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Frequently bought together:
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Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee Headphones
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Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphones
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Drop + HIFIMAN HE4XX Planar Magnetic Headphones
Product Description
SMSL has joined forces with THX to create a high-performing balanced headphone amp with next to no distortion. True to its name, the SMSL SP200 THX AAA-888 Balanced Headphone Amp features ground-breaking THX AAA-888 technology to deliver detailed audio with extreme output power and impressively low crosstalk Read More
I've had both. The 789 sounded better with a deeper sound stage I noticed in games. Also the treble was better. By that I mean a high hat or cymbal on the 789 sounded like a splash, and on the 888 it's more of a tink. I'm listening to an SP200 right now and browsing for a 789 if that gives you an idea which sounds better. The One version I also had and it too sounded better, but was running out of power on the more demanding headphones.
Why is it advertised as a balanced amp when its neither balanced internally or at the output (xlr measures the same as 1/4 inch) ? The only differences go on in the cable which are not a part of the product. Don't get me wrong it's a good amp at a good price but this type of advertising just feeds into all the misinformation in the audio industry.
I don't have this amp, and I don't know what kind of circuitry it contains, but it doesn't matter if it's not internally balanced, and it doesn't matter if it doesn't have a bridged output.
Bridged outputs provide four times the output power, but that's their only benefit when driving typical headphones or loudspeakers, which are inherently balanced anyway and derive no benefits from being driven by balanced drivers.
"Internally balanced" amplifier circuits are generally utterly pointless and provide no benefits that can't be provided by simpler, cheaper circuits.
I agree that advertising is often misleading and dishonest, but in this specific case, it's not. The problem here is the ignorance of audiophiles and reviewers who have no clue what balanced circuits are and how they work.
Further reading, written by Very Intelligent People:
Bruno Putzeys:
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hypex.nl%2Fimg%2Fupload%2Fdoc%2Fan_wp%2FWP_The_G_word.pdf&chunk=true
John Siau:
https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/balanced-vs-unbalanced-analog-interfaces
On paper barely, But I wouldn't advise it. My experience with the HE6se on the SP400 is there are times i feel it could use more power which is interesting since the Jot2 owners don't have that complaint.
Is this thing too much for IEMs? I'm currently running a D50s into a JDS Atom and have been considering upgrading the Amp, but not sure if this is the one..... Comments?