Hooster
Headphoneus Supremus
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- Nov 4, 2010
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+1, I think the amp section is the star of the HA-1.
The HA-1 has nearly perfectly neutral response with vanishingly low distortion and gobs of power, so you hear whatever the headphone really sounds like. But it's fully balanced all the way through from digital to analog. So to experience its full sound you need to use the balanced headphone output. The SE output is very good, but not as clean or powerful.I briefly got to try the hd800s through the ha-1 se output and was not impressed. Whats the general consensus with the hd800/s with ha-1 do they pair well?
Would the lcd2/X/3 be a better match?
The HA-1 has nearly perfectly neutral response with vanishingly low distortion and gobs of power, so you hear whatever the headphone really sounds like. But it's fully balanced all the way through from digital to analog. So to experience its full sound you need to use the balanced headphone output. The SE output is very good, but not as clean or powerful.
The HD-800 has a sharp response spike around 4-6 kHz, giving the sound an artificial brightness. This can be a useful analytical tool, as it magnifies treble detail exposing any flaws. But for music listening I find it annoying because the brightness makes it fatiguing to listen to and the voicing of acoustic instruments sounds unnatural. However, those who like a super detailed bright sound will like the HA-1 + HD-800.
The Audeze LCD-2, 3 and 4 all have a similar FR that is near-perfectly flat from subsonic to around 2 kHz, but gets non-linear from 3 kHz on up. Due to their flat bass to midrange response, they voice acoustic instruments and voices more realistically and naturally than the HD-800 or almost any other headphone. But their non-linear treble response puts them on the soft/warm side and makes them less detailed.
Rather than repeat myself...
https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/oppo-ha-1-impressions-thread.717834/page-89#post-10756087
When I saved up for almost a year to buy my HD800's, and even though some here and in other forums warned that the 800's were, well you all know the reputation the senns have had over the years. It turns out that the HA-1, paired with Schiit Audio's multi bit Bifrost is 'the' best I've heard with the HD800. I bought a balanced cable for them and was seriously satisfied with my purchase. Even with the Bimby and all my other amps, the HA-1 wins by a large margin. zilch0md, thank you for your post concerning the power output of the HA-1. I would like to add that when I queried Oppo about the 300 ohm rating of the amp, here is their reply:
Unfortunately we do not have measurements for 300Ohm headphones, but it will likely be around 1000 to 1200mW per channel using the balanced output.
Best Regards,
Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
Paired with the Multibit Bifrost and the amp section of the HA-1 the 800's are very very special in every way. I am going the keep the HA-1 forever and of course that goes for the HD800's as well.
cheers
Well said. Part of the reason I like the HA-1 so much is most of my listening is natural acoustic music. Ancient to modern, small to large ensembles, Eurpoean classical and traditional world/ethnic. I occasionally listen to dark metal (for example Swans The Seer). That music is sonically intense and fatiguing, it can make you want to rip the headphones off your head, but to be fair this may be the HA-1 being faithful - that's how this music is supposed to sound.The HA-1 is tough to get centered. It's not just not that kind of amp/dac. It's not apologetic in the least. It is just such a clean, neutral, and dynamic amp/dac that it can be a bit too brilliant with certain headphones. Fortunately, the Alpha Dog, rp 50 mk3, and elear I have are suited very well for it's character. Next up on the hit parade will be the AEON. Looking forward to that one. I do find though, that the HA-1 has preference for certain genres of music. It is absolutely brilliantly perfect for classical in both PCM and DSD presenting strings, horns and voices in concert hall clarity. It does rock with the depth and outright force necessary to make the genre shine, it does female and male vocals with texture and ambiance, and god knows if you are in to progressive, this is the amp/dac of your dreams. However, somehow, some way, if you put on dark metal with roaring vocals or for that matter ANY overly driven or headroom deprived source it will drive you to rip it off your head and throw it against the wall fatigue. The ESS Sabre is obviously just not a good pairing for that genre. I have schitt and teac as well and they just don't do this. They also don't do the others as well as the HA-1 either so it's a trade off. It is truly sad that they ditched the HA-1. My guess is that it will be a classic and demand large resale sums eventually. It was a bargain at its original price.
Hi all, is v-1.43 the latest firmware for the HA-1? Has anyone had Oppo Support send them a firwmare update within the past couple months and can confirm v-1.43 is the latest firmware?
Cheers
the last version I have and the current version from OPPO's site are the same. driver version 3.26.0 and revision version 1.33. Nothing was ever sent from Oppo support to me.