Oppo HA-2 SE
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Priyajeet
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I have tried it with the pixel, and it works. The wiring is a nuisance though. You can either get something like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0151RKYBG that attaches to the existing cable OR something like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E0NC3I4 which is the full cable. I have both, both approaches work and am currently using the latter.
PS: I have an HA2-SE, not sure about the HA2 but highly doubt that's any different when working with an Android device.
LazerBear
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That's interesting.. why
That's interesting, why is it the case? Is the Oppo-supplied micro to micro USB cable not standard?
I don't have an HA2 yet, obviously, but I can't think of any reason why one of those small micro usb-B to usb-C adapters wouldn't work. I use one regularly to plug my old micro usb cables into my Type-C cellphone for data and charging. Perhaps someone else can confirm this..
EDIT: Just realized Priyajeet has just posted this exact solution!
That's interesting, why is it the case? Is the Oppo-supplied micro to micro USB cable not standard?
I don't have an HA2 yet, obviously, but I can't think of any reason why one of those small micro usb-B to usb-C adapters wouldn't work. I use one regularly to plug my old micro usb cables into my Type-C cellphone for data and charging. Perhaps someone else can confirm this..
EDIT: Just realized Priyajeet has just posted this exact solution!
cyrilyoung4ever
Head-Fier
hello, i purchased the oppo ha-2 se and happy with it for my audeze lcd-3, el-8 and hd 600 as a portable device. i am looking to purchase a hd 800s and wondering if anyone have the experience of ha-2se with the hd800s. the reason why i am asking is i am trying to decide if i should return it and get a mojo instead. thanks!
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From the perspective of being capable of driving the HD800, the HA-2 SE was able to accomplish the task. On a modern recording FLAC with the iPhone set to about 80% and the SE's pot at 4, the volume peaked at 80.6 dB(A). With the iPhone at 100% and the SE volume pot fully turned up, the volume peaked at 108 dB(A); Way too much for listening.
If you're looking to improve the sound, then the Mojo can do that, but the SE is capable of driving the array of headphones you have. If you don't already have a desktop setup, that's where I would tell you to invest instead of portable gear. Given the headphones you own or are about to own, they would benefit from a good desktop setup.
cyrilyoung4ever
Head-Fier
thanks for the advice TimeLord! I do have a woo audio wa7 with the tube power supply for home use that i am quite happy with (especially with my pre-fazor lcd-3). the ha-2se (or the possible mojo) is just for when i am not at home and use together with my el-8 closed. so far i have been happy with the combo. maybe i will stick with them for now (unless i see a big sale on on mojo, which i doubt..).
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Very nice. I have the WA7 with the tube power as well. That pairs well with the HD800; it calms down the HD800's treble peaks. What tubes are you running? It took me a while to settle on tubes that optimized the Fireflies. When I ordered the WA7, I ordered the tube power purely out of aesthetic reasons because I didn't think that actually made any sound quality difference.
Boy was I happy my shallow aesthetics considerations won that battle when I finally heard a unit with the standard power supply. It made a huge difference in sound. The next revelation was the power cable... I was using a standard 10 amp computer cable. I switched to an Audio Quest NRG-2 cable rated for 15 amps. It was immediately obvious that the sound was constrained with the old cable. Since Woo doesn't pack a power cable with the WA7, I thought I would mention it in case you made the same mistake.
As for portable, I had been carrying the HA-2 or SE. I recently got a pair of EL-8 Titanium so I started carrying my Sony PHA-3 again. The PHA-3 is bigger so I had been avoiding it, but it is a better unit than the Oppo gear and since I'm already carrying the EL-8 instead of just my compact SE846, it makes little difference to add the PHA-3.
cyrilyoung4ever
Head-Fier
the purchase of the tube power supply was half out of aesthetics concern and the other half out of what woo audio says on its website. they said it would be better and i trusted them lol! i haven't got a chance to hear the standard power supply but now i am curious to find out how much the improvement is. i am currently just using the stock tube on the tube power supply. what do you use and do they make a big impact? i would have thought that the impact would mostly comes from upgrading the tubes for the amp.
funny that you mentioned the cable! i was initially searching for a shorter cable for the el-8c and one thing leads to another i was looking at the ac power cable. i haven't bought one but the nrg-2 is definitely on the list. again i am hoping there will be a sale on them (unlikely?) do you have other suggestion that might be cheaper? thanks!
funny that you mentioned the cable! i was initially searching for a shorter cable for the el-8c and one thing leads to another i was looking at the ac power cable. i haven't bought one but the nrg-2 is definitely on the list. again i am hoping there will be a sale on them (unlikely?) do you have other suggestion that might be cheaper? thanks!
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Well, Woo was telling the truth about the tube power.
Me and another Head-fier who is local to me were both investigating the WA7, so we worked together to test all the combinations. Tube power, SS power, multiple tubes for both the amp and the power supply. None of the sound improvements we found made any sense to me from what I thought I understood about electrical principles. What we found was that tube changes to the power supply made as much a difference as the tube changes to the amplifier.
The best sound we found was with these tubes: For the amp, the gold pin Electro Harmonix upgrade tubes that Woo sells sound the best. For the power supply, I got lucky and Woo packed my unit with a pair of Electro Harmonix 12AU7. Apparently they normally pack the unit with RCA tubes. The Electro Harmonix was the best sounding tube in the power supply that we found. I wouldn't call the sound improvement night and day, but it is definitely noticeable in critical listening.
As for the power cable, I discovered it when I was listening to gear with another Head-fier and he had a pair of Kimber PK10 cables and just for giggles I connected it to another amp I have and nearly fell over at the sound improvement. I looked at the specs of that cable and tried to see if I can build it cheaper because it is pricey; I couldn't get the parts to replicate it. So I figured I'd give the NRG-2 a shot and it had the same sound improvement but it was half the price of the Kimber. I settled on it for my other amp. Then I tried it on the WA7 and sure enough there was an improvement on the Fireflies too, so I just got another one for WA7 too. I haven't tried Audio Quest's lower priced cables, but they may have the same improvements at a lower price point.
cyrilyoung4ever
Head-Fier
i was just looking at the Electro Harmonix 6C45 Gold Plated Pins and it seems they are extremely difficult to find (except for woo audio still have it.) i also came across a post on the bottlehead forum saying that these particular tubes are no longer produced. do you think this is reliable?
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Woo was the only place we could find the gold pin Electro Harmonix. Woo may have well bought out the entire available stock. They were made in Russia so there's no telling what their availability is. eBay, as unreliable as it is, is where I was seeing available tubes.
BTW, we're quite a bit off topic for this thread so we ought to continue the conversation on PM or on the WA7 thread.
I have used the Oppo with more phones that you can ever dream of
Hi Gavin - really enjoyed your review. My ha-2se is in the mail on its way to me, just wondering if you have any experience using it with the galaxy S6. I saw some people were having issues in the original ha-2 thread, and one user mentioned the phone doesn't officially support micro USB OTG audio. Any thoughts? Thanks!
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I used it with my S7 just fine, but I did use the USB Audio Player Pro app to get the best possible sound.
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