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THX Onyx Review (headphone adapter)

Rottmannash

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Better than what?
 

raistlin65

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Does anyone know whether or not the Onyx has auto impedance sensing? I hope not.

I've decided it's time to find a well-measuring dongle that I don't have to always trick into high gain for my low impedance, lower sensitivity headphones.
 

SRKRAM

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Does anyone know whether or not the Onyx has auto impedance sensing? I hope not.

I've decided it's time to find a well-measuring dongle that I don't have to always trick into high gain for my low impedance, lower sensitivity headphones.
I own an Onyx and several LG phones. Thankfully the Onyx doesn't do any kind of impedance switching.
 

staticV3

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Does anyone know whether or not the Onyx has auto impedance sensing? I hope not.

I've decided it's time to find a well-measuring dongle that I don't have to always trick into high gain for my low impedance, lower sensitivity headphones.
Even if load sensing isn't a problem with the THX Onxy, the ~125mA current limit may be one when you plan to drive low impedance, low sensitivity headphones.
 

pk500

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Does anyone know whether or not the Onyx has auto impedance sensing? I hope not.

I've decided it's time to find a well-measuring dongle that I don't have to always trick into high gain for my low impedance, lower sensitivity headphones.
That was a HUGE pain in the ass with the TempoTec Sonata HD Pro dongle, which led me to return it. Shame, as it otherwise worked well for cans that didn't need a lot of power.
 

raistlin65

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That was a HUGE pain in the ass with the TempoTec Sonata HD Pro dongle, which led me to return it. Shame, as it otherwise worked well for cans that didn't need a lot of power.

The Onyx has dropped to $150, back ordered, on Amazon. The price is encouraging me.

I don't find my Sonata HD Pro a "HUGE pain in the ass" to use the extender to fool it into high gain. As I'm always plugging in the dongle to use with my Android phone, so it only adds a few seconds. But I could see how it would be an annoyance if you wanted to leave your headphones plugged into a computer and had to replug everything in when restarting your computer every time.

So in my case, I think I'm mostly looking for an excuse to buy a new piece of tech :)
 

HRTF_Enthusiast

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I just received this to test and it sounds very veiled in the high frequencies. I'm not sure if this is the filter, placebo, or both, but for what it's worth:
Screen_Shot_2021-12-08_at_6.18.36_PM.png
 

Reverb

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Apologies if this has already been asked: can the THX Onyx drive a line input to powered speakers? I'm thinking of pairing it up with Kali LP6 v2. Any feedback appreciated.
 

staticV3

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Apologies if this has already been asked: can the THX Onyx drive a line input to powered speakers? I'm thinking of pairing it up with Kali LP6 v2. Any feedback appreciated.
Every headphone amp can be plugged into line inputs, including the Onyx's.
 
H

Hifihedgehog

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The mojo sounds much more open, transparent and dynamic to me.
It also measures significantly worse.

1646717110981.png

In fact, disregarding current output, you are better off with an Apple dongle than overpaying for a Chord that’s criminally overpriced. Of course, as forum goers say, YMMV and we implicitly agree to disagree here.

1646717251214.png
 

Riaz-Ahmed

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Hey everyone - just noticed on Amazon UK that the price of the THX Oynx has gone down to £136.96. Lowest price I have seen for a brand new one. Not sure how long it will last. I have just purchased this for driving my FIIO FH7 IEMs.

Can't wait to try them out!

Will report back my findings if you're interested.

Cheers

p.s. I think I'm allowed to post the cost and retailer, if not, apologies admin, feel free to remove this post.
 

Rottmannash

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Hey everyone - just noticed on Amazon UK that the price of the THX Oynx has gone down to £136.96. Lowest price I have seen for a brand new one. Not sure how long it will last. I have just purchased this for driving my FIIO FH7 IEMs.

Can't wait to try them out!

Will report back my findings if you're interested.

Cheers

p.s. I think I'm allowed to post the cost and retailer, if not, apologies admin, feel free to remove this post.
It's allowed-there's a thread dedicated to prices/deals too.
 

Teroz

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This is better than iBasso DC04, XDUOO XP-2 PRO, FiiO BTR3K and any of the dragonfly crap. Almost as good as monorpice portable THX AAA. 99% similar but less power.
 

slajmerr

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First. Thanks for the insightful review. Must be a lot of work to constantly do it.

Second. What in the World would be a better THX Onyx? My budget is 500€.
Is there anything that would simply stomp on the Hylo or is there really not such big of a difference?

My headphones are HD650, and I will listen only to high quality (dsd or some losless stuff) classical music.

What should I buy? It can be bigger,the main thing is that it can be connected to a android phone and that it doesnt have a power adapter.

thanks

maybe Violectric Chronos?
 
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staticV3

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What in the World would be a better THX Onyx?
There are many dongles with a detachable USB cable, giving you the ability to choose one that suits your needs and to replace it should the cable fail.

There are many balanced dongles with 4.0Vrms instead of the Onyx's 2.1, which translates to 50% higher perceived loudness, should your music or your DSP require it.
There are also some 3.5mm dongles with higher voltage in case you want to keep the stock headphone cable.

There are also some dongles with built-in DSP, giving you systemwide EQ.
 

slajmerr

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There are many dongles with a detachable USB cable, giving you the ability to choose one that suits your needs and to replace it should the cable fail.

There are many balanced dongles with 4.0Vrms instead of the Onyx's 2.1, which translates to 50% higher perceived loudness, should your music or your DSP require it.
There are also some 3.5mm dongles with higher voltage in case you want to keep the stock headphone cable.

There are also some dongles with built-in DSP, giving you systemwide EQ.
thanks for the answer.
I dont need an systemwide EQ. I want the most neutral presentation of the sound. Flat is what i am looking for. No dramatic boosts or cuts.

it would cool if you would name a few so i can do a research. I already removed the dragonfly-s from my list.

Right now i am looking at the Volectric Chronos and Earmen Colibri.

The THX Onyx is still at the first place but as my budget is almost triple the price of Onyx i am looking for even more magic.
 
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