Official THX Measurements of the Massdrop x THX AAA 789

[March Audio]

Looking good! Is this just the amp we're seeing? You have a DAC too, don't you?

Yes that is just the amp, I think I would be correct in saying its lower distortion and noise than any DAC Amir has tested so should be pretty transparent to whatever is feeding it. I have had very encouraging subjective feedback from those that have heard the prototype.

DAC plot

 

[Sythrix]

Yes that is just the amp, I think I would be correct in saying its lower distortion and noise than any DAC Amir has tested so should be pretty transparent to whatever is feeding it. I have had very encouraging subjective feedback from those that have heard the prototype.

DAC plot

View attachment 16227

Looking great there too! Is Amir planning a full review of the amp or the DAC? Or both?

 

[March Audio]

Looking great there too! Is Amir planning a full review of the amp or the DAC? Or both?

When the final products are ready Amir will kindly be performing a full suite of tests and review.

 

[Sythrix]

Has anyone got any plans to have the 788 measured by amir (once it is finally in stock, releases 11/2 it says at the moment) ?

Amir previously said he would buy and measure the 788 on his own... assuming it's ever actually released . I think we're on the 4th or 5th date push now.

@amirm ? Is that still the plan? Or has someone offered to send you theirs once it becomes something more than vaporware?

 

[Sythrix]

When the final products are ready Amir will kindly be performing a full suite of tests and review.

Sweet! Looking forward to it.

 

[amirm]

@amirm ? Is that still the plan? Or has someone offered to send you theirs once it becomes something more than vaporware?

No one has offered me one. I wish someone would though as I have no personal need for it.

 

[Sythrix]

No one has offered me one. I wish someone would though as I have no personal need for it.

I would have, because I was thinking about it, but I built a WHAMMY with the money instead because I was tired of waiting for it. Now I'm definitely not going to get one. Maybe no one ever will, because they don't seem to want to release the thing...

 

[amirm]

So Massdrop has not shipped theirs either?

 

[Veri]

So Massdrop has not shipped theirs either?

Nope not yet! I think the first drop should ship in the coming months though?

When the final products are ready Amir will kindly be performing a full suite of tests and review.

Just wondering but what will be the inputs/outputs on the amp ?

 

[Deleted member 65]

OK, situation is that the DAC will be the first product to market. The milled enclosure is being manufactured in China at the moment, but of course they are having one of their week long holidays at the moment so that is not going to ship until at least Monday. My experience of shipping from China is it is ssssslllooooooowwwww.This batch is a small number to check fit and finish. Assuming that this is OK (fingers crossed) then I can start selling the dacs pretty much straight away. However I am visiting back to the UK as of next week for 3 weeks so it will be a month away for DACs.

Again if the DAC enclosures are OK I can push the button on the headphone enclosures. I am still waiting for a new PCB revision. So headphone amp is going to be 2 months being realistic about it.

Hypex based power amps can also go into production as soon as their enclosures are made, so about 1 to 2 months.

Enclosures will all be based on these renderings of the DAC. Solid milled aluminium with anodized black or silver. They are 150 x 120 x 40 mm. Power amps will just be deeper, about 280mm.

View attachment 16225

View attachment 16226

Great @BE718 , I'm in no rush whatsoever, if you have a list of potential headphone amp customers pls put me on top of it! ... ;-)

Saving the both of us from high blood pressure I won't bring up the other one (from the fraud/con artist) ... ;-)

Edit: @BE718 , maybe a separate thread for your new products ...

 

[March Audio]

Yes we won't mention Mr JW.

Indeed @ I have dumped on this thread.

 

[March Audio]

Nope not yet! I think the first drop should ship in the coming months though?


Just wondering but what will be the inputs/outputs on the amp ?

The amp is a balanced input design. I am actually erring towards Trs input connection, otherwise combo trs xlr. I'm not planning on seperate RCA. Various cables and adaptors will be available on my website.

The output will not be balanced. My view is that so long as your headphone cable has seperate 0V (ground) wires that only join at the trs plug then its a non issue.

 

[rajapruk]

So Massdrop has not shipped theirs either?

No. At the end of this month they are supposed to ship.
I am waiting for 2 of them.

 

[Dialectic]

For more info about the March Audio headphone amp prototype:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/march-audio-hpa1.4430/#post-100607

 

[Veri]

Monoprice's THX amp again pushed back a month....

 

[Dialectic]

Monoprice's THX amp again pushed back a month....

View attachment 16380

The March Audio amp may be available before then...

 

[Veri]

The March Audio amp may be available before then...

I liked the Dirac Sensaround and parametric EQ on the Monolith amp. I love gear that lets you tinker with things. Plus, I bet my (iFi) DAC is the bottleneck between any superb secondary amp, anyway. The March one might be overkill for little ol' me.

 

[Sythrix]

Monoprice's THX amp again pushed back a month....

Once again, they have shown they don't have an actual product yet. Highly suspect. I wonder if it's manufacturing delays or if they even have any made yet. This this has been pushed back almost a full year now. I don't buy it being a simple problem or a matter of timeframe. Something is inherently wrong here. Hope they figure it out.

The March Audio amp may be available before then...

Although the 788 is supposed to be a very high quality dual-chip DAC, as well as an amp. I say "supposed to be" because I'm not convinced there's any real hardware yet...

 

[rajapruk]

Just received this mail from Massdrop:

"We’re happy to announce that your Massdrop x THX AAA 789 Linear Amplifiers have arrived at our warehouse and we’ll be shipping them about two weeks ahead of schedule! You should receive your tracking information by the end of next week (week of 10/19). We’re excited for you to receive your amps!"

 

[Dialectic]

Just received this mail from Massdrop:

"We’re happy to announce that your Massdrop x THX AAA 789 Linear Amplifiers have arrived at our warehouse and we’ll be shipping them about two weeks ahead of schedule! You should receive your tracking information by the end of next week (week of 10/19). We’re excited for you to receive your amps!"

I hope you plan to send it to Amir so that we can find out how it actually performs.