Oppo Digital, which is based in California, USA, and is best known to audio- and videophiles for their universal disc players, has recently branched out into headphones and, most recently, headphones amplifiers. The company’s first headphone amplifier is the HA-1, which they say borrows technology from their award-winning disc players. According to the company’s press release on May 7: “The analog audio section of the HA-1 is a fully balanced design with an emphasis on keeping the audio signal in the analog domain once it leaves the DAC. The HA-1 is anchored by a hefty toroidal power transformer, and linear power regulators and filters with custom-made capacitors ensure that the headphone amplifier has a clean power source with plenty of reserve energy. The fully balanced class-A power amplification section uses hand-picked and -paired discrete components to ensure symmetry, and a motor-driven precision volume control knob allows for both manual and remote control volume adjustment while keeping the audio in a pure analog audio path.
“The HA-1 is especially suitable for high-resolution digital audio playback. Its digital inputs include coaxial, optical, balanced AES/EBU, and an asynchronous USB DAC. It is easy to connect the HA-1 to digital audio players or to a computer running the listener’s favorite playback software. The USB DAC supports PCM audio up to 384kHz/32-bit resolution and DSD audio up to 256x the CD sample rate. The same ESS 9018 Sabre32 Reference DAC and output driving stage used in Oppo audiophile Blu-ray players ensure extremely low noise and low distortion performance. The HA-1 is compatible with Apple’s iPod, iPhone and iPad for use as an external DAC, enabling the listener to directly tap into digital music played from these devices. For additional convenience, the Bluetooth audio transport with high quality aptX CODEC sets music free from your mobile phones with a performance boost.”
The HA-1 features 1/4” and four-pin, balanced XLR headphone jacks. The rear panel has balanced and single-ended outputs so that it can also be used as a stereo preamplifier. The chassis is made from aluminum and the front panel sports a 4.3” color screen to allow for easier operation and can be configured to “show a classic VU meter, a modern spectrum display, or detailed technical information about the audio signal.” Oppo Digital describes the look of the HA-1 in their press release as a “classic design.”
The HA-1 can be ordered right now in black for $1199 USD through the company’s website. A silver version of the HA-1 is scheduled for release in June.