[TimeLord]

had the amp for a few days got about 10 hours of use in or so and can't tell that much difference even on tidal hifi. so don't know if i should return or keep, my old amp was fiio e17. 

i did plan on getting some new better headphones down the line in 6-12 months. would it be the better option then to keep the oppo and wait until my headphones can take more advantage of its good sound? i have b&w p5 series 2 atm. possibly look at the p9 signature or el-8 by audeze. or will i hear more improvements after 50 hours or so as people say give it time to break in/adjust to the sound?

You always get much more SQ improvement from upgrading your headphones than your DAC/amp so you should always get the best headphone you can and then work on improving the DAC/amp. In your case, since you already have the HA-2, it's a tougher call. If it won't cost you anything to return it, then do that and upgrade your headphones.

At the price point you're looking at, there are a lot of choices. So be sure to do a lot of auditioning prior to purchase.

 

[TimeLord]

That obvious huh?

You can power the chromecast puck with the charging function of the Oppo. Then route the chromecast dac out to the line in of the oppo. It becomes a self contained, wireless unit all off the oppo battery.

What would have made this perfect is if oppo had an spdif input, because the chromecast can output optical. Thereby using the oppo dac... Which is a very, very good dac.

I have tried a similar solution before... when the Chromecast Audio first came out, I paired it with a Sound Blaster E5 and an O2 amp. I used the optical out of the Chromecast to feed the E5's optical input and then used the lineout to go to the O2 for amplification. It was decent when it worked, but the lag was unbearable. The bigger the music file, even on a fast wifi network just didn't work well. Hitting next on the player would cause long pauses while it buffered music. I haven't tied it in a while, maybe they've improved the software by now.

With the HA-2 not having optical, I wouldn't want to rely on the Chromecast's DAC...

 

[DLR Group]

Based on everything I have read, the answer is a definite yes.  Bob Katz did an excellent article quite a while back describing his experience with the PM-3 and the Oppo HA-2, before the SE version came out.  If you are not familiar with Bob, he is one of the best recording engineers on the planet.  He loved the combination of these two better than even more expensive gear out there.  I have the HA-2 SE version I bought back in December and I love it.  The Oppo dac/amp will make one of the best combos out there for the money with your PM-3's IMO.
 
You can read that article in it's entirety here:  http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/katzs-corner-episode-11-oppo-explosion#DKw5CyLgpH6TLYkP.97

 

[j2rock]

Based on everything I have read, the answer is a definite yes.  Bob Katz did an excellent article quite a while back describing his experience with the PM-3 and the Oppo HA-2, before the SE version came out.  If you are not familiar with Bob, he is one of the best recording engineers on the planet.  He loved the combination of these two better than even more expensive gear out there.  I have the HA-2 SE version I bought back in December and I love it.  The Oppo dac/amp will make one of the best combos out there for the money with your PM-3's IMO.

You can read that article in it's entirety here:  http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/katzs-corner-episode-11-oppo-explosion#DKw5CyLgpH6TLYkP.97

Bob is known for being a mastering engineer and although he has mastered 3 Grammy winning "albums" (check his Wiki).. I wouldn't consider his opinion of the HA-2 and PM-3 to be necessarily the leading authority .

I have heard PM-3's and they really can't be considered audiophile headphones in my opinion.. they are dark and even with an upgraded cable, not good enough dynamically or sonically. There are better headphones for the same price.

As for him liking the HA-2, so did I. Then I heard the SE and liked it more. Then I heard RHA DACAMP and haven't looked back.

I am being prodded to hear Mojo next but I'm in no hurry to buy another portable after hearing DACAMP.

 

[geoffalter11]

Oppo HA-2se is a fine amp/dac. It goes great with my PM-3s. However, it isn't as resolving as my Leckerton.

 

[Wiencon]

Oppo HA-2se is a fine amp/dac. It goes great with my PM-3s. However, it isn't as resolving as my Leckerton.

Which model?

In my country I can get regular HA-2 for about half the price of SE, do You guys think I should save up for SE? I am not really a demanding audiophile, I just want my gear to sound the best I can afford

Also, has anyone paired their HA-2 with iPhone 5/5s? Any pictures maybe? Unfortunately in my local area no one carries such products

 

[geoffalter11]

Which model?

In my country I can get regular HA-2 for about half the price of SE, do You guys think I should save up for SE? I am not really a demanding audiophile, I just want my gear to sound the best I can afford

Also, has anyone paired their HA-2 with iPhone 5/5s? Any pictures maybe? Unfortunately in my local area no one carries such products

The HA-2 will work perfectly for you. No need to save up. It is designed to work with an Iphone. It is apple certified. Perfect apple mate.

 

[Tedo]

Hi just got the SE version.
Pretty new to IEM

Am connecting the HA-2SE to my iphone 7

Fast check, I am still able to control the volume using the iPhone.
Is it fauty , I thought it should not be the case.

Please enlighten me.

Thanks

 

[geoffalter11]

Hi just got the SE version.
Pretty new to IEM

Am connecting the HA-2SE to my iphone 7

Fast check, I am still able to control the volume using the iPhone.
Is it fauty , I thought it should not be the case.

Please enlighten me.

Thanks

Once you connect it to your phone using either the usb to lightning or thru the 3.5mm outputs on top you will want to set your phone volume around 75-80% and then use the Oppo volume controller to set the right volume. Use low gain for IEMs and high gain for headphones. It is a very easy and wonderful little device.

 

[TimeLord]

Which model?

In my country I can get regular HA-2 for about half the price of SE, do You guys think I should save up for SE? I am not really a demanding audiophile, I just want my gear to sound the best I can afford

Also, has anyone paired their HA-2 with iPhone 5/5s? Any pictures maybe? Unfortunately in my local area no one carries such products

The SE is a small improvement upon the HA-2, so I wouldn't pay double the price for it. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of how the HA-2 and the HA-2 SE pair with multiple iPhone models.
 
iPhone 5S stacked on top of HA-2 with Zeskit 4" USB to lightning cable:

 
iPhone 5S side by side with HA-2:

 
iPhone 5S, HA-2, iPhone 6 paired with HA-2 SE inside a USB/lightning case:

 
iPhone 5S next to iPhone 6 stacked on top of HA-2 next to HA-2 SE inside USB/lightning case:

 
iPhone 6 stacked on top of HA-2 next to iPhone 6S Plus for size comparison if you decide to upgrade sizes:

 

[TimeLord]

Hi just got the SE version.
Pretty new to IEM

Am connecting the HA-2SE to my iphone 7

Fast check, I am still able to control the volume using the iPhone.
Is it fauty , I thought it should not be the case.

Please enlighten me.

Thanks

Once you connect it to your phone using either the usb to lightning or thru the 3.5mm outputs on top you will want to set your phone volume around 75-80% and then use the Oppo volume controller to set the right volume. Use low gain for IEMs and high gain for headphones. It is a very easy and wonderful little device.

 
Generally, you can just set the volume on the iPhone to 80% and use the HA-2/SE to set the volume where you want it. But that's not absolutely necessary with this unit since Oppo is digitally mapping the volume of the iPhone to allow granular adjustments. In other words, you can use the iPhone to adjust the volume without losing any resolution.
 
From Oppo:

For certain IEMs, if at the low gain setting the volume is still too loud, you can adjust the volume control on your playback device. For Apple products connected to the USB A port or playback software that supports USB volume, the HA-2(SE)’s internal 32-bit digital volume control will be used so there will be no loss of resolution or truncation of audio samples.

 
 

 

[Wiencon]

@TimeLord
Wow, thank you so much for these photos, Sir. It's regular HA-2 for me then

 

[geoffalter11]

Which model?

In my country I can get regular HA-2 for about half the price of SE, do You guys think I should save up for SE? I am not really a demanding audiophile, I just want my gear to sound the best I can afford

Also, has anyone paired their HA-2 with iPhone 5/5s? Any pictures maybe? Unfortunately in my local area no one carries such products

I have the HA-2SE and the Leckerton UHA-6S MK2 as portable amps.  I like them both for different reasons.  The leckerton for its unabashed clarity and resolution.  Good clean power.  I like the Oppo for its functionality, looks and slightly warm sound.  The bass through the Oppo can be a touch loose, but just like their headphones, it really excels with a liquid and beautiful midrange.  You cannot go wrong with the HA-2.  It is 95% of the SE, maybe even 97-98%.  The DAC is a touch better in the SE, but I had to really listen to pick it out.  

 

[dennistdk]

I think the only reason for choosing the HA2SE is if you have sensitive iems. On all my ciem's I could hear hissing on the HA2, while close to silent on the new.

 

[Nixonian]

Hello all! 
 
Does anybody know if HA2SE will support hardware MQA decoding in the near future? I'm new on the forum as well as on the HEAD-FI field so please be empathic