[frodeni]

  Newbie here: WOW. I literally didn't know headphone amps/dacs could be this expensive. 
 
How much of a difference are you going to experience with OPPA-HA-1 (or any expensive alternative) versus a $150 option ? 

 
I am afraid only you might answer that. As for anything hifi, the chain from source to can must match.
 
The thing about the Oppo, is that you can safely use whatever can you want, apart from something like a Stax, as they need dedicated amps. For the top end cans, it is a fairly good match.
 
It also needs some love, as in a great source, to sound its best.
 
Some people would disagree with everything I just wrote, as they do not hear any difference. To me that is crazy, if you love music: The differences are distinct and clear. Which brings us back to what you find yourself. Some people, like me, love the Oppo, others find it too poor sounding, while others find it a waste of money, as it sound like any other DAC. 
 
My only advice, would be never to by anything without some form of return policy.
 
Going by your posting history, you appear to be into gaming. The Oppo has both USB and toslink inputs, but no gaming tech for it XMOS driver used for USB. If you want any gaming tech for sound on your PC, you will need to use another sound card for that, and feed it into the oppo. Personally, I think that is a waste, compared to a great PC sound card. The sound in games, is not that great to begin with.
 
The Oppo makes sense for uncompressed music at 16/44.1 and beyond.

 

[mithrandir38]

Thanks for the info. 

I only use my headphones for PC (music/gaming) and I was going to buy a high-end $400 soundcard but it seems the obvious/better choice would be to put that $400 towards an amp/dac.   

Consider the schiit audio Magni/Modi uber combo. Great quality, great price.

 

[urbino]

On page 8, the User Manual says: "Never use any adapter to connect the balanced headphone jack to a single-ended headphone."
 
So, what defines a "single-ended" headphone?  
 
According to a debate I was reading in the Science section the other day, either every headphone (and speaker) is single-ended, or there's no such thing as a single-ended headphone (or speaker), depending on who was talking.
 
If a headphone's input jack is single-ended, does that mean the headphone is SE?  If so, why do people buy aftermarket cables with a balanced XLR termination on the amplifier end?  And what is such a cable doing that's different from just getting a balanced-SE adapter and using the factory cable from there?
 
Basically, I'm trying to figure out what headphones I could use with the balanced jack on the HA-1.

 

[x RELIC x]

On page 8, the User Manual says: "Never use any adapter to connect the balanced headphone jack to a single-ended headphone."

So, what defines a "single-ended" headphone?  

According to a debate I was reading in the Science section the other day, either every headphone (and speaker) is single-ended, or there's no such thing as a single-ended headphone (or speaker), depending on who was talking.

If a headphone's input jack is single-ended, does that mean the headphone is SE?  If so, why do people buy aftermarket cables with a balanced XLR termination on the amplifier end?  And what is such a cable doing that's different from just getting a balanced-SE adapter and using the factory cable from there?

Basically, I'm trying to figure out what headphones I could use with the balanced jack on the HA-1.

Single ended headphone connections share a common ground with the L- and R- signal and seperate L+ and R+. Balanced signals do not share a common ground and carry a L+ L- and a R+ R- separately. If you try to connect a single ended headphone to a balanced output you will more than likely short the amp and something will be damaged.

There are numerus articles on the subject if you just look around.

Basically a single ended headphone plug has the R- and L- in one wire (ground) and the R+ and L+ in a seperate wire each (3 total) so therefore needs to be connected to the single ended 3 pole TRS jack. A balanced connector has a L- and L+ and R- and R+ in four seperate wires and therefore needs to be connected to the balanced output, which comes in a variety of plug configurations including TRRS, XLR, mini XLR, and specialty configurations for the Pono and Sony DAPs.

Usually a balanced output has more power, and with common mode noise rejection can sound cleaner than a single ended connection. In the case of the Oppo HA-1 the balanced output has 4X the output power of the single ended output. If you have headphone with seperate connectors for the left and right cups then more than likely you can convert them to balanced headphones.

 

[urbino]

Single ended headphone connections share a common ground with the L- and R- signal and seperate L+ and R+. Balanced signals do not share a common ground and carry a L+ L- and a R+ R- separately. If you try to connect a single ended headphone to a balanced output you will more than likely short the amp and something will be damaged.

There are numerus articles on the subject if you just look around.

Basically a single ended headphone plug has the R- and L- in one wire (ground) and the R+ and L+ in a seperate wire each (3 total) so therefore needs to be connected to the single ended 3 pole TRS jack. A balanced connector has a L- and L+ and R- and R+ in four seperate wires and therefore needs to be connected to the balanced output, which comes in a variety of plug configurations including TRRS, XLR, mini XLR, and specialty configurations for the Pono and Sony DAPs.

Usually a balanced output has more power, and with common mode noise rejection can sound cleaner than a single ended connection. In the case of the Oppo HA-1 the balanced output has 4X the output power of the single ended output. If you have headphone with seperate connectors for the left and right cups then more than likely you can convert them to balanced headphones.

 
Thanks.

 

[brodjagabr1]

http://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/report/dac/oppo-ha-1.php
 
good info, but in russian

 

[yogibeezwax]

I had the exact same problem some weeks ago.  The problem went away for a while, but came back a few days later.  The problem also goes away after about 15min of warm up (the volume would suddenly go back to normal).  Oppo replaced the unit.  


My second unit have a similar issue (less than 2 weeks old).  But for me, the right channel is louder than the left, and there's no mixing/panning as I raise the volume.  (I have tried the troubleshooting methods that the previous posts have suggested. The right channel is always louder.) 

I really hope it's not a problem with the whole batch.  Both units are silver and manufactured in August 2014 (edit: last four digits of serial numbers are ...3162 and ...3169).  What's the manufacturing month of your silver unit?  Oppo is sending a new one to me today, so I think it's too late to change it to a black unit. 

In a way, I'm glad someone else is having the same issue.  I was afraid I was using the HA-1 in a wrong way or something.  

Did you finally get a HA-1 that wasn't defective? I ask because I sent in mine for repair and was sent a new (black version March 2014 batch) haven't had time to really let it burn in yet but I had the unbalance between the right & left channel (right channel being louder for 30min then levelled itself out)
I really hope the fixed it this time! Just thought it was weird that they sent me an older batch...thought that they would send the latest.
What year & month do you guys have?

 

[polecrab]

I also had this channel imbalance and volume control problem that would go away after warmup. I have a black unit from September 2014. In my case they didn't send me a new unit but replaced some of the parts (the main board and potentiometer if I remember correctly) in the defective one. I've had 2 months of trouble free operation since that fix. The problem only seemed to happen when the room temperature got down into the low 60s, which may never happen for many users.

 

[lmf22]

Did you finally get a HA-1 that wasn't defective? I ask because I sent in mine for repair and was sent a new (black version March 2014 batch) haven't had time to really let it burn in yet but I had the unbalance between the right & left channel (right channel being louder for 30min then levelled itself out)
I really hope the fixed it this time! Just thought it was weird that they sent me an older batch...thought that they would send the latest.
What year & month do you guys have?

 
I did get a replacement unit and it works perfectly. The replacement unit was manufactured in June 2014. 
I sold the HA-1 a while ago (got the Simaudio Moon 230 HAD), and the new owner is not have any problems with the volume control. 

 

[yogibeezwax]

I also had this channel imbalance and volume control problem that would go away after warmup. I have a black unit from September 2014. In my case they didn't send me a new unit but replaced some of the parts (the main board and potentiometer if I remember correctly) in the defective one. I've had 2 months of trouble free operation since that fix. The problem only seemed to happen when the room temperature got down into the low 60s, which may never happen for many users.

I did get a replacement unit and it works perfectly. The replacement unit was manufactured in June 2014. 
I sold the HA-1 a while ago (got the Simaudio Moon 230 HAD), and the new owner is not have any problems with the volume control. 

Well that's great I'm really hoping that mine will be a success story too, had to pay $150 to have it shipped to the States from Sweden...don't want to do that again.
Thanks for your input guys! Appreciate it!

 

[Allanmarcus]

Hi. I just got an HA-1 and I have a few questions. Hopefully you all can help me out.
 

• When I dim the screen the volume info keeps coming up, sometime flickering between two numbers. I'm not touching the volume, so why is this happening? How can I stop it?
• When using the remote to change the volume, the HA-1 seems to want to change it by what it thinks is 1/2 a decibel. This is very annoying. Is there a way to to just have the volume increase when I press the + button and decrease when I press the - button? You know, like every other remote in existence?
• Headphone amplification from the RCA analog inputs is really low. When I use an analog input (line level) I have to put the volume on 100 with balanced headphones to get a moderate volume. When I plug the same RCA jacks into my NAD D3020 I get normal volume.
• When I switch from normal gain to high gain, the volume knob slowly moves to 0 and is locked there. If I increase the volume, nothing happens and the knob moves back to 0. How can I increase the volume after switching from normal to high gain? So far the only solution seems to be to turn the unit off, then on again. That cannot be right.

 
I like the sleek, modern look of the Oppo and the feature set, so I'm hoping there are responses to the issues above.
 
Many thanks,
 
Allan

 

[MRC001]

  Hi. I just got an HA-1 and I have a few questions. Hopefully you all can help me out.
 

• When I dim the screen the volume info keeps coming up, sometime flickering between two numbers. I'm not touching the volume, so why is this happening? How can I stop it?
• When using the remote to change the volume, the HA-1 seems to want to change it by what it thinks is 1/2 a decibel. This is very annoying. Is there a way to to just have the volume increase when I press the + button and decrease when I press the - button? You know, like every other remote in existence?
• Headphone amplification from the RCA analog inputs is really low. When I use an analog input (line level) I have to put the volume on 100 with balanced headphones to get a moderate volume. When I plug the same RCA jacks into my NAD D3020 I get normal volume.
• When I switch from normal gain to high gain, the volume knob slowly moves to 0 and is locked there. If I increase the volume, nothing happens and the knob moves back to 0. How can I increase the volume after switching from normal to high gain? So far the only solution seems to be to turn the unit off, then on again. That cannot be right.

  Allan

1. The volume display is digital yet the volume knob is analog. When the volume knob is at a position exactly halfway between 2 display steps, the display can occasionally flicker as it switches back and forth between the step just above and the step just below. The volume isn't changing, this is just the display. When this happens simply move the volume knob a tiny smidge up or down.
2. The remote volume control on mine works the same way everyone other volume remote works.
3. If you have to turn up the volume too high, use high gain mode. Or is this an issue with the analog RCA (unbalanced) input? Try different components and CDs plugged into it. If they're ALL very low in level compared to the other inputs, then something is wrong. On my HA-1, the analog RCA (unbalanced) input is about the same level as all the other inputs.
4. When I switch from low to high gain it auto-lowers the volume setting. This takes 1-2 seconds. When it's done I can set the volume anywhere I want.
 
PS I've had my HA-1 for several months now and it is absolutely fantastic, both the headphone output and the balanced line level outputs. It's the best sounding DAC & preamp I have ever heard with transparency comparable to a passive ladder stepped attenuator.

 

[Allanmarcus]

 
Hi. I just got an HA-1 and I have a few questions. Hopefully you all can help me out.

1. When I dim the screen the volume info keeps coming up, sometime flickering between two numbers. I'm not touching the volume, so why is this happening? How can I stop it?
2. When using the remote to change the volume, the HA-1 seems to want to change it by what it thinks is 1/2 a decibel. This is very annoying. Is there a way to to just have the volume increase when I press the + button and decrease when I press the - button? You know, like every other remote in existence?
3. Headphone amplification from the RCA analog inputs is really low. When I use an analog input (line level) I have to put the volume on 100 with balanced headphones to get a moderate volume. When I plug the same RCA jacks into my NAD D3020 I get normal volume.
4. When I switch from normal gain to high gain, the volume knob slowly moves to 0 and is locked there. If I increase the volume, nothing happens and the knob moves back to 0. How can I increase the volume after switching from normal to high gain? So far the only solution seems to be to turn the unit off, then on again. That cannot be right.

 
Allan

1. The volume display is digital yet the volume knob is analog. When the volume knob is at a position exactly halfway between 2 display steps, the display can occasionally flicker as it switches back and forth between the step just above and the step just below. The volume isn't changing, this is just the display. When this happens simply move the volume knob a tiny smidge up or down.
2. The remote volume control on mine works the same way everyone other volume remote works.
3. If you have to turn up the volume too high, use high gain mode. Or is this an issue with the analog RCA (unbalanced) input? Try different components and CDs plugged into it. If they're ALL very low in level compared to the other inputs, then something is wrong. On my HA-1, the analog RCA (unbalanced) input is about the same level as all the other inputs.
4. When I switch from low to high gain it auto-lowers the volume setting. This takes 1-2 seconds. When it's done I can set the volume anywhere I want.

PS I've had my HA-1 for several months now and it is absolutely fantastic, both the headphone output and the balanced line level outputs. It's the best sounding DAC & preamp I have ever heard with transparency comparable to a passive ladder stepped attenuator.

Thanks. Sounds like I may have purchased a defective used HA-1. I guess I'll call oppo and see it they will repair it, or if they have any ideas. Otherwise I might have to eat the shipping and return it and be hopeful,the seller will take it back.

 

[Allanmarcus]

OK, regarding the volume on the remote. It seems that if I just tap the volume up/down, the Oppo will adjust the volume by 1/2 db increments. If I hold the volume a little longer than a tap, the volume with adjust for the time that I'm holding the volume. This is really easy to replicate: just turn the oppo on and don't play music, then adjust the volume with the remote. I have a fairly old HA-1 (July 2014) and this might be an issue with the older models. 

 

[Mojo777]

Has anyone connected a turntable to the HA-1? Any impressions? I am kicking around the idea as I want to listen to my LP's with headphones and my integrated amp does not have a HP out.
 
It should just pass through the analog signal, right?