Oppo HA-1 Impressions Thread
Jul 22, 2014 at 6:40 PM Post #1,247 of 5,414
  fine!!!
.. first this site makes my buy the ha-1 and now.. i guess it is balanced cable time. Honestly, up till now a lot of this dac stuff was a bit of the emperor's new clothes. I've spent $1000s and $1000s ... and he was still looking pretty naked :)
 
yes, stuff in the past was better than not using a DAC. but no way close to the 1000s i spent (well.. still isn't.. that is a lot of money) yes it was a little cleaner but not a big jump. The Oppo should be in the same class (but better) as was what i used before (the audiolab M-Dac and fostex HA8.) But damn the oppo is good :)
 
 
So i ordered up the official balanced cable for the HD800 :) Hopefully they have an impact :) (damn they cost a lot just for a cable)
 
 
Now to find more hi res music. Sadly much of it, say opera, has new high res versions, but the performances themselves isn't as good as the older ones :frowning2: I wasted $50 on Cosi fan tutti yesterday from HDtracks - yeah.. high quality but.. not very good singers :frowning2:


Which Cable did you order ??
 
Jul 22, 2014 at 6:46 PM Post #1,249 of 5,414
 
Which Cable did you order ??

Sennheiser CH 800S - it was on amazon and one day shipping. I don't really know how to evaluate cable claims. At least going with Sennheiser it will be of the same build quality as the cable now - the change will only be going to balanced. 
 
Jul 23, 2014 at 5:18 PM Post #1,251 of 5,414
Has anyone tried the HA-1 remote control on your PC?    You have to be using a USB source but it controls the basic play controls!   I thought I had ghosts in the house the first time I pressed the pause button just for kicks and the audio stream paused.  
eek.gif
  It's all on page 16 in the manual but I found that out after it happened a few times.   
 
Something else I tried.   I hooked up my Mjolnir amp to the xlr pre outs of the HA-1 and tried the Home Theater bypass mode.   Sounded great but I still prefer the "Standard" mode with variable volume control.   I set the Mjolnir's volume control at around 11:00 oclock and used the HA-1 to control volume.   I'm lazy and prefer to remotely control the system.  That's why I went with the HA-1 in the first place.   The MJ was a good pairing with the Sabre dac.  Very resolving and musical but so is the HA-1 on it's own. 
 
Jul 23, 2014 at 5:27 PM Post #1,252 of 5,414
  Has anyone tried the HA-1 remote control on your PC?    You have to be using a USB source but it controls the basic play controls!   I thought I had ghosts in the house the first time I pressed the pause button just for kicks and the audio stream paused.  
eek.gif
  It's all on page 16 in the manual but I found that out after it happened a few times.   
 
Something else I tried.   I hooked up my Mjolnir amp to the xlr pre outs of the HA-1 and tried the Home Theater bypass mode.   Sounded great but I still prefer the "Standard" mode with variable volume control.   I set the Mjolnir's volume control at around 11:00 oclock and used the HA-1 to control volume.   I'm lazy and prefer to remotely control the system.  That's why I went with the HA-1 in the first place.   The MJ was a good pairing with the Sabre dac.  Very resolving and musical but so is the HA-1 on it's own. 

 
This "feature" is documented in the manual with the HA-1.    It freaked me out too at first.  I have a Joggler O2 Running Squeezeplay attached USB to the HA-1 --- and that platform has no IR remote.    When I clicked next track, connected to Oppo USB it magically worked.   I was amazed.... This is actually very useful feature for me... as I lay back...and often have the remote for volume control in my hand......I can advance the track too-- without having to go to my HTML based remote :)
 
Jul 23, 2014 at 5:29 PM Post #1,253 of 5,414
I'm another user who was surprised that Foobar responded to the remote. I was extremely pleased to discover this "bonus" feature. Beyond the amazing audio performance, this beast is truly practical!
 
Jul 23, 2014 at 6:04 PM Post #1,255 of 5,414
the pause works with jriver and windows media player and media player classic :) (maybe any direct show aware player?)
 
 
so I connected the balanced cable..
it is louder - which i didn't expect. I had it at -19dB with the default HD800 jack - now I'm at -26dB for the same loudness. 
 
Is it better? Maybe? hrmm.. i want to say yes.. but.. it takes to long to switch the cables that i lose the ability to really compare. I know that isn't very useful...
 
I'll try to setup some time this weekend to give it the time it needs to compare.
 
Jul 23, 2014 at 6:54 PM Post #1,257 of 5,414
The remote works with VLC on a Mac.  Just tried it.
 
Audirvana, too.
 
Jul 23, 2014 at 9:13 PM Post #1,259 of 5,414
Remember, to work as a remote, the amp has to be turned on and working with the app that's playing through the amp.  It's sending a signal back to the computer via the USB connection.  I just don't want anyone to think it's a remote for the computer itself!  On a Mac, if you're watching movies through iTunes, QuickTime, or VLC, and you have the HA-1 selected as the device for sound output, it'll work just fine for volume control, muting, and play/pause.  Trying to go the next track/scene doesn't work to select the next scene in films, though (the button just starts the movie all over again).
 
Jul 23, 2014 at 9:43 PM Post #1,260 of 5,414
A couple of questions regarding this.
 
1.  Does the front mobile input accept a full range of bitrates or limit it to 48KHz of the iphone dock mode?  Does it charge the device at the same time (vs. using the CCK which allows higher bitrates but doesn't charge).?  Can you control the volume from an app at that point?  What about as a regular USB DAC?
 
2.  Is it an analog pre-amp or digital?
 
3.  How does the sound compare to the M-DAC? 
 
Right now I run use iPeng from an iPad via the CCK to the MDAC via balanced to a Bryston 4BST and into B&W CM9s and like the sound. Occasionally I'll throw on the HD650s for headphones but I wonder if this will be enough of an upgrade compared to the MDAC.  I would like an analog input and am intrigued with DSD files but have none currently and it is likely a better headphone amp than the MDAC so it might actually be worth it.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top