[Marlowe]

hmm, maybe its a mixture of when you ordered and where you live then. I’m fairly close to their shipping center and ordered within minutes of drop coming live

I think its just random and a matter of luck. I ordered approximately two hours after it went live and live just over twenty miles from the MD warehouse in NJ and it hasn't shipped yet. When I bought the Elex last month, it shipped the same day. Of course, MD standard shipping by Fed Ex Smart Post is annoying; even though the warehouse and I are both in NJ and not far apart, the package first goes in the opposite direction to a Fed Ex facility in Pennsylvania and then back to another Fed Ex facility--in the exact same town as the MD warehouse! However, since I am so close the whole process usually only takes 3-4 business days and USPS conveniently delivers it to a mail locker in the lobby of my building. Since this isn't a Christmas present I didn't bother paying for more expedited shipping.

 

[BrotherKathos]

Hmm okay. Perhaps I'll bite the bullet. I wonder how much my Aune X7S would go for? I was just watching the Josh Valour review and he was saying that the THX 789 sounded a bit "dry" like there is not much warmth to it. Is that going to be a downside for the genres of music I listen to (see my last comment)?

The sound you will get from the thx is going to more dependent on your source. I listen to all the types of music you mentioned and use a schiit multibit dac along with some audeze planars and get no sense of dryness at all from the thx. My setup is very organic, smooth and detailed. It will get dry and edgy if i switch my dac to my balanced SMSL SU-8 however. The THX will make differences in source character more apparent, so I recommend r2r or multibit dacs with it if you want smooth warm sound. If you must have a delta sigma dac, I'd stay away from sabre dacs unless you want to spend extra money on usb cleaners or usb to spdif convertors to take the delta sigma edge down a bit. The modi 3 and eitr is a great match with the thx for a budget source stack. Its akm dacs are pretty smooth when converted to spdif via eitr.

I see you have the modi multibit. THat with the eitr is amazingl good with the thx imo.

 

[BrotherKathos]

I think its just random and a matter of luck, I ordered approximately two hours after it went live and live just over twenty miles from the MD warehouse in NJ and hasn't shipped yet.
when I bought the Elex last month, it shipped the same day. Of course, MD standard shipping is annoying; even though the warehouse and I are both in NJ and not far apart, the package first goes in the opposite direction to a Fed Ex facility in Pennsylvania and then back to another Fed Ex facility--in the exact same town as the MD warehouse! However, since I am so close the whole process usually only takes 3-4 business days and since this isn't a Christmas present I didn't bother paying for more expedited shipping.

Luck seems to be the factor then. You are closer to the ship center than me as I'm north of you near Portland.

 

[MacMan31]

The sound you will get from the thx is going to more dependent on your source. I listen to all the types of music you mentioned and use a schiit multibit dac along with some audeze planars and get no sense of dryness at all from the thx. My setup is very organic, smooth and detailed. It will get dry and edgy if i switch my dac to my balanced SMSL SU-8 however. The THX will make differences in source character more apparent, so I recommend r2r or multibit dacs with it if you want smooth warm sound. If you must have a delta sigma dac, I'd stay away from sabre dacs unless you want to spend extra money on usb cleaners or usb to spdif convertors to take the delta sigma edge down a bit. The modi 3 and eitr is a great match with the thx for a budget source stack. Its akm dacs are pretty smooth when converted to spdif via eitr.

I see you have the modi multibit. THat with the eitr is amazingl good with the thx imo.

I do not have a modi multibit. I have the MD Grace SDAC running off my Macbook Pro via USB. My music files in iTunes are 320Kbps as I cannot hear any noticeable different between that and Lossless.

 

[BrotherKathos]

I do not have a modi multibit. I have the MD Grace SDAC running off my Macbook Pro via USB. My music files in iTunes are 320Kbps as I cannot hear any noticeable different between that and Lossless.

ahh my bad, I got you confused. The grace dac uses akm chips so its probably pretty smooth for a delta sigma implementation. I've never heard one, but I've seen many positive impressions from them. The eitr would probably help the sdac become a bit smoother if you wanted that little bit of extra musicality. I've got 2 eitrs since I liked how they improved my systems and am probably going to get a third to pair with this second thx amp and a smsl m9 dac I got on the cheap from massdrop.

 

[MacMan31]

ahh my bad, I got you confused. The grace dac uses akm chips so its probably pretty smooth for a delta sigma implementation. I've never heard one, but I've seen many positive impressions from them. The eitr would probably help the sdac become a bit smoother if you wanted that little bit of extra musicality. I've got 2 eitrs since I liked how they improved my systems and am probably going to get a third to pair with this second thx amp and a smsl m9 dac I got on the cheap from massdrop.

What is an eitr?

 

[BrotherKathos]

What is an eitr?

Its a usb to spdif converter. It cleans up the usb signal and allows the dac to do its job better. I've found it very usefull in taking the edge or glare off by delta sigma dacs. It made a very noticable change with all the dacs I hooked to it. These bing the SMSL SU-8, Topping D50, Schiit modi 3. and Schiit Modi multibit. Some might tell you its snake oil, but I've found it to be very beneficial. Its not going to cause world shaking changes, but for me its very useful since I'm treble sensitive and the eitr softens the sound a bit. Makes the thx even more fatigue free.

http://www.schiit.com/products/eitr

 

[MacMan31]

Its a usb to spdif converter. It cleans up the usb signal and allows the dac to do its job better. I've found it very usefull in taking the edge or glare off by delta sigma dacs. It made a very noticable change with all the dacs I hooked to it. These bing the SMSL SU-8, Topping D50, Schiit modi 3. and Schiit Modi multibit. Some might tell you its snake oil, but I've found it to be very beneficial. Its not going to cause world shaking changes, but for me its very useful since I'm treble sensitive and the eitr softens the sound a bit. Makes the thx even more fatigue free.

http://www.schiit.com/products/eitr

Hmm okay. But there is no SPDIF input on the MD Grace SDAC or the THX 789.

 

[BrotherKathos]

Hmm okay. But there is no SPDIF input on the MD Grace SDAC or the THX 789.

Oh. I did not know the sdac was just usb only. Probably to save on cost. The eitr is only for use with dacs so the thx won't have any inputs.

 

[MacMan31]

Oh. I did not know the sdac was just usb only. Probably to save on cost. The eitr is only for use with dacs so the thx won't have any inputs.

No worries. The SDAC sounds pretty clean as it is. I don't hear any "noise" during quiet parts of a song or when nothing is playing.

 

[Marlowe]

I use the Eitr with a Modi MB and it makes a small to moderate, but clearly noticeable, improvement with Tidal out of my PC. But unfortunately, you can only use it with a DAC that has a coaxial input; it won't work with a USB only DAC like the SDAC.

 

[MacMan31]

I use the Eitr with a Modi MB and it makes a small to moderate, but clearly noticeable, improvement with Tidal out of my PC. But unfortunately, you can only use it with a DAC that has a coaxial input; it won't work with a USB only DAC like the SDAC.

I'm not worried about it. I like the SDAC so I'm not about to "upgrade" it any time soon.

 

[maxxevv]

ahh my bad, I got you confused. The grace dac uses akm chips so its probably pretty smooth for a delta sigma implementation. I've never heard one, but I've seen many positive impressions from them. The eitr would probably help the sdac become a bit smoother if you wanted that little bit of extra musicality. I've got 2 eitrs since I liked how they improved my systems and am probably going to get a third to pair with this second thx amp and a smsl m9 dac I got on the cheap from massdrop.

That's stretching reality a fair bit there. Measurements for the performance of the Eitr don't correlate with what's suggested here.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nts-of-schiit-eitr-usb-to-s-pdif-bridge.3753/

 

[bluenight]

Was there a THX 888 MD coming next year. I think someone mentioned that. Maybe better to wait for that?

 

[BrotherKathos]

That's stretching reality a fair bit there. Measurements for the performance of the Eitr don't correlate with what's suggested here.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nts-of-schiit-eitr-usb-to-s-pdif-bridge.3753/

Another thing that stretches reality a bit is how i prefer my modi multibit with my thx aaa to my D50. If I blindly believed in Amir's measurments i would convince myself that there is no way the mimby could sound better since the D50 measures way waaaaaay better. But the fact is to my ears the mimby sounds better. Measurements are a nice caveat, but hardly the deciding factor in audible performance.