Monoprice Monolith THX 887 Balance Headphone Amp: New Champ?

[RickSanchez]

FYI: there's a Monoprice Monolith THX 887 owner's thread now, so people can discuss questions / issues that are not measurement-related:

[owner's thread] Monoprice Monolith THX AAA 887 headphone amp

Creating this thread to have all the owners and members have a place to discuss the Monoprice THX 887 amp without creating extra posts in the official review thread. Feel free to post any questions and concerns that you may have regarding this amp in this thread.

www.audiosciencereview.com

I'll leave it up to @AdamG247 / @BDWoody if they want to move some of these recent posts over to that thread.

 

[Roland68]

FYI: there's a Monoprice Monolith THX 887 owner's thread now, so people can discuss questions / issues that are not measurement-related:

[owner's thread] Monoprice Monolith THX AAA 887 headphone amp

Creating this thread to have all the owners and members have a place to discuss the Monoprice THX 887 amp without creating extra posts in the official review thread. Feel free to post any questions and concerns that you may have regarding this amp in this thread.

www.audiosciencereview.com

I'll leave it up to @AdamG247 / @BDWoody if they want to move some of these recent posts over to that thread.

If your problem is solved as soon as you operate your notebook with this power supply, then you most likely have a grounding problem.
Your two audio devices are not earthed, which is why an equalizing voltage is derived via the mains connection of your notebook power supply.
You could measure the equalization voltage without the notebook power supply between the chinch ground and the ground of your socket, but only do this if you are familiar with it, otherwise it can damage you or your devices!

 

[860lacov]

I can't do measurements like that.

I checked and there is no buzzing sound with Sennheiser momentum 2.

Is this grounding problem solvable in a different way than by connecting to device that has plug with grounding?

Is this a new problem? I tried to find help on electrical forum. They didn't understand what I was talking. And it is my native language forum

P.s.
I didn't know that this is a side topic amd not main 887 topic. If someone could move last post it would be good

 

[Roland68]

I can't do measurements like that.

I checked and there is no buzzing sound with Sennheiser momentum 2.

Is this grounding problem solvable in a different way than by connecting to device that has plug with grounding?

Is this a new problem? I tried to find help on electrical forum. They didn't understand what I was talking. And it is my native language forum

P.s.
I didn't know that this is a side topic amd not main 887 topic. If someone could move last post it would be good

You would either have to provide a ground connection, or purchase a device with a built-in power supply and a 3-prong power cord.
Personally, I would buy a DAC with XLR outputs and a built-in power supply.

 

[AdamG]

FYI: there's a Monoprice Monolith THX 887 owner's thread now, so people can discuss questions / issues that are not measurement-related:

[owner's thread] Monoprice Monolith THX AAA 887 headphone amp

Creating this thread to have all the owners and members have a place to discuss the Monoprice THX 887 amp without creating extra posts in the official review thread. Feel free to post any questions and concerns that you may have regarding this amp in this thread.

www.audiosciencereview.com

I'll leave it up to @AdamG247 / @BDWoody if they want to move some of these recent posts over to that thread.

Please follow the advice of @RickSanchez and take further off topic posts to the Owners Thread linked above please.

 

[ftracy3]

I just got the THX AAA 887 and there's an apparent lack of a feature that may be a deal breaker--is there no way to turn off the "pass through" when the headphones are plugged in? I would have thought that is automatic and I find myself hearing my monitors bleed through when using the phones. I can get up and turn the volume knobs down on each of the monitors or turn them off, but that seems pretty neanderthal.

 

[dsnyder0cnn]

I just got the THX AAA 887 and there's an apparent lack of a feature that may be a deal breaker--is there no way to turn off the "pass through" when the headphones are plugged in? I would have thought that is automatic and I find myself hearing my monitors bleed through when using the phones. I can get up and turn the volume knobs down on each of the monitors or turn them off, but that seems pretty neanderthal.

The THX AAA 789 and 887 do not have preamp functionality. Kind-of a bummer, but expected per specifications and the price. I guess the idea is that you would use the passthrough to feed a secondary amp…perhaps something with tubes, for a different sound. If you need a headphone amp with preamp functionality, better go with the Topping A90.

For my desktop setup, I'm using the Topping DX3 Pro+, which has modes for headphones, powered monitors, and both. Works beautifully for my home office use case. This would give you level controls for your monitors as well, which I don't believe you have with the THX AAA 887. Nice as it is, I doubt the THX AAA 887 offers a significant/audible improvement over the headphone amp in the DX3 Pro+.

 

[ftracy3]

The THX AAA 789 and 887 do not have preamp functionality. Kind-of a bummer, but expected per specifications and the price. I guess the idea is that you would use the passthrough to feed a secondary amp…perhaps something with tubes, for a different sound. If you need a headphone amp with preamp functionality, better go with the Topping A90.

For my desktop setup, I'm using the Topping DX3 Pro+, which has modes for headphones, powered monitors, and both. Works beautifully for my home office use case. This would give you level controls for your monitors as well, which I don't believe you have with the THX AAA 887. Nice as it is, I doubt the THX AAA 887 offers a significant/audible improvement over the headphone amp in the DX3 Pro+.

Thanks--good advice.

 

[maros.zr]

Hi, looks like best solution in this price range still in 2022. What DAC would you recommend to match with this AMP?

 

[Veri]

Hi, looks like best solution in this price range still in 2022. What DAC would you recommend to match with this AMP?

Topping E50?

 

[dsnyder0cnn]

What DAC would you recommend to match with this AMP?

…and if you consider the Topping E50 DAC, you may as well look at the Topping L50 amp.

 

[Vamp898]

I tested it for 2 weeks but honestly i weren't satisfied.

I liked that it was very analytic and detailed, but in a lot of cases, it didn't sound fast/clear enough.

For example the Soundstage and some Instruments like the Triangle in the Background in ユメの喫茶店 (on the Album with the same Name) sounds pretty flat and unauthentic. Its not the "Its really there" sound a lot of other amps have.

The same with another Song from that Album like YU.ME.NO ! with the drums in the background. They sound of the drumsticks on the snare is very dull and the soundstage/layering of it is just gone.

Same issue with MOON SHINE or 鳥のように from 和楽器バンド. There are a lot of acoustic instruments and you can hear every detail of them, every nounce, but they lack authenticity. The volume and the body of the instruments narrow down extremely. The feeling of Instruments being really there in a room around you is completely lost.

For Monitoring or Mixing, this Amp is excellent but for listening to music? I don't know...

Everyone does have different taste, but this is not my cup of tea. This Goosebumb i have with a lot of songs is completely gone.

I remember hearing 鳥のように the first time and when he hits the drum the first time, this small shock of "Wow! Like someone is standing in front of me and hitting a drum in real life" with a big smile. If you know how it can sound and then hear it with the Monolith, its just disappointing.

I was looking fowarding to this sound, to this experience and of course, its not the fault of this amp that it follows a different tuning style, but i personally prefer this more authentic "Like its there" sound.

If you need the power, then its an excellent amp, but i don't have an single Headphone that needs that much power and my M11 Plus already does have the identical analytic/sterile sound signature i use for monitoring.

Owning the M11 Plus for this use case and due to the lack of power hungry headphones, I don't need an Desktop Amp with an Monitoring sound signature so im sending it back.

If you're into its Sound, it sounds perfect. But thats not me.

 

[cheapmessiah]

Its on sale both on EU and USA.

On EU you can get it with cables almost for free if you scroll down the page of the amp, the xlr to xlr cable or the trs to xlr cable you can find bundles like this one:

these further lower the price of the amp, i got that bundle and added an extra trs to xlr cable for a total of 230€. And theres also a 10€ discount code (i didnt see it on time fml...) if you suscribe to their mailing list at the bottom of the page.

 

[cosmox]

Sorry for a noob question but i'm fairly new to all this. So i've bought recently headphone amp Monolith 887 and i decided to buy topping d10 balanced for this to work together. I'm planning to connect them with balanced xlr cable. And here comes my question - will it be safe to use unbalanced headphone output (jack 6,3) since headphones i own right now have only jack connector (dt990, maybe i'll change them in the future)? I'm concerned because some ppl over internet mention that mixing balanced with unbalanced is potentially dangerous for hardware. Thanks for help.

To make it simple - dac d10 balanced - xlr cable balanced - 887 balanced - output in amp unbalanced since headphones have cable with normal jack - will there be any issues or potantial harm to the hardware? Is this a good idea? I'm opened for any recommendations/changes.

 

[cheapmessiah]

Sorry for a noob question but i'm fairly new to all this. So i've bought recently headphone amp Monolith 887 and i decided to buy topping d10 balanced for this to work together. I'm planning to connect them with balanced xlr cable. And here comes my question - will it be safe to use unbalanced headphone output (jack 6,3) since headphones i own right now have only jack connector (dt990, maybe i'll change them in the future)? I'm concerned because some ppl over internet mention that mixing balanced with unbalanced is potentially dangerous for hardware. Thanks for help.

To make it simple - dac d10 balanced - xlr cable balanced - 877 balanced - output in amp unbalanced since headphones have cable with normal jack - will there be any issues or potantial harm to the hardware? Is this a good idea? I'm opened for any recommendations/changes.

Dont worry about it, its a lot of info to get right at the beggining.

You migh've confused some information, for starters its completly safe for you to use the single ended output of that amp while feeding it balanced signal from D10B.

What you might've been warned about is trying to use a balanced output and plugging it into single ended input, since not all balanced output devices react well to this practice. But generally speaking if you plug a balanced output device (like a DAC) into a balanced input device (like an AMP) that gives you the posibility to use a single ended device conected to it (like headphones) it is usually converting the balanced signal into single ended internally, thus making it safe to use.

 

[cheapmessiah]

Just got the amp, did some quick listening to my low end pushing songs and what a beast of an amplifier, the current price is just the cherry on top.

Also, the perfrmance of the HE400i 2020 equed and being driven with enough power is insane, the fact that this kind of performance can be had for 120€ new is hard to comprehend.

 

[sjeesjie]

120 euros? I’ve never seen it new for that price? Ah well even if I paid 400 I’d still be happy, it’s awesome.

 

[cheapmessiah]

120 euros? I’ve never seen it new for that price? Ah well even if I paid 400 I’d still be happy, it’s awesome.

No, 220€ with cables included for the amp, the he400i I bought on BF for 120€, I admit that i love being a bargain hunter.

I also got recently some DCAs AEON flow 2 open for 300€, with just 5 months of use (with official warrranty included for 19 months still), but i need some more time with them to give a proper impression of their performance.

 

[Vallenium]

2 Questions, recently got one and One of the things I'm noticing is that even with the volume pot all the way down to 0 music playing will still come through on low gain for sensitive iems and the like (single ended, happens on balanced on high gain) and I'm wondering if this is supposed to happen or if I have a bad unit? Also have channel imbalance at low volume levels (pre 8oclock) and was wondering if that was normal?

 

[cheapmessiah]

Yes to both, both happen to my unit too, but channel imbalance disapears early on, maybe at 7 o clock.