[Voxata]

You should post a picture, so we can better see what exactly is off.

 

[Th3Drizzl3]

i dont have it with me at the moment. but there is a I II and III printed on the front. when the knob is set to the second detent (what should be II) its almost pointing to the I setting as per the print on the face it sits far to the left for each detent. its centered in the hole on the face but where its supposed to be straight up and down on setting II this one points to just above setting I and at the III detent its its actually pointing to between II and III. i find it annoying because upon a quick glance at where the knob is set to you would think its set to the I setting even though its on II. very annoying

 

[Th3Drizzl3]

this is kind of an idea for you so its hard to know if its actually on setting one or two just by looking

 

[Voxata]

Oh yeah.. that is indeed annoying. I'll have to check out my unit more closely when able.

 

[MacMan31]

That would annoy me greatly as well. Perhaps Massdrop needs better quality control.

 

[Th3Drizzl3]

im not the only one if you search the thread at massdrop a number of people seemed to complain about the same thing some more off then others.

 

[bequietjk]

It was not a good idea for me to pop in here with a message a few days ago, knowing well of the auto-thread subcribing...

Now I feel I must have a THX AAA with every email notification that happens. My inbox is full of 'head.fi THX AAA 789'.

MASSDROP, PLEASE. I CANNOT WAIT ANY LONGER!!!!!

 

[Marlowe]

I didn't even notice that the gain switch was improperly aligned until I read this. Upon checking, it seems OK, or very close, with gains 1 and 3, but definitely misaligned with gain 2--it should be straight up at 12 o'clock but is somewhere between 11 and 12. As it happens, gain 2 is where I usually am with the Focal Elex which is what I am usually using so far with the amp. And you know what? Although I definitely have a touch of OCD for things like this, for whatever reason it bothers me not at all. It clicks into position flawlessly and it is obvious where it is set. I had a similar reaction to the scratchy pot on the CTH. I noticed that sometimes, though not always, when I adjusted volume on the CTH, there was a slight audible rustle. I didn't adjust volume that often, the sound was very minor, and it only lasted a split second or so. I couldn't believe that people went to the trouble of returning the unit for a replacement over this de minimus issue. Maybe my OCD is moderating at age 65.

 

[torii]

how many people color in the volume knob indent? I put whiteout in mine then painted some glow in dark neon paint on the whiteout. so much happier now when I look over at amp and can tell volume position.

 

[SnowRunner]

Ok HeadFi'ers, I have a bit of a bone to pick...
If this THX amp really is so disruptive by performing so much above its weight class, why haven't so many other brands or engineers been able to implement this 'feed-forward' circuitry out? Especially since its a 20+ year old tech, off-patent & according to Amir at you know where, there are no custom THX parts, just off the shelf standard Texas instruments components.
As he mentions, we will likely see a slew of similar products within a year or two using similar circuit designs, which will only be great for all of us consumers. But I feel like amp engineers need to get their game faces on to answer this $350 bundle of joy.

BTW, I'm still waiting for the next drop , but will definitely get that neon paint on the volume knob indent, thanks for that nugget @torii

 

[CoFire]

Ok HeadFi'ers, I have a bit of a bone to pick...
If this THX amp really is so disruptive by performing so much above its weight class, why haven't so many other brands or engineers been able to implement this 'feed-forward' circuitry out? Especially since its a 20+ year old tech, off-patent & according to Amir at you know where, there are no custom THX parts, just off the shelf standard Texas instruments components.
As he mentions, we will likely see a slew of similar products within a year or two using similar circuit designs, which will only be great for all of us consumers. But I feel like amp engineers need to get their game faces on to answer this $350 bundle of joy.

BTW, I'm still waiting for the next drop , but will definitely get that neon paint on the volume knob indent, thanks for that nugget @torii

Yeah right? Or maybe something like this has been available, but manufacturer's would rather squeeze us for margin?

I have been swapping between this amp over the last couple days and a Bravo V2, Grace m9XX, Liquid Carbon (LCX) and Massdrop CTH all driven by the Grace m9XX DAC or Node DAC and this amp is the least colored of anything I have with plenty of power to drive anything I've got. It's sound is noticeably more clean, digital if you will but not cold or analytical, yet, I feel I get more unsmoothed detail from this amp than anything else.

A friend of mine ordered one on a whim like I did and he can't wait to get back home to receive it. After hearing mine of course, though he ordered before listening.

There is still synergy between amps and headphones that this may not fit the bill, but if you are looking for a more accurate rendition of a recording, I think this does a fine job while still retaining a musical edge.

For example, it makes the HD6XX sound great, no veil, but the HD6XX has a certain synergy with the CTH. You can listen to both depending on your taste at the moment. I wouldn't say the CTH makes it obsolete.

 

[BrokeSkoolBoi]

Yeah right? Or maybe something like this has been available, but manufacturer's would rather squeeze us for margin?

I have been swapping between this amp over the last couple days and a Bravo V2, Grace m9XX, Liquid Carbon (LCX) and Massdrop CTH all driven by the Grace m9XX DAC or Node DAC and this amp is the least colored of anything I have with plenty of power to drive anything I've got. It's sound is noticeably more clean, digital if you will but not cold or analytical, yet, I feel I get more unsmoothed detail from this amp than anything else.

A friend of mine ordered one on a whim like I did and he can't wait to get back home to receive it. After hearing mine of course, though he ordered before listening.

There is still synergy between amps and headphones that this may not fit the bill, but if you are looking for a more accurate rendition of a recording, I think this does a fine job while still retaining a musical edge.

For example, it makes the HD6XX sound great, no veil, but the CTH has a certain synergy with the CTH. You can listen to both depending on your taste at the moment. I wouldn't say the CTH makes it obsolete.

I'm assuming you meant to say 'the *6xx has a certain synergy with the CTH'. Glad to hear you still prefer the CTH since I'm planning on keeping mine for my hd600.

I've been toiling the internet over which dac/amp or combo to get but even all my searching online leaves me with the same answer (THX), so many other offerings either have minor issues or conflict of interests for me. As a musician and music lover having one setup that I can trust is an honest representation of the source material would be ideal and TOTL for me.

 

[CoFire]

I'm assuming you meant to say 'the *6xx has a certain synergy with the CTH'. Glad to hear you still prefer the CTH since I'm planning on keeping mine for my hd600.

I've been toiling the internet over which dac/amp or combo to get but even all my searching online leaves me with the same answer (THX), so many other offerings either have minor issues or conflict of interests for me. As a musician and music lover having one setup that I can trust is an honest representation of the source material would be ideal and TOTL for me.

I really liked the CTH with the HD6XX, HD58X and ZMF Autuer. They weren't unenjoyable on the THX AAA 789, but offered a great combination of tube harmonics and solid state accuracy. I preferred the THX AAA 789 on my planars and Focal Elex and Clear though they again didn't sound bad on the CTH.

I liked the synergy so much, I'm gonna look for a deal on a Liquid Platinum as I really want a balanced Hybrid and I trust the Cavelli designs and Massdrop or Monoprice pricing.

I would say the THX AAA 789 is more accurate, the CTH gives up a tinge of accuracy for musicality.

Edit: I'll fix my initial post, thanks.

 

[Roen]

First principles approach is there will always be some common mode ground noise currents flowing in your audio cables shield, due to low freq magnetic fields, RF from SMPS and cell phones, and from direct injection by the various products' AC/DC power supplies.
And your audio cables all have non-zero ground impedance. So if this CM noise current flows in part of the cable that's used for signal (e.g. RCA's shield is also the signal negative wire) then it'll corrupt the signal as hum, machine noise, hiss, etc according to V=I*R where R is the RCA shield impedance.
But if this CM current is given a preferred pathway (e.g. separate shield wire in XLR cable) then it won't corrupt the audio. Similarly if given a lower impedance path (e.g. very short RCA, or more-copper in the RCA shield) then it'll corrupt less because the "R" term is smaller in V=I*R.
An RCA>XLR cable, if built properly, will provide a *mostly* separate pathway for CM noise current to flow. It's a half-way house.
Now the question is whether or not an amp can handle an unbalanced signal on its balanced input... if the amp is designed right as a "differential" input stage, then no problem (as is the case with most product).
Rule of thumb for users is
a) use 3-wire balanced cabling where possible (e.g. XLR)
b) if forced to use RCA, use the lowest impedance shield, and keep the length short

Any similar cable with the unbalanced side being 3.5 mm or 1/4"?

 

[AndrewM888]

Ok HeadFi'ers, I have a bit of a bone to pick...
If this THX amp really is so disruptive by performing so much above its weight class, why haven't so many other brands or engineers been able to implement this 'feed-forward' circuitry out? Especially since its a 20+ year old tech, off-patent & according to Amir at you know where, there are no custom THX parts, just off the shelf standard Texas instruments components.
As he mentions, we will likely see a slew of similar products within a year or two using similar circuit designs, which will only be great for all of us consumers. But I feel like amp engineers need to get their game faces on to answer this $350 bundle of joy.

BTW, I'm still waiting for the next drop , but will definitely get that neon paint on the volume knob indent, thanks for that nugget @torii

Hi Snowrunner,

Thanks for your patience. I hope Massdrop can stock up again soon!

THX AAA is a new, unique version of feed-forward error correction. It overcomes shortfalls of older feed-forward approaches to achieve the ultimate in linearity and minimal crossover distortion.

THX AAA topology is presently covered by numerous active patents in each of the major global countries. Replicating our IP requires a licensing agreement first, else it may be eligible for pursuit as patent or other infringement.

Please don't hesitate to recommend product or company collaborations you'd like to see for AAA in future. Where should this tech be?

Thanks,
Andrew