[draytonklammer]

After reading many hundreds of pages across the forum, I have decided to give the CA-1a a shot.
I previously owned an SR-1a, which I liked in many ways... excited to try this iteration, given the changes.

 

[yyzSB]

Also bummed the M3 was a no go as an amp. Did you try scenario 1 with the CA-1? I just picked up an Aegir that I’m planning to use with my CA but have to wait a bit on the cable to ship.

Spent the last 5-6 hours listening to the CA-1a | Aegir | M3 | SR728 cable. For 4 hours I was trying to get the goosebumps level sound from this setup. No dice, it was uninspiring and very disappointing.

I could not figure it out since the CA-1a + SR728 cable + VM-1a amp was so killer. I figured it is either the SR728 cable or the M3 just is not good with the CA-1a.

I should add that I tried various permutations of settings on the M3. Some were effective, such as the GAIN setting. Though I was compromising sound quality to improve the CA-1a sound. I played back some tunes repeatedly with these changed setting to try and make it sound as good as I remembered. Tunes such as Sinead OConner's - A Drink Before the War and Iron Maiden - The Trooper.

No success, until I did something I never did in the past. I replaced the SR728 cable with the Star8. Instant success, the sound just exploded out now. This was at VM-1a level sound, just wow.

I either have a broken SR728 cable or that cable does not play nice with something in the chain. To heck with the Schiit JR for the CA-1a that I said I would use before, I am just going to take out the RCA baffle compensation from the Aegir when I switch between the SR1a and CA-1a. This setup is miles better than the Schitt JR.

 

[Lokust]

Spent the last 5-6 hours listening to the CA-1a | Aegir | M3 | SR728 cable. For 4 hours I was trying to get the goosebumps level sound from this setup. No dice, it was uninspiring and very disappointing.

I could not figure it out since the CA-1a + SR728 cable + VM-1a amp was so killer. I figured it is either the SR728 cable or the M3 just is not good with the CA-1a.

I should add that I tried various permutations of settings on the M3. Some were effective, such as the GAIN setting. Though I was compromising sound quality to improve the CA-1a sound. I played back some tunes repeatedly with these changed setting to try and make it sound as good as I remembered. Tunes such as Sinead OConner's - A Drink Before the War and Iron Maiden - The Trooper.

No success, until I did something I never did in the past. I replaced the SR728 cable with the Star8. Instant success, the sound just exploded out now. This was at VM-1a level sound, just wow.

I either have a broken SR728 cable or that cable does not play nice with something in the chain. To heck with the Schiit JR for the CA-1a that I said I would use before, I am just going to take out the RCA baffle compensation from the Aegir when I switch between the SR1a and CA-1a. This setup is miles better than the Schitt JR.

I had something similar with the SR1a. I ended up switching out the Star8 cable for the stock SC2. Sounded much more bombastic and the details returned. Star8 apparently didn't synergize with the rest of my components.

 

[nojwe]

Spent the last 5-6 hours listening to the CA-1a | Aegir | M3 | SR728 cable. For 4 hours I was trying to get the goosebumps level sound from this setup. No dice, it was uninspiring and very disappointing.

I could not figure it out since the CA-1a + SR728 cable + VM-1a amp was so killer. I figured it is either the SR728 cable or the M3 just is not good with the CA-1a.

I should add that I tried various permutations of settings on the M3. Some were effective, such as the GAIN setting. Though I was compromising sound quality to improve the CA-1a sound. I played back some tunes repeatedly with these changed setting to try and make it sound as good as I remembered. Tunes such as Sinead OConner's - A Drink Before the War and Iron Maiden - The Trooper.

No success, until I did something I never did in the past. I replaced the SR728 cable with the Star8. Instant success, the sound just exploded out now. This was at VM-1a level sound, just wow.

I either have a broken SR728 cable or that cable does not play nice with something in the chain. To heck with the Schiit JR for the CA-1a that I said I would use before, I am just going to take out the RCA baffle compensation from the Aegir when I switch between the SR1a and CA-1a. This setup is miles better than the Schitt JR.

Interesting. Thank you so much for trying this and writing up your impressions. I just have the SC2 right now, but the Star8 is my next purchase once I’ve saved up a bit more. Can’t wait for my Aegir to arrive!

 

[number1sixerfan]

After reading many hundreds of pages across the forum, I have decided to give the CA-1a a shot.
I previously owned an SR-1a, which I liked in many ways... excited to try this iteration, given the changes.

There's not much to lose given the entry factor. The biggest thing for me, is it improves on the Sr1a's bass issues for me, while still being decently close to as expansive and equally detailed as the Sr1a is. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[jlbrach]

Spent the last 5-6 hours listening to the CA-1a | Aegir | M3 | SR728 cable. For 4 hours I was trying to get the goosebumps level sound from this setup. No dice, it was uninspiring and very disappointing.

I could not figure it out since the CA-1a + SR728 cable + VM-1a amp was so killer. I figured it is either the SR728 cable or the M3 just is not good with the CA-1a.

I should add that I tried various permutations of settings on the M3. Some were effective, such as the GAIN setting. Though I was compromising sound quality to improve the CA-1a sound. I played back some tunes repeatedly with these changed setting to try and make it sound as good as I remembered. Tunes such as Sinead OConner's - A Drink Before the War and Iron Maiden - The Trooper.

No success, until I did something I never did in the past. I replaced the SR728 cable with the Star8. Instant success, the sound just exploded out now. This was at VM-1a level sound, just wow.

I either have a broken SR728 cable or that cable does not play nice with something in the chain. To heck with the Schiit JR for the CA-1a that I said I would use before, I am just going to take out the RCA baffle compensation from the Aegir when I switch between the SR1a and CA-1a. This setup is miles better than the Schitt JR.

I had the 728 and have the star 8...I like the star 8 alot but no way it makes the kind of difference you sapeak of..the differences are subtle with cables IMHO...there has to be some other issue

 

[rlawry]

I had the 728 and have the star 8...I like the star 8 alot but no way it makes the kind of difference you sapeak of..the differences are subtle with cables IMHO...there has to be some other issue

Agreed. The Star 8 is definitely an improvement but not a game-changer in any way and is quite expensive. If you listen to your SR-1b or CA-1a as part of a stable of headphones and don't feel the RAAL phones to be your vastly favorite headphone, the Star 8 is probably not worth the cash layout. If, however, you absolutely love the RAAL phones and you are looking to optimize its sound, it might well be the crowning achievement in your listening. You might also try the Mitch Filters which make a similar improvement for considerably less money.

 

[yyzSB]

I had the 728 and have the star 8...I like the star 8 alot but no way it makes the kind of difference you sapeak of..the differences are subtle with cables IMHO...there has to be some other issue

You seem to have misread my post. The SR728 and Star8 are more similar than different. I used both cables for about 1.5 years, the Star8 with the SR1a and the SR728 with the CA-1a. Nothing too sonically different between the cables. The Star8 is a bit smoother.

Yesterday, the SR728 was not good with the M3 and CA-1a, this was never the case with the VM-1a where it was great. It sounded so unlike the CA-1a sound that I know, that I thought there is a big incompatibility with the M3 or the cable was damaged. For those reasons, I did what I never did before, which was to use the Star8 on the CA-1a. This fixed the sound to almost VM-1a levels.

I have the old RAAL adapter that I can test the SR728 with the SR1a and the Schitt JR amp to test the SR728 with the CA-1a and SR1a. I want to get this SR728 working again with the M3 (if possible).

 

[number1sixerfan]

I've been extremely praise worthy of the CA-1a and it's amazing. I have just one gripe with it that I'm looking for maybe some feedback on if anyone has found a solution. The headphone earpads don't sit flush on my head. There's a bit of space between my ears and the pads in some areas, and I know that must impact the sound, particularly in the lower regions. The frame looks bendable, has anyone bended it to alleviate it?

To be fair, I also have a small-ish head lol, same issue with the TC and fixed by bending.

 

[jlbrach]

apparently you can twist and bend the frame to your hearts content without any problems,so twist away

 

[number1sixerfan]

apparently you can twist and bend the frame to your hearts content without any problems,so twist away

Thank you!! That was exactly what I was wondering.

 

[rlawry]

There was some discussion earlier in this thread regarding the use of an upgraded short umbilical cable from your headphone amp to the Ti-1a or b. Has anyone tried this? If I remember correctly, it was stated that the replacement of this cable would likely affect the sound much less than upgrading the SC-2 cable from the Ti-1a or b to the SR-1a or b but just wondering anyway. Thank you.

 

[Kiats]

There was some discussion earlier in this thread regarding the use of an upgraded short umbilical cable from your headphone amp to the Ti-1a or b. Has anyone tried this? If I remember correctly, it was stated that the replacement of this cable would likely affect the sound much less than upgrading the SC-2 cable from the Ti-1a or b to the SR-1a or b but just wondering anyway. Thank you.

I think the discussion was to have a longer cable from the amp to the TI-1b. Yes, it works without any impact on sound. I have a 2 meter cable.

 

[fredfung28]

I made an Odin 8 wires from amp to the ti1c, sound improved a lot actually. Changing the headphone cable to star8 and also upgrade the amp to ti1c cable will make the best result

 

[fredfung28]

this is the pics, but it cause very expensive like 3K usd for making it.
I just want to maximise the sound quality of raal so it’s really not worth to use Odin to make if you consider the cost.