OPPO HA-1 Headphone Amplifier

Sorry if this has been answered else where but I'm looking at getting the Ha-1 for my PM-1 phones, but new to the Dac/digital audio thing.
If I have music on a USB stick can I plug it into the amp anywhere and playback or do I have to use via a computer or universal player first. I'm thinking it's the later as the amp wont have a menu to access files on the stick, correct?

 

Correct, the HA-1 does not support file playback from USB or hard disk. You can use the front USB input for file playback from iOS devices, or Android (with host/OTG cable). Android is not officially supported.

 

Thanks.

 

You can access the files on the USB stick on your computer and then use USB, Toslink, or coax outputs from your computer into the HA-1.

 

I should be receiving mine tomorrow. Really excited! It's replacing my Woo Wa7, with which I was disappointed in the midrange. I'll post impressions in a couple days

 

I'm looking at going balanced with both my LCD-2 and the PM-1 once the HA-1 arrives(have to wait on a silver one). Anyone know if the standard 4 pin balanced cable that Audeze sell for their phones will fit the HA-1.

 

yes they will fit. that's what I'm using. XLR 3 pin and 4 pin are pretty universal standards

 

Any special reason why standard USB storage is not supported? I hate it when limitations like this are imposed.

 

Lack of USB storage playback support isn't an "imposed limitation", rather a design choice. The HA-1 is meant to be a (relatively) simple, straightforward pre-amp/headphone DAC, with a focus on sound quality. Maybe the 105D would be better suited to your needs?

 

^ In order to add that capability, I think they would have had to add another decoding chip and a board to go with it,
thus increasing the cost quite a bit. As Sam said, the 105D may be a better choice if that capability is required.
That or, just combine a BDP-103 with the HA-1 for a sweet combo.

 

You'd need more than that I think you need to add a decoder board, plus some kind of SOC and display to support navigation. All of those things are easily supported in a Blu-ray player, but the architecture of a headphone amp is traditionally more simple.

Yes, the 103 + HA-1 is a good combo, but the sweet spot might actually be the 105D + HA-1. Because you can feed the great analog XLR outputs into the HA-1, you're going to get true hifi sound from SACD, etc. that can stay in the balanced signal path all the way to headphone or amp output.

 

A word of warning on some components inside this unit. The six large capacitors visible on the pics on Oppo's website are Su'scon (Kuan Kun) - they had some issues with bad (exploding) caps in computer power supplies a few years ago. While I am sure they've addressed the issue, and yes, it can happen to any manufacturer - at the price of the HA-1 I'd have expected to see Panasonic, ELNA, Nichicon or another of the high-end staples. Just saying, don't shoot me. The display looks amazing though, as do the specs.

 

I can say from a couple days of listening that I am really enjoying the sound. I'm coming from tubes, so it's a bit of a change. It's both warm and fairly transparent.Oh, and very powerful in balanced mode

 

Thanks Russell for the mini review, been looking at this and a couple others to use out of my Onkyo's pre, looking for something a little warmer

 

Actually I could use this puppy for straight 2 channel correct? Ditch the Onkyo and connect this directly to my 2 channel Emotiva amp right?

 

Yep. No reason you couldn't. It has xlr and rca pre-outs, all active so you could also throw in a sub if you wanted

 

Cool thanks, this might be the option I've been looking for, I really have no need for a monster Multi-channel AVR anymore and the DAC specs look nice, My Squeezebox Touch/TT-phono pre would mate well with this I would think

 

I did this exactly ditching my flakey Marantz AVR moving to two channel and it works well as a preamp. I connect my Oppo 103 and phono preamp and soon a Mac mini. I can't judge the preamp quality as I have a cheap amp and never had a preamp before but so far I like it.

 

Good to know, thanks Carter

 

Why is it favorable to use the DAC in the 105D as opposed to using the DAC in the HA-1?
If your source into the player is digital, and remains digital until it reaches the HA-1's DAC, how is that detrimental to the sound?
After the HA-1's DAC does it's business, the audio can be output in balanced form through the headphone out or the balanced pre-outs, right?

 

I was referring to SACD, and similar sources that cannot easily be fed at full resolution via the HA-1 digital inputs.

 

You can use the the de-embedder method to get around that, but without that then yeah, you're right.

 

I'm a full blown virgin at this digital audio so my questions might seem a bit basic, have some patience please.
Am I correct that the highest quality sound input will be via a computer and the USB interface ?
My cdp(rega saturn) has a couple of digital outputs as well as the usual RCA. Is there any advantage in using the digital over the RCA or is it a matter of try it and see which works the best for me?

 

There are no absolutes regarding input types. Just try and see what works best. Standard digital inputs will likely provide for excellent sound (they do for me), and the computer USB input will sound just as good.

 

Just plug your inputs into the ha-1 and have a field day. Usb, optical, whatever. They'll all sound great.