Geeez. Thatās crazy. Iāll probably stick with my 789 but damn thatās crazy that this is coming out. Iāll be intrested in how this impacts resale value for 789 (especially after the recent Drop version).
I do want to say Massdrop ābranded products which are not available anywhere elseā is part of their brand but not the main. I feel they do two things, sell non-brand items at a lower cost and co-branded items that are ācheap and goodā. Just IMHO.
Resale value for the 789 should start coming down once the batch that arrives in November starts hitting end users. For Drop it seems that for now the 789 is in the āweāre accepting pre-orders and weāll deliver in Novemberā state. Given how close it is to the availability of this new Monoprice THX amp I doubt the dates are a coincidence.
Yeah, hopefully we will lose the influx of scalpers once the 887 is in constant stock
Absolutely. Iām not any less excited about my 789.
From the ASR measurements- a 2 db difference in signal over noise and distortion? That means distortion or baseline noise is audible only at 116db. So if you choose to keep your volumes below that, and retain your hearing and prevent your ears from bleeding, the difference is inaudible (do I have that right??).
The only other measurement I saw that was different was wattage. At 30ohms the wattage was 3.6 vs 4 watts at the highest gain setting. I think itās a rare audiophile that needs that extra .4 watts! In fact, even with hard to drive 300 ohm headphones I rarely use high gain on my JDS Atomā¦at 1 watt in 30 ohms!
Really a difference without a distinction, right? Thatās why people call amps at this level transparent.
Hooray for options!!
Yeah, itās more a blow to massdrop in availability and sales sense, then a crazy technical advancement. No need to worry if you already have a 789. I highly doubt anyone could tell the difference
I hear what youāre saying, I just have a different opinion. I donāt see the point of buying from massdrop if the item is available elsewhere.
Their shipping is terrible, and I donāt have confidence in their ability to provide after product support.
I guess Iām not loyal to them. Shrug
Their shipping for constantly stocked items like the 58x, 6xx, 4xx (out of stock atm though), etc is fine. But everything else takes forever. And some of the drops are actually cheaper had on Amazon with prime shipping, sooooo
Again, Iād disagree. I say their shipping is terrible because you canāt choose the shipping method. They donāt even tell you what method is used, until after itās shipped.
For some, it doesnāt matter. For others, itās important.
Also true. But then again buying on eBay sometimes itās the same thing where you have no choice in the shipping method, so I guess Iām used to it a bit
I live about 50 minutes from Edison NJ(where the facility is) and it takes long.
I have a 789 and would still buy the 889 for my second computer and for a side by side comparison.
As it turns out, since the 789 has the external power brickā¦and I had just recently spent a bunch of time doing cable management on my y desk (surely you know what I mean) Iām probably going to end up keeping it.
The power brick is currently resting on the edge of the desk and itās just sitting there laughing at me, knowing that this weekend I wonāt be able to stand it, and Iāll end up mounting it to the bottom of my my desk so as to not be offended by it any longer.
And once that happensā¦ itās not coming out!
I am happy with the ampā¦and all I gotta say is to anyone using this for the first timeā¦ follow the manuals advice regarding turning the gain switch to the low position and the volume all the way down when connecting different headphones.
This thing can get so loud without breaking a sweat!
There must be a way to secure the brick to the underside of your desk with the rest of your cable management. A couple straps and some short screws, or adhesive of some sort? Gotta be a way! Duct tape??!?
Blue tack is your best friend
Yeah, I use 3m adhesive tape. They work pretty well. Just was joking around because the only thing more annoying than loose cables on the desk, is redoing cable management multiple times.
I think you could make a strong case that hearing a difference would be impossible.
another solution is a third party power brick with longer cable
I bought a EU cable(the other end) because the 789 ships with the US cable.
I plan purchasing a second power brick for the 789.
So I can use it in the living room and our home-office without undoing cable management.
Well, here she is! I plugged in my cans and cranked it up loud! Much better than my Atom. Excellent seperation, perfect tonal balance, and amazing detail!
Then I turned it back down to the volume I usually listen and it sounded identical to the Atom 
Which is to sayā¦transparant. Wire with gain!!
Wire with gain with headroom lol
No kidding. I donāt imagine Iāll ever use the third gain stage.
