HA-1 What is Home Theatre Bypass?

The modern day audiophile wants to enjoy the very best multi-channel and stereo sound quality by carefully assembling a variety of digital and analogue sources, pre-amps and power amps. Unfortunately traditional headphone amplifiers are not designed with the modern day audiophile in mind.

That was until OPPO designed the HA-1 Headphone Amplifier and DAC. 

The HA-1 is not just a headphone amplifier with digital inputs. It's also a fully fledged 2 channel pre-amplifier capable of seamlessly integrating into the most discerning audiophile's home audio system.

Each of the HA-1’s input sources can be individually configured to operate in Home Theater Bypass mode. If an input source is selected as BYPASS (Fixed Level), the HA-1’s volume control is bypassed for the Pre-Amplifier Output. The Pre-Amplifier Output level will be exactly the same as the input signal level (unity gain). This feature helps when integrating the HA-1 as a high performance stereo pre-amplifier into a multi-channel home theatre sound system.

In the diagram below the FL (Front Left) and FR (Front Right) volume levels from the Surround Sound Processor are passed through the HA-1 and onto the Stereo Power Amplifier at exactly the same gain levels. This lets the user maximise their Multi-channel, Stereo and Head-Fi experiences.

It is important to configure an input source in Home Theater Bypass mode only if the connected device has its own volume control. Do not connect a line level source device (such as a CD player or DVD player) to an input source in Home Theater Bypass mode since the high output level may cause damage to downstream amplifiers and speakers.
Home Theater Bypass mode only affects the Pre-Amplifier Output. The Headphone Jack output volume is still controlled by the Volume Knob for sources in Home Theater Bypass mode.