makes it very easy to incorporate the sub into my system.  With the OPPO I find myself getting up and tweaking the volume on some songs.
 
The OPPO is a much cooler gadget with the screen and killer build quality.  Bottom line is that they are both excellent for use as a stereo pre.  I will have both for a fews more days and I am having a very hard time deciding which to keep. 

 

While the HA-1 is an awesome piece of kit that I really like, I question whether it is the best choice of preamp for a mostly non-headphone user?  Only reason I think this - you are running the hot and inefficient class A headphone amp whenever the unit is on, but only benefiting from the same when using headphones.  The pre-outs are IC driven, and bypass the class A headphone amp (if I understand correctly - I could be way wrong).  If you use headphones at all though, I absolutely think the HA-1 would be a killer preamp, just because it has that nice class A headphone amp.  Well and the cool screen and controls and connection abilities….

 

[x RELIC x]

[snip]

......... I have an enclosed rack and the OPPO gets very hot, the P5 is cool as a cucumber.

[snip]

I would caution against using the Oppo HA-1 in an enclosed rack. Class-A amps run very hot.

 

[Tyler J]

The rack has a built in fan that activates when the ambient temp gets above 85. Does anybody have an opinion about the DACs in these 2 pres? The oppo is superior on paper, but I don't hear much if any difference. Do you think the oppo would pull ahead if they were both fed a higher resolution signal?

 

[Tyler J]

I believe you are right about the headphone amp always running. I wonder if OPPO could adjust that with a firmware update, although I doubt it. I spent a few more hours running the headphone out of the P5 and it did help considerably. I am amazed at what $1200 buys today.