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Pass Labs - HPA1
Mar 24, 2021 at 12:37 PM Post #61 of 327
I bought one a few days ago. Very disappointed :frowning2: There was an audible "hum" coming from the HPs (tried LCD-X, CA Cascade, CA Atlas, HiFiMan) even without anything connected to the input and with volume set to 0.
The sound was brilliant, indeed, punchy, full of meat, detailed, but after each track I was kicked by this bloody hum.

I made additional tests in the studio upon returning to make sure there was nothing wrong with my electrical installation at home, but the guys there were also able to hear the hum.

Returned :frowning2:
(It was supposed to be sent to service for verification. I wonder what the service will say.)
 
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Mar 24, 2021 at 12:41 PM Post #62 of 327
Sorry to hear this....mine is working fine for several months, dead silent etc. no hum??

Dont know what your experience level is with electricity etc and your home / power + grounding situation is.

AC hum if this is what this "was" can come from many soruces...I have had issues with poorly grounded interconnects.

But electronics are not infallible...sorry you had a less than stellar experience.

Alex
 
Mar 24, 2021 at 12:46 PM Post #63 of 327
adydula said:
Sorry to hear this....mine is working fine for several months, dead silent etc. no hum??

Dont know what your experience level is with electricity etc and your home / power + grounding situation is.

AC hum if this is what this "was" can come from many soruces...I have had issues with poorly grounded interconnects.

But electronics are not infallible...sorry you had a less than stellar experience.

Alex
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Well, I would imagine sth may be wrong at home for the reasons you listed (even though I didn't have any issues with previous and current amps at home, e.g. SMSL, Violectric) but when I (and not just me) was able to hear the same hum in the listening room at the store, then I am convinced it was sth wrong with this particular item.
Unfortunately the next chance of getting it is probably in 2 months or so... By this time I may be tempted by the new Violectric V550... We'll see.
 
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Mar 24, 2021 at 1:03 PM Post #65 of 327
adydula said:
The V550 is a very nice package as well.....good luck!

Alex
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BTW, I forgot to praise the materials and the look of the Pass, BUT to me a headphone amp is sth I use on my desk (I know a lot of people look for pre-amp config, that's not my case) and due to the Pass's depth, it's a bit too big. I wish it was wider to fit all things inside. Anyway, that's not sth I'd keep against it by any means.
Violectric is wider but comes only in black and not with this fancy steel/alu look :)

But it is the sound I am after and Violectric can be a bit more flexible for my future HPs (currently I don't have any balanced phones) and has this nice DIP for IEMs... I will listen to V550 and then decide :)
 
Mar 30, 2021 at 11:26 AM Post #70 of 327
Another "Great" pairing with the HPA-1 amp! Absolutely Superb sound.....


1617117938953.png
 
Mar 30, 2021 at 3:38 PM Post #71 of 327
CrispyWhale said:
I bought one a few days ago. Very disappointed :frowning2: There was an audible "hum" coming from the HPs (tried LCD-X, CA Cascade, CA Atlas, HiFiMan) even without anything connected to the input and with volume set to 0.
The sound was brilliant, indeed, punchy, full of meat, detailed, but after each track I was kicked by this bloody hum.

I made additional tests in the studio upon returning to make sure there was nothing wrong with my electrical installation at home, but the guys there were also able to hear the hum.

Returned :frowning2:
(It was supposed to be sent to service for verification. I wonder what the service will say.)
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear about the problem you had with the Pass Labs HPA-1. Hum is an annoying problem that is time consuming to chase down.

My experience with Nelson Pass’s amps has been overwhelmingly positive. I have owned at least a dozen of Nelson’s amps from the venerable Threshold S350e to the Pass Aleph 3, 0s, 0 monoblocks, the First Watt M2. J2, F2, SIT3, the Pass Labs XA 30.5, XA 25, and most recently the HPA-1. Never had a problem with any of them. The fact that nearly all of them are based on simple, minimalist designs and very high-quality parts may have something to do with it. Physically, they are all built like the proverbial brick sxxxhouse and they last for many years and decades. The customer service from Pass Labs is also exemplary: they replaced the electrolytic capacitors and restored two of my Pass Aleph amps after over 25 years of faithful service. That is the kind of company that I love to support.

The HPA-1 currently sits on top of over a dozen solid-state headphone amps I have owned, a position previously occupied by the Headamp GS-X Mk2, which by comparison sounds more euphonic and more forgiving but colored nevertheless in the mid-range. I have owned several Violectric amps, the V181, V200, and the V281, which the V550 will replace. They are all very fine amps with many desirable features which the HPA-1 lacks, but they do not possess the transparent, highly resolved but smooth and musical sound of the HPA-1. I found that its real competitions sonically are tube amps. The HPA-1 is not without limitations: it is unforgiving of bad recordings and poor components in the chain; I also wished it had more power for highly inefficient HPs like the HiFiMan HE-6.

I hope Pass Labs figure out the cause of the hum in your amp—it is not normal—because this is an extraordinary amp that is worthy of any Audio system.
 
Apr 15, 2021 at 10:29 AM Post #72 of 327
Listening this morning with the PassLabs HPA-1 and an oldie the HD 650's.....Excellent pairing....listening to Keiko Matsui and Bob James playing piano and keyboards..

Two masters at their "craft".. gives a whole new meaning to those "Ivory" keys....just awesome 10/10.

This is a great example of slow, methodical excellent music and displays how well your "stuff" will reproduce music.

Soft micro-details, deliberate and very conscious playing....just sublime with the HPA-1 and 650's...

1618496834690.png


https://open.qobuz.com/album/ii9vds690l2rb

With the Focal Clear MG Pros...the listening experience and the tonality of the piano is the "best" yes the "BEST...I ever have heard...an 11/10.

Alex
 
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