[jjss]

For some reason, quite a few folks here or elsewhere don't find the YH5000SE good enough in itself or at its price when compared to other TOTL cans. I notice that they mainly gathered such impression either from the recent NYC canJam or referencing some FR graphs. But I dunno how many have really spent serious, enough time to audition the can before coming to a verdict. I've got the YH5000SE for over a week now and its the best HP in my collection which has a ZMF VC, a MDR-Z1R, a HD800 default and a LCD-4. The bass from the 5000 even outshines the Z1R! I have been trying to dissect and compare/contrast the bass / sub bass performances of these cans especially when it comes to music that have tones, timbres that are close and see how good (or not so good) they could separate / de-mask these close proximity FRs to produce a vivid 3-D soundscape. Well I like to report that the 5000 performs best so far! Indeed one track I've been using is this:

(I am using a FLAC version), which has several bass / sub bass instruments that ordinary gears would find it hard to discern. Whilst the ZMF, Senn, Sony LCD are not bad at all but the 5000 done it beautifully!

I know Yamaha has been using RME ADI DAC to demo its 5000 in many of its shows, and I believe there must be some good reason for this (incidentally I'm also using my ADI2 Pro FS R BE to audition, sometimes couples with my Phonitor 2, the RNHP Amp and the LA Linear II. May be this new HP amp from Yamaha has some "elements" that resembles the ADI2, I dunno, just a speculation! As of now I have a high hope that this HA-L7A will escalate the 5000 to the next level!

 

[Sonic Defender]

Sorry but no Bluetooth is a fail. It is minimal functionality these days.

 

[voja]

Sorry but no Bluetooth is a fail. It is minimal functionality these days.

Uhm... How many flagship desktop [audiophile] headphone amplifiers have Bluethooth?

 

[Andrewteee]

The first stereo component I ever purchased was a 1980s Yamaha receiver, bought with pennies earned and saved. Hooked ever since! I love Yamaha's recent component designs (though I have not heard any Yamaha gear since that received and an early Yamaha CD player).

 

[Sonic Defender]

Uhm... How many flagship desktop [audiophile] headphone amplifiers have Bluethooth?

Just the well designed ones. That is mostly a joke, but really, Bluetooth is amazing and 100% capable of transparent audio reproduction so IMO, which I am entitled to, I feel that Bluetooth connectivity is an absolute required form of connectivity. Come on, it isn't like I am suggestion that USB be dropped, I am suggesting choice for the end user.

You think a real flagship limits connectivity choices? I sure don't. Do you feel that Bluetooth inclusion degrades the quality of the other connectivity options? Bluetooth is quite affordable to implement and certainly with a flagship item where people are paying high prices do you think the extra $50 is going to break the bank? If you don't want it, don't use it so it isn't forced on you anyway. I have USB on my Gustard X16, never use, only Bluetooth, but I don't mind that USB is there as an option.

 

[mrtim6]

I did tried this amp and Yamaha headphon combo see YH-5000SE thread for my limited impressions.
what I can say, being the owner of a Yamaha A-S3000 integrated amp, is the A-S3000 headphone amp is superb for a non dedicated seperate. I suspect Yamaha know what they are doing with this new dac amp, however as with all audio gear only your ears can be the true judge of the HA-L7A.

 

[T.W.G]

Sorry but no Bluetooth is a fail. It is minimal functionality these days.

Bluetooth and High-End Audio simply do not fit together!

Bluetooth is suitable for MP3 or Streaming, but not for High Resolution audio.

You're obviously not Yamahas peer group for that amplifier. Of course you could simply connect a Bluetooth transmitter to the line out of the Yamaha Amp. Easy solution.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Bluetooth and High-End Audio simply do not fit together!

Bluetooth is suitable for MP3 or Streaming, but not for High Resolution audio.

You're obviously not Yamahas peer group for that amplifier. Of course you could simply connect a Bluetooth transmitter to the line out of the Yamaha Amp. Easy solution.

High resolution streaming is to be kind, at best an illusion. I have been using Yamaha equipment since the 1980s, including my present drum set. If you believe "high resolution" makes an audible difference then fair enough, enjoy. Bluetooth is plenty good enough, and I say that having abandoned USB in favour of BT for several years, including into a speaker rig with extremely competent speakers as well as headphones. If you are able to convince yourself otherwise, great for you, do what feels right.

 

[ToddRaymond]

If you are able to convince yourself otherwise, great for you, do what feels right.

Indeed.

 

[T.W.G]

High resolution streaming is to be kind, at best an illusion. I have been using Yamaha equipment since the 1980s, including my present drum set. If you believe "high resolution" makes an audible difference then fair enough, enjoy. Bluetooth is plenty good enough, and I say that having abandoned USB in favour of BT for several years, including into a speaker rig with extremely competent speakers as well as headphones. If you are able to convince yourself otherwise, great for you, do what feels right.

You're right: Of course everybody should do what feels right as long as it doesn'nt harm other people.
Using Yamaha since the '80 you probably know what quality means as Yamaha delivers since decade on the consumer and professional area.

I know that a percentage of "High Resolution Audio" is somehow a marketing thing so I'm just comparing the simple bitrates of an old school audio CD vs. Bluetooth:

1.) CD Audio: 1411 kbit/s
2.) Bluetooth:
- aptx: 384 kbit/s
- aptx HD: 576 kbit/s
- LDAC: 990 kbit/s
- SBC: 328 kbit/s
- AAC: 320 kbit/s

As everybody can see for example on AAC you only get approx. ~25% of the bitrate of an audio CD. So about 75% is missing. It is somehow counterbalanced with the help of compressed audio formats like MP3, AAC etc. which whill then get transmitted through a much smaller bitrate than an old CD player uses for getting your music to your ears.
For a reason you don't see Bluetooth at professional studios (music, broadcast, film...) during production, mixing, mastering etc. for monitoring through their 10000 Dollar speakers.

If you can't hear a difference it's perfectly okay and again: The Yamaha High End Headphone amp might not be for your ears.
But please don't deny people that can hear the differences and thank the god of hifi that there are very great and detailed recordings that you can enjoy on your home music system or on the go.


Remember that we all have a thing in common here: Music makes our lives better.

 

[doctorK53]

It is OK for me not to be equiped with bluetooth, but i wonder why they did not. The amp is not a "pure" audio but a versatile gear with digital feature. It has proprietary DSP, which is likely similar with what their bluetooth headphones have. It has lots of connectivity as well. The design principle is close to ifi gryphon than AK PA10.
So I think inclusion of bluetooth and having more versatility will likely make it more attractive to modern users.

Well, i myself do not mind the point because if I need BT I can prepare Bt reciever in reasonable price (compared to the expected price of HA-L7A).

 

[Another Audiophile]

I tried the amp with Yamaha’s new statement headphones and had mixed fillings. Firstly the build quality is second to none. It feels great but I don’t think this amp is a match for the headphones. It doesn’t have enough power and I could easily max it out and we are not talking about ear bleeding levels.

 

[ThEvil0nE]

Release date November 30, 2023

 

[Rudivanb]

Yesterday at a hifi show have listened with the
HA-L7A and their phones YH-5000SE, to some techno and a string quartet. I am impresssed by the very clean sound, electrostatic like with very fast and deep low notes and see-through transparency, spatious, natural and addictive.
There was also a set up with same phones combined with a twice as expensive dac / amp combo, forgot the brand. The phones with the HA-L7A sounded more intriguing to my ears.

 

[conner127e]

Got this today. A few notes:

The official Windows driver (Steinberg USB driver) is broken in that it will only accept the sampling rate you set it to in the software when not using ASIO. That's fine for shared mode and all, but if you have software that can only do exclusive mode through WASAPI (such as a video player) it will be a problem because you'll have to switch the sampling rate on the driver depending on what you're watching.

Uninstalling the driver and just doing plug-and-play works fine in WASAPI, but only with push mode. Event mode has issues and will garble anything that isn't 44.1hz for some reason. I should mention Event mode works just fine with the official driver; too bad it's too inconvenient to use due to the issue above.

Sounds great though, along with the YH-5000SE.