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THX AAA Headphone Amplifier

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by JewBear, Jul 21, 2017.

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  1. JewBear

    JewBear Almost "Made"

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    http://www.thx.com/blog/debuting-ces-2017-thx-aaa-headphone-amplifier/
    https://www.triadsemi.com/product/tsthx88/

    "THX AAA™ uses a patented feed-forward error correction topology to cancel conventional distortion mechanisms. It reduces harmonic, intermodulation, and crossover distortions by 20–100x for an unbelievably realistic and fatigue-free listening experience."

    Looks like they're selling this an a component only. Keen to see if anyone bundles this up into a cheap portable or desktop amplifier. Maybe one of the resident hardware experts can make a DIY design.
     
    JewBear, Jul 21, 2017
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  2. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Armaegis, Jul 21, 2017
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  3. JewBear

    JewBear Almost "Made"

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    Last edited: Sep 2, 2017
    JewBear, Sep 2, 2017
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  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    THX.... Ding ding ding. Bullshit detector going off.
     
    purr1n, Sep 2, 2017
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  5. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I haven't heard of any other amps using the tech yet, so this will be interesting. This is all trickle down tech from the Benchmark AHB2, which despite all the marketing hooplah is still a really great amplifier, so I'm curious how this plays out.

    Implementation is just as important as the tech though, and I wonder who Monoprice got to do the design work, or if it's basically just a datasheet design brought to market.
     
    Armaegis, Sep 2, 2017
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  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I expect you guys to be smarter.

    Hegel's got the feed-forward error correction too. They have a patent on their specific implementation. In any event, I wouldn't be surprised if someone already did this in a 1970s circuit. THX has been sold and bought several times now. The latest owner needs money badly. AAA my ass. It doesn't mean anything. Just as CrossFET or PivotPoint doesn't really mean anything. I mean it does, but it really doesn't at the end of the day. I'm really surprised some audiophool vendor hasn't trademarked a fancy name to a transistor long-tailed pair yet. Or maybe they have already.
     
    purr1n, Sep 2, 2017
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  7. frenchbat

    frenchbat Almost "Made"

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    Proof is in the pudding Marvey.

    Edit: At those prices there's but a sliver of hope, but the portable audio world sucks so hard that it might beat the rest anyway.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2017
    frenchbat, Sep 2, 2017
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  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Exactly. And Monoprice pudding is far from Hegel pudding. And Nelson Pass's Super Symmetry didn't do shit for the Dynahi for people who wouldn't have liked the Dynahi in the first place. And the dinky little AAA headamp at that show was no better than the first iteration of the Jotunheim.

    Focus on product and implementation. Not on fancy trademarked terms.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2017
    purr1n, Sep 2, 2017
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  9. binaryhermit

    binaryhermit New

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    I'm somewhat intrigued.

    But I'm not going to be in on the preorders, I suspect it's not worth the price
     
    binaryhermit, Sep 2, 2017
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  10. frenchbat

    frenchbat Almost "Made"

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    I agree with that, but the sword cuts both ways. Dismissing it based on name and marketing only is following the same logic as putting inane hope in it.

    I wouldn't have bet a rat's ass on benchmark, being a former DAC1 owner, but their pudding has gotten damn yummy lately.

    To go back on topic after veering off, I wouldn't expect the same smart power supply management that's likely doing a good part of the ahb2's performance. But this thing needs to be compared with similar priced stuff, not 4k amplifiers.

    Heraclitus was right, one never bathes twice in the same river.
     
    frenchbat, Sep 2, 2017
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  11. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Spidey sense told me "curious, interesting, from Benchmark, really?" with the AHB1. Part of this is because at $3000, a lot would be riding on Benchmark. Unlike the personal audio world (random review of awesomeness from the random Porker on HF), the two-channel world is better at sorting out the good stuff from the bad shit - rather quickly.

    Spidey sense instantly tells me "POS" on the Monoprice THX AAA gear. It's just smells bad. The THX AAA marketing applied to a cheap gear, from Monoprice, just makes smell especially bad. This smells a lot like iBasso, who in the past would spit out a bunch of the right marketing terms and buzzwords.

    Every time I have went against my Spidey sense, I have lost: S19, Z1R, etc... and yet another recently I don't even want to mention. Heck, can even add Monoprice headphones to that list because the ergonomics were utter shit and stock sound, kind of shit.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2017
    purr1n, Sep 2, 2017
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  12. lerrens

    lerrens Facebook Friend

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    Saw a press release that THX partnered with Massdrop to release the "789 Desktop Headphone Amplifier", which uses an exclusive high-current variant of their THX AAA chip (THX AAA 789?) .
    http://www.thx.com/blog/THX-Massdrop-Launch-Amplifier-with-AAA-Technology/

    Also mentioned:
    Bridged THX AAA-789 amplifier design
    Output power: 2 x 6000mW, 16 Ω (balanced?)
    Noise: 136 dB SNR
    Distortion: -140 dB THD @ 300Ω, 2V

    [​IMG]

    Interesting thing that THX announced the product before Massdrop did.
     
    lerrens, Jan 11, 2018
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  13. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Hopefully it's actually good, and not too expensive.
     
    cskippy, Jan 11, 2018
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  14. Clemmaster

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    Sweet!
     
    Clemmaster, Jan 11, 2018
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  15. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    @Will Send me one and I'll let ya'll know how it does with Code Sex/Utopia.
     
    cskippy, Jan 11, 2018
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  16. Sqveak

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    Also interesting that there is no mention of who's design the amp is.

    @Will @CEE TEE is is too soon to ask about it?
     
    Sqveak, Jan 12, 2018
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  17. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

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    CEE TEE, Jan 12, 2018
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  18. CEE TEE

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    Thanks for asking...we tried to make this as versatile as possible. 3 gain positions, 3 different headphone outputs, lots of max power for the ultimate objectivist amp (that also sounds good). :)

    Still at CES and gotta get ready for tomorrow...cheers!
     
    CEE TEE, Jan 12, 2018
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  19. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    Like the iFi pro ican?
     
    Clemmaster, Jan 12, 2018
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  20. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    Will there be a preamp function in it? I don't understand why the Monoprice one has balanced analog inputs.. I see the photo has it presumably being compared to a DAC3, but how does it compare in features?
     
    chakku, Jan 12, 2018
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