Monoprice Monolith THX 887 Balance Headphone Amp: New Champ?

[Lpd2]

Just a heads up. Looks like it's on sale for really cheap now.

I did compare this to another HP amp (class D) and with s650 I could tell a difference. With other cans I couldn't.
Test was volume matched with a switch box.

Monolith by Monoprice THX AAA Balanced Headphone Amplifier featuring THX AAA 887 Technology - Monoprice.com

Monolith™ by Monoprice™THX® AAA Balanced Headphone AmplifierFeaturing THX AAA 887 technologyThe THX® Achromatic Audio Amplifier (AAA) ensures the ultimate no compromise headphone a

www.monoprice.com

Just ordered. Thanks a million.

 

[Piberman]

Hello guys, first post here ASR.
I have a iFi Zen Dac and i like the sound, but i need a little more power to drive the Dekoni Blue (Fostex T50rp mk3). On the Europe Monoprice this amp is about 271 euros.
And probably stayed with Zen Dac for the DAC our upgrade to the soncoz.

 

[dsnyder0cnn]

Hello guys, first post here ASR.
I have a iFi Zen Dac and i like the sound, but i need a little more power to drive the Dekoni Blue (Fostex T50rp mk3). On the Europe Monoprice this amp is about 271 euros.
And probably stayed with Zen Dac for the DAC our upgrade to the soncoz.

Assuming you can find decent cables that are TRS male to 3-pin XLR male, you'll have a hard time doing better than the Topping D10 Balanced DAC.

Topping D10 Balanced Review (USB DAC)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the new Topping D10 Balanced. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $139. The D10 Balanced as the name implies, comes in my favorite USB DAC package with the same cute orange display: Back panel is where the difference is: Balanced...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Cables like these could work, but I'd rather have something under 1 ft in length for a DAC + Amp stack.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KO8VXKO/

Let us know what you come up with.

 

[Lpd2]

"Worlds best cables" has a shop on amzn with a menu dropdown for xlr and trs, they have that cable in there too. A bit pricey but not outrageous, good warranties.

I have an He6seV2 Adorama ed. here with my 887 and my smsl su9n is incoming. I'm just looking for great sound and have no technical background. In the testing and review of this dac model it is stated that best performance is at max 4.9volt and if your amp can take it then run the su9n at max. So, can my amp take it?
And I guess I should, since people tap speaker amps for the he6, also ask is it enough for these headphones?

Also, some reviews described the 887 as not having a nice feel. I felt just the opposite unboxing it, heavy-ish enough for me and the power button is on a timer so its flimsy touch is understandable.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

I have same headphone amp and cans. my audio route is from a Topping D90 DAC via an audio mixer to both a Monolith THX887 and to an RME ADI-2 Pro FS.

I have the Topping D90 set on DAC mode (reference volume, no volume control) and the mixer levels are also set at reference level. Volume on PC digital source is also set at 100%.

I have no problem driving the H6Sev2 from either one. For the Monolith, I use the 3rd gain level; and auto-reference level on the RME.

I would say that if you have to go much above “noon” to 1:00 position for volume control on the 887 when listening at reasonable levels (or above 3:00 when listening at loudest levels), then look at attenuating down the voltage somewhere upstream. Otherwise, just run reference levels into the 887.

Also, if I am listening at lower volumes, I will sometimes drop the 887 down to 2nd gain level so that I am again using the 887’s volume POT between 9:00 to 3:00 to avoid risk of channel imbalance from the POT at lower volumes.

 

[860lacov]

There is a discount for 887 on official European page.

I placed order few minutes ago.

What not pricy DAC with/without bluetooth would you recommend for this amp?

I've been thinking about topping d10s or topping dx3 pro plus (as a dac only)

 

[Cylphio]

There is a discount for 887 on official European page.

I placed order few minutes ago.

What not pricy DAC with/without bluetooth would you recommend for this amp?

I've been thinking about topping d10s or topping dx3 pro plus (as a dac only)

D10 balanced

 

[860lacov]

Thanks
And any bluetooth devuce suggestion?

For d10 balanced I would have to get trs to xlr cables.
I have sameone who can make the cables but I have to tell him which is the hot pin in xlr. Not sure if I call it right.

 

[Cylphio]

Thanks
And any bluetooth devuce suggestion?

For d10 balanced I would have to get trs to xlr cables.
I have sameone who can make the cables but I have to tell him which is the hot pin in xlr. Not sure if I call it right.

The adapters are included in the box

 

[860lacov]

I bought recently Monolith 887.
The device is great, but I have a problem.
There is no grounding on the power supply.
The amplifier is connected to the DAC (Topping dx3pro+). DAC doesn't have grounding either.

I use DAC+AMP with my laptop. I can't use the laptop on battery power because there is no grounding in this setup. The result is that I can hear constant buzz/hum noise in headphones (LCD2 Classic). Especially when I touch the metal screw on the ear cup.

I wanted to have this dac/amp combo to have possibility to use Bluetooth. But currently I'm forced to use a third device with grounding.

 

[dsnyder0cnn]

I bought recently Monolith 887.
The device is great, but I have a problem.
There is no grounding on the power supply.
The amplifier is connected to the DAC (Topping dx3pro+). DAC doesn't have grounding either.

I use DAC+AMP with my laptop. I can't use the laptop on battery power because there is no grounding in this setup. The result is that I can hear constant buzz/hum noise in headphones (LCD2 Classic). Especially when I touch the metal screw on the ear cup.

I wanted to have this dac/amp combo to have possibility to use Bluetooth. But currently I'm forced to use a third device with grounding.

I've had good luck with this kit: https://ifi-audio.com/products/groundhog/

 

[sjeesjie]

I've had good luck with this kit: https://ifi-audio.com/products/groundhog/

Looks interesting, but how does it work? Put one end in your amp’s input or output and the other end goes into what?

 

[dsnyder0cnn]

Looks interesting, but how does it work? Put one end in your amp’s input or output and the other end goes into what?

Each component should have exactly one path to ground. Might have to experiment, but probably using one of the provided adapters to add the missing ground to your amp would do the trick.

 

[jhaider]

What not pricy DAC with/without bluetooth would you recommend for this amp?

Quedlix 5k is probably the best option right now regardless of cost: DAC (USB or Bluetooth input), EQ, and crossfeed. That’s what I’m using with my 887. So signal processing and limitless low noise headroom.

I wouldn’t get a dumb (no parametric EQ) separate DAC.

 

[860lacov]

I've had good luck with this kit: https://ifi-audio.com/products/groundhog/

Quite pricy

Is that situation normal? Or there can be some build defect or something in amp, dac or headphones?

 

[Veri]

Quite pricy

Is that situation normal? Or there can be some build defect or something in amp, dac or headphones?

I have not experienced any ground loops with 778/887 THX amps.. an easy fix to try is to use RCA to XLR cable to xlr input on the amp. Might improve things..

 

[dsnyder0cnn]

Quite pricy

Is that situation normal? Or there can be some build defect or something in amp, dac or headphones?

Diagnosing stuff like this usually involves disconnecting everything and then adding components, one at a time, until the buzz returns. I believe this is why Amir suggests using balanced connections whenever possible.

If there's buzzing in the headphones with nothing connected to the amp, that would be concerning…

I also wonder how much value the THX AAA 887 adds to a system with Topping DX3 Pro+ DAC/Amp and Audeze LCD2 Classic headphones. The little topping is a fairly potent amp all by itself.

 

[860lacov]

Diagnosing stuff like this usually involves disconnecting everything and then adding components, one at a time, until the buzz returns. I believe this is why Amir suggests using balanced connections whenever possible.

If there's buzzing in the headphones with nothing connected to the amp, that would be concerning…

I also wonder how much value the THX AAA 887 adds to a system with Topping DX3 Pro+ DAC/Amp and Audeze LCD2 Classic headphones. The little topping is a fairly potent amp all by itself.

I disconnected everything

887 + headphones = buzz
Dx3pro+ + headphones = buzz
887 + dx3pro + laptop (on battery) = buzz
887 + dx3pro + laptop (AC) = silence

That's why I though that is a grounding problem.

I would like to change the cable for the balanced one but its price of those cables are sick.

To be honest I bought 887 and then started to look for DAC with bluetooth.
Dx3 was one of the cheapest options.

 

[Roland68]

A balanced cable for your headphones would not solve the problem and you cannot use one between the devices.
Does your laptop power supply have a 2 or 3-pin power connector?

 

[860lacov]

A balanced cable for your headphones would not solve the problem and you cannot use one between the devices.
Does your laptop power supply have a 2 or 3-pin power connector?

My laptop has a plug like attached picture