I struggled long and hard trying to decide on what DACs and amps to get. The RME was on my list, as was the X-SABRE Pro. I shied away from RME because of how complicated the menu systems and options are. Not a bad thing, but I'm the kind of person who would sit there messing with every little thing instead of just listening to music. The Matrix stuff looks nice as well, but I figured if I'm gonna get the HPA4, I might as well try pairing it with its sister DAC since Benchmark has a 30-day trial period.
I really want to try the Matrix stuff though. Including the Element X.
I went down the same decision tree, and arrived at the same conclusion. The RME was a reluctant no, simply because of the single-ended output. I'm also not much of a tinkerer, so all those options would likely go unused. The Matrix Element X was tempting as an AiO, but I'm trying to move away from those.
The DAC3-B is a perfect companion to the HPA4, and with the remote, they function exactly like an all-in-one. Since I never stream and have no plans to use MQA, I think the only thing I'd upgrade to would be a DAC4.
I’d love to hear bimmer100 and phthora’s impressions between the 789 and HPA4. What headphones and/or equipment was tested, etc. I didn’t properly test them as I should’ve. Listened to the 789, packed it up to sell, and then either later that day or the next day hooked up the HPA4 with a playlist of 10 tracks. Couldn’t tell an immediate or pronounced difference. Now if owned Susvara’s or HE1000 it could’ve been a different story...
Let's see... I auditioned a 789 on two occasions, both times looking at the unit as a possible purchase. Once before purchasing my HPA4, once after. Balanced output for all headphones. The headphones I used were the ZMF Auteur and Atticus, LCD-X, HE560, and a few others I can't recall. I also used a few headphones that I don't own, such as the Verite and HD800.
My ultimate verdict was that the 789 was a good value and a capable amp. If I had any need for a second set-up, I would likely get a 789 and a Topping D70. But, I wasn't looking for a good value. I was trying to find my endgame, and the 789 didn't cut it compared to the Audio-gd 28.38, and if certainly didn't compared to the HPA4.
To start with, the Benchmark is miles ahead in terms of the ancillary, non-sound features. Benchmark customer service is stellar. They have two people on this thread who will answer questions about the product, one of whom is the director of engineering. That is absolutely invaluable. They also respond quickly to emails. In dealing with shoddy gear from Massdrop, my experience was far less smooth and made me hesitate to buy from them in the future. I've also immensely enjoyed reading about the design decisions in their Application Notes. Very helpful generally, but they also were a boon to understanding the price-tag on that amp. The HPA4 has a more robust, more attractive build, and the touchscreen is, surprisingly, quite useful. The 789 is solid, but I was less impressed by the important features of build quality like the sturdiness of the sockets, the volume know, the gain select switch, the feet. You get the idea. I really like the multiple in-built protections the HPA4 has to protect headphones and the amp from misuse and accident. I love the 5-year warranty. That's just bananas. I love the remote and how easy it is to mute or dim the volume as needed, plus the fact that the DAC3 functions seamlessly with it. I love the tiny footprint and the lack of vents for dust to get into. I actually really like the locking power cable, since I've had issued with power cables wiggling out of the socket. I like the multiple sets of analog inputs so I can experiment later with an R2R DAC. And, finally, I like that it has a line amplifier, so I can potentially use this baby as a preamp for speakers.
So, given all that, I think the HPA4 is just as good a value as the 789. Even if the two had the same sound quality (which they don't), those other advantages provide a ton of value that the 789 largely doesn't. When I look at the 789, I see all the corners they cut to get it down to $400. When I look at the HPA4, I see all the corners that they could have cut, but didn't, and a bunch of extra corners thrown in on top.
Now to sound. I don't think they sound very different, but the HPA4 does noticeably beat out the 789 in a few ways. First, as I mentioned, while both are very detailed, the HPA4 also has a weight to the sound that the 789 doesn't. The 789,
comparatively, sounds a bit etched, brittle, thin, clean but lifeless, precise but without depth, smaller, less realism to the sound, but with a greater contrast that seems to clip off details artificially. The HPA4 has an immense amount of resolution and detail, down to the tiniest sounds, presents sound in a way that is extremely clean and clear, but also maintains that heft and richness to the sound that provides (what I think of as) a natural tone. In the low bass, especially, the amount control, texture, and power the HPA4 has is simply much better than the 789. Dynamics, likewise, are more intense and explosive on the HPA4, where they sound a bit relaxed on the 789. When I was researching the HPA4, I kept seeing warnings that you had to give it some time so your brain could adjust to the extreme lack of distortion and that you may initially be put off by the sound because of that. Something to that effect. When I heard the HPA4 for the first time, I kind of understood why they gave that warning. Music sounds so real and immediate and nuanced, it's a bit eerie. I can see how others might find it too weird at first. Personally, I was sold on the amp within 30 seconds. It's simply incredible. That was definitely not my first impression of the 789, or my second. It still falls into the category of "hmm... maybe." It's good, it's worth its price, but owning one means, for me, compromising on a few things that I'm not sure I want to give up.
I mentioned that headphones I used, but I'm only going to talk about a few. I always found the Auteur slow-ish, a bit relaxed, a bit rolled-off in the bass, and a touch too forward in the mids on previous gear. Listening to it on the 789, gave it a bit more oomph so it sounded less relaxed and a bit punchier in the dynamics, but that was about it. With the HPA4, I was shocked by how much of an improvement I heard over my previous amp. The sound signature didn't change, but the increased speed and control decreased my perception of the mids being too forward, the bass was much better controlled and less rolled-off, and the dynamic slam was drastically improved. This latter improvement is something I've also experienced on my LCD-2F. Out of all my headphones, the Auteur improved the most on the HPA4. When I listened to the Atticus and the HE560, I learned about another trait of the HPA4: you very much hear the sound signature as it is. So, the phat mid-bass of the Atticus stood out to me like it hasn't before, while the dip in the mids of the HE560 was more noticeable than on previous gear. In both cases, that was a detriment to the frequency response. However, the HPA4 also tends to make everything sound cleaner, clearer, better resolved, faster, more precise, and better imaged, so those improved technicalities still resulted in a net gain for my ears. Conversely, on the 789, the HE560 sounded more spiked in the treble, looser in the bass, and thinner in the mids. Those two were not a great pairing. The Atticus thinned out nicely on the 789 and purely from a FR POV, that was a better sound than the HPA4. So, ultimately, the 789 might make a better pairing subjectively and in terms of FR, but the HPA4 has a definite advantage when it comes to technical prowess and that weightier sound might be a better subjective pairing for many headphones anyway.
That's already rather long, but I'd be happy to answer any follow-up questions.
I agree they could work on the implementation to make it a bit more user friendly! I’m certainly going to miss the graphic equalizer. Visualizing music is always a lot of fun.
