The answer is Heresy + Asgard 3. $300 with 2 amps that handle bright headphones and livens up dark headphones.
Heresy sounds great with a Bifrost 2 so I can attest it scales nicely. If you want the lesser neutral sound of an Asgard but don’t want to spend a bit more, get the Magni 3+. Truth is the Schiit Heresy sounds like a lot of other amps that sound like the THX. The Heresy stands out since it’s single ended power outclasses anything in the similar sounding op amp catagory including the new THX amp.
Wow a new THX amp. Looks like Drop are really expanding their headphone gear lineup. Its seems smaller especially without the XLR stuff but keeps the stackable size factor with their other products. I like the fact that the XLR is left out but i suspect this was released more to compete with the SP200, which i think took away a LOT of their amp business.
When the SP200 came out i cancelled my 789 order and bought that. I think a lot of people did. I think it will have a new THX chip. and i think it will be priced to compete with the SP200. probably about 250$ or 200$.
The Preamp thing is interesting. shows they’ve been listening to Zeos (they should since he probably responsible for a large chunk of their sales). He talked about this feature and complained more amps should have it.
I would agree, though they did drop the price of the 789 to match the SP200.
As far as the price… If it’s $250, I don’t know that many will bite. Same for $200.
If I recall correctly isn’t the AAA amps just using a THX layout patent? I don’t believe there is an actual chip manufactured by THX. Everything is supposedly off the shelf
Yeah the competition from the 100$ amps may cause them to come out with this amp also but i doubt the price will be dropped to their range.
Thing is ASR and the reviewers have had such a strong effect on the buying public that the THX amps have the appearance of a high end amp that punches way above its price and is a technological breakthrough. everyone seems to want one.
ASR has us looking at the noise floor so much that we’ve ignored everything else. Yes the THX amps have very low noise but does that really matter compared to the other features an amp can provide? Thanks to Mon ive seen that the THX amps are lacking in these other features.
The RNHP is a prime example of this. I right away heard the improvement with it after having listened to the SP200 for so long. The SP200 was a upgrade over the mangi 3 with its high treble and compression. but the RNHP was a bigger upgrade to the SP200. and it was only 500$
Its like upgrading headphones. And as you advance you hear better headphones that fill out missing features of previous headphones and other features more satisfactory. But who knows? maybe drop may figure out a way to bring those missing features to this amp and improve it?
As an outsider on the whole THX amp lineup I’m trying to reconcile the situation. Places like Zeos and ASR you get glowing reviews as if these were game changing components for $0.25 on the $1 compared to what we used to have to spend to get quality. Then you come to forums like here and a few others that almost have some disdain for the THX products. I’m no expert on their technology nor have a heard one.
Is it fair to say that they are good products for the price but potentially just over-hyped a bit thus creating a bit of 2 camps on the products?
This is a very fair question. I think when the THX tech first dropped (pun intended ) it really shook up the market by setting a new standard for clean power per dollar. I think there is also a camp out there that really likes the clean, sparkly sound. I think there is a lot of overlap between that camp and the measurements-are-all-that-matters camp. I hypothesize that if you’re all about measurements you’re gonna bias yourself toward preferring the ultra-clean sound. More often than not @ZeosPantera seems to prefer the super clean sound. True, he reviews and likes tubes, but when you listen closely to what he says, he often refers to “the tube sound” as the changeup to the clean solid state sound he routinely praises. I think Amir at ASR is also all about that clean sound. The clean and sparkly sound is what THX tech does really well. I think basically everyone on this forum is totally cool with it if you (I’m using the general “you” here - not YOU you) like that clean, sparkly THX sound. The objection is to the framing of that sound as “endgame” and “buy one and be happy forever.” And that’s because the THX tech really does struggle with spatial presentation and its sparkly sound signature can be overly aggressive with many, if not most, headphones.
Now, 2+ years after the Drop 789 uh, dropped, there are other cheaper options that give that super clean sound for much less money too (Magni Heresy and Atom). So some are beginning to feel that THX tech is from the department of redundancy department and that a premium is being paid to put that THX sticker on the box.
Finally, I’ll add that I think it’s completely OK to explore THX tech for yourself. It does provide a different sound and can match well with certain headphones.
Imo clean measurements per dollar not power, there was already just as clean to the ear headphone amps for a similar price before the thx dropped, it did set a measurement benchmark though
Thx has always been heavy on the marketing aspect of things lol
Well put, however my only disagreement is that the treble on my THX system is flat. The other big argument here is that people claim THX are professional equipment used by studios. These headphones amps ARE NOT professional equipment used by studios, that is other THX equipment and on generally used for music.
I just caution people because the measurements are good, but I can’t say the sound is natural and enjoyable all the time.
That is the argument I want people to take home. Combined with the sound single ended on the 887 isn’t nearly as good as the balanced. When you see Zeos using the single ended on the 789, I feel like there is a story from the amp he’s missing every time. But maybe he accounts for that difference in his reviews without telling us, he has the seat time and practice to pull that off.
Hey @M0N, this is a website comment and not a content comment. In the first quote block you grabbed from my post it says ‘…clean measurements per dollar’ but in my actual post I wrote ‘…clean power per dollar.’ What’s going on with that? Not a big deal here but there could be potential future posts where a misquote creates problems.
Just to bring some info, Drop officially put the One amp MSRP at $200. If what people were saying hadn’t already killed it for me, the price did. Even for more $50, the El Amp appeals a lot more (at least to me), and then the Archel 2.5 is $30 cheaper.
Yup… THX “One”
2 watts @ 32 ohms, single-ended only.
200$ MSRP, and you’ll have it in 6 months or one year more or less.
Table-sized (I mean, this box will be 75% empty…).
VS
SMSL SP200
3 watts @ 32 ohms. Balanced/Unbalanced inputs/outputs.
(Yeah it’s “fake” balanced? But, convenience.)
260$ shipped on eBay, so you’ll have it in one month (or two? because covid).
or 289$ on Amazon, probably way faster. Smol.
Yeah, they might drop the price… But I guess we’ll also see a price drop for the SMSL SP200 too.
I was able to get a Airist DAC yesterday off eBay. I also got a 789. How does it sound with the 789? I watched vids and read things about the DAC and even the good with the bad.
) it really shook up the market by setting a new standard for clean power per dollar. I think there is also a camp out there that really likes the clean, sparkly sound. I think there is a lot of overlap between that camp and the measurements-are-all-that-matters camp. I hypothesize that if you’re all about measurements you’re gonna bias yourself toward preferring the ultra-clean sound. More often than not 
