[whohasaquestion]

It's a good pairing, the 789 has enough current to drive Grados properly. The only issue is that the volume pot is on the cheap side and is not balanced at low levels, so you need to reduce the volume on the DAC or use a DAC with low output.

Thanks. I feel like SR325e is bright and very detailed. Does it add something to the sound signature? Or upping another notch of brightness and detail?

 

[BrotherKathos]

That seems reasonable for single ended headphones, balanced would be too many adapters. Anyway I have no experience with the ear buddy but in theory it should work without much sound degradation.

i think most that run balanced cables do it for the power, and in that case the low gain volume issue will not be a factor to begin with. Ear buddy only makes sense for SE applications. Also I have one and notice zero change in sound when using with my thx. It just makes whatever headphones you plug in harder to drive so you get a more usable volume range out of the pot/amp

 

[Marlowe]

Then don't read my posts. Either way I don't think I have asked that often. I just want to make sure I would be getting my money's worth that's all. Guess this is one of those long term investment things.

Whether or not you've asked this (unanswerable) question too often is pretty much like deciding whether or not the amp is worth it: it's in the eye of the beholder.

 

[justrest]

How fast it's gone. I missed the drop but next time...

 

[elira]

Thanks. I feel like SR325e is bright and very detailed. Does it add something to the sound signature? Or upping another notch of brightness and detail?

It depends what are you using currently. The closest I have to the SR325e are the SR325is, and in fact they lack some low end. Using the 789 you listen the headphones as they are. The 789 is very transparent and Grados are very detailed (as you might have noticed), you will definitely listen your source, be advised that if your source is not high quality you will hear that. If you want to add some coloration you should look elsewhere. I found Grados hard to pair with solid state amps the best amp I have found for them is a WooAudio WA6-SE. In solid state amps the SR325is sound better in my Corda Jazz-ff, my PS500 sound amazing in the PS Audio GCHA, and I haven't found something solid state that pairs nicely with my GS2000e. The THX AAA 789 does an OK work with all my headphones, it's like a jack of all trades, master of none.

 

[sethkong]

Lucky me! What I did the first thing after receiving the e-mail this morning is order the THX AAA 789. Don't hesitate!

 

[Fatdoi]

Lucky me! What I did the first thing after receiving the e-mail this morning is order the THX AAA 789. Don't hesitate!

Same with me.. Actually I put down wrong address, canceled it and reordered it... So lucky

 

[Kamurah]

Same here. I have been waiting on this drop since the last one ended. This will be my first audiophile-grade headphone amplifier. I feel really lucky to have gotten in on this one.
I have a pair of Massdrop HE4xx on the way as well. A good week.

Sorry to anyone who missed out this time. I feel certain that the market will demand higher production runs in the future...just sucks to wait.

 

[eeagle]

Was it cheaper before? What was the first at the first time?

No, they have never been cheaper always $349.99. MD is good about keeping their prices stable, unlike Amazon where they go up and down daily. I was simply implying that the demand being so great on this product, one solution would be to raise the price.

Already 789 is bringing $500-600 USD on the ebay used market, and many are asking even more.

 

[Suppa92]

It's a good pairing, the 789 has enough current to drive Grados properly. The only issue is that the volume pot is on the cheap side and is not balanced at low levels, so you need to reduce the volume on the DAC or use a DAC with low output.

Can we expect new batches to have better volume pot? Don't know how massdrop controls the quality of products in case of such minor bugs.

 

[omniweltall]

It's a good pairing, the 789 has enough current to drive Grados properly. The only issue is that the volume pot is on the cheap side and is not balanced at low levels, so you need to reduce the volume on the DAC or use a DAC with low output.

Most potentiometers are like that. That's why they use steppers on higher-end products. The stepper itself may cost as much as the THX 789.

 

[elira]

Most potentiometers are like that. That's why they use steppers on higher-end products. The stepper itself may cost as much as the THX 789.

They could also have a better pot, but I guess that would be also expensive. The easy cheap way would be to have a lower gain. I find that most amplifiers have too much gain, but there are some headphones that need a lot of gain. I would really love a version of the THX AAA 789 with 100 steps of discrete volume control like the NFB-1AMP.

 

[omniweltall]

That definitely would be nice. But Im quite happy with the THX 789 for what it is.

I was searching for a complementary SS that is powerful and wouldnt break the bank. This fits just nicely.

 

[BrotherKathos]

I have to say that using a tube buffer before the thx 789 is a great way to tame a dac that one might find too bright for their tastes. I've been using a SMSL M9 dac with the thx and have tried various tweaks to tame its delta sigma glare, but the tube buffer absolutely did the trick, and the funny thing is it costed me the least amount of money. Go figure. I'm definitely in heresy territory now hehe. I've got both a schiit loki and the tube buffer before the thx lol. But I'm lovin it!

 

[whohasaquestion]

I have to say that using a tube buffer before the thx 789 is a great way to tame a dac that one might find too bright for their tastes. I've been using a SMSL M9 dac with the thx and have tried various tweaks to tame its delta sigma glare, but the tube buffer absolutely did the trick, and the funny thing is it costed me the least amount of money. Go figure. I'm definitely in heresy territory now hehe. I've got both a schiit loki and the tube buffer before the thx lol. But I'm lovin it!

NVM. I understand the diff now.