watchnerd
Grand Contributor
WTH is THX AAA?
What kind of content uses it? Video games?
What kind of content uses it? Video games?
I was at Canjam and asked the person at the Benchmark booth about it and they said that they included a balanced port because of the THX technology.
WTH is THX AAA?
What kind of content uses it? Video games?
If it hoovers stairs im in , where do I sign?It's slieces, it dices, it mops , it sweeps and weeps and does all sorts of other stuff we can't metnion here. It's great, you want it and you need it. What else do you need to know ?
More here (amazement awaits ) : https://www.triadsemi.com/thx-aaa-audio/
I forgot to ask that since I was in a hurry, I'll ask that tomorrow.Is THX topology balanced by default and required to be?
A nice article from Benchmark on their stepped ladder volume control on the HPA4: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/benchmarks-256-step-relay-controlled-attenuator?utm_source=Benchmark's+Application+Notes&utm_campaign=b679e01ca0-EMAIL_app+note+11-20-17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7c8c792ee5-b679e01ca0-198222653
Starting to make a bit of sense why it is so expensive.
More here (amazement awaits ) : https://www.triadsemi.com/thx-aaa-audio/
This is an amp only so no way to implement a digital volume control. They could put in ADC/DAC in there and they note that but obviously that would add distortion well above what the amp can do.
A nice article from Benchmark on their stepped ladder volume control on the HPA4: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/benchmarks-256-step-relay-controlled-attenuator?utm_source=Benchmark's+Application+Notes&utm_campaign=b679e01ca0-EMAIL_app+note+11-20-17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7c8c792ee5-b679e01ca0-198222653
Starting to make a bit of sense why it is so expensive.
Does this mean Benchmark just changed their view on balanced headphones?
It says here near the bottom. The specs given by Benchmark for power output are the THX 888 balanced specs. The SE specs for the THX 888 are likely lower, but they aren't available anywhere.As was pointed out to me in another thread by mindbomb, nowhere does it say it has an actual headphone balanced output, only line level (though they certainly aren't calling attention to that fact). The headphone output is only specified once (no varying output power between balanced and single-ended), which means that the balanced headphone connection is probably single-ended, just a different way to connect to it.
Unless you can find specifications stating it's a balanced out elsewhere, it looks like they are sticking to their original story, which never precluded balanced line-level connections in their products. In fact they specifically mention that they are in favor of line-level balanced connections.
It says here near the bottom. The specs given by Benchmark for power output are the THX 888 balanced specs. The SE specs for the THX 888 are likely lower, but they aren't available anywhere.
The reasons that Benchmark gave for not using balanced for driving headphones in their HPA2 was that it increased the number of parts with no improvement for specs. Now since THX's topology exists, the highest measurable performance is from a balanced amplifier. It makes sense that Benchmark would move to that, then, especially with this device which seems to be a "cost no object" statement piece.
Now, if you asked Benchmark if the headphone amplifier in the HPA4 sounds better than the HPA2 in the DAC2 and DAC3, my guess is they'd tell you no. They said basically the same thing about the DAC portion in their press release for the DAC3 (i.e. that there would likely be no audible difference between that and the DAC2, but that they were releasing a new model because improving technology allowed them to improve the measured performance and speed up the input switching.)
Thanks for confirming. I originally thought that was the case but then was persuaded otherwise.
Pretty silly for a company like them to not include specs for both. They seem to obfuscate anything to do with balanced headphone output, not being clear about it in the official specs.
In my setup the volume knob of the DAC3 needs to sit at roughly 9'oclock for a normal listening level but at that position there is not enough voltage output yet to drive my amp to its full potential.