YAMAHA HA-L7A Headphone amplifier | MESSAGE FROM THE ENGINEERS

[Random Lunatic]

I'm aware of this as well. However, tell me honestly. How hard do you think it is to replace ES9038Pro with ES9039Pro from prototyping to production ?
They have no reason to bulk purchase ES9038Pro during prototyping, they only have to purchase the DACs when it's close to production phase.

The only reason I can think of is that they already had ES9038Pro chips lying around left over from a previous purchase.

Flip that on its head; given how easy it may or may not be, and them likely knowing there would be people reacting like that, you could just as well assume they has some good reason for sticking with this.

Why does this even matter so much to you? It’s not like there’s anything to suggest it would make any difference to the soundout come afaik. It’s basically just marketing hype - if anything I think it’s good if they aren’t just trying to sell their product based on following the latest trend, pushing the latest hype - if they know from an engineering standpoint it doesn’t actually make a difference.
Suggests they might have spent their time somewhere that actually matters more notably..

Just my 2cents

 

[Random Lunatic]

Nah, most people in this hobby do not care about DAC chip and stuff like that.
They only care about how it sounds and if it's powerful enough to drive their headphones. As long as it sounds good and has enough power, it will sell.

To be fair, it seems to me there are people who can ‘hear’ if the product has the latest shade of paint or not, so some will care greatly.
But I hope you’re right and the majority just care about the sum of the parts.

People are allowed to like and believe what they want of course - I just hope manufacturers stick to making decisions/designs based on good engineering and not market trends. That’s all.
Those are two things best kept separate imo.

 

[jp11801]

I heard this two London CanJams ago was highly impressed with the exterior design and utterly unimpressed with the sound and DSP features of the amp. The only sound that was somewhat ok was the direct sound (ie not dsp). The DSP sounded like it was cobbled from TV DSP feature sets and were terrible for headphone audio enthusiasts.

So keep the shell and replace/improve the innards

 

[123peter]

The assertion that using new DAC chips doesn’t matter because 'you can’t hear it' suggests that progress in audio could have stopped several years ago. But do we really want that to be the case? Such logic assumes that everything that could be discovered in the realm of sound has already been uncovered—which in practice would mean that technological development could have been concluded. However, as in every field of technology, the pursuit of perfection in audio is ongoing. Advancements in new versions of equipment—whether headphones or DAC chips—often bring improvements that allow for an even more precise rendering of sound nuances. Perhaps for some ears, these differences may be subtle, but for others, they are clear. If we had stopped a few years ago, we wouldn’t have access to so many innovations today that make listening experiences even more exceptional. After all, each of us is still searching for better sound, right.

 

[TheHipsterCow]

I don’t understand why there’s always a bunch of people in every thread defending the manufacturer. If you’re going to pay €4000 for a headphone AMP might as well ask for the latest and greatest ?

Seems like quite the mischaracterization to say that because individuals are disagreeing with you they are defending a manufacturer.

You proposed them swapping out one dac chip for another like they are Legos.

 

[YAMAHA official]

Hi Head-Fi!

Here’s an in-depth video about the Yamaha HA-L7A high-end headphone amplifier. Raiken Takahashi from the Yamaha Marketing team and Ryota Sato from the Yamaha Development team will explain the background of the HA-L7A.

Check out the full video!

 

[YAMAHA official]

 

[ThomasWolf]

I heard this two London CanJams ago was highly impressed with the exterior design and utterly unimpressed with the sound and DSP features of the amp. The only sound that was somewhat ok was the direct sound (ie not dsp). The DSP sounded like it was cobbled from TV DSP feature sets and were terrible for headphone audio enthusiasts.

So keep the shell and replace/improve the innards

 

[jp11801]

Maybe provide a bit of context

 

[ThomasWolf]

Maybe provide a bit of context

Human brains create "DSP compensation curves" for poorly designed electronics/speakers

When A/B'ing two pieces of equipment:
DSP curve that was used for Equipment A is also applied to "Equipment B"
.. giving the user a completely distorted perception of Equipment B

 

[jp11801]

Human brains create "DSP compensation curves" for poorly designed electronics/speakers

When A/B'ing two pieces of equipment:
DSP curve that was used for Equipment A is also applied to "Equipment B"
.. giving the user a completely distorted perception of Equipment B

While it is true that human brains can create a dsp effect it is also true that leads to listening fatigue

 

[YAMAHA official]

Click the link to read the message from the designers of the HA-L7A!

◆Yamaha design "Synapses" HA-L7A
https://www.yamaha.com/en/tech-design/design/synapses/id_144

 

[jp11801]

Click the link to read the message from the designers of the HA-L7A!

◆Yamaha design "Synapses" HA-L7A
https://www.yamaha.com/en/tech-design/design/synapses/id_144

I totally agree stunning exterior design with mediocre interior design. I was wowed by the looks and underwhelmed by the sound

 

[Jacks0n]

MESSAGE FROM THE ENGINEERS

—THE INSPIRATION FOR HA-L7A


The HA-L7A is Yamaha’s first high-end headphone amplifier that optimizes the amplifier technology that Yamaha has cultivated over many years with Hi-Fi components and AV receivers for headphone listening, with the goal of allowing users to deeply immerse themselves in a variety of content. We hope you will enjoy your favorite content, including music, anime, movies, sports, and more, with Yamaha’s unique sound experience.




RYOTA SATO
Product Planning/Circuit Design

Currently, there are a wide variety of music listening styles and content, and many users are trying to find the ultimate listening experience with their headphones. We designed the HA-L7A for these customers based on Yamaha’s unique sound experience. When listening on headphones, it is very easy to feel the noise components, even when they are not audible when listening on speakers. Therefore, with the HA-L7A, we spent a lot of time on the realization of functions and designs, including the circuit design and selection of parts, and were able to achieve the quality we were aiming for. I hope you will experience the unique sound world of HA-L7A for yourself, either in combination with Yamaha’s flagship YH-5000SE headphones or with your own headphones.





YUSUKE KONAGAI
DSP Design

Headphone enthusiasts value the “original sound” and sometimes have the impression that the “sound will be worse” when you deviate from it. Therefore, with the HA-L7A, we tried to adjust the SOUND FIELD mode to be close to what headphone enthusiasts want, while being aware of the “original sound” heard in Pure Direct mode. Please take a moment to listen to your content enhanced by the SOUND FIELD mode. I think you will feel the localization and movement of the sound intended by artist or producer that cannot be experienced with headphones alone, the differences in the six modes, and the fun of using the modes differently.






Have you already tried the HA-L7A headphone amplifier?
Please comment your favorite SOUND FIELD mode!

The HA-L7A definitely looks like Yamaha is taking headphone amps seriously again—love seeing the message from the engineers too, gives it that old-school hi-fi credibility. The design is super clean, and the feature set (balanced out, surround processing, etc.) is surprisingly versatile.


Would love to hear how it pairs with planar headphones like the LCD-X or Arya. Is the output power enough to drive those well without losing dynamics?

 

[jp11801]

The HA-L7A definitely looks like Yamaha is taking headphone amps seriously again—love seeing the message from the engineers too, gives it that old-school hi-fi credibility. The design is super clean, and the feature set (balanced out, surround processing, etc.) is surprisingly versatile.


Would love to hear how it pairs with planar headphones like the LCD-X or Arya. Is the output power enough to drive those well without losing dynamics?

give it a listen first, at least to these ears the sound processing was not great. It sounded like TV or smart receiver sound settings that did nt work well for high quality audio reproduction. It sounded best with all processing turned off. Love the design just wish it sounded as good as it looked.