[ekrauss]

Is this in any way related to the "gurgling" phenomenon experienced by some other posters?

The fact this started happening after you upgraded to iOS 10.3 is telling. Seems that in the iOS update, Apple did something to break compatibility. If this is a widespread problem that renders many people's devices unlistenable, you can bet Apple (and Oppo) will be on it.

 

[grimlock525]

  Wait, you bought a second iPhone, which will be connected to your first iPhone, mainly to avoid the dropouts? 

 
I mean, it looks neat and all, but still.. 

 
I know, it's pretty drastic, but I'm willing to do it because this is the best combination of sound quality and portability for my needs.  I was interested in the Chord Mojo as an alternative, but the bulkiness of the form factor ended up steering me towards the HA-2SE
 
I'm happy to report that there were no dropouts during my ride to work this morning.  I was using the SE tethered to my iPhone via WiFi, streaming Tidal HiFi.  There was one instance where the app paused in order to buffer (due to poor cell signal), but it started playing again automatically after it buffered.
 

 I really can't remember this happening before.. Could someone try and see if it's the same for them? Is the HA2 becoming even less iPhone compatible?

 
I updated to iOS 10.3 last week as soon as it was available on my 6S.  I was actually hoping that it would fix the dropout issue if it was indeed due to some sort of lower-level USB driver behavior as Oppo has claimed.  It did not fix the dropouts, but the sound quality and general performance seemed identical as the previous iOS version, so I have not experienced any degradation in quality.

 

[anticute]

Quote:

   
I know, it's pretty drastic, but I'm willing to do it because this is the best combination of sound quality and portability for my needs.  I was interested in the Chord Mojo as an alternative, but the bulkiness of the form factor ended up steering me towards the HA-2SE
 
I'm happy to report that there were no dropouts during my ride to work this morning.  I was using the SE tethered to my iPhone via WiFi, streaming Tidal HiFi.  There was one instance where the app paused in order to buffer (due to poor cell signal), but it started playing again automatically after it buffered.
 
 
I updated to iOS 10.3 last week as soon as it was available on my 6S.  I was actually hoping that it would fix the dropout issue if it was indeed due to some sort of lower-level USB driver behavior as Oppo has claimed.  It did not fix the dropouts, but the sound quality and general performance seemed identical as the previous iOS version, so I have not experienced any degradation in quality.

 
While to me, it seems like a bit of a hassle, I admire your tenacity!
 
The sound quality issue - weird. I tried my Zuperdac, which didn't have the same problem, and when I reconnected the HA2 it was gone. Thank god.

 

[dennistdk]

   
I know, it's pretty drastic, but I'm willing to do it because this is the best combination of sound quality and portability for my needs.  I was interested in the Chord Mojo as an alternative, but the bulkiness of the form factor ended up steering me towards the HA-2SE

 
The Mojo is actually not that bad in regards to form factor. Don't know if you tried it, but it's really small - surprised me when I got it... 
The sound quality is on another level if you have good headphones (on my HD800 and HD650 it made a crazy difference in clarity and sound stage) - not that the HA-2SE is bad in anyway compared to "normal DAC's" - it had much the same "quality" as my O2+ODAC actually (although with less power, but enough for 300ohm headphones).

 

[ReaperZzZ]

Wow all these posts make me a happy little person sitting in Android world!

@grimlock, welcome to the club!

 

[frustin]

"gurgling" phenomenon
 
If that's in the form of a distortion that makes the music sound like it's slowing down but underwater. I get that occasionally.  Is that only iPhone users?  I have to unplug and plug back in the cable and then press play again on my iphone to remedy that.
 
1/2hour in today and my oppo just cut out again.  I emailed Oppo yesterday:
 

From: Adam - OPPO UK Warehouse / I.T Manager [mailto:warehouse@oppodigital.co.uk]
Sent: 03 April 2017 16:27
To:
Subject: Re: Support Form
 
Hi Justin
Sorry you are experiencing problems with your HA-2SE, Having spoken to our Engineer here, the first thing we would suggest is to try a factory reset on your HA-2 to see if that helps, you mention using a premium cable, but I assume you have tried or used the lightning cable that came with the HA-2SE to begin with?
 

Subject:	Support Form
Date:	Mon, 03 Apr 2017 12:17:27 +0100
To:	service@oppodigital.co.uk

 

 Details of Problem: I've had this for a few weeks now. I'm playing music though my iphone 6s.  Suddenly the music will stop. The only way to start it again is either switching the oppo off using the volume control or unplugging the cable and plugging it back in again and then pressing play on the iphone.

 I've tried several cables now and the current one is a "Zeskit Lightning to USB Cable" which i believe is a premium cable, but that does the same thing.

 Mostly my phone and oppo just sit on my desk.

 

[anticute]

  "gurgling" phenomenon
 
If that's in the form of a distortion that makes the music sound like it's slowing down but underwater. I get that occasionally.  Is that only iPhone users?  I have to unplug and plug back in the cable and then press play again on my iphone to remedy that.
 
1/2hour in today and my oppo just cut out again.  I emailed Oppo yesterday:
 

Oh, that. I had forgotten about that issue, since I haven't used it in a long time. It used to happen every once in a while..

 

[frustin]

Sent Oppo another email saying that even after factory reset, drop outs still occur.
 
Ill wait for their stock cable to turn up and try that, but i have my doubts.
 
Quote:

  Hi Justin
The HA-2SE is designed to work with the OPPO cables supplied, so I'm not entirely sure the compatibility of third party cables. However as you mention the cable you got with the HA-2SE was loose, I can send you a replacement lightning cable in the post.
Please could you email back with your full postal address.
 
Many Thanks.
 
On 04/04/2017 09:01, Justin wrote:
The lightening cable that came with the ha-2se had a loose connection and caused a similar problem.
 
I’ve also used iPhone charger cables.
 
I’ve “factory reset” the device but I’m afraid that did not fix the problem.  This morning, half-hour after starting to play music it cut out again.  

 

[anticute]

A lot of us has tried a lot of cables, Oppo original included, and AFAIK, using the original cable doesn't resolve the problem at all.
 
They are still blaming the cable, then? Not a good sign...

 

[frustin]

that's ok, because i'll try their new cable and when that doesnt work i'll write to them again.

 

[jegnyc]

  that's ok, because i'll try their new cable and when that doesnt work i'll write to them again.

Did you mention to Oppo that you had moved to iOS 10.3.
 
There's another thread where two people started to have problems after they updated.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/843029/oppo-ha-2-dropouts-on-ios10-3

 

[anticute]

  Did you mention to Oppo that you had moved to iOS 10.3.
 
There's another thread where two people started to have problems after they updated.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/843029/oppo-ha-2-dropouts-on-ios10-3

This is not going in the right direction
 
Sent Oppo another email earlier today. It's been two months without an update, let's see what they say this time.

 

[anticute]

So I did get an update from Oppo, two months later and having had to ask for it. Here you go. It's not good news. 
 

Unfortunately this is not something that we will likely be able to resolve through a firmware of the HA-2 or the HA-2SE. This kind of interference is going to be hardware related, so you would need to use a longer Lightning cable so the HA-2SE is further aware from the iOS device, or we would need to redesign the HA-2SE to compensate for the increased signal noise of iOS 10. Unfortunately there are no plans on refreshing the HA-2 again as the SE was released only a couple of months ago.
 
Best Regards, 

Customer Service 
OPPO Digital, Inc.  162 Constitution Dr.
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Service@oppodigital.com 
Tel: 650-961-1118 
Fax: 650-961-1119

 
So there we are. [many many expletives here, use your imagination]

 

[inertianinja]

  So I did get an update from Oppo, two months later and having had to ask for it. Here you go. It's not good news. 
 
 
So there we are. [many many expletives here, use your imagination]

 
Well there goes that.
 
I wonder if additional shielding could be added to the inside of the housing?

 

[anticute]

Apple changed how much amplification power the iDevice can use in order to retain a solid signal for data, which predates our certification and testing of the HA-2 and HA-2SE.  Because of these changes being mechanical in nature to the input interface of the HA-2 and HA-2SE, it is not likely that we can have our firmware upgraded to fix the issue and is not likely that Apple will return their iDevices to previous specifications to make it compatible with the HA-2 and HA-2SE.
 
So if you find that a longer Lightning cable is still resulting in the disconnects, there is nothing that we can do at this time to resolve the issue. 
 
Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
162 Constitution Dr.
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Service@oppodigital.com
Tel: 650-961-1118
Fax: 650-961-1119