Thanks for the recommendations everyone.

back to the 3a the Moon adapters I ordered arrived today and I received the Halide Bridge last week. This is a major improvement over the already good sounding USB digital connection. Improvements on first pass listen are bright edge is greatly mitigated, detail retrieval is improved and soundstage layering is also improved.

Yes it adds $450 for the bridge and the bucks for the adapter but it is well worth it for high res and improved 16/44 sound as well. I'll be testing the Sonic 305 AES stream to BNC to SPDiF later tonight

JP, are you able to use the Halide for audio signal and separate USB for power from the same computer? Effectively controlling which input the audio signal is coming in from? The computer side is easy enough, but wanted to check on the JH3A end. Does 'digital' on the input switch cover both USB and coax or does 'line' cover both analog and coax (makes less sense, but same jack)?

Also will JHAs lowering of gain likely increase bat life?

Yes both the spidf and usb are selected as digital I have not kept the usb in back connected but I can test it in the next few days

JP, did you get an opportunity to test the above by chance?

with the 3a connected to mini usb charging/digital inout and the halide to the spdif in the front I got no sound. As soon as I unplugged the mini usb sound cam eback on. It appears the usb overrides the mini spdif input. It is a good thing I do not listed for 6 plus hours at work or something similar. I'm not sure if Jerry can fix that aspect.

Edited June 28, 201114 yr by jp11801

I was afraid of that. There was some discussion of using an iPad charger cube during spdif audio to lengthen charge. Has this been confirmed (you don't have to all the tests yourself )? If so, and eliminating the data signal is all that's necessay, wonder if an USB charge only cable like this would work?

I would hope that the use of a USB charge only cable (or a wall wart charger with USB connection) would work at the same time with SPDIF input, otherwise, the JH3A makes my HifiMan HM-801 battery life look good in comparison.

Hey, John. Try one of those USB Y-cables, the ones that usually come with portable hard drives. Use only one of the USB connections, that's the power only connection. It's usually the one on the very end with the thinner cable. If in doubt just try each one by itself and see if you still get sound with SPDIF.

-Ed

I was able to charge from a wall usb charger and play spdif digital input music no problem.

The Halide USB SPDIF is my preferred playback method but I may try a few other USB convertors. The one flaw for me in all of this is going from a decently mastered 24/96 recording to a compressed crappy mastering is more evident than ever. The STP DVD-a of Core was amazing then going to the 16/44 of the second album totally blew

The one flaw for me in all of this is going from a decently mastered 24/96 recording to a compressed crappy mastering is more evident than ever. The STP DVD-a of Core was amazing then going to the 16/44 of the second album totally blew

Tell me about it. If only more music was available well-mastered. Sigh.

I was able to charge from a wall usb charger and play spdif digital input music no problem.

The Halide USB SPDIF is my preferred playback method but I may try a few other USB convertors. The one flaw for me in all of this is going from a decently mastered 24/96 recording to a compressed crappy mastering is more evident than ever. The STP DVD-a of Core was amazing then going to the 16/44 of the second album totally blew

The Music Fidelity V-Link is very affordable, also is a plug and play no driver 24/96 USB adapter, but it is a huge brick. I'd say try one, keep it at home or the office, permanently attached to the computer. Keep the Halide Bridge for on the go, since it' much more compact.

Although if you end up liking the V-Link and you don't really ever use the Halide Bridge on the go for portable use, buy two V-Links and still end up spending less money than for ONE Halide Bridge.

I can't even post at HF on these anymore as that thread has just about drove me insane. There is a very slight hiss on the amp and the anti-crowd is freaking out. .Maybe I'm just not that sensitive to a slight hiss and it really is bothersome? I'd love to hear other 3a owners thoughts on this issue?

It truly is a breakthrough product for me and I am very happy with it.

In the next few months I play around with the V-link, I need to get my computer set up finalized.

Edited July 12, 201114 yr by jp11801

I've had my unit for a couple days before sending it back, and yes it had a very slight background hiss, which became un-noticeable once playing music. The thing is that I've come to expect background sound in just about any audio equipment that I've owned (speakers included).

And yeah, the HC crowd is getting really annoying...you can't post anything without people going crazy over the slighter imperfection. I feel that most people out there don't even listen to music anymore for enjoyment...all they do is play 5-10 'audiophile' tracks in rapidfire to evaluate equipment and start posting impressions after 5 minutes of owning a product.

And yeah, the HC crowd is getting really annoying...

Hey now! I think that's the HF crowd you're talking about.

lol I just noticed that! If only i could blame it on my iphone autocorrect

Edited July 12, 201114 yr by monsieurguzel

I too can deal with a little hiss in some gear. The only combo I've tried that was truly horrible with hiss was the Amp3 with any of my IEM.

What I'd be concerned about more is reading that the gain of the 3A is too high, so there is little useable volume range. Is that really a big issue, and has it been addressed?

Shipping notice received.

Supposedly the gain issue has been addressed to a certain extent, but it seems that we can request it to be even lower (at the extent of lowering analogue input gain).

I also had Jerry specifically tune the Bass level on my amp unit since I thought it was a little too high even at lowest level.

The hiss is a non issue for my old ears,it seems that others seem to focus on it instead of listening to music.

I held on to my 3a instead of sending it back again until all of the gain issues are sorted out.

In the mean time I just enjoy listening to it.

first thing i noticed when i tried it at CanJam was the hiss. but i look for that stuff all day. seriously, why not just make the amp....without hiss.

I'm with you Justin. The 3a is pretty much the only piece of audio gear that I actually want to buy but any hiss in equipment drives me nuts (YMMV).

I hope they figure it out.

Maybe its the cosmic microwave background radiation?

first thing i noticed when i tried it at CanJam was the hiss. but i look for that stuff all day. seriously, why not just make the amp....without hiss.

Same thing here but right after that I noticed the gigantic bass coloration. Is it still just an Alo RX?

Yeah, I def. wouldn't call them neutral by any means...even with the bass knob turned down, but they sure are a lot of fun to listen to. In terms of IEMs, they are by far the best I've heard by a longshot, but still not in the same league as top flight headphones in terms of refinement.

"We stopped shipment on a few orders last night (including yours) when they did not test out."