[polecrab]

The Yggy sure don't smoke the HA-1 in terms of measurements https://www.stereophile.com/content/schiit-audio-yggdrasil-da-processor-measurements

 

[gameon]

I love my HA-1 With my Audeze LCD-2.2's - I also have a KTE Spring3 dac with BHSE Amp and Stax 009's Awesome pairing.
The HA-1 with the lcd 2.2 is just a different sound but in a good way, great combo. Depends what mood i'm in.
HA-1 Is an excellent piece for the price and functions, and is awesome sounding and good looking to boot....

 

[Canadian411]

I am using my HA1 as a DAC for A5X monitors and Sub.

When I use the "home theater bypass mode" like you suggested, i get distorsin sound from the speakers even when i turn the volume down on the all the way down. The distorshing is the "white noise" sound like "sssshhhhhhhhh... "
Also, that way i can't use the HA1 volume knob.

Am i doing something wrong?

Sub is connected to HA1 through XLR cables and the monitors are connected to the Sub via XLR cables.

You can do that ? I connect Subs and Speakers to receiver and using HA1 as a DAC, I have no noise what so ever.
Maybe your bookshelf speaker ? ribbons are pretty quiete tho. weird. sorry can't help.

 

[StormClaw]

You can do that ? I connect Subs and Speakers to receiver and using HA1 as a DAC, I have no noise what so ever.
Maybe your bookshelf speaker ? ribbons are pretty quiete tho. weird. sorry can't help.

I see no reason to use a receiver. (it's a PC setup)
I use HA1 as a DAC. The Sub/Speaker manual said to connect stuff to Sub first, so that you can control the bass righ from the Sub (you can bypass the Speakers bass and out the bass on the Sub, or balance the bass frequency Hz between Sub and Speakers)

The white noise from the speakers isn't that noticeable, only when you get very close to them.

 

[LarryMagoo]

The Yggy sure don't smoke the HA-1 in terms of measurements https://www.stereophile.com/content/schiit-audio-yggdrasil-da-processor-measurements

Good ol' JA wrote horrible review of the Yggy....he talks outta both sides of his mouth when discussing 24 bit resolution ....read Robert Harley's in the latest Absolute Sound for review that makes sense....

 

[polecrab]

Good ol' JA wrote horrible review of the Yggy....he talks outta both sides of his mouth when discussing 24 bit resolution ....read Robert Harley's in the latest Absolute Sound for review that makes sense....

JA's measurements are the only reason to read Stereophile. Absolute Sound doesn't perform measurements, so there's no useful info there. The subjective reviews in both mags are completely useless, unless you want to learn some purple prose to write a love letter to your honey bun.

 

[avraham]

I bought my HA-1 within 3 months of its release and still love it.

 

[MRC001]

I bought my HA-1 2 years ago, a refurbished unit direct from Oppo, saved a few hundred bucks off retail. Functionally, cosmetically, warranty like new. I still love it, best DAC and preamp I've had. My prior preamp was a 10k ladder stepped attenuator I designed & built myself, the paragon of transparency. That sets a high bar for the HA-1, yet I find the HA-1 is fantastic, both the line stage which I run balanced driving an Adcom 5800 and Magnepan 3.6R speakers, and the headphone output which I run balanced to drive Audeze LCD-2 and occasionally Sennheiser HD-580 headphones.

I've owned and listened to a lot of gear over the nearly 30 years I've been an audiophile; subjectively speaking, the HA-1 is the most neutral and transparent DAC and preamp I've ever heard. And it measures among the best equipment available at any price.

 

[LarryMagoo]

JA's measurements are the only reason to read Stereophile. Absolute Sound doesn't perform measurements, so there's no useful info there. The subjective reviews in both mags are completely useless, unless you want to learn some purple prose to write a love letter to your honey bun.

Yea but in two different places he discusses 24 bit resolution! He said the Yggy sucks because it can't fully resolve 24 bits...firstly No One's DAC can fully resolve 24 bits...there's no music past 20 bits anyway...But that's a whole 'nother topic...

But on another DAC he loves...can't remember the name, but there he says it's OK to not resolve all 24 bits....JA has zero credibility with me no matter many waterfall charts he posts......I know all mags are full of flowery prose for their advertisers...but Atkinson is simply not consistent with his reviews....so his Yggy review carries zero weight for me and many other folks feel the same way...

While I simply love my Oppo gear including my HA-1 (love watching the freq meter from across the room while also being able to see my volume level when listening)...I think it's one of the best HP amps period....

However the ESS 9018 DAC is very harsh/strident compared to my Yggy. I was told that ESS Delta Sigma DAC's (Especially first gen. 9018 that's also in my Oppo 105) sound harsh...but I could never hear that Harshness myself...until I got the R2R DAC, the Schiit Yggdrasil.....I could not believe my ears....!!! The difference was quite large....The music sounded just more "real" . I love my Oppo gear....just not their DACs....the 3rd Gen 9038 is supposed to be better ...still not an R2R DAC...


Cheers!

 

[StormClaw]

While I simply love my Oppo gear including my HA-1 (love watching the freq meter from across the room while also being able to see my volume level when listening)...I think it's one of the best HP amps period....

Same here, mate. I screwing love the graphical equalizer on HA-1, i think i actially like watching it more than listening to the music LOL

 

[polecrab]

Regarding the Yggy 24 bits, JA is saying that it truncates the last 4 bits rather than dithering, resulting in higher distortion than traditional designs:

When you have 24-bit data but 20-bit DACs, you need to dither those data to match the DAC. Otherwise, simply chopping off the 4 LSBs, called "truncation," reintroduces quantizing distortion. Schiit's Jason Stoddard has subsequently said that the Yggdrasil "rounds" 24-bit data but my measurements suggest that the LSBs of 24-bit data are simply truncated.​

However, I have no experience with the Yggy and don't know how it sounds, so I defer to all of you who actually own the piece as much better sources of opinions on it. I'm just repeating info published by JA and can't vouch for it myself.

 

[Raptor34]

Yea but in two different places he discusses 24 bit resolution! He said the Yggy sucks because it can't fully resolve 24 bits...firstly No One's DAC can fully resolve 24 bits...there's no music past 20 bits anyway...But that's a whole 'nother topic...

But on another DAC he loves...can't remember the name, but there he says it's OK to not resolve all 24 bits....JA has zero credibility with me no matter many waterfall charts he posts......I know all mags are full of flowery prose for their advertisers...but Atkinson is simply not consistent with his reviews....so his Yggy review carries zero weight for me and many other folks feel the same way...

While I simply love my Oppo gear including my HA-1 (love watching the freq meter from across the room while also being able to see my volume level when listening)...I think it's one of the best HP amps period....

However the ESS 9018 DAC is very harsh/strident compared to my Yggy. I was told that ESS Delta Sigma DAC's (Especially first gen. 9018 that's also in my Oppo 105) sound harsh...but I could never hear that Harshness myself...until I got the R2R DAC, the Schiit Yggdrasil.....I could not believe my ears....!!! The difference was quite large....The music sounded just more "real" . I love my Oppo gear....just not their DACs....the 3rd Gen 9038 is supposed to be better ...still not an R2R DAC...


Cheers!

Hi. I always use my HA-1 amp section paired with another DAC. The multi-bit Bifrost now and I'm saving up for the Gumby and will still use the HA-1 for amplification. The HA-1's digital section is just ok sound wise. Just getting long on the tooth I guess. The HA-1's class A amp is quite good however and quite powerful. Especially with 300 Ohm loads. I asked Oppo what the 300 Ohm power output rating was (spec sheet only rates it at 600 Ohm) and they replied it was close to 1000 to 1400 mw. It powers my HD800's with authority. The HA-1 is staying right where it sits, forever!!!

Cheers back at yah

 

[nvfan]

Found something interesting today, not sure if it's obvious or already known.

I'd been trying to get my Fiio X7 to work with the Oppo HA-1 for a long time with UAPP but finally gave up, too much noise and crackling sounds. So I hooked up my Samsung S8 to the DAC section of the Oppo HA-1 and youtube and most audio apps just cause the S8 to black screen/crash and reboot. But interestingly, Hibymusic DOES work, doesn't cause my phone to reboot, and the sound is great, so no need for UAPP at all.

Next step is to test Hibymusic on the Fiio X7 to see if you can avoid UAPP altogether with the HA-1, I will try that in a bit.

 

[mr.khali]

Has it been confirmed that there will not be a second generation of the HA-1? I find it very strange Oppo would just stop making such a well regarded DAC/amp especially when they are still making headphones.

 

[OhMyGodPancakes]

Has it been confirmed that there will not be a second generation of the HA-1? I find it very strange Oppo would just stop making such a well regarded DAC/amp especially when they are still making headphones.

My understanding is that the sonica DAC was intended to replace the HA-1. I saw it mentioned that hi-end amplifier users are not the easiest customers to keep happy, and it compared to the HA-2, (HA-1 sales) were dismal. Not to mention the notoriously bad volume nob.