[swmtnbiker]

The CTH has no coaxial input, as it's only an amplifier. Are you talking about using coax on your DAC instead of USB to try and isolate the cause of the noise problem?

 

[franz12]

Yes. My rig is mac pro 2015 - fiio q5 - mcth - ether c flow. At this point, it seems that the direct connection to fiio q5 is cleaner. When I am dialing volume on mcth, audible noise kicks in.

 

[Bazirker]

Yes. My rig is mac pro 2015 - fiio q5 - mcth - ether c flow. At this point, it seems that the direct connection to fiio q5 is cleaner. When I am dialing volume on mcth, audible noise kicks in.

Odd. I have written earlier in this thread about my love of the volume pot on this amp, how smooth it is, and the lack of audible noise when changing volume. You have a peculiar problem indeed.

 

[SonnyMarrow]

Did Massdrop stop selling this amp with the built in DAC? I swear I saw it a couple of days ago for $319.99 or something like that.

 

[reeltime]

Did Massdrop stop selling this amp with the built in DAC? I swear I saw it a couple of days ago for $319.99 or something like that.

There was a brief drop a few weeks ago that added a Grace DAC (another Massdrop branded item) built in. I didn't pay super close attention because I already bought one of the first drop without the DAC, and I pair mine with the Chord Hugo and Hugo TT, which are better DACs.

 

[junki]

Due to censorship, a small part of this review was excised. The full review is available here.

My preferences and equipment history are up-to-date on my Head-Fi profile.

I got the SDAC+MCTH for my office to replace the Dragonfly Red, a particularly musical little thing I've been fond of for several years, which drove my HD6XX to satisfaction for all the work things I have to listen to. At home, I listen with the Sundara, and I have a hole in my chain that has been temporarily filled by the integrated DAC and headphone amplifier in my Audioengine HD3 powered speakers.

I burned in the unit for about as long as Alex recommends. I left MCTH playing overnight and through the next day's work hours.

For my first night listening to the SDAC+MCTH, I used it at home with my Sundara. Long story short, I did not like the pairing of the Sundara with the SDAC+MCTH as much as (to my surprise) with the HD3. After quite a bit of A/B testing between the SDAC>MCTH and the SDAC>HD3, I've come to two conclusions. The Sundara is a can that is inherently slightly airy and soft but just enough to not hurt resolution and clarity. In fact it is the most resolving cans I've heard, and it's this balance of musical clarity that I really like. Paired with the MCTH, overall sound became too soft and too airy, such that it felt a little hazy and resolution, separation, and layering seemed to suffer. It's as if the overall picture became a bit blurry. Soundstage was slightly more expansive, but it did not make up for the worse imaging. More obvious to me, the bass, especially the lower end of it, just did not sound as extended, loud, or controlled through the MCTH as through the HD3, and bass is one of the main reasons I listen to planars.

I decided to take the SDAC+MCTH into my office and pair it with the HD6XX. Maybe I came into this second audition with lower expecations, but I'm very happy with this pairing. The extra airiness that I heard through the Sundara adds to HD6XX's sound stage, and it sounds like the presence and treble is slightly more liquid and smooth. As a consequence of the bigger headstage, sounds aren't as congested and separation seems to have improved. This is a really superb musical pairing and probably the best pairing with the HD6XX I've heard to date.

Overall, I'd say the MCTH is not a particularly transparent amp. It softens and smooths, it's airy and expansive, but it's only ever slightly so. This is all completely subjective so YMMV.

Addendum

FWIW I like my MCTH a lot with the HD6XX, so much so that I've decided this is the end-game for me for this headphone's signal chain. To further qualify how much I like this combination: up to this point in time I've always viewed my HD6XX as the bottom performer in my collection in any snapshot of my collection history. I liked my E-MU Teak better, my HE4XX better, my Noble K10 better, my modded M1060 much better. Most cans I've owned at various points in time were able to give me an overall more enjoyable experience than the HD6XX. But I decided not to sell my HD6XX because it still, in the grand scheme of things, sounds very good, has very well known sound characteristics, and makes for a useful baseline to evaluate new purchases with.

With the MCTH, I'm sitting here thinking maybe the MCTH+HD6XX sounds maybe better than anything I've heard with my Sundara. And I think the Sundara sounds better than anything I mentioned above.

 

[Bazirker]

Did Massdrop stop selling this amp with the built in DAC? I swear I saw it a couple of days ago for $319.99 or something like that.

You're right, they did; they had it as a daily drop for awhile. They must have just recently sold them all or something, because I don't see them anymore either.

 

[GuddoggEli]

It's there, but maybe hard to find. I typed in the search box " massdrop x cth" and there it was for $249. If you accidentally buy 2, my delivery address is...

 

[Bazirker]

It's there, but maybe hard to find. I typed in the search box " massdrop x cth" and there it was for $249. If you accidentally buy 2, my delivery address is...

No, he means the CTH with an SDAC built-in. It's a different item, and is no longer available: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-cth-sdac-dac-amp

 

[fortunate son]

Looking at the plate curves I would guess that the amp cannot compensate for just how different the operating points are between the 6922 and 5670. Also the 5670 takes 350mA heater current instead of 330mA. The heater supply can absorb this difference.

You might be able to get this to work, but you might find that the front end cannot operate properly and possibly cause damage.

This is why we recommend only 6922 or equivalents.

Mr. Cavalli posted this response on the Massdrop website when asked if it was ok to enlarge the tube cavity on top of the amp and use the MCTH with a 6SN7 mounted to an adapter: "I'm afraid this won't work. For two reasons one bad and one might-not-sound-good.
1. The 6922 requires 330mA heater current. 6SN7 requires 600mA. The heater supply will start to max out at 400mA. 600mA will probably over-tax it and could cause failure.
2. Plate voltage on the triodes is a little over 100V. 6922 is very happy here, but this plate voltage is low for 6SN7 and probably puts it into a much less linear regime."

 

[fortunate son]

Eager to hear how this amp compares to the Schiit Lyr 3

Saw this write-up on impressions of the Lyr 3 and the MCTH at the recent DC Area Head-Fi Meet. See full report at: http://www.verumsonus.com/dc-area-head-fi-meet-impressions-4-7-2018/

Schiit Lyr 3

I was very excited to try the Schiit Lyr 3. I have previously owned the Lyr 2 headphone amplifier and have heard other tube hybrid models from Schiit like the Vali 2 and the Mjolnir 2. With the Lyr 2, Vali 2, and Mjolnir 2 it was very clear to me in listening to each one that they come from the same family of amplifiers, all of them have consistent sonic qualities: some bloom, a focus on macrodynamic impact rather than microdynamic details, and warmer, fuller kind of sound signature. The Lyr 3 shares nothing in common with these three previous hybrid designs. Sporting an all new topology, the Lyr 3 seems to be a much needed step in the right direction for my tastes. While much improved over the previous designs, the Lyr 3 did not seem free of its own sonic peculiarities. From the upper mids on up through the presence region and the treble, the Lyr 3 is fast, clear and dynamic. It doesn’t get bogged down in fast passages, it presents an excellent instrumental timbre especially for horns and other brass instruments and tends to present the stage and image in a way coherent with the music. Where the Lyr 3 gets peculiar is the low end from the lower mids down. It seems to slow down there, not really getting smeared or lacking in clarity, but somehow note decay seems to ring out longer, unnaturally extended in a way that makes it seem like it’s somehow moving slower. This wouldn’t normally be a big problem if the upper mids and treble didn’t have such a different character. The difference makes the amp come off a bit disjointed and awkward. I really enjoyed this amp overall and think it’s competitive for its performance in it’s price range, I’d like to try the DAC modules in this amp in the future to see how they perform.


Massdrop Cavalli Tube Hybrid

A Massdrop commercialization of an old Cavalli amp design, I was definitely interested in checking out the CTH with its low price since I’m usually at a loss for cheaper source recommendations. I was quite pleased with the CTH overall. I felt it leaned a bit warm with a kind of fuller sound and had a hint of compression and haze. Generally I found this amplifier to be quite revealing of lower level microdynamic details, though they were presented a bit more flatly and softly than I’m used to, lacking their normal physicality and sharpness. Tonality seemed even, and the amp seemed to communicate the details of the soundstage of each song rather than imposing its own sort of space within which to put the music. In the sub-$500 bracket, with a more coherent though less dynamic presentation than the Lyr 3, I believe this is the best performing tube hybrid design for the price and would recommend it without hesitation.

 

[prestiggge]

I have Meridian Explorer 2 DAC, Objective 2 Amp and K702 headphone. How about changing O2 with Cavalli Alex? I like treble and O2 has treble roll-of. When I listen K702 with ME2 I like treble but seperation is bad without amp.

 

[jeffrt]

A few days ago I bought a Teddy Pardo 28V power supply for my MCTH which is on its way to me from Israel. I used one of Pardo's 12V units with a dac I used to own and it really opened up the sound a lot, improved focus and a lot of other good stuff. In case you have ever used Naim gear, the Pardo brought about the kind of improvement you get when you upgrade from a Naim built-in power supply to the TOTL Naim outboard power supply. This is the Pardo unit I bought, except it will be a 28V 1.25 amp instead of the 24V 1 amp version that is shown in this link: https://www.teddypardo.com/powersupplies/generic/teddy24.html

So, unless I missed something in the above post, how did you get TeddyPardo to change the specs, from 24V/1amp, to the 28V/1.25 amps that the Cavalli needs?

I hate "wallwarts" with a minor passion, but spending $370 for a power supply for a $250 amp is ... thought provoking.

 

[volly]

Due to censorship, a small part of this review was excised. The full review is available here.

My preferences and equipment history are up-to-date on my Head-Fi profile.

I got the SDAC+MCTH for my office to replace the Dragonfly Red, a particularly musical little thing I've been fond of for several years, which drove my HD6XX to satisfaction for all the work things I have to listen to. At home, I listen with the Sundara, and I have a hole in my chain that has been temporarily filled by the integrated DAC and headphone amplifier in my Audioengine HD3 powered speakers.

I burned in the unit for about as long as Alex recommends. I left MCTH playing overnight and through the next day's work hours.

For my first night listening to the SDAC+MCTH, I used it at home with my Sundara. Long story short, I did not like the pairing of the Sundara with the SDAC+MCTH as much as (to my surprise) with the HD3. After quite a bit of A/B testing between the SDAC>MCTH and the SDAC>HD3, I've come to two conclusions. The Sundara is a can that is inherently slightly airy and soft but just enough to not hurt resolution and clarity. In fact it is the most resolving cans I've heard, and it's this balance of musical clarity that I really like. Paired with the MCTH, overall sound became too soft and too airy, such that it felt a little hazy and resolution, separation, and layering seemed to suffer. It's as if the overall picture became a bit blurry. Soundstage was slightly more expansive, but it did not make up for the worse imaging. More obvious to me, the bass, especially the lower end of it, just did not sound as extended, loud, or controlled through the MCTH as through the HD3, and bass is one of the main reasons I listen to planars.

I decided to take the SDAC+MCTH into my office and pair it with the HD6XX. Maybe I came into this second audition with lower expecations, but I'm very happy with this pairing. The extra airiness that I heard through the Sundara adds to HD6XX's sound stage, and it sounds like the presence and treble is slightly more liquid and smooth. As a consequence of the bigger headstage, sounds aren't as congested and separation seems to have improved. This is a really superb musical pairing and probably the best pairing with the HD6XX I've heard to date.

Overall, I'd say the MCTH is not a particularly transparent amp. It softens and smooths, it's airy and expansive, but it's only ever slightly so. This is all completely subjective so YMMV.

Addendum

FWIW I like my MCTH a lot with the HD6XX, so much so that I've decided this is the end-game for me for this headphone's signal chain. To further qualify how much I like this combination: up to this point in time I've always viewed my HD6XX as the bottom performer in my collection in any snapshot of my collection history. I liked my E-MU Teak better, my HE4XX better, my Noble K10 better, my modded M1060 much better. Most cans I've owned at various points in time were able to give me an overall more enjoyable experience than the HD6XX. But I decided not to sell my HD6XX because it still, in the grand scheme of things, sounds very good, has very well known sound characteristics, and makes for a useful baseline to evaluate new purchases with.

With the MCTH, I'm sitting here thinking maybe the MCTH+HD6XX sounds maybe better than anything I've heard with my Sundara. And I think the Sundara sounds better than anything I mentioned above.

Cheers for the impressions @junki, totally agree with you on the synergy of the 6xx/650 and MCTH, my other amps never made my 650's dance this well. Before receiving the MCTH I read about the synergy between the MCTH and 6xx/650 but I didn't want to get on the hype just yet! After spending my last week with this combo I can wholeheartedly say "Yasssssss!!!"...this is a much made in heaven!

 

[franz12]

MTCH has been a beutiful pairing with ether c flow.

I got hd600 and hooked it up. Has anyone tried this setup? There might be something wrong as I am pretty much unimpressed. I felt flat even after hours of listening to this setup.