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SMSL SH-9 THX 888 Balanced Headphone Amp

NightlyNurse

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Sorry if this has been discussed already and I didn't see it. Is this the first "True balanced" THX headphone amp. I've been waiting for one. On the thx 789 the 3d space and pinpoint imaging is warped when going to balanced. It's flawless on single ended. I believe it's from the conversion from balanced to single ended back to balanced since my other true balanced amp doesn't have this problem. Thanks for any help you can provide
 

Veri

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Sorry if this has been discussed already and I didn't see it. Is this the first "True balanced" THX headphone amp. I've been waiting for one. On the thx 789 the 3d space and pinpoint imaging is warped when going to balanced. It's flawless on single ended. I believe it's from the conversion from balanced to single ended back to balanced since my other true balanced amp doesn't have this problem. Thanks for any help you can provide
Your 789 might be defective.. mine sounded identical on both outputs except balanced being much louder of course. But to answer your question, no, the SH-9 seems to be a near clone of the SP200, same specs inputs and outputs. Not "true balanced".

If a true dual mono amp is what you're looking for, the Topping A90 offers just that (4 amp chips, 2 PSUs...) at THX AAA levels of performance.
KMoMjlp.jpg
 
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NightlyNurse

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Your 789 might be defective.. mine sounded identical on both outputs except balanced being much louder of course. But to answer your question, no, the SH-9 seems to be a near clone of the SP200, same specs inputs and outputs. Not "true balanced".

If a true dual mono amp is what you're looking for, the Topping A90 offers just that (4 amp chips, 2 PSUs...) at THX AAA levels of performance.
KMoMjlp.jpg
Hi. Thanks so much for the reply. I considered the A90. Especially now that it's on sale. My concern was that it could be too much power as I run my headphones balanced. I use a Sennheiser Hd660s and have a Meze Empyrean on the way. I'm barely passed 9 on the volume dial when listening. Would the A90 have too much power for my case? Thanks again for all the help. Much appreciated
 

Veri

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Hi. Thanks so much for the reply. I considered the A90. Especially now that it's on sale. My concern was that it could be too much power as I run my headphones balanced. I use a Sennheiser Hd660s and have a Meze Empyrean on the way. I'm barely passed 9 on the volume dial when listening. Would the A90 have too much power for my case? Thanks again for all the help. Much appreciated
Hey no worries. I have a lot of experience with A90 so I can tell you, just use low gain and everything will work. There's no real penalty to low gain either, on L30 best performance is on unity gain but not so on A90. There's no reason it would have too much power ;)

If you are also using a balanced DAC and output is too loud, too fast, you can always lower the volume some dBs on the DAC side to have smoother volume control on amplifier side.
 
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NightlyNurse

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Hey no worries. I have a lot of experience with A90 so I can tell you, just use low gain and everything will work. There's no real penalty to low gain either, on L30 best performance is on unity gain but not so on A90. There's no reason it would have too much power ;)

If you are also using a balanced DAC and output is too loud, too fast, you can always lower the volume some dBs on the DAC side to have smoother volume control on amplifier side.
Awesome. I'll give it a shot and order one while it's on sale. Thanks again for all the help. Really appreciate it :)
 
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NightlyNurse

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Hey no worries. I have a lot of experience with A90 so I can tell you, just use low gain and everything will work. There's no real penalty to low gain either, on L30 best performance is on unity gain but not so on A90. There's no reason it would have too much power ;)

If you are also using a balanced DAC and output is too loud, too fast, you can always lower the volume some dBs on the DAC side to have smoother volume control on amplifier side.
Sorry to bother again. I ordered the A90. My DAC is the Gustard A18MQA. It has a hotter signal compared to most dacs at 6V XLR. Would this work ok for the Topping A90? It won't damage it?
 

Veri

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Sorry to bother again. I ordered the A90. My DAC is the Gustard A18MQA. It has a hotter signal compared to most dacs at 6V XLR. Would this work ok for the Topping A90? It won't damage it?
Won't damage it, but man that is a hot output. 50% more than standard in consumer devices. If you're on Windows, if you right click the volume you can put it in dB here, it might make sense to lower it a little like so to allow for more usable volume knob range. On OSX you can do it in MIDI settings.

Capture.PNG
 
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NightlyNurse

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Won't damage it, but man that is a hot output. 50% more than standard in consumer devices. If you're on Windows, if you right click the volume you can put it in dB here, it might make sense to lower it a little like so to allow for more usable volume knob range. On OSX you can do it in MIDI settings.

View attachment 92819
Awesome. Glad to hear it's safe to use. I absolutely love the sound out of it. It's my favorite dac. Also I had no idea you could do that in windows. That's great to know. Thanks so much for the replies. It really helps. I won't bug you no more haha. Be safe out there :)
 

wrigglycheese

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Won't damage it, but man that is a hot output. 50% more than standard in consumer devices. If you're on Windows, if you right click the volume you can put it in dB here, it might make sense to lower it a little like so to allow for more usable volume knob range. On OSX you can do it in MIDI settings.

View attachment 92819

This is 'effectively' the same as pre amp in EQ APO ?
 

Pritaudio

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It has a remote, which is rare. A big thing indeed.
volume uses relays too.
 
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