The HP-A8 is a sleek black monolith weighing nearly 4Kg. It's chassis is lavishly garnished by a variety of high quality materials, dials and connections. The striking, minimalist design is only slightly diminished by the model number, but it's engineered with a precision that easily justifies it's price tag.
At the heart of the A8 is a 32bit Asahi Kasei AK4399 D/A converter. An Asynchronous, Class 2.0 USB supports the transfer of audio up to 24bit /192khz, as do the other digital inputs. There is also support for DSD files (DSF only, not DFF). This is essentially a downloadable SACD audio format, which (at the moment) is only supported via the SD card reader on the back of the machine. For non computer related digital audio the HP-A8C has two optical, one coaxial and one AES/EBU input. Along with one optical and one coaxial digital output in case you feel the need to convert USB to another external DAC. With the added ability to up-sample any of it's digital signals (x2 or x4) this is a feature rich high-end machine.
The fully solid-state, completely discrete headphone amplifier is capable of driving pretty much any headphones you can think of. For those with any analogue devices left or if you're lucky enough to own a better DAC there is also a pair of analogue inputs for using the headphone amplifier independently. The analogue outputs are selectable as variable (volume controlled) or direct (volume bypassed) - a nice touch. Gain is selectable from 0 to +20dB (0.5dB steps) and affects everything controlled by the volume dial. I couldn't find anything that struggled with the default levels (not even the 600 Ohm Beyerdynamic DT880), so I imagine even the most demanding headphones wouldn't be left wanting for power.
SCV London are some of, if not the, only people in the UK to offer the HP-A8 for sale at the moment. They are so confident that you will love it (and the flagship TH900 headphones) that they offer them on a 30 day money back trial. They are both priced at £1499.
SOUND
As well as the A8 I also got some ear time with the rest of Fostex's headphone amplifier range, and I must say that I'm most impressed by how consistent the presentation of their sound is. The main difference between them is their connections and technicalities of their sound. The tonality is very well balanced throughout, all display a clean and neutral sound that doesn't jar your senses or feel artificial. This seemed to make them more friendly with a larger number of headphones than amplifiers with a more characterful colouration. This is transparency as it should be, very detailed, but smooth and not cold. The A8 takes these features in it's stride and adds new heights of soundstage dynamics and detail.
Good amplification often brings with it a nice blend of two quality traits, often considered mutually exclusive in lesser equipment. That magic is infused to the A8's sound as a healthy dose of speed without the typical tendency of over brightness in the upper ranges. It's smooth and articulate treble does wonders to crisp detail and for long periods, without fatigue. The low frequencies get good attention too. Bass is tight and well defined without loosing weight or impact. The mid-range is perhaps even more impressive, feeding off the high's lush smoothness and the low's refined texturing to build a deeply involving experience. I felt an emphasis in the mids, but not in power so much as my attention to it and it's sublime clarity of presentation.
A smooth balance of power that is both delicate and authoritative seems to be the hardest thing to do with digital sources, and this is where the A8 delivers it's magic. Although it will take up to 24bit 192khz (through all if it's digital inputs) it excels with good old CD quality. Let's face it, this is the format that most of most people's music will be in. After the silky smoothness, the next thing that struck me about the A8's sound was the soundstage. It impresses hugely! Not only is the throw of instruments both far and wide, it's also endowed with a sense of natural precision, an effect amplified by superb instrument separation. This rounds off a three-dimensional feeling that brought a lot of music to life in a big way. This effect is emphasised with headphones already good in this area too, so it really warrants a good set of headphones to get as much out of this as possible.
Although compressed music is handled well, the only problem is that uncompressed is just so much better. It seems like any extra detail that you can throw at the A8 further aid a more smooth and delicate presentation. In fact, never before have I noticed so much of a difference between compressed and uncompressed formats, and I see this as a true testament to the refinement and transparency on display here.
The SoundMAGIC HP100 headphones are best for me with a little extra punch in the lower frequencies, although they are unusually impressive in this regard (fantastic and great value)! The A8 doesn't provide that bass body, but what it does to the rest of the frequencies and soundstage is nothing short of stellar. This was the least impressive headphone combination that I had, but only because of my preference of tonality shift, or lack thereof and that's a petty criticism. The highs, which can be a little overbearing on lesser amplification, sound well controlled here.
Although the Beyerdynamic DT880 600 Ohm has less warmth than the SoundMAGIC they manage to be great despite it and the A8 propelled them to a place of abundant detail and powerful presence. The bass here actually seemed to get a healthy boost in weight once you give yourself a little time to sink into it's presentation. Soundstage is one of the DT880's greatest abilities and that was brought even further out by the A8's amplification.
If you read my previous review you will know that I have some problems with the V-Moda M-100, namely it's overzealous bass and lack of midrange, but the A8 made the M-100s sound almost acceptable for their price... even for me! If you like them already I can't help but think that you would love them on this amp, but as I said in their own review - at ten times the price the A8 is no solution. With electronic music I didn't even need any EQ for the M-100's while connected to the A8, this really is saying something because I found them very lack-lustre and harsh on most other amps, even the Audiolab M-DAC. I will iterate it here, because I seem overly harsh on the M-100 - it really isn't a terrible headphone, it's possibly the greatest full-size fashion headphone ever made. It's just not an audiophile, jack-of-all-trades, hifi headphone.
I noticed a statement on the Fostex marketing material for the A8, that recommends pairing it "with the Fostex TH900 headphones for excellent results". While I can contest that, despite sounding like marketing fluff, this is a true statement indeed! Although I need to illustrate the A8's abilities as an independent device, let me assure you right now that this is no one-trick-pony. The A8 is a very capable machine at driving many headphones to truly amazing levels of quality. Right, now a little about the TH900...
I was simply blown away by the TH900 in general, but with the A8 - wow! I can hear with every fibre of my being that these two were tuned to be connected to each other. The amplification of the A8 makes pretty good sense anyway, but with the TH900 it's synergy is just perfect. The strong bass of the TH900 gets suitably controlled by the A8's fast and tight low-end amplifacation. Similarly the mids and upper ranges are full of detail and could be a bit punchy elsewhere, but the A8 keeps them in check.
Although I will be doing a full review of the Fostex TH900 headphones next, I couldn't complete this section without at least brushing on the topic of the TH900 vs the Denon AH-D7000 while connected to the A8. For those who don't already know the D7000 is visually almost identical to the TH900. The TH900 is coated in a gorgeous red lacquer, but it's wood underneath, just like the D7000 (albeit a different wood). Both models are made by Foster Electronics (of Japan) and thus share a lot in common - inside and out. The D7000 has recently been replaced by a very different model and is no longer available to buy, but fortunately I happen to own a pair. Comparing these two on the A8 was very easy since it has 2 identical full-size headphone outputs. Well... listening to these two together it's clear that they come from the same mould. The presentation is very similar, both are considerably bass heavy but through this quality of amplification make a good case for neutrality because the entire range punches with equal power, yet is controlled under a smooth tonality. The Denon is great here, probably the best I've ever heard them, but the TH900 is... I'm sorry for my wallet's sake... considerably better. The bass is tighter, there is just so little decay here. The mid-range is more clear and the upper frequencies cleaner and more extended without feeling fatiguing. The last time that I felt this good about a headphone was with the Grado PS1000, which oddly enough also shares a similar presentation.
MUSIC
Here are some individual music tracks and how I felt the HP-A8 coped with them. Most of these are lossless files but some I could only find on Spotify. The CD quality and HD tracks were played through JRiver's MC17 player, using WASAPI event style to output to the HP-A8 via USB.
- Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight Rises): "Underground Army" - This track is all about deep bass and it's controlled very well here: It doesn't overpower the subtle details like it can so easily with a lot of headphone/amp combinations.
- Fear Factory: "Invisible Wounds" - The clear, quite forward vocals come out superbly defined. The guitar sounds really nice and fast, giving a really powerful energy to the track and all this is brought out with great separation and soundstage
- Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop): "Forever Broke" - This track is all about the guitar and it's displayed with such amazing texture. Listening to it through the TH900 produces a low frequency grunt and lack of reverberation to make a deeply involving experience.
- Deftones (White Pony): "Feiticeira" - The A8 gives some amazingly sharp detail on the guitar without sounding grating. The thumping drums feel really tight and well rendered. Although there is not much three dimentionality here there are great examples of separation. Vocals are nicely isolated and formed whilst not getting mixed with all that energy.
- Michael Giacchino (Ghost Protocal): "Knife To A Gun Fight" - The violin here is really involving, there is a good build up that again shows great separation, but also soundstage. The strings are displayed with a great sense of power, but are also subtly detailed.
- Garbage: "Queer" - This track comes out sublimely soft here, whereas it usually sounds a bit muddy. It benefits from a bit of bass power but needs a good, fast amp to stop it feeling dull. On many other systems the instruments easily sounded muddled / messy and they overpowered the vocals, but the A8 has improved this a lot. I don't think this is a well mastered track, but the A8 does wonders to it regardless.
- Beethoven (Complete Symphonies Disc 5): "Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125: II. Malto Vivace" - This delicate track shows great poise, it's smooth but very detailed. It has a deep energy that I could listen to for hours. This could possibly be the A8's best genre, something to do with the speed, control, separation and soundstage all coming together. That's not to say that any genre sounds underwhelming here, just that Classical blew me away the most.
BUILD
The construction of the A8 is beautiful mix of nicely textured and precisely fitting metal panels. The mirrored front may not be everyone's 'cup of tea'. I prefer a nice textured metal on the front, but it's not offensive either and there's no denying the minimalist look good with finely crafted and nicely accented connections & dials. Once the unit is on your desk or shelf the huge weight gives a reassuringly steady experience while connecting all the different cables. Even the IEC "Kettle" lead plugged in with shocking ease, I didn't know that they could!
Everything is so well made on the A8 and the little interactions make it such a joy to use. Connecting the Fostex TH900 headphones to one of the headphone sockets shows such precision engineering. It's reminiscent of closing a luxury car door - sublimely smooth, but not loose - a perfect fit to the micrometer. The volume dial is similarly flawless and a total joy to interact with. I'm not a fan of stepped attenuators because it can be hard to find the desired volume and they're just not as nice to turn as a smooth dial, but not here. This is stepping done right and it retains a wonderful smoothness in operation. You'll just want to keep touching it.
FEATURES
I did find slight awkwardness in the A8 not remembering input and volume settings from previous sessions (it boots up at mute, on coax I think), but thankfully both of these issues are fixed with a simple firmware upgrade, which also upgrades the gain from +12 to +20!
The menu interface is rather fiddly to operate via the tiny dial next to the volume, but the browsing of DSD files (which can be sourced from 'HD-Tracks' or the 'Blue Coast Records') is an even bigger annoyance. Accessing these files can only be done by the included remote control which feels rather cheap, small, awkward to use and is unreliable. The only control are play/stop and skip track. There is no fast forward / rewind, and more crucially, no folder / album browsing.
I can't imagine people wanting to use this feature due to the rather poor interface and controls. Even getting the machine to recognise the files will put some people off. There is talk of the A8 supporting DSF play over USB, and I for one really hope that this feature is added soon.
Until then, if you have DSD files or want to try them with the A8, my recommendation would be to use the (free) Foobar software on PC. You can then download the SACD plugin, which can down-sample DSF files to PCM on-the-fly (either to 44.1, 88.2 or 176.4khz). The A8 will then accept that via the USB connection. You can also listen to .DFF files this way too by using a plugin by Kode54, these are alternative DSD files - more common with studio use.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Whether you're upgrading or willing to jump into the world of digital audio with both feet and just want the heart of a hifi / headphone system taken care of for many years to come - the A8 offers tremendous peace of mind. To accompany a CD player, handle computer audio via USB, both or more - the A8 will bring many hours of blissful enjoyment. It has such a wealth of digital inputs it could easily handle being the heart of a media centre (albeit a stereo one) with authority and finesse. DSD audio may not be fully realised yet but there are already ways around it and with the promise of greater functionality down the road via firmware upgrades, it's a really nice thing to have.
Browsing the technical data and photos for the Fostex HP-A8 might inspire lustfulness, but it's the sublime sound quality and beautiful build that will really impress. If you're looking for a great DAC and a stunningly transparent and smooth headphone amplifier with a ton of inputs and endless clean power then I highly recommend an audition with the A8. Give it a listen with some nice headphones and I doubt you'll want to put it down, unless you just picked it up to see how heavy it is.
Desktop PC, Dell Vosto Laptop, Fostex TH900, Denon AH-D7000, SoundMAGIC HP100, V-Moda M-100, V-Moda M-80, Beyerdynamic DT880 600 Ohm, Fostex T50rp, Mr. Speakers Mad Dog