Drop + THX AAA™ 789 Linear Amplifier Discussions | Drop

Oct 26, 2018

Has anyone turned this thing to gain >= 2 and ~>50% volume? Albeit with single ended input I hear noticeable noise. I have it connected to a yulong da8 which is no slouch. Da8 seems to have a noticeably quieter noise floor (non existent) in comparison. Using the balanced out of 789 was better but still can easily hear noise. Also it felt like there was a significant lack of treble compared to the da8. I tested with hifiman he560 and akg k550. All in all this amp had insane hype around it and the specs are awesome, and I know the da8 is worth multiple times the price but it still feels like I'm missing something. And I do plan on picking up some balanced cables to connect my da8 to 789 but I just don't know if that's the secret.

Oct 26, 2018

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Oct 26, 2018

andrewpableIf you start playing some music with those settings do you still hear noise?

Oct 26, 2018

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Oct 26, 2018

Heeftyyes, although its not as noticeable in the louder parts of music but fairly noticeable in the quiet parts.

Oct 26, 2018

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Oct 26, 2018

andrewpableIf you completely disconnect the input do you still hear it?

Oct 26, 2018

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Oct 26, 2018

HeeftyTurning off the source device I still hear it, completely disconnected I don't. Like i said I am not using balanced inputs, so that up next on my list, but requires a purchase. its to be noted I have not heard any noise on other devices connected to my source(yulong da8) when it is off.

Oct 26, 2018

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Oct 26, 2018

andrewpableSounds like EMI on your cables. Balanced cables should help some. Shielded cables should help more.

Oct 26, 2018

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Oct 26, 2018

HeeftyI just purchased some nice balanced cables, probably gonna take a few days till they show up. Hopefully that's it. Thanks a lot, for offering some help. I will say though even if the noise was just an EMI thing, the high frequencies still seemed significantly diminished compared to the source. looking at the frequency response charts for this I wouldn't have expected such a strong difference.

Oct 26, 2018

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Oct 26, 2018

andrewpableHave you run the DAC output to many other amps?

Oct 26, 2018

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Oct 26, 2018

HeeftyAdmittedly, only to a technics se 9060 using the same rca cables, driving a pair of speakers, and I don't recall hearing the same amount of noise. Perhaps I aught to retest that setup.

Oct 26, 2018

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