[SmokeNMirrorz]

Do you find this amp dark sounding ?
For some reason my bright and sibilant headphones sound so sweet now!
my neutral treble headphones did not get affected.

The two headphones that were bright/sibilant are Ultrasone signature studio and Focal Elex.

Have an ESS DAC previously?

 

[nishan99]

Have an ESS DAC previously?

I was using my samsung s9+, fiio btr3, fiio A5 and ifi micro BL.

The monolith thx is the only one smoothed the treble for these headphones.

 

[Davesrose]

Have an ESS DAC previously?

That's quite a generalization. The one component that I have which has dual ESS DACs is my SMSL DP3 music player. I output its digital to my Benchmark DAC (which I can then output balanced). Just listening to its headphone out, I find it quite muddy and far from "bright". As to the Monolith taming siblance, from the list of portable devices, I believe it could be that you're just seeing a difference with a solid desktop amp. Your headphones aren't hard to drive, but with the better amp/impedance/etc...I think you might get better range (more FR extension).

 

[SmokeNMirrorz]

That's quite a generalization.

Absolutley it is and why I posited as a question so to glean if it might relate to the stereotype. ; )

Likely just impedance matching diffs in the gain stage tweaking ~6kish.

 

[Davesrose]

Absolutley it is and why I posited as a question so to glean if it might relate to the stereotype. ; )

Likely just impedance matching diffs in the gain stage tweaking ~6kish.

Fair enough I've just noticed the trend on this forum is anything bright, must be ESS DAC. While I think actual DAC chip is the least common denominator, there's always synergy with whole setup.

 

[KaiserTK]

Although I didn’t hear the same THX magic as the 789, I was surprised at how good the Monoprice 788 is as an all-in-one.
Dirac feature was garbage but parametric eq was tastefully responsive and clean.
For those sick of cheap treble harsh ESS dac based units, in the $400-450 price I can wholeheartedly recommend this device.

 

[Johnsouter]

Anybody tried this with some Mk2 Argons?
My 789 is on the way from the US and I'm getting very excited!

 

[muths66]

Wanted to get this but shipping cost a bomb to my country.

 

[Johnsouter]

I managed to get an open box product from Monoprice on Ebay. Cost less to get it imported than buy it from the UK direct!

 

[Inoculator]

I picked one of these up to clean up my desk setup (wanted an all in one solution that could drive any cans I bring with me). Loving it overall, have driven 800s/Auteur/HD 6XX/HD 600/Porta Pros/Massdrop Plus IEMS on it and all have sounded great out of it (have to use ieMatch with the IEMS though).

One nagging issue I have found though is it seems incredibly susceptible to interference. Anytime I bring my cell phone anywhere near it I get feedback. Anyone else run into this issue? Just want to make sure there is not something wrong with my unit.

I additionally get some wonky behavior (distortion, clicks, etc) when running it in exclusive mode, where I have to restart my player, but I chalk this up to my garbage work computer.

 

[genck]

I picked one of these up to clean up my desk setup (wanted an all in one solution that could drive any cans I bring with me). Loving it overall, have driven 800s/Auteur/HD 6XX/HD 600/Porta Pros/Massdrop Plus IEMS on it and all have sounded great out of it (have to use ieMatch with the IEMS though).

One nagging issue I have found though is it seems incredibly susceptible to interference. Anytime I bring my cell phone anywhere near it I get feedback. Anyone else run into this issue? Just want to make sure there is not something wrong with my unit.

I additionally get some wonky behavior (distortion, clicks, etc) when running it in exclusive mode, where I have to restart my player, but I chalk this up to my garbage work computer.

Clicks from USB 5v bus is normal if your motherboard is crappy, this can be fixed with a solid DAC. For your interference issue, Electromag is a thing. I'm an EE. Yeah don't that.

 

[nishan99]

Can I use the XLR headphone output as a balanced output for a different amp? since it does not have XLR out in the back.

 

[SmokeNMirrorz]

Can I use the XLR headphone output as a balanced output for a different amp? since it does not have XLR out in the back.

Yup, set to 0dB gain. It is possible to rewire the rear XLR3 inputs as outputs if so inclined.

 

[nishan99]

Yup, set to 0dB gain. It is possible to rewire the rear XLR3 inputs as outputs if so inclined.

thanks a lot!
stupid design if you ask me, why the **** there is no balanced out with a fully balanced dac/amp and have a balanced-in instead that will be converted to digital again xD like What Monoprice?

 

[WhenKittensATK]

Current DAC / Amp: Schiit Bifrost 4490 and Lyr 2 (stock tubes)
Headphones: LCD-2, HD6XX and HE-500
Testing only in single-ended (non-balanced)
Matched volume output using a dB meter app and constant pink noise playback. It's not ideal but its good enough.
Firmware v1.03

So far I've only used the LCD-2 for listening and put in a few hours with both setups. I currently prefer my Schiit stack.

On paper the Monolith Desktop would be a nice sidegrade/upgrade for me. Takes less space, less heat, balanced option, and EQ option. I have noticed that some songs have harsh notes, that I haven't experienced on the Schiit stack. I'll have to test it the other headphones later. I'll probably end up reselling this unit.