Which headphones of Drop's currently available?
I have some rewards points to burn but there's no obviously good options on Drop right now for headphones Contenders Ultrasone - maybe? I don't own any Ultrasones, so curious. Looks like garbage travel headphone which could be useful also. Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro. - Maybe? I have the DT 880 Good price point, really uncomfortable headphones but could be interesting to try the upgraded version. E-MU - strong contender but $400 is a bad price point for what it is. Which of the above would you choose and why? Nothing else on Drop is relevant to my interests, because Already own 6xx 820 800 s Ether cx Garbage / Consumer grade Meze 99 - garbage bass canons, hard pass No gaming headphones obviously Sennheiser wireless - no to wireless/bluetooth Hifiman - I have 2 of drop hifimans and they make really bad cheap shit on Drop, hard pass on HE-R7DX Aeon - I own the closed, Drop refuses to address #padgate so no reason to buy open Beyerdynamic 177x - wireless, nope Too similar 8x / 560s...
Mar 28, 2024
More likely B.S...
Never seen a credible spec taking with a useful standard that can place THD+N that low, largely due to a total lack of equipment capable of that kind of measurement.
And regarding the topology, unless higher-order distortions are controlled just as much as lower-order distortions, the THD spec will not be even remotely useful.
The topology that THX claims to use here is a high-efficiency dedicated low frequency design. If the website is factually accurate (doubtful in light of other incorrect statements on the site), then the current feedback will not manage higher order harmonics well at all, and the general sound will be similar to a saturated class-D amp.
None of it even approached 140 dB, and the best I have ever seen was the LX800 prototype which could manage 138dB. Chris Straum is dead now, and there is a 0% chance he would ever work with THX.
Here is the spec with the reference design: https://www.triadsemi.com/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2016/12/triadsemi_tsthx88_productbrief.2016-12-19.pdf
APx555 Loopback @ 5.5 Vrms, 1 kHz
Massdrop THX AAA 789 @ 5.5 Vrms, 1 kHz, 300 Ω (100 mW per Ch):
Massdrop THX AAA 789 @ 0.55 Vrms, 1 kHz, 300 Ω (1 mW per Ch):
Edit: This is really interesting, can you run this with a set of 10-20 ohm cans or iems?
I think I'll buy one just to put on my analyzer, to see if the hype is real.
The crazy good specs for this headphone amp are @ zero gain... it remains to be seen what happens in different scenarios.