[TimeLord]

Complete novice here (excuse my ignorance). Have just recieved my HA-2 to join my iPhone 6+ and ATH MSR7 headphones. Am interested in two products to compliment them. The AudioQuest Jitterbug - to sightly improve sound quality; and The iFi Audio Nano iCan to get more soundstage using its 3D function. Has anyone paired any of these two with the HA-2? Any suggestions thoughts advice?

I haven't tried pairing the HA-2 with the iCan, but it does seem redundant. The HA-2's amp works well and if you need it, the bass boost function is effective without bleeding too much into the other parts of the sound spectrum. I'm more of a purist and eschew DSPs and other manipulations, so I rarely use the bass boost.

Which brings us to the only difference I can see between the iCan and the HA-2: 3D holographic sound. This falls squarely in the manipulation category and I would stay away from it. Let the music speak for itself.

I think you'll get a very minimal feature from the iCan than what you already have in the HA-2, so my advice is to save the money for a future upgrade (and there will be one, lol).

As for the Jitterbug, I have a similar product, the Schiit Wyrd. It's useful if you have a computer that has a dirty USB. Otherwise, it won't make any difference. If you're using the iPhone 6 as a transport to feed the HA-2, you definitely don't need the Jitterbug.

 

[davesouthafrica]

Good advice, thanks for saving this noobs' molla

 

[xatnys]

I just got one of these - sound quality is pretty good, but there is something that I'm finding to be incredibly infuriating. I'm using the HA-2 both on my desktop and my phone and I'm noticing the same effect as cited here - http://www.head-fi.org/t/755879/oppo-ha-2-portable-headphone-amplifier-dac-discussion-thread/2625#post_12187042
 
That is, when the HA-2 stops receiving any audio input for a short time it goes into a suspend state where it then has a ~2-3 second startup latency. I'm seeing it both on my Android based phone and on my Windows based desktop. The result of that is when browsing videos or music, if you wait long enough and start playing something new, you can miss the first few seconds of audio.
 
It's great when it starts going, but has anyone found a way to just allow it to continuously receive signal?
 
I've been timing just how long the HA-2 waits until it audibly cuts off signal (there's a distinct pop when it opens the circuit) by observing how much time elapses from the time all audio clients (WDM and ASIO in my case) are at 0 meaning there is nothing from my system pushing audio to the HA-2. It seems to be almost exactly 35 seconds. From there it takes about 3 seconds for it to startup and receive audio again.

 

[aurum]

I've been looking for a solution for a long time to get the HA-2 to work with my HTC 10, and I couldnt find one on the net or through Oppo. Its a simple solution, and probably most have figured it out, but here goes...
 
Here is what doesnt work - a USB C to Micro USB adapter that is then connected to the Micro-USB to Micro USB connecter provided by Oppo. The phone doesnt even recognize that a DAC is connected to it. 
 

 
Here is what works - A USB C OTG cable that is connected to a regular USB to micro USB that is connected to the Oppo. The phone recognizes the DAC, gives an ominous warning that it is charging the DAC, and then does its job. I have some issues with the volume, but it works. 
 

 

[rsail]

I've been looking for a solution for a long time to get the HA-2 to work with my HTC 10, and I couldnt find one on the net or through Oppo. Its a simple solution, and probably most have figured it out, but here goes...

Here is what doesnt work - a USB C to Micro USB adapter that is then connected to the Micro-USB to Micro USB connecter provided by Oppo. The phone doesnt even recognize that a DAC is connected to it. 




Here is what works - A USB C OTG cable that is connected to a regular USB to micro USB that is connected to the Oppo. The phone recognizes the DAC, gives an ominous warning that it is charging the DAC, and then does its job. I have some issues with the volume, but it works. 

Arum, I also have a HTC 10. I purchased a USB C to USB micro B cable on amazon which does work like the setup you have. However, I too get the ominous warning that the phone is charging the DAC. Until recently, the notification that came up on the phone when the DAC plugged into the phone gave me the option to chose no charging of the DAC (the peripheral device). Then a couple of weeks ago, there was a Verizon update, and now I cannot chose to stop the phone from charging the peripheral USB device (the DAC). Now the phone battery drains quickly, and I can tell from the green lights that the HA 2 is being charged. On the HTC 10, were you ever able to chose not to charge the DAC?

 

[aurum]

Arum, I also have a HTC 10. I purchased a USB C to USB micro B cable on amazon which does work like the setup you have. However, I too get the ominous warning that the phone is charging the DAC. Until recently, the notification that came up on the phone when the DAC plugged into the phone gave me the option to chose no charging of the DAC (the peripheral device). Then a couple of weeks ago, there was a Verizon update, and now I cannot chose to stop the phone from charging the peripheral USB device (the DAC). Now the phone battery drains quickly, and I can tell from the green lights that the HA 2 is being charged. On the HTC 10, were you ever able to chose not to charge the DAC?

Not really, rsail. It's not a great situation, but I'll live with that for now. I'm just happy that the HA-2 is not a brick anymore. I can always charge the phone back with the HA-2 in a pinch. If you figure it out, let me know. 

 

[abm0]

  Not really, rsail. It's not a great situation, but I'll live with that for now.

That's what I was going to ask. So you can't really stop it from charging from your phone with that setup, not by using a software setting at the phone end. Then all that's left is the micro-USB OTG solution that works at the HA-2 end: a USB-C OTG cable should be connected somehow to a micro-USB Type-B OTG cable so that the micro-B OTG connector (with ID pin shorted to GND) goes into the HA-2 and the non-OTG connector at the other end goes to the USB-C cable (which I assume also has some kind of non-OTG connector at the non-phone end). So OTG connectors into both devices and non-OTG connectors in the middle.
 
I for one hate the idea of it charging from my phone, not only because the phone is the main device I want to keep charged and available as much as possible, but also because UAPP goes nuts if I connect the HA-2 with a charging-enabled cable while the app is already running: it just goes into an endless loop of popups telling me that the USB device has been connected, disconnected, error initializing, bla bla.

 

[rsail]

That's what I was going to ask. So you can't really stop it from charging from your phone with that setup, not by using a software setting at the phone end. Then all that's left is the micro-USB OTG solution that works at the HA-2 end: a USB-C OTG cable should be connected somehow to a micro-USB Type-B OTG cable so that the micro-B OTG connector (with ID pin shorted to GND) goes into the HA-2 and the non-OTG connector at the other end goes to the USB-C cable (which I assume also has some kind of non-OTG connector at the non-phone end). So OTG connectors into both devices and non-OTG connectors in the middle.

I for one hate the idea of it charging from my phone, not only because the phone is the main device I want to keep charged and available as much as possible, but also because UAPP goes nuts if I connect the HA-2 with a charging-enabled cable while the app is already running: it just goes into an endless loop of popups telling me that the USB device has been connected, disconnected, error initializing, bla bla.

As I said, I when I first had my HTC 10 (running marshmallow), the notification had two options and one was to not charge the usb peripheral device - worked beautifully. After a recent update, that option just disappeared. There doesn't seem to be any way to change the USB peripheral charging setting now. I may just get an old micro USB phone (or ipod) to use with the HA 2. I use it mostly at home, and the HTC 10 has great audio quality for the gym or when travelling.

 

[jabromusic]

it looks like both oppo and amazon are sold out of the HA-2 at the moment and you can only get them at inflated prices from 3rd party sellers.  does anyone know if they are going to replentish their stock or does oppo have something new up their sleeve?

 

[miketlse]

  it looks like both oppo and amazon are sold out of the HA-2 at the moment and you can only get them at inflated prices from 3rd party sellers.  does anyone know if they are going to replentish their stock or does oppo have something new up their sleeve?

not all amazon are sold out https://www.amazon.fr/OPPO-na-HA-2/dp/B00U1PQVWU
 
The oppo was launched 18 months ago, which is a long time for the electronics industry, where updated models get released every year.
So it is plausible that oppo may be selling the last batch of HA 2, ready for an updated version. If yes, then surely they will release it soon, in order to capitalise on the christmas present sales rush.

 

[TimeLord]

  it looks like both oppo and amazon are sold out of the HA-2 at the moment and you can only get them at inflated prices from 3rd party sellers.  does anyone know if they are going to replentish their stock or does oppo have something new up their sleeve?
 

  not all amazon are sold out https://www.amazon.fr/OPPO-na-HA-2/dp/B00U1PQVWU
 
The oppo was launched 18 months ago, which is a long time for the electronics industry, where updated models get released every year.
So it is plausible that oppo may be selling the last batch of HA 2, ready for an updated version. If yes, then surely they will release it soon, in order to capitalise on the christmas present sales rush.

 
 
In the past, Amazon did not always have a reliable stock of the HA-2. However, I just checked Oppo's site and they are showing the HA-2 as out of stock. They only have some refurbs at $239, which is a nice deal if you don't already have one.
 
An update does indeed seem to be imminent.

 

[musickid]

With regards to battery life if i start with a fully charged HA2 that is itself being rapid charged while connected into my imac usb and used it for say 3 or 4 hours would i be right in saying the battery power would remain more or less constant as it would be using juice on side and charging on the other? im looking for something to use both at home and on the move. i frequently have the headphones on for more than 4 hours in one sitting at home. thanks to all.

 

[abm0]

  With regards to battery life if i start with a fully charged HA2 that is itself being rapid charged while connected into my imac usb and used it for say 3 or 4 hours would i be right in saying the battery power would remain more or less constant as it would be using juice on side and charging on the other? im looking for something to use both at home and on the move. i frequently have the headphones on for more than 4 hours in one sitting at home. thanks to all.

A fully charged lithium-anything battery will not accept any kind of "rapid" charge method. All lithium-based batteries charge in the same slow way upwards of 80%-90% or so (you can see that on the HA-2 when its 4th LED goes from fast blinking to slow blinking, like 2 Hz to 1 Hz or something).
 
But aside from that, any modern charging circuit that sees the client device as "awake" and in full usage would redirect most of the power to the device itself for direct consumption and cut the battery off from the device in order to charge it separately with the remaining portion (if any) of the total available current. Draining and charging the battery at the same time would be very stressful and damaging for its internals, and the manufacturers caught on to that a number of years ago and worked around it.
 
But yes, the battery would remain pretty much continuously full, as it wouldn't be used to power the device and thus it would only drain very very little, the way batteries drain when they're sitting unused, and if it dropped by enough to activate the charger it would immediately receive some trickle-charge and get back up to full.
 
My only concern with this method of usage would be that lithium-based batteries don't "like" to stay full for very long, meaning they lose capacity faster in that case than if you stored them only half-charged. According to Battery University, after 1 year of storage at room temperature a fully-charged lithium battery will only have 80% of its initial usable capacity, whereas a battery charged at only 40% before storage will still have 96% usable capacity - see Table 3 here. (You could improve these numbers by keeping the battery refrigerated - not frozen! - but I'm pretty sure nobody's going to keep their HA-2 in the fridge during usage just for this. )
 
My preference is to use it on its own battery when it starts out full (with a combined OTG + USB-A cable to the PC) and only connect it in charge mode when it gets low or drains completely (depending on how long an uninterrupted listening session happens to last). As I understand, doing multiple charge-discharge cycles degrades the battery's capacity less than does keeping it full and continuously topped-off for a very long time.

 

[arftech]

  I went with the OPPO HA-2 with my iphone 6 and a docking case which is pretty cool. Keeps everything clean and compact.
 
This is the docking case
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H2DX5UE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I sure wish there was a case solution for iPhone 7 Plus users.  Currently, I have the 6 Plus but pre-ordered the 7 Plus 256GB.

 

[m st k]

I sure wish there was a case solution for iPhone 7 Plus users.  Currently, I have the 6 Plus but pre-ordered the 7 Plus 256GB.

I'm sorry but I couldn't imagine lugging around a plus and an amp, the nice thing about the iPhone is that it is the same size as the ha2. Or were you using it as a stand?