[Troisanneaux]

Do we have place in this topic for a may be silly question.
I just bought the Sony PHA-2.
When I connect my iPhone or iPod, no problem, great sound,
but I really do not understand how to connect my AK120 to the PHA-2
and how to get sound out of it.
I am not very technical and hope someone is willing to tell me what to do.
Thanks a lot!

 

[zilch0md]

Do we have place in this topic for a may be silly question.
I just bought the Sony PHA-2.
When I connect my iPhone or iPod, no problem, great sound,
but I really do not understand how to connect my AK120 to the PHA-2
and how to get sound out of it.
I am not very technical and hope someone is willing to tell me what to do.
Thanks a lot!

Per the AK120 instruction manual, it only offers Optical Out or Headphone Out,

Per the PHA-2 instruction manual, it does not offer Optical Input, so... You would have to "double-amp" the signal by feeding the AK120's already amplified Headphone Out to the Sony PHA-2's Audio In jack:



That's not going to accomplish anything worthwhile, first because you're double-amping, but also because the AK120 amp is no doubt much stronger than the very weak Sony PHA-2 amp.

Seriously, in my opinion, you should keep the AK120 and see if you can return the PHA-2 for a refund (or sell it used).

Mike

 

[Troisanneaux]

Thank you very much for your explanation Mike!
And yes I'll keep the A&K and will sell the Sony PHA-2, I bought it too fast.

 

[zilch0md]

I've been there, too!  

 

[AUDIOBREEDER]

I love PHA-2. I use it with my Vaio Duo 11.

 

[zachawry]

I'm having a weird issue with my PHA-2 all of the sudden (I just know it's because I've been looking longingly at Chord Hugo on the web!). 
 
I accidentally connected my headphones to the Audio-in/Line-out port, where I can get sound but the volume control doesn't work. 
 
But now when I plug the headphones into the Phones port, there's no sound. I've tried disconnecting/powering off the unit a bunch of times. I've even restarted my computer. Nothing from the Phones port, just the Audio-in/Line-out port.
 
Any advice? 
 
Thanks. 
 
Edit: Never mind. I am an idiot. Somehow never noticed the Output Select switch on the side over the course of years of use. 

 

[bflat]

Hello all,
 
With so little information on connecting/charging the PHA-2 to a desktop configuration I experimented and found out that at least the mini USB port that is labeled for Sony portable players works just like any regular mini USB port and have it connected to my PC. The micro USB port is connected to a wall charger and everything works fine. It won't charge while playing, but as soon as I turn the DAC off, it starts charging without the need to keep the PC on. Works great in both Windows and OSX. Again, I have both the mini and micro USB ports plugged in simultaneously and it works. IMHO, the PHA-2 works perfectly fine as a desktop DAC/Amp and can go portable and always have a full battery charge on the ready.
 
I tried center USB port to PC and did not work so looks like that one only supports iOS. Makes sense though because the other 2 ports both have the USB symbol on them but not the center port (USB A).
 
One more cool fact - it does support 44/88/176 sampling rates for CD sources.
 
So my long overdue setup is now:
 
Tidal -> Mac Pro -> Schiit Wyrd -> Sony PHA-2  -> JDS Labs C5 -> Beyer T5P
Other PHA-2 setup - USB micro port connected to wall charger and headphone out connected to powered desktop speakers
OSX sampling rate set to 176/24-bit
 
I've paired my T5P with the C5 amp to get a moderate bass boost (6 db) to make my T5P a great all around performer. I do disable bass boost for jazz and classical so I love the bass flexibility with the C5 amp. Lastly, I take the C5 amp with me on my many business trips with my Shure SE846 as it is makes for a good impedance match. I just may take the entire stack with me on the plane since PHA-2 works directly with my iPhone 6.
 
I got the PHA-2 because I wanted a quality DAC that would be as future proof as possible for whatever happens with hi res streaming. I figure Sony will do a really good job of firmware/software updates to ensure future compatibility. Since this sells for about $400 direct from Japan resellers, I think it's a great deal and a solid mid range DAC. Build quality is superb and the silicon straps and rail design is the best I've seen and fits the C5 amp beautifully. I was tempted to go for PHA-3, but the added cost of recabling my headphones with balanced connectors kept me from going that route.
 
Last update - I upgraded the firmware to 1.23 connected via mini USB (WM port) and it worked perfectly so no doubt that mini USB works exactly the same as the micro port.

 

[RockStar2005]

Hello everyone, 
 
I read a review on Amazon on the PHA-2, and the one guy said that the PHA-2 lithium battery IS replaceable. I asked Sony about it via chat, and the lady said no it's not. But I've seen customer service reps be wrong before, so I'd like to ask you guys whether or not it is replaceable or not? Does anyone know? If so, please let me know how you confirmed this (or that it doesn't have one). 
 
I ordered the PHA-2 off Amazon and it will come in tomorrow, so I will be testing it out. Can't wait! I have the NWZ-A17 Walkman already, but am looking to maybe go back to just having ONE playing device again, for a few good reasons. We'll see what happens. 
 
Thanks in advance to anyone who answers my question! 

 

[Vect]

You can swap the battery for a new one. I opened my PHA-2 once and saw the battery in there with only a connector towards the pcb.

 

[RockStar2005]

Vect, 
 
Thanks so much for your reply and confirmation! Much appreciated!!
 
I assume the battery has a label on it so I'd know in the future what exact model/type to order online? 
 
 
Thank You, 
 
 
RockStar2005

 

[Vect]

  Vect, 
 
Thanks so much for your reply and confirmation! Much appreciated!!
 
I assume the battery has a label on it so I'd know in the future what exact model/type to order online? 
 
 
Thank You, 
 
 
RockStar2005

Yes the battery has a label in it, as a particular note I must say, it is glued to the plastic holding it, so removing it will take patience.

 

[RockStar2005]

Ok good.
 
Glued?! lol Are you serious? How do you remove that without damaging the PHA-2? 
 
Would I need to glue the replacement battery too? Crazy. 
 
 
Thanks, 
 

RockStar2005

 

[RockStar2005]

Vect, 
 
I decided to go ahead and keep the PHA-2 I'd ordered. Thanks again for all your advice & info!
 
If you could, please let me know how you would remove the battery of the PHA-2 for replacement, if and when necessary down the line. 
 
 
Thank You, 
 
 
RockStar2005

 

[Vect]

Calm down , I haven't had the need to reeplace the battery. and it has been quite over a year of continuous use. To open the PHA2 you simply need a philips screwdriver. there are 8 screws that you can easily see on the unit. Remove those. There is another screw hidden beneath a circular black thingy on the back of the unit, remove that as well. Finally, you need to remove the screws that hold both gain and user select switches, for this both side plates must be removed. Use a lamp an see from the sides, you will see that there are two screws ver well hidden within the switches. Remove those carefully (switches will come out when you do, try not to lose them) and you are good to go to slide the whole motherboard and battery together. The problem is not opening it but closing it, I suggest magnetic screw drivers, as the las two screws are a bit time consuming to put back.
 
You will see that due the way the PHA-2 is built, the battery really does not need glue to be hold on, yet they still did it, so I would not worry about the glue.

 

[RockStar2005]

Well one of the main selling points for me (and for a friend of mine who wants to buy it) was that it has a replaceable battery, so since no one else was giving me any info, I was kinda relying on you. lol Even Sony I believe said it wasn't replaceable. lol
 
Yeah I'm looking down the line as I wanna keep the PHA-2 for as long as possible (it's not cheap! lol). But I'm glad to hear you've gotten a lot of use from it over the last year! That makes me happy. 

 
Thank you for the very detailed explanation. Sounds time consuming, but I guess that's better than having to buy another device. lol 
 
Do you have any suggestions as how to remove the battery from the glue? I won't glue it back after, but for the first part, is there a certain way of doing it that's safe? 
 
 
Thanks so much!!