Review and Measurements of Massdrop THX AAA 789 Amp

[304290]

No, I bought it used.

 

[pos]

@304290, this might fulfill your needs: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...aaa-789-headphone-amp.5327/page-4#post-118801
Please report if you test this tweak

 

[304290]

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to give it a try. I've been dragging my feet on getting a hot air desoldering gun and doing it the hard way and have messed up some ic chips along the way. I guess this would be a way of forcing me to finally buy one lol. I'm going to order a couple of spare u701s as well. So I'm going to give this a shot and report back.

 

[AresHarvest]

It's ok so long as a) the headphones have combined parallel impedance higher than the minimum impedance that the 789 is rated for, and b) you dont blow up your headphones (ie don't overdrive IEMs by accident while listening to parallel headphones with high voltage .)

So I'm sure this is far from a common use case, but I just used my 789 with AKG K702 from one output and Etymotic ER4XR from the other, simultaneously (combined parallel impedance of 26 ohms I think, which exceeds the 16-ohm stated minimum).

Not only did I notice no change in level for either headphone when plugging or unplugging the other, but each respective headphone sounded no different in any noticeable way alone compared to its sound when used in parallel.

 

[JohnYang1997]

So I'm sure this is far from a common use case, but I just used my 789 with AKG K702 from one output and Etymotic ER4XR from the other, simultaneously (combined parallel impedance of 26 ohms I think, which exceeds the 16-ohm stated minimum).

Not only did I notice no change in level for either headphone when plugging or unplugging the other, but each respective headphone sounded no different in any way alone compared to its sound when used in parallel.

It's voltage amplifier/voltage source, near 0 output impedance. So it shouldn't have level difference in the first place. About the sonical difference, for 20ohm and about it's obviously won't cause any difference especially for this amp. If you use a 8 ohm dynamic iem and a 15ohm planar you may be able to hear a tiny bit difference.

 

[Crane]

This back up right now on drop, last batch for the year to be shipped in August

 

[magor34]

This back up right now on drop, last batch for the year to be shipped in August

Best of luck everyone!
This ramp up of order/delivery speed is good news for future buyers.
Personally, I’m still waiting for my February order to ship... They sure DROPped the ball on that one.

 

[MSNWatch]

Finally got in early enough to place an order. Order it while you can!

 

[JohnYang1997]

I wonder why they have limited supply.

 

[Music1969]

This back up right now on drop, last batch for the year to be shipped in August

Hi, I see the Drop has sold out already today.

What do you mean last batch for the year? No more drops for 2019?

Can I ask where you got this information?

Many thanks

 

[JohnYang1997]

Hi, I see the Drop has sold out already today.

What do you mean last batch for the year? No more drops for 2019?

Can I ask where you got this information?

Many thanks

Wait for neurochrome's new amp should be around 500 dollars. And it will beat thx 789.

 

[Music1969]

Wait for neurochrome's new amp should be around 500 dollars. And it will beat thx 789.

Any release date for it yet?

 

[Music1969]

Nevermind @Crane , found it. Disappointing news.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I'm one of the lucky ones who got in on this drop. Notice came up at 12:07 PM CDT, and my order was placed by 12:08 PM CDT.

 

[Andi]

I was able to buy one during this drop.
Now I want to minimize my setup and sell the amps i rarely use.

The one amp I really like though is the Topping dx3 pro. Could probably sell everything else and be happy with it, but since I was able to get the 789 this time I thought I would give it a try.
Still a few months till I will actually get it (I hope this batch won't be delayed as long as some of the others), but I'm already trying to figure out how my setup could look like.
2 options currently:
a) Dx3 pro (DAC) - thx 789 (RCA) - loxjie p20 (RCA)
b) buy a smsl su-8 - thx 789 (XLR) / loxjie p20 (RCA), use dx3 pro on another location

So, has anyone compared the thx 789 with the dx3 (dac) against the thx 789 with the smsl su-8? I will definitely wait until I get the thx 789 before I buy anything else, who knows what will be released till they actually ship it, but is the su-8 worth considering in this case?

 

[yummy]

is $400 now????? isn't $349???

 

[WLVCA]

New price is $400. I was able to get in on the Drop yesterday and ordered one.

I saw a post on Reddit that alerted me it was available.

 

[magor34]

is the su-8 worth considering in this case?

It’s definitely worth considering the SU-8. Other than the mid ESS hump it’s better in most if not all categories of testing over the DX3 Pro.
Subjectively I find it lacking in the bass region, no matter the speaker or headphone, just my option though.

(Mods, feel free to remove this post of it violates review thread guidelines)

EDIT: Removed duplicate quote.

 

[Roen]

is $400 now????? isn't $349???

HD6XX is $220 now also.

 

[Nango]

Seems like drop.com passed it's amortizations phase entering now the earnings phase.