Oppo HA-1 Impressions Thread
May 19, 2015 at 7:23 PM Post #3,451 of 5,414
After having the Oppo HA-1 for over three weeks now, I have a good opinion of the product.

To give a perspective of where I am coming from with my opinion, I will explain how I am using it. The Oppo HA-1 is my primary output device from my PC. It's duties are D/A conversion, Pre-Amp for my JBL LSR305 Studio Monitors, and headphone amp for my LCD-X.

The content would come from Tidal(lossless), PC Games, and various you tube channels.

The appearance and build quality is fantastic. It has a solid build: this from pulling it out of the box and setting it up and playing with the inputs. Knobs and buttons give positive feedback. The remote has a good feel and works well for an IR remote. The UI & display is well thought out. I love the duel voltmeter display.

The sound of the DAC from both the LCD-X and the JBL's is astounding. I do not have a good audiophile vocabulary and knowledge to give you a proper impression, but I found no faults with it. Not counting some of the set ups I herd at the 2015 So Cal Can Jam( those sic high dollar systems), the HA-1 is the best sounding amp I have listened to.

I really appreciate the functionality of being both the headphone amp and pre-amp. This was the solution I had been looking for as an audio control unit. The droid app works very well and very well laid out. I had no problems installing and getting to work.

My only gripe is that you can not select the headphones or the pre-amp. When you hit mute, it only mutes the pre-amp. I really do not want to continuously unplug the headphones each time I go to the JBL monitors. Perhaps Oppo could control that function with a future software update?

None the less, I am extremely happy with Oppo HA-1 and have no problem recommending it to anybody else.
 
May 19, 2015 at 7:32 PM Post #3,452 of 5,414
 
+1 (this used to be a lively thread!!)
Oppo... will there ever be a firmware update for this lovely machine. Refinements to the visuals, more choices on gain/mute settings?

 
We are keeping suggestions on file, but there are no planned firmware releases at the moment.
 
May 20, 2015 at 12:50 PM Post #3,455 of 5,414
Anyone running Roon with their HA-1 as a DAC? Results? Might bite on the demo version soon.

Bill
 
May 24, 2015 at 3:21 AM Post #3,456 of 5,414
It's baaaack.
 
Nothing changed in settings, back to not hearing any Windows sounds, no youtube, yet JRiver plays digital audio files without a problem.
 
Changing the HA-1 driver to non-exclusive has no effect.
 
May 24, 2015 at 8:33 PM Post #3,457 of 5,414
Make sure that the HA-1 is still set as the Default Device for Sound.
 
Make sure that the volume for the individual application is set appropriately. It is possible that the volume slider has been adjusted down or fully muted.
 
If you are using JRiver, Foobar, or other application with WASAPI or ASIO, then close the application, as this will disable Direct Sound (which Windows uses for everything).
 
May 25, 2015 at 2:59 PM Post #3,458 of 5,414
  Make sure that the HA-1 is still set as the Default Device for Sound.
 
Make sure that the volume for the individual application is set appropriately. It is possible that the volume slider has been adjusted down or fully muted.
 
If you are using JRiver, Foobar, or other application with WASAPI or ASIO, then close the application, as this will disable Direct Sound (which Windows uses for everything).

I only have one device for sounds, and it's the HA-1. All other drives are disabled.
 
Volume is set to 100% on all sliders.
 
JRiver is shut down.
 
I had assumed that Windows would use the ASIO driver, and sent sound to the HA-1, same as when JRiver sends sound to the HA-1.
 
This has worked, then not worked, then worked again, then not worked again. Currently it's not working.
 
I've rebooted multiple times.
 
Is it incorrect to just have ASIO active, and no other sound drivers?
 
May 25, 2015 at 3:17 PM Post #3,459 of 5,414
  I only have one device for sounds, and it's the HA-1. All other drives are disabled.
 
Volume is set to 100% on all sliders.
 
JRiver is shut down.
 
I had assumed that Windows would use the ASIO driver, and sent sound to the HA-1, same as when JRiver sends sound to the HA-1.
 

On windows make sure you exit JRiver not minimized in order for Windows audio subsystem  to regain control. Windows do not use the ASIO driver at all. It uses the Direct Sound driver.  All Amazon and Netflix videos normally use the Direct Sound(DS) There is a option to use the JRiver WDM driver instead of Direct Sound but it does not work well for video. Only audio applications can use the ASIO driver not Windows by itself.
 
 
May 25, 2015 at 3:53 PM Post #3,460 of 5,414
  On windows make sure you exit JRiver not minimized in order for Windows audio subsystem  to regain control. Windows do not use the ASIO driver at all. It uses the Direct Sound driver.  All Amazon and Netflix videos normally use the Direct Sound(DS) There is a option to use the JRiver WDM driver instead of Direct Sound but it does not work well for video. Only audio applications can use the ASIO driver not Windows by itself.
 

I'm shutting down JRiver, not just minimizing it.
 
Currently in control panel -> sound -> manage audio devices the only device listed is:
 
Speakers
2 - OPPO HA-1 USB AUDIO 2.0 DAC
Default device
 
In device manager -> sound, video and game controllers, these are disabled:
 
High Definition Audio Device
NVIDIA High Definition Audio (four of these)
NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)
 
And this is the only active device:
 
OPPO HA-1 USB AUDIO 2.0 DAC
 
And I see no sign of Direct Sound.
 
My thinking was, run all sound through the HA-1, and then either to headphones or speakers.
 
It worked at one point. That's the puzzling part.
 
My wife's PC is set up the same way, and she gets sound when playing videos, trying mp3s on Amazon, etc.
 
May 25, 2015 at 4:25 PM Post #3,461 of 5,414
If you right click on the Speaker Icon, then click "Playback devices", click on the HA-1 then "Configure" then select "Test" do you get an error message? If yes, and you remove the USB cable connected to the HA-1 and then reconnect it, if you press "Test" again, do you get audio?
 
May 25, 2015 at 4:31 PM Post #3,462 of 5,414
Speakers
2 - OPPO HA-1 USB AUDIO 2.0 DAC
Default device

 That is the DS driver. There is six files listed under driver details like mine.
 
On Device manger you should have two OPPO HA-1 USB AUDIO 2.0 DAC showing
One is stand alone and the other listed under sound, video and game controllers
 
Otherwise you have a conflict somewhere. I am using win7 64bit
 
May 25, 2015 at 4:48 PM Post #3,463 of 5,414
  If you right click on the Speaker Icon, then click "Playback devices", click on the HA-1 then "Configure" then select "Test" do you get an error message? If yes, and you remove the USB cable connected to the HA-1 and then reconnect it, if you press "Test" again, do you get audio?

THANK YOU! That was all it took. And it explains why it had worked, then didn't, then did, etc.
 
May 25, 2015 at 4:51 PM Post #3,465 of 5,414
  Speakers
2 - OPPO HA-1 USB AUDIO 2.0 DAC
Default device

 That is the DS driver. There is six files listed under driver details like mine.
 
On Device manger you should have two OPPO HA-1 USB AUDIO 2.0 DAC showing
One is stand alone and the other listed under sound, video and game controllers
 
Otherwise you have a conflict somewhere. I am using win7 64bit

I only have one.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top