Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amp Review

[Gremlins]

Damm, fall is painfull

The Pass amps costing the price of a nice harley davidson must perform similar to those headphone amp?

 

[Tom C]

What a ripoff!
Dr. N. Pass is a particularly intelligent fellow. He sure knows how to make money. Read a Stereophile interview with him some years ago. He has a beautiful coastline property in Northern California.

 

[respice finem]

It's for when you're out running with it!

Bragging rights, level steampunk

 

[Vacceo]

Devices like these make me mad. Why? If you're designing an expensive piece of gear, getting a particular aesthetic and carry a famous name; why do they have to provide a bad performance?

Sure, make it luxurious, heavy and make it feel unique. But give the customer great performance and features too,. It's not that electronics are that hard to do in this time and age.

 

[respice finem]

Devices like these make me mad. Why? If you're designing an expensive piece of gear, getting a particular aesthetic and carry a famous name; why do they have to provide a bad performance?

Sure, make it luxurious, heavy and make it feel unique. But give the customer great performance and features too,. It's not that electronics are that hard to do in this time and age.

I suspect they want the electronics to be "unique" too, and degrade the performance this way.
Standard solutions have become standard for a reason.

 

[Joe Smith]

I'll take this one at face(plate) value. Pass.
And on the same day I learn of the new $110 Magni+ from Schiit...looking forward to that review!

 

[Xulonn]

Sara Schweiger of Moon Audio says:

The Verdict​

I was super impressed with the HPA-1. It might sound cliche, but there are certain products you listen to that make you want to start digging through your music so you can hear just how good everything will sound. The HPA-1 is one of those products. I enjoyed it with every headphone and every piece of music I threw at it, though I will say that classical, jazz, blues, and live music were particular highlights, thanks to a wide soundstage and touch of warmth.

 

[Jimbob54]

Sara Schweiger of Moon Audio says:

You do have to wonder, had someone stuck the guts of a JDS Atom into that case, what they would have said. My guess is, exactly the same!

 

[voodooless]

You do have to wonder, had someone stuck the guts of a JDS Atom into that case, what they would have said. My guess is, exactly the same!

Who says it wasn’t in there

Would be a good stunt to prepare two products, one of which has the insides replaced with the others hardware, so basically they are the same on the inside. Then give them as a pair review to some famous audiophile channel.

 

[Vacceo]

I suspect they want the electronics to be "unique" too, and degrade the performance this way.
Standard solutions have become standard for a reason.

Make them unique with features such as EQ, balanced connections, Dirac...

 

[trevintheaudioboy]

You should take the polls away, im sure 90% of people voting dont have any experience with this amplifier or most of the polled items.

 

[voodooless]

You should take the polls away, im sure 90% of people voting dont have any experience with this amplifier or most of the polled items.

Do you need to taste every pile of shit to gain experience about what it tasks like?

You also mean to say that 10% of voters have experience with the amp? That would be an interesting surprise! If so, only 2 out of 15 found it great at best.

 

[trevintheaudioboy]

Do you need to taste every pile of shit to gain experience about what it tasks like?

You also mean to say that 10% of voters have experience with the amp? That would be an interesting surprise!

You’re quite closeminded for even speaking that first sentence. As for the second, the 90% is a very wide estimate. This amp is almost $4000, I highly doubt most voters have heard it, so what point is the vote besides to regurgitate the opinion in the original review?

 

[voodooless]

You’re quite closeminded for even speaking that first sentence.

At least my brain doesn’t fall out…

As for the second, the 90% is a very wide estimate. This amp is almost $4000, I highly doubt most voters have heard it, so what point is the vote besides to regurgitate the opinion in the original review?

There is no need to hear it. For about 1/20 the price we can get something with orders of magnitude better objective performance.

 

[NHL99]

'Summing Up
As balanced headphone operation is the audio fashion du jour, it might be felt that Pass Labs's sticking with single-ended operation could work against the HPA-1. But regardless of circuit topology and the active devices, it's the sound quality that matters, and on that count the HPA-1 scores big-time. Yes, it's an expensive headphone amplifier; but I venture to suggest that, in bass clarity and authority and in midrange transparency, the Pass Labs HPA-1 is without peer.'

Apparently, it's all about authority.

Pass Labs HPA-1 headphone amplifier

When Pass Labs is mentioned, it's natural to think of its founder, iconic engineer Nelson Pass. But Nelson heads a team of engineers at the California company: Their XP-30 preamplifier, which I enthusiastically reviewed in April 2013, was designed by Wayne Colburn; and the subject of this...

www.stereophile.com

 

[Vacceo]

You’re quite closeminded for even speaking that first sentence. As for the second, the 90% is a very wide estimate. This amp is almost $4000, I highly doubt most voters have heard it, so what point is the vote besides to regurgitate the opinion in the original review?

If we all listened to it, veils may fall and Prodigy might turn into Diana Krall.

 

[trevintheaudioboy]

At least my brain doesn’t fall out…

There is no need to hear it. For about 1/20 the price we can get something with orders of magnitude better objective performance.

Better objectively in these specific tests yes, but a poll isn’t needed to verify anything “objective.” Its like being shown a slideshow showing all the poor numbers of a product and then asking the audience whether the product is good or not. The poll has nothing to do with whether people have heard it so why does ASR need that reassurance? If its really a measurements focus then post them and leave it at that

 

[pkane]

Better objectively in these specific tests yes, but a poll isn’t needed to verify anything “objective.” Its like being shown a slideshow showing all the poor numbers of a product and then asking the audience whether the product is good or not. The poll has nothing to do with whether people have heard it so why does ASR need that reassurance? If its really a measurements focus then post them and leave it at that

The poll shows the sentiment of the ASR audience reacting to the product based on the review. You seem to interpret it as if it's an "Amazon product review by confirmed buyers". It's not.

 

[Ken1951]

Better objectively in these specific tests yes, but a poll isn’t needed to verify anything “objective.” Its like being shown a slideshow showing all the poor numbers of a product and then asking the audience whether the product is good or not. The poll has nothing to do with whether people have heard it so why does ASR need that reassurance? If its really a measurements focus then post them and leave it at that

@amirm tested it. Then he listened to it. Garbage in both cases. It might be built really well, but no reason not to have included outstanding engineering.

 

[voodooless]

If its really a measurements focus then post them and leave it at that

What would be the fun in that?

The rating is done with the information provided. Anyone can choose what they want. What you do with the results you can decide for yourself…