[Zachik]

I think Schiit's working on something like that... "gadget" who knows, that one's been coming for a long time. They are also working on a Schiit Pi

Schiit Gadget, from what I heard / read, is a device to change tone in a smart way, and basically intended / optimized for classical music.
I have never heard if Schiit Pi.

 

[MikeW]

Schiit PI's supposed to be some kind of rasbery pi DSP module, but I think it's intended to be an internal component, not a separate box.

 

[Snitte77]

I could jump pn the last drop

 

[franz12]

I'm sure that someone with more technical expertise than me can give a better answer, but as I understand it: the 789 has considerably more power; the 789 was completely designed by THX while the 788 is Monoprice designed with (I believe) some licensed tech from THX, which had some (it's vague) design input; the 789 did extremely well in objective tests on ASR, the 788 not so much (though my guess is that subjective listening would be far closer). The 788 also has a number of features (like EQ and DSP) that IMO is money wasting crap--YMMV of course. That said I guess (and it's only that--I've only heard the 789) that for most people and with most headphones, either would do a fine job. The 788 costs a third more for less power and a DAC you way not need or want while the 789's availability is likely to be very limited at least in the near term.

I received the thx 788, it sounds pretty good. I don't know whether that is because of the relatively new dac AK4493 or the amp section. But it sounds better than the fiio q5 which has ak4490.

 

[Suppa92]

Guys, this may not related to this thread. but could anyone tell me the HS code of THX AA 789?
because i just want to figure out how much I would have to pay for the custom taxes.

 

[stimuz]

I received the thx 788, it sounds pretty good. I don't know whether that is because of the relatively new dac AK4493 or the amp section. But it sounds better than the fiio q5 which has ak4490.

Probably because ASR didn't actually review the 788, but rather reviewed the unboxing and "angrily" dodged the review.

 

[MacMan31]

So any idea when this amp is going to drop again?? There was that quick drop a few weeks back but nothing since and there are over 13,500 requests.

 

[ReAlien]

So any idea when this amp is going to drop again?? There was that quick drop a few weeks back but nothing since and there are over 13,500 requests.

Highly unlikely there will be any drop before May when February drop is set to deliver.

 

[Fatdoi]

So any idea when this amp is going to drop again?? There was that quick drop a few weeks back but nothing since and there are over 13,500 requests.

i'm one of those lucky few hundreds from the last drop.... since MD took my money, haven't heard a word from them..... if there's no delay still 2 months to wait

 

[diadack]

Does anybody know how this compares to a Hugo 2? I’m thinking of selling mine for a balanced desktop set up.

 

[jbarrentine]

Have an atom now and wondering how this could possibly be better single ended. From what I'm led to believe measurements are outstanding on the atom. Why move up again? I'm signed up for the drop, just wondering if it's pissing money to the wind if I don't care about balanced output? Benchmark says balanced is a waste of time and I feel inclined to believe them, since they're experts.

https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better

 

[Marlowe]

Have an atom now and wondering how this could possibly be better single ended. From what I'm led to believe measurements are outstanding on the atom. Why move up again? I'm signed up for the drop, just wondering if it's pissing money to the wind if I don't care about balanced output? Benchmark says balanced is a waste of time and I feel inclined to believe them, since they're experts.

https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better

Actually, you can't be "signed up" for the drop ATM since it is inactive. All you can do is request it, which, aside from alerting MD to the level of interest in a product, only gets you email notification when the drop becomes active again; you don't automatically join the drop by requesting it and would have to affirmatively take that action after the drop becomes active in order to spend any money.

BTW, I took a look at the post you linked to. Bearing in mind that I am almost as unqualified to judge its technical discussion as Herman Cain is to serve on the Federal Reserve board, I would nonetheless take it with a grain of salt since it was written by a manufacturer (albeit a very high end one) justifying its design decisions. Moreover, I find one of its claims to be somewhat off: it concedes that a balanced output can deliver significantly more power than a single ended output, but that this is relevant only for battery powered amps, not AC powered amps. Perhaps I am misunderstanding the assertion, but the THX 789 is an AC powered amp and it puts out a lot more power from its balanced output than its single ended outputs (which I confirmed by the much lower setting of the volume knob after I acquired a balanced cable for my HD700).

In any case, I do agree that most people (including myself) without well trained ears are not going to hear a huge difference between well designed amps, assuming the amp has sufficient power to drive a particular headphone.

 

[jbarrentine]

Yeah I understand how drops work I didn't really need an explanation.

 

[phthora]

Have an atom now and wondering how this could possibly be better single ended. From what I'm led to believe measurements are outstanding on the atom. Why move up again? I'm signed up for the drop, just wondering if it's pissing money to the wind if I don't care about balanced output? Benchmark says balanced is a waste of time and I feel inclined to believe them, since they're experts.

https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better

As I understand it, and I'm certainly no expert, Benchmark prefers an XLR connection for decreased contact resistance, prefers balanced line inputs, grounds left and right separately, and uses a differential amplifier circuit to cancel out things like common mode noise by use of a signal and its inversion. I don't understand how that's not balanced. And, I'm not being snarky, I truly don't understand how this differs from balanced in anything but the most technical way.

 

[MikeW]

THX 789 is not balanced anyways. The xlr input is summed to single ended before being amplified and output via balanced.

Great amp, don’t buy it though with the impression that it’s balanced
However.. and don’t go to any lengths to run it balanced either.