[loki993]

Limited runs are a ploy on their part? What’s your proof? If it was to create hype... doubtless the limited availability has created hype. But the 789 got largely rave reviews from the very beginning before the trickle of manufacturing batches, and by now my guess is that if they had secured sufficient components and manufacturing capacity from the very beginning they would have sold many more units... while you postulate it was a ploy on their part, I postulate it was an error on their part.

Everything else you said usually I don't buy it, if I were to buy something from them its only if its a in stock item. I understood the wait times before when the site was basically a group buy site for mostly niche products. At this point though they are selling a lot of very popular stuff..I mean the HD6xx for example multiple large tech sites talkin about it and the great deal it was.

the 789 was in stock for a few months at the end of last year, as was the 6xx, the SDAC and a few other things I know because I was watching them. You could buy an 789 and have int at your door in 2 or 3 days. All of sudden around january they vanished, along with the 6xx and the SDAC oddly enough. After that there only small drops for the 789 with long lead times and they would sell out in a matter of minutes.....yes when theyw ree zxtcokced people wehrre talking about them, but once they were gone everyone was talking about them like it was some mythical creature. People were trying to sell them for outrageous prices on ebay. There were like 60k requests for a new drop on the site. I mean there is the proof..it sat in stock for months,.even amid all the great reviews they seemed to have enough of them, people were buying them. Now with the "limited" drops they are gone in minutes...every time.

I mean I don't even really care about the price hike...I think they half assedly explained it any some point..gave some wishy washy reason so yeah its probably just to squeeze a few more bucks out of people...they did it with the 6xx too...but I don't know I guess I find that less egregious...

 

[jsmiller58]

Everything else you said usually I don't buy it, if I were to buy something from them its only if its a in stock item. I understood the wait times before when the site was basically a group buy site for mostly niche products. At this point though they are selling a lot of very popular stuff..I mean the HD6xx for example multiple large tech sites talkin about it and the great deal it was.

the 789 was in stock for a few months at the end of last year, as was the 6xx, the SDAC and a few other things I know because I was watching them. You could buy an 789 and have int at your door in 2 or 3 days. All of sudden around january they vanished, along with the 6xx and the SDAC oddly enough. After that there only small drops for the 789 with long lead times and they would sell out in a matter of minutes.....yes when theyw ree zxtcokced people wehrre talking about them, but once they were gone everyone was talking about them like it was some mythical creature. People were trying to sell them for outrageous prices on ebay. There were like 60k requests for a new drop on the site. I mean there is the proof..it sat in stock for months,.even amid all the great reviews they seemed to have enough of them, people were buying them. Now with the "limited" drops they are gone in minutes...every time.

I mean I don't even really care about the price hike...I think they half assedly explained it any some point..gave some wishy washy reason so yeah its probably just to squeeze a few more bucks out of people...they did it with the 6xx too...but I don't know I guess I find that less egregious...

I respect your position, I really do!! I just don't understand why you are worked up over it. If they no longer operate in a way that suits/satisfies you, just move on... I don't believe that I have an inherent right to have them behave in a manner I want them to. However, I do have the right to chose whether to give them my business. I also understand any complaining that I do about them will have precisely - not approximately - zero impact...

 

[ok3wire]

Has anyone tried using the DAC portion of the Chord Mojo to feed this amp? I’m about halfway through this thread and don’t recall having seen any detailed mentions of it thus far. Any general SQ evaluations relative to other DACs in the sub-$1000 category?

And more importantly, if I were to attempt this, would the following represent a permissible cabling solution?

https://ghentaudio.com/part/b05a.html

 

[AndrewM888]

Has anyone tried using the DAC portion of the Chord Mojo to feed this amp? I’m about halfway through this thread and don’t recall having seen any detailed mentions of it thus far. Any general SQ evaluations relative to other DACs in the sub-$1000 category?

And more importantly, if I were to attempt this, would the following represent a permissible cabling solution?

https://ghentaudio.com/part/b05a.html

Yes that cable will work well. Very nice.

 

[ok3wire]

Yes that cable will work well. Very nice.

Thanks so much, Andrew. Nothing gives a person piece of mind like getting the scoop straight from the designer.

 

[whohasaquestion]

Yes that cable will work well. Very nice.

So despite the look of xlr, its actually not balanced?

Why not just use a 3.5mm to rca cable?

 

[Davesrose]

So despite the look of xlr, its actually not balanced?

Why not just use a 3.5mm to rca cable?

This amp does not have a fully balanced circuit design. However, like many current designs, it does have more power output with balanced interfaces.

 

[ayang02]

So despite the look of xlr, its actually not balanced?

Why not just use a 3.5mm to rca cable?

I think this post by Andrew explains why: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/mas...pressions-thread.873576/page-93#post-14890659

 

[Currawong]

I think this post by Andrew explains why: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/massdrop-x-thx-aaa™-789-linear-amplifier-impressions-thread.873576/page-93#post-14890659

It'll amount to the same thing as using a 3.5mm to RCA. A cable that connects a non-balanced system to a balanced one shorts the ground to one of the signal pins anyway.

 

[ayang02]

It'll amount to the same thing as using a 3.5mm to RCA. A cable that connects a non-balanced system to a balanced one shorts the ground to one of the signal pins anyway.

Of course, not saying these 3.5mm/RCA to XLR cables are balanced....they are all single-ended cables afterall.

 

[AndrewM888]

So despite the look of xlr, its actually not balanced?

Why not just use a 3.5mm to rca cable?

Cable shields have non-zero impedance that conducts CM noise currents. So you want cables with separate copper for shield and for signal ground, ideally along the entire length.

 

[themuna]

Well... I am not a fan of the wait times either. Sometimes I don’t buy because of the lead times, other times I buy despite the lead times. What I don’t get is why anyone would get so worked up over it? It’s not like you are waiting months for life saving medicine. It’s just an amp. Buy it. Don’t buy it. Getting mad won’t change anything.



Upset about lead times? Don’t buy it.

Don’t like paying long in advance for the product? Don’t buy it.

Upset about the Drop logo being added? Don’t buy it.

Limited runs are a ploy on their part? What’s your proof? If it was to create hype... doubtless the limited availability has created hype. But the 789 got largely rave reviews from the very beginning before the trickle of manufacturing batches, and by now my guess is that if they had secured sufficient components and manufacturing capacity from the very beginning they would have sold many more units... while you postulate it was a ploy on their part, I postulate it was an error on their part.

As to the $50 increase, there could be many reasons for the price increase.
- It could be that their costs have increased and they are trying to cover those costs (by the way that could be costs of this amp, or costs elsewhere in their portfolio and they are covering those costs with this product).
- Or it could be that by charging higher cost they can pay more to the component suppliers to secure scarce parts, or to pay more to the contract manufacturers that they use to secure additional capacity on those manufacturing lines in order to make these in batches of thousands and not just hundreds (like, apparently, is now the case).
- It could also be that someone at (Mass)Drop dusted off one of their old Freshman Econ 101 textbooks and realized that when demand outstrips supply, the smart business increases their prices to bring supply and demand into balance and ***eeeek*** make more profit. This is a business, not a non-profit service set up to keep all of us happy. They just need to keep enough of us happy (and paying), and at least with the 789 they seem to be successful, despite some gnashing of teeth.

I am not trying to start any flames here. It just seems to me that purchasing decisions are complex combinations of many factors on consumer’s part, and prices and schedules are complex decisions on seller’s part.

Buy. Don’t buy. It’s your choice! But to moan about it seems a waste of time (though maybe it’s therapeutic).

I'm not sure who you meant to respond to. I'm not "mad" or "worked up" about a company trying to make money. That's what companies do. That's why I specifically said that I was "critical" of their practices. This whole site is people speaking favorably or critically of one thing or another.

My point about those things is that they don't match with the stated purpose of switching from Massdrop to Drop. The lead times and crowdsourcing don't make sense any more when they are selling their own products and if they have stated themselves that the site is different now. I never questioned it when they were selling other people's products and before they changed the name and made those statements. I made the decision to buy because I want the product but wanting a product doesn't mean you have to be a blind sheep to all of a company's decisions. I bought the product and I think it's a worthwhile purchase. I am simply critical of some of some aspects of the company and marketing. How is that different than any review or discussion posting on this site or others?

And yes, we speak criticality on an online forum about a company and how their statements don't match their actions. That's allowed. Being critical is ok. That's allowed on an online forum. No one here is staging an "Occupy Drop" rally and planning a shutdown in all caps. We're actually just discussing those "complex" purchasing decisions by talking about different aspects of the product and manufacturer. Just as you can talk about things you like, you talk about things you don't. That's the only way to make decisions. If you think a product/company could be improved, it doesn't hurt to say something. And an online forum is a better place to discuss those things and see what other people feel before you go sending emails to customer service complaining about the type of tape they use for their boxes.

Great how I make a post that is primarily defending Drop and defending the price increase on a product that I paid the 400 bucks for (I used PayPal so I actually already forked over the money to preorder before the drop even ends) and yet somehow I'm not supposed to comment on anything else or be critical of a company on an online forum.

 

[jsmiller58]

I'm not sure who you meant to respond to. I'm not "mad" or "worked up" about a company trying to make money. That's what companies do. That's why I specifically said that I was "critical" of their practices. This whole site is people speaking favorably or critically of one thing or another.

My point about those things is that they don't match with the stated purpose of switching from Massdrop to Drop. The lead times and crowdsourcing don't make sense any more when they are selling their own products and if they have stated themselves that the site is different now. I never questioned it when they were selling other people's products and before they changed the name and made those statements. I made the decision to buy because I want the product but wanting a product doesn't mean you have to be a blind sheep to all of a company's decisions. I bought the product and I think it's a worthwhile purchase. I am simply critical of some of some aspects of the company and marketing. How is that different than any review or discussion posting on this site or others?

And yes, we speak criticality on an online forum about a company and how their statements don't match their actions. That's allowed. Being critical is ok. That's allowed on an online forum. No one here is staging an "Occupy Drop" rally and planning a shutdown in all caps. We're actually just discussing those "complex" purchasing decisions by talking about different aspects of the product and manufacturer. Just as you can talk about things you like, you talk about things you don't. That's the only way to make decisions. If you think a product/company could be improved, it doesn't hurt to say something. And an online forum is a better place to discuss those things and see what other people feel before you go sending emails to customer service complaining about the type of tape they use for their boxes.

Great how I make a post that is primarily defending Drop and defending the price increase on a product that I paid the 400 bucks for (I used PayPal so I actually already forked over the money to preorder before the drop even ends) and yet somehow I'm not supposed to comment on anything else or be critical of a company on an online forum.

While I can readily see how you could interpret what I wrote the way you did, it is a more extreme interpretation than intended. I take responsibility for that, and don't blame you.

You can write and discuss whatever you want. I did not - or at least did not intend to - tell you what you could do or could not do. I personally would like to see this thread be more about critical evaluation of the product than the company or practices, but, hey, it's a free internet, right? My opinion, which I freely shared, is that commenting/complaining about (Mass)Drop's practices will do nothing, but there is no prohibition against doing so. That is my freely shared opinion.

As to pricing, schedules, volumes... I have the advantage of having led in the past the Manufacturing Operations for a company that used off-shore contract manufacturing so let's just say while I don't KNOW what is happening over at (Mass)Drop, I can make some very educated guesses. Just to be clear, I would be shocked if (Mass)Drop makes their own products in their own factories using their own manufactured subcomponents. Even Apple doesn't do that. So I am probably predisposed - maybe too generously - to give (Mass)Drop a pass... It could well be that I am completely wrong in doing so. But if I take the opposite side of the argument and criticize them I am convinced it won't make any difference.

As a positive, a public service of the critical statements is that it may serve as a warning to the naive who may press the pre-order button without looking at the bottom of the drop page and see the estimated ship dates.

 

[hakuzen]

Has anyone tried using the DAC portion of the Chord Mojo to feed this amp? I’m about halfway through this thread and don’t recall having seen any detailed mentions of it thus far. Any general SQ evaluations relative to other DACs in the sub-$1000 category?

And more importantly, if I were to attempt this, would the following represent a permissible cabling solution?

https://ghentaudio.com/part/b05a.html

edit:
it would work, but for single end signal, better use 3.5mm to L/R RCAs. cheaper, and you get the same result.
reserve XLR inputs for sources with balanced output
got informed: for THX 789, you get clear advantage by using XLR input even for single-ended signals, and this kind of shielded cable.

 

[flyte3333]

Cable shields have non-zero impedance that conducts CM noise currents. So you want cables with separate copper for shield and for signal ground, ideally along the entire length.

Hi @AndrewM888

If I have a DAC with only XLR outputs... but I don't want to use the XLR inputs of THX789 because the gain is too high (even on lowest gain setting) - do XLR-to-RCA cables provide the same benefits as the RCA-to-XLR cables you've recommended for RCA-only output DACs?

No issues with XLR (DAC end) to RCA (THX789 end) cables?