I want to clarify something. I did not use the High Impedance with the Tungsten because I didn't care for the sound compared to the Medium Impedance. My point on the video was that the High Impedance on XLR does go to that 20V range, which seems to be the sweet spot of voltage for that headphone. That doesn't mean you have to, as I stated here.
@@Maver1ck911there is no gain switch on the Cayin tube amps, but there is an output impedance switch on these amps. With tube amps, the gain tends to go up as the impedance of the headphone goes up. As a result, people seem to equate the impedance setting as a gain setting.
Another great video, many thanks! I am considering the HA-3A but waiting for reviews and comparisons against the newly released HA-2A. I don't think these Amps are underrated, just misunderstood by most people. Why would anybody want to stick 50 year+ old tubes in a modern device? 🤔🤪🤫😂
HA-2A looks killer as well - it seems as though HA-2A would be a good option if you want a one-and-done tube amp and the HA-3A if you want additional options to get into rolling tubes.
I am also a Cayin fanboy. I have the HA 6A tube amp, the N8ii DAP, the IDAC 6 MKii, and I used to have the IHA 6 SS amp. Like you, I used to believe that the sound of my tube amp would be the same through the XLR and RCA inputs. Last weekend I switched over to the RCA inputs, as an experiment. OMG, I don’t want to say that it sounds magical, but it does sound magical. The blacks are deeper, the sound stage is wider (but not as deep), the air is air-ier, there is more detail, the timbre is “tubier,” and there just seems to be more of that euphonic tube magic. Not everything sounds better to my ear, but I do prefer this sound as opposed to the XLR inputs. I have no intention of switching back to the XLR inputs. I don’t know if this difference is due to using the RCA inputs of my amp, or due to using the RCA output of my DAC. It could even be a combination of both effects. I am due to receive my Holo Audio Cyan 2 DAC in the next 2-3 weeks. After that, I’ll be able to do even more experiments. I plan to also get a Violectric V222 when the Cyan 2 arrives. My ultimate plan is to hook up the V222 to the XLR outputs of the Cyan 2, and to hook up the HA 6A to the RCA outputs. I might even swap the inputs every now and then to hear a different sound; however, I won’t know until I actually receive the equipment and do some experiments. After seeing you on Tyler’s live stream last night, I am also thinking about the Cayin IHA 8 SS amp; however, I think that I am still leaning towards the Violectric amp. I might be a Cayin fanboy, but I am not sure if I want every amp that I own to have the Cayin house sound. I want to break things up a little bit. The Violectric amp does come with a 30 day audition period, so I can always send it back if I don’t like it; however, I am not a big fan of buying something with the intention of returning it. BTW - Before last night I had no idea who Skeeb 23 was. I watched a bunch of your videos, and I like your style. I am now subscribed
great review. I think this will be my next transformer coupled tube amp. I currently use a OTL and I'm starting to get into planars so... Thanks for the vid. subbed. 👍
Great review Ryan. I own one myself and absolutely love it. Other sound options expand immensely when you start to tube roll making this an end game product for small desktops.
Thanks for the review on this - I've had the HA-3A for a bit over a month and just love it. It gets even better after changing out the tubes. My only gripe would be that I use the XLR in and even on my ZMFs with the 4.4mm out I can barely get to 9:00 on the pot before it's too loud. Makes me wish my DAC had a volume control.
OMG the last thing I need is another HPA... but damn... this thing looks so tempting thanks for the review Ryan ! (your Auteur Classic and Atrium Closed are both gorgeous!)
Oh man. Haha no fair. I'd choose AtC if I had to. Thankfully I don't! As for rankings...I'm not there yet. Still many more things I want to hear before a list can be made fairly.
I don't think low V is something to be concerned with. The Bifrost 2/64 did well with the HA-3A. That Dac is the industry standard. The Cyan 2, that is my current Dac, is 5V out of balanced and 2.5V I believe out of RCA. It does well with the HA-3A also. No way I could really recommend things further as I haven't tested multiple dacs with it. Hope that helps!
You need to tube roll as those stock tubes are trash imo. I settled on the Telefunken EC882 and Reflektor 6V6GT tubes and kept the stock rectifier. You will notice a ton more detail as those stock tubes smooth the sound out too much. I'm sure the Enlyum will still give you more detail but it will be a lot closer than it was with the stock tubes.
There are very few tube amps that work with iems and they're all OTL. MOST high end iems are very low impedance. The Fir iems in the frontier series are 28 ohms so they will work with this, but if you're following the rule of 8ths it's not ideal for damping. However, stuff from Empire Ears are less than 4 ohms which makes the damping 0.5x and totally messes with the FR. It's not about the power it's about impedance matching the output.
With the ZMF which output you like the most the 4.4 , 6.3 or XLR ? As we know this is a single ended amp . Thanks ! 🙏 And do you prefer copper pure cables with the ZMF and also copper interconnects? Or silver ?
@@TheSaassaf I prefer the 4.4 the most. It's the cleanest output of the 3. Cables, I haven't gone that deep into it yet to be honest. I use some hart audio cables and ones that come with the ZMF headphones. You're correct too on the single ended, but, don't miss That it is balanced driven. The conversion is seamless.
@@Skeeb23 Thank you very much for replying. I read in many places that xlr gives more power which is obvious but more dynamic and bass . Don't you feel that too ?
@@TheSaassaf spec wise, it is a bit more power. I did use XLR with the Tungsten to get the most from it. To be honest, my ZMF hps barely get past 9-10 on the volume pot. So it's plenty of power. I am about to finally try different tubes, so I'll see how that goes.
I did, and it does well. The Mojo2 is a very capable dac. As long as you get the volume set right on the Mojo2, it works well. Doesn't carry the same characteristics of the BF 2/64, but, it handles itself well.
I have not had experience with the HA-6A. However, my HA-3A paired up very well with the Caldera! So it would depend on your budget and I'd also look into reviews of the HA-6A to help you decide.
Hi i have austrian audio composer and want to buy ha-3a after watching your review. Before final wrapping up thoughts, it looks like you have AA composer too. How does it match with ha 3a ? Can you recognize any hum or noise via xlr output? Plz give me some advise for pairing composer with ha3a
I did use the Composer with the HA-3A. I have a video on the Composer if you are interested. I would not recommend using the XLR of the HA-3A with the Composer. It's too much power output. The 4.4 pairs excellent with the Composer though. Also you can tube roll the HA-3A to always give yourself a different flavor of sound down the road, which is what I'm going to do.
This amp dont have enough juice for demanding planars and thats the issue with these 2k priced tube ones. Tou have to go over 5k if u want properly listen planars wirh tubes. Its a shame.
I know what you are referring to but it will still drive them and give you good sound, or good enough imo. It's like anything in this hobby...there are levels to achieve. Fomo will eat at you, ha! Still, I can't stop recommending the HA-3A for the price it comes in at.
I have 4 tubes xduoo MT604 ($100) and absolutely loving how it sounds with my planars Ananda Nano. I don't get it why anybody would want to spend 15 times more
I am the happy owner of a Cayin HA-1A MK2 ... looking for a successor to step up the game. This HA-3A seems to be a natural choice ... I'd use it to drive an AUDEZE LCD-X and a Sennheiser 6xx. Does anyone have an experience with these combinations ?
I have the 6XX and it's a solid pairing with the HA-3A. That HP scales so very well. The HA-3A provides a fuller, thicker sound while giving space as well.
Don't worry, I just picked up a 6XX and I have tbe 560S. Not totl, but still worthy of the HA-3A. I'll update some impressions in the comments once I listen to the 6XX.
I want to clarify something. I did not use the High Impedance with the Tungsten because I didn't care for the sound compared to the Medium Impedance. My point on the video was that the High Impedance on XLR does go to that 20V range, which seems to be the sweet spot of voltage for that headphone. That doesn't mean you have to, as I stated here.
You mean gain?
@@Maver1ck911there is no gain switch on the Cayin tube amps, but there is an output impedance switch on these amps. With tube amps, the gain tends to go up as the impedance of the headphone goes up. As a result, people seem to equate the impedance setting as a gain setting.
Finally the review of the HA-3A! My prayers were heard 🤗
Another great video, many thanks! I am considering the HA-3A but waiting for reviews and comparisons against the newly released HA-2A. I don't think these Amps are underrated, just misunderstood by most people. Why would anybody want to stick 50 year+ old tubes in a modern device? 🤔🤪🤫😂
HA-2A looks killer as well - it seems as though HA-2A would be a good option if you want a one-and-done tube amp and the HA-3A if you want additional options to get into rolling tubes.
I am also a Cayin fanboy. I have the HA 6A tube amp, the N8ii DAP, the IDAC 6 MKii, and I used to have the IHA 6 SS amp. Like you, I used to believe that the sound of my tube amp would be the same through the XLR and RCA inputs. Last weekend I switched over to the RCA inputs, as an experiment. OMG, I don’t want to say that it sounds magical, but it does sound magical. The blacks are deeper, the sound stage is wider (but not as deep), the air is air-ier, there is more detail, the timbre is “tubier,” and there just seems to be more of that euphonic tube magic. Not everything sounds better to my ear, but I do prefer this sound as opposed to the XLR inputs. I have no intention of switching back to the XLR inputs.
I don’t know if this difference is due to using the RCA inputs of my amp, or due to using the RCA output of my DAC. It could even be a combination of both effects. I am due to receive my Holo Audio Cyan 2 DAC in the next 2-3 weeks. After that, I’ll be able to do even more experiments. I plan to also get a Violectric V222 when the Cyan 2 arrives. My ultimate plan is to hook up the V222 to the XLR outputs of the Cyan 2, and to hook up the HA 6A to the RCA outputs. I might even swap the inputs every now and then to hear a different sound; however, I won’t know until I actually receive the equipment and do some experiments.
After seeing you on Tyler’s live stream last night, I am also thinking about the Cayin IHA 8 SS amp; however, I think that I am still leaning towards the Violectric amp. I might be a Cayin fanboy, but I am not sure if I want every amp that I own to have the Cayin house sound. I want to break things up a little bit.
The Violectric amp does come with a 30 day audition period, so I can always send it back if I don’t like it; however, I am not a big fan of buying something with the intention of returning it.
BTW - Before last night I had no idea who Skeeb 23 was. I watched a bunch of your videos, and I like your style. I am now subscribed
great review. I think this will be my next transformer coupled tube amp. I currently use a OTL and I'm starting to get into planars so... Thanks for the vid. subbed. 👍
Great review Ryan. I own one myself and absolutely love it. Other sound options expand immensely when you start to tube roll making this an end game product for small desktops.
Nice review 👍 so how is the pairing with HE1000SE.
Thanks for the review on this - I've had the HA-3A for a bit over a month and just love it. It gets even better after changing out the tubes. My only gripe would be that I use the XLR in and even on my ZMFs with the 4.4mm out I can barely get to 9:00 on the pot before it's too loud. Makes me wish my DAC had a volume control.
Yes, I don't get much on the volume pit either. Still sounds great though!
Which tubes did you roll?!
Another great video!
OMG the last thing I need is another HPA... but damn... this thing looks so tempting
thanks for the review Ryan !
(your Auteur Classic and Atrium Closed are both gorgeous!)
Outstanding work.
Is this amp delivered via high altitude spy balloon?
Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊
Just wait, until you start to roll some good NOS tubes. ;)
Hello ! Would you be so kind to recommend your tubes of choice ?
Thanks for the review.. I hope you could do a 2 minute vid showing what’s underneath the chassis..
P O T E N I O M E T E R! Old alter-ego!
we need skeeb headphone rankings. did you hear abyss diana MR yet? thanks! also, one question. E3 or AC? i know it's hard but...
Oh man. Haha no fair. I'd choose AtC if I had to. Thankfully I don't! As for rankings...I'm not there yet. Still many more things I want to hear before a list can be made fairly.
Hey , what DAC are you suggesting with them ? Is it suppose to be a DAC with low V ?
I don't think low V is something to be concerned with. The Bifrost 2/64 did well with the HA-3A. That Dac is the industry standard. The Cyan 2, that is my current Dac, is 5V out of balanced and 2.5V I believe out of RCA. It does well with the HA-3A also. No way I could really recommend things further as I haven't tested multiple dacs with it. Hope that helps!
You need to tube roll as those stock tubes are trash imo. I settled on the Telefunken EC882 and Reflektor 6V6GT tubes and kept the stock rectifier. You will notice a ton more detail as those stock tubes smooth the sound out too much. I'm sure the Enlyum will still give you more detail but it will be a lot closer than it was with the stock tubes.
There are very few tube amps that work with iems and they're all OTL. MOST high end iems are very low impedance. The Fir iems in the frontier series are 28 ohms so they will work with this, but if you're following the rule of 8ths it's not ideal for damping. However, stuff from Empire Ears are less than 4 ohms which makes the damping 0.5x and totally messes with the FR. It's not about the power it's about impedance matching the output.
Yes. Also hybrid Tube amps can do well also for the low output impedance. Something like the WA7 I covered recently.
@Skeeb23 well of course, they're solid state amps with tube buffers 🫡 great review though and nice cans. I've got stabilized Caldera and VC!
@Maver1ck911 Caldera is on my bucket list for sure. Very nice headphone!
With the ZMF which output you like the most the 4.4 , 6.3 or XLR ? As we know this is a single ended amp . Thanks ! 🙏
And do you prefer copper pure cables with the ZMF and also copper interconnects? Or silver ?
@@TheSaassaf I prefer the 4.4 the most. It's the cleanest output of the 3. Cables, I haven't gone that deep into it yet to be honest. I use some hart audio cables and ones that come with the ZMF headphones. You're correct too on the single ended, but, don't miss That it is balanced driven. The conversion is seamless.
@@Skeeb23
Thank you very much for replying. I read in many places that xlr gives more power which is obvious but more dynamic and bass . Don't you feel that too ?
@@TheSaassaf spec wise, it is a bit more power. I did use XLR with the Tungsten to get the most from it. To be honest, my ZMF hps barely get past 9-10 on the volume pot. So it's plenty of power. I am about to finally try different tubes, so I'll see how that goes.
How do you compare it to the HA-6A? LCD-X user
Will you review the new HA2?
I want to, just not sure how soon I will get to it.
Have you tried to use the Mojo2 as a dac to the HA-3A? I wonder how does that sound?
I did, and it does well. The Mojo2 is a very capable dac. As long as you get the volume set right on the Mojo2, it works well. Doesn't carry the same characteristics of the BF 2/64, but, it handles itself well.
Hey for caldera would you think it's enough or you think the h6a will be a better choice?
I have not had experience with the HA-6A. However, my HA-3A paired up very well with the Caldera! So it would depend on your budget and I'd also look into reviews of the HA-6A to help you decide.
Hi i have austrian audio composer and want to buy ha-3a after watching your review. Before final wrapping up thoughts, it looks like you have AA composer too. How does it match with ha 3a ? Can you recognize any hum or noise via xlr output? Plz give me some advise for pairing composer with ha3a
I did use the Composer with the HA-3A. I have a video on the Composer if you are interested.
I would not recommend using the XLR of the HA-3A with the Composer. It's too much power output. The 4.4 pairs excellent with the Composer though. Also you can tube roll the HA-3A to always give yourself a different flavor of sound down the road, which is what I'm going to do.
Would something like this be also capable of driving active speakers if a 4 pin XLR to 2 x RCA cable was used? Speaker's nominal impedance is 8 Ohm
This amp dont have enough juice for demanding planars and thats the issue with these 2k priced tube ones. Tou have to go over 5k if u want properly listen planars wirh tubes. Its a shame.
I know what you are referring to but it will still drive them and give you good sound, or good enough imo. It's like anything in this hobby...there are levels to achieve. Fomo will eat at you, ha! Still, I can't stop recommending the HA-3A for the price it comes in at.
I have 4 tubes xduoo MT604 ($100) and absolutely loving how it sounds with my planars Ananda Nano. I don't get it why anybody would want to spend 15 times more
Been wanting to get this but I ran out of space 😭(Singaporean flats and their tiny rooms...)
I am the happy owner of a Cayin HA-1A MK2 ... looking for a successor to step up the game. This HA-3A seems to be a natural choice ... I'd use it to drive an AUDEZE LCD-X and a Sennheiser 6xx. Does anyone have an experience with these combinations ?
I have the 6XX and it's a solid pairing with the HA-3A. That HP scales so very well. The HA-3A provides a fuller, thicker sound while giving space as well.
@@Skeeb23 thank you for the feedback! All this with stock tubes?
@@marcoarispoli yes, I haven't rolled tubes yet.
Just wait until you hear the mjolnir 3
No Sennheisers? 😪
Don't worry, I just picked up a 6XX and I have tbe 560S. Not totl, but still worthy of the HA-3A. I'll update some impressions in the comments once I listen to the 6XX.
Naa too noisy for an iem..Peace!