Monolith Balanced Headphone Amplifier and DAC with THX AAA Technology

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I am mildly intrigued to click on that there link…sigh grabs Americano and sips “ok let’s do this”…

Hmm…no fit throwing, and what appears to be a solid go at it, albeit in typical ASR fashion. I do find that the 789 is ever so a better amp, but that all in the 788 is just a great all around buy if you don’t have a good DAC.

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spoiler alert: he changed his opinion to a rec!

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I’m glad Amir was able to see past the initial impressions (and the subsequent storm it caused) and provide his standard set of measurements. While the results didn’t sway my level of satisfaction with the 788, it’s still nice to see how it stacks up against his usual suite.

Bought my 788 right before the last (Mass)Drop 789 drop occurred since I didn’t know it was going to be right around the corner. Have no regrets. This thing is one stellar standalone unit, blends in well with the rest of what I’ve got on the record rack, and practically sips power from my apartment. Can’t really ask for more there.

Didn’t take me long to get used to menu navigation, though I still flub from time to time and find myself staring at an Input Selection screen instead of the standard menus…or moving back menus when I meant to make a selection. If only they could have made the volume knob a pushbutton, it would have stopped a lot of this confusion. At that point, though, it’s a really minor quib.

Not like I have a whole lot of power-hungry cans, but the 788 powers everything just fine. Gain setting shown in the above photo makes for a great long-term listening volume on every pair of over-ears I have, though the 6XX do benefit from a little extra juice. Having that onboard PEQ is a real blessing, too and hopefully they’ll allow the ability to store presets over time (wouldn’t hold my breath, though).

Linux users rejoice! It’s a truly plug-and-play unit with Ubuntu. No drivers, no fuss. That being said, I had no issues with the XMOS driver over Windows and have found that, as of right now, output via Windows is capped at 24/192. Anything higher than that didn’t work for me. At least those who prefer SPDIF won’t feel like they’re missing out on anything.

So it gets my wholehearted recommendation for a combo unit. DIRAC is fun and I’ve had the pleasure of watching it clean up a couple YouTube videos where audio originally went to one ear only (stereo mics on cameras can cause that to happen with some video reviews), but were “cleaned up” to end up right in the middle. Outside of that and some stuff that was hard-panned left-or-right (psychedelia, anyone?), I didn’t see much merit to keeping it on; it’s a very subtle crossfade on modern material. Can’t speak on using the XLR connection since I don’t have any compatible cables, but haven’t heard any negative feedback with it yet.

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I connected the Geshelli Labs Enog 2 Pro into the balanced inputs of the 788. Interesting that the volume drops by about 5db when switching between the EAS3 and XLR connection. I am not sure if that is caused by the Enog 2 Pro output impedance being lower or something in the processing of the 788. Also, there is a significant difference to my ears when it comes to the sound from the different dacs. The Enog 2 Pro is clean and clear but the 788 sounds more clean, detailed and more dynamic. Anyone else hear this during their listening sessions? I will try to explain this better in my review in the upcoming weeks.

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I dont have the Enog to compare to. I do notice a difference in sound when using the RME ADI-2 DAC headphone output vs the RME into the Monolith THX-AAA amp. It’s different how it portrays the upper mid-range and lower treble to me – which was most noticeable when using the HE560 headphone.

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Interesting, I notice the difference mostly with my HE-560. But I do hear a little bit with all other headphones. So it must be more with the processing of the 788 then with the incoming DAC :thinking: Thanks for confirming that I wasn’t going crazy, even though some might still debate that :joy:

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I should run some measurements using EARS to see if it’s noticeable in a sine sweep or not. I’ve run that a few times using the Elex and Elegia between the RME and the Loxjie P20 and noticed differences in sound. Amir still has my Monolith THX-AAA amp right now so I can’t confirm or deny anything I hear accurately right now.

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I would be curious to see what the measurements portray because it is noticeable to my ears. If measurements say nothing definitive, maybe I am going crazy :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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Okay folks, my video review is being posted today. I thought I would drop a link here for you all and also post a few thoughts for you all to consider. Bare in mind the video is quite lengthy so be prepared for a lot ramblings :joy:

Anywho, I purchased the 788 with my hard earned cash and no one influenced me on my thoughts or statements in the review.

For transparency, I do not use equalization very often. I like a pure and true sound, yeah you can call me a purist. I dabble with eq presets every now and then but I do my listening on stock settings. I believe that if you have to eq a headphone to make it sound good or to meet your preference then it isn’t for you or there is something wrong with the setup and synergy is lacking. I like to hear things how the manufacturer or designer intended for it to sound. But I understand and respect the other viewpoint, to each their own.

Let’s hits some of the basics and you can watch the video for the details.

Excellent build quality, simple design and plenty of inputs and adequate outputs, lacks balanced line out.

Over current protection works a little too well, can be annoying on SE output, just make sure to pause music before swapping between outputs.

Clunky menu and buttons with a slow digital volume knob, a slight learning curve.

Very good equalization tools but can be cumbersome to set.

Sound is the darkest background I have ever experienced with a clean and clear, analytical sound that isn’t boring but engaging. DAC and ADC filters do not have a large impact on sound, most times don’t seem to effect at all.

Dirac is amazing for gaming and movies but not as good for music.

Plenty of power for every and all of my headphones, from sensitive iem to hard to drive planar.

I am totally in love with the Monolith THX AAA 788 and highly recommend it. I can see why the term end game is being used for this DAC/Amp and I agree. For the $500 price point this is totally spot on and is a steal for lower price. Of all the gear I have, the 788 beats it all hands down, no competition. This is my new benchmark DAC/Amp for all reviews. Yes, this is my endgame (for the moment) :grin:, wife rolls her eyes :joy:

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Great review! Your THX788 needs more purple though… :wink:

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I like that look a lot. Was it hard to tint the screen?

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Really easy, just take it apart and put the film over the screen…put back together done!

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Was notified on my YouTube channel that I said megawatt instead of milliwatts. Sorry for the mistake. It is a powerful amp but not an amp powerful enough to power the entire neighborhood :joy::joy::joy:

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BTW thank you for the kind words and watching my review.

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It is a really good review. It must have taken plenty of work.

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Thank you for the kind words.

If I had a camera team, writers, post production editors, pre production set creators then it wouldn’t have taken near as long and as much work lol.

I did put in a fair amount of time with the 788 before doing the review. I would say I have listened and used it for a fair amount of time, it’s been about 5 weeks since I received it.

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Still, I’ve seen you put out quite a bit of stuff. You’re certainly very dedicated and it shows. I for one appreciate how much work you put into your reviews. Thanks for educating me on some of the gear that you have.

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You are very welcome, it is my pleasure. Thank you for your words of encouragement. That is my goal of the channel to help viewers learn about audio gear in a simple and basic way.

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did you ever get around to modding the inputs to outputs? from what you posted it seems like you could just make an adapter cable that plugs into the balanced output yes?

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