By the way, did RAAL send you a demo of the new upgraded HP cable for the SR1a?
Man, every time I go back to one of my other phones after spending time with the SR!a everything else is second place.
That’s a TRS style connector. Those short as they are inserted (depending on actual dimensions of the plug and socket, but you should assume they do).
I wouldn’t not insert/remove one of those in any amplifier without zeroing the volume or muting the unit. It shouldn’t be necessary to power the amplifier off, however.
Nope.
Will I be missing out using a standard momoprice rca cable to go from my dac (aqua la voce s3) to the hsa-1b?
If I understand your question:
From Torq’s review above (well worth reading and a good source of info on all aspects of the HSA-1b with the SR1a and conventional HP’s as well thru both balanced and single ended outputs).
“The headphones I tried resulted in excellent sound from the standard 1/4” TRS and 4-pin XLR outputs, regardless of source material or how loud I wanted to listen. The only difference between these two connections I was able to discern was a sense of slightly better separation from the 4-pin XLR output.”
I don’t know if the HSA-1b can take a single ended signal and convert it to balanced for the 4 pin conventional HP output.
On my Jot R I run it with both balanced and single ended inputs from my Yggdrasil so I can listen either way and especially as I can use the little Loki on the single ended input for those recordings I feel need a little lift on the extreme bottom.
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Well, I’ve found their cables to be rather poorly made (mechanically/materials), and have had the “petals” of the outer shroud/connector snap off on enough of them. Not helped by them being rather too tight in the first place (a tight fit is good for conduction, but not if is beyond what the material used can tolerate). So I wouldn’t personally use them on that basis.
The only thing you lose by feeding the HSA-1b with a single-ended connection is that you no longer have the benefits of noise-rejection etc. that a balanced input yields. This is VERY rarely an issue in a home setting, unless using long runs of cables in/around electrically noisy items.
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If you want a very good, inexpensive, properly made RCA cable, then these are rather good.
They’re marked as “directional”. You should observe the directionality. Not because there is any audiophile-woo-woo associated with it - just because with these cables it relates to the end the shield is connected, and if you put them in “backwards”, you may not get the benefit of that shielding.
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There’s a new Raal HP cable coming out? That is exciting news, I’ve had enough with aftermarket cables.
How many have you tried on the SR1a?
Or are you saying after market cables in general for any HP?
I’ve tried two pairs, one customized for Raal that comes with my prototype sr1a. And one Tara labs headphone cable but used converters with them which brings up the impedance. I didn’t mod them yet cause it will be hard to sell in aftermarket and might still have troubles with impedance pairing.
Looking forward to their new hp cable. If not I might send my Tara labs cable to Danny for mods.
HSA-1b ordered today, looking forward to comparing it along side the JOT R with/without Loki, and PrimaLuna EVO400 with/without Loki and the interface.
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I think you will find that it substantially exceeds the performance of the JOT R. Of course it should, given the price!
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Yes, it should indeed!
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it does for sure and does a reasonable job with standard HP’s…that said the Jotr does the job for a a pittance on a relative basis and is a great introduction or travel companion
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I spent a couple hours listening with the R this morning comparing 5 different recordings of Tchaikovsky’s “Manfred”. Clearly makes plain the differences in the sound / ambience of the different recording venues and how the companies recording them vary in what and how they want to capture that sound.
I followed that up with a recording of Vivaldi’s 4 Seasons I just acquired by Joshua Bell and the ASMF. The high strings sound was so sweet I had a hard time believing this was a Sony recording.
The JOT R sounds as good as what it’s fed.
I look forward to running this same gauntlet again when the HSA-1b arrives, and switching between it and the R.
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Please let the group know more about the Loki effects. Can it be used with the HSA-1b without the Jot-R?
I’m sure it can and that’s what I’m planning to do. The HSA-1b has one balanced (XLR) and one single ended (RCA) input. Loki and a an RCA switch box goes in between my Yggdrasil and the HSA-1b so I can flip between Jot plus one Loki and HSA-!b and my 2nd Loki.
I’ll be working on that hookup tomorrow after I pick the unit up which is at the post office but closed today for MLK Day.
I’ll be taking pictures of the “UNBOXING” and especially the insides with the cover off.
Is it possible to attach a word doc with my pics to a post. I don’t see an obvious symbol to do so.
the HSA-1B is unquestionably better and more versatile than the Jotr but the Jotr is no slouch…for the money it is an outstanding option
HSA-1b is in the house. It was double boxed and well protected in the inner box.
1 of 9 hex screws had smaller / different inset
Now for some internal pics
Note the free hanging yellow wire, maybe something to do with 110 vs 220 voltage or just not used.
The red switch in the upper right hand corner selects 110 versus 120 and it came set at 110.
That volume control is a pretty slick build. I like the candy-apple red volume knob as well.
My HSA-1b came with the adapter for power hungry HP’s but no banana plugs. No biggie, they are cheap and easy to source and I don’t really see myself using this to power speakers so…
The unit weights only 12 lbs. but feels solid like a brick weighing more than that.
Looking towards the front panel. Nice shielded toroidal power transformer
Looking towards the rear panel
Interesting; my gain was set to -6db as delivered. Torq’s was set to -10db per the photo in his review.
I’ll go with this setting for a while, not sure what the advantage / disadvantage is for using higher or lower settings. What I can say (dependent on the recording level on the CD) is that at this setting 9 to 11 o’clock position on balanced and 11 to 1 o’clock on SE inputs matches about perfectly with my other HP amps as to where I usually have it set for those respective types of inputs.
(See Torq’s review of his gain settings as delivered and a diagram of the 3 different settings)
With 3 dozen or so AC, IC, and digital cables running around the back of my equipment racks plus a passive splitter on the balanced run and a passive switchbox on the SE run, and with a Loki on each SE run for both JOT R and HSA-1b my brain kept tripping over itself and kept second guessing itself as I tried to connect it all correctly, LOL. But so far so good and as far as the fuse goes (an issue for some in a few posts I’ve seen at Head-Fi) I suspect that as long as the red light glows there is no fuse issue for me, presently.
First things first, I put on my usual Stereophile Test CD to verify channel ID and L / R balance and in/out of phase. I was surprised at how solid, tightly focused and center of the soundfield Sam Tellig’s voice was. I’ve listened to this hundreds of times over the years and for this to stand out to my ears so starkly on the first listen was a surprise. And Ralph the Christmas Dog’s bark confirmed my connections were correct and in phase. This volume control performs beautifully in maintaining channel balance tracking.
I’ll cook it for 400 minutes (per my “Burn-In” CD’s instructions) on each input (for what it’s worth) and get some casual listening in this evening. (It’s my “new gear” ritual).
There was no manual included but things are mostly self-explanatory for any seasoned audiophile and follower of various RAAL threads. And, in conjunction with the detailed spec sheet on the RAAL site and Torq’s review almost all questions would be answered. After 4 hours continuous cooking with the Burn-In CD the metal case is still cold and the heat sink fins barely warm. Cooler to the touch than my Yggdrasil, or even little Loki!
THE GOOD
THE BAD (Naughty Loki EQ)
THE UGLY
Time to bask in the glow.
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Interesting; my gain was set to -6db as delivered. Torq’s was set to -10db per the photo in his review.
I’ll go with this setting for a while, not sure what the advantage / disadvantage is for using higher or lower settings. What I can say (dependent on the recording level on the CD) is that at this setting 9 to 11 o’clock position on balanced and 11 to 1 o’clock on SE inputs matches about perfectly with my other HP amps as to where I usually have it set for those respective types of inputs.
interestingly using my chord dave and blu2 with volume on the dave set at 0 I find myself having to set volume on the HSA-1B a fair bit higher than you do, for loud remastered recordings I do use 9-11 as my volume setting but with quiet recordings I am forced to ramp the volume up more in the 14-20 range…perhaps having to do with the source???..I set the internal gain to 0 on my HSA-1B…
I’ll have to spend time with a variety of recordings to determine if -6db works best for me. I’m planning on my first session this evening.
My Yggdrasil’s spec is:
" Maximum Output: 4.0V RMS (balanced), 2.0V RMS (single-ended)"
which I believe is pretty standard for a wide range of consumer grade electronics.
With average wiper type controls I believe tracking is usually not so uniform channel to channel, especially at the lowest settings (highest attenuation) so I think the rule of thumb was to get gain sufficient to make the usual listening position closer to 12 o’clock. But I could be wrong on that.
But I was always a fan of dual ganged or separate L/R channel controls (instead of a balance control) to get the channels balanced at any listening level. But the volume control on this HSA-1b seems to be rock solid channel balance wise all way through its rotation.