Monoprice’s $100 & $769 headphone amps gobsmack the Audiophiliac

My CNET Monoprice headphone amp reviews, www.cnet.com/n...
Here’s my Sound & Vision Sony Z1R headphone review, www.soundandvi...

[@chrisvinicombe9947]

The irony of fluctuating prices by a company called "Monoprice"

[@rich1051414]

Lol. The problem with fluctuating prices they have is because of their lower than deserved retail pricing. Distributors will add onto that to make the price make more sense, but none of them seem to agree :P

[@BigFarm_ah365]

If it were Monoquality it could be Monoprice.

[@kirkbarlow4909]

Steve you know what would be cool,is let the audience give you a list of their set ups and you give recommendations of how to improve them. Or whatever,some people might have such incredible systems that we could learn from them. Of course giving out prices and so on. Thanks keep up the good work.

[@JilesMcCoy]

I am testing the Liquid Spark amp and the M570 headphones and they are really great.

[@milfordtrethowan2474]

Steve picked up the spark for my dedicated two channel adcom system running it from the Gfp-750 pre amp and CD 24/192 player I'm back into headphones again using the m50x's for now and there doing quite well with the option to run the pre amp in passive mode..took your advice and ordered the HiFi man 4xx today can't wait my old Klipsch klf-30s & adcom 5500 will be getting a break for a little while loving the hobby all over again !!!

[@JeffJacquesmd]

I have the Cavelli Tube Hybrid from Massdrop, love it. But really interested in the Liquid Platinum. Great review Steve

[@daviewavie112]

Did you end up getting one? How does it compare to the cth?

[@JeffJacquesmd]

@@daviewavie112 no, I wound up getting the SMSL SP200 THX AAA and paired with a Geshelli DAC I’m quite happy with my current headphones (Focal Radiance, ModHouse Argons (Mk2), DCA Aeon 2s

[@ansonhuang21]

Love your vids Steve and have been a CNET reader and viewer for awhile now! Please review the much raved THX 789 AAA headphone amp the headphone world is raving about. Would love your take and comparison between the two and what facets of SS and/or tube goodness you may like more and for what cans. Keep ‘em coming sir! Cheers.

[@rich1051414]

I have an older monoprice tube headphone amp and initially I was unimpressed. Tube swapped it with some russian tubes, and it is my favorite amp now. It's problem was the cheap chinese tubes it shipped with. I am sure that these amps are great if they finally sourced good tubes, and using a less common socket type would make that easier for them. Those 'smaller' tubes typically have a very 'clear' sound. I have other amps with smaller tubes, and all of them seem to boost the clarity of the sound, they don't sound traditionally tubey at all...

[@nvrumi]

You can also pick up Cavelli designs through Massdrop now and again. Nice review, Steve, I'm looking forward to more. Steve, have you reviewed any CD players/transport? I looked around a bit and haven't found anything. I'd love to hear your opinion on audiophile options for CDs.

[@lumntoob999]

Not a ton of info about the emotiva erc3, I mean there's some people who talked about it and some who reported the transport making some noise or others who said sometimes they got noise but only with certain CDs. I was looking at the marantz options and actually tried to buy a cd6006 but I never ended up receiving it, kind of ended up being a relief because I have since read about way more people having issues with parts failures on the marantz players. I decided to give the emotiva player a go while it is still on sale and I couldn't be happier. The transport on my unit has been dead silent with every CD I've tried so far, when I first swapped it in place of my old player I set it up the same way and sent the coaxial out to a bifrost multibit then to the pre and power amp, I noticed an immediate improvement. I wasn't expecting so much improvement because I figured the dac was doing all the work before and the transport itself wouldn't make a huge difference but it was clear. Another amazing thing about the erc3 was that it's internal dac going straight out into my preamp sounds 99.9% the same as the biftost multibit and that's $599 for just a dac, I think it has something to do with emotiva is using an interesting dac that is to my understanding a cross between a multibit dac and a delta sigma dac, if anyone else can explain the dac emotiva is using I'd be interested to understand it better, and the analog stage in it must be very good to. I'd say check it out at least, they should still be on sale on emotiva and Amazon although a little cheaper at emotiva and either way they come with a 5 year warranty and a trial period. For the price the emotiva is my top recommendation but if you have a bigger budget I'm sure there's tons of other great options, I considered buying a used Musical Fidelity player off eBay but having the benefits of the warranty and dealing with emotiva already I was just more comfortable, I'm all for used gear over 50% of the gear I buy is used but CD player are definitely more delicate and fussy then something like an amplifier or dac. Just one guys opinion, take it for what it is do some more research and good luck, I hope you find the right player and get years of enjoyment from it.

[@59seank]

@@lumntoob999 My Emotiva ERC-3 is very noisy. I only use it when I'm in another room doing something else.

[@lumntoob999]

@@59seank believe me you are not the first I have heard that from, did you buy it new, when did you purchase it, and how much do you think you've used it? If you don't mind answering those ?'s I would really appreciate it. I've only had mine for about 2 months, I bought it new and have about 100 hours on it I'd say, I buy CDs weekly and am yet to find one that has had an issue in the erc3. I am actually playing it now and a CD is spinning right now and my speakers are off and my unit is dead silent. Is the erc3 your only player?

[@59seank]

@@lumntoob999 I bought my ERC-3 directly from Emotiva. I don't remember when, but it was several years ago. It had the motor noise right out of the box. I have a Sony player that is dead silent that I use in my main system. It sounds like you got one of the good ones.

[@lumntoob999]

@@59seank well I'm sorry to hear that, I know the feeling of buying and anticipating listening to something and ending up with a bad unit. My erc3 actually replaced a Sony unit and ONLY because it finally died, I'm pretty sure the Sony is over ten years old. I considered getting another one, I am a big fan of Sony but after owning two emotiva amplifiers I thought I'd give the CD player a try. I'm happy with it but worried with the so many people having issues, I'd easily recommend there amps (emotiva) but if I am to mention the CD player it won't be without the caution of others having issues and to do research first. I bought mine knowing others had issues but I did see other satisfied people so i gave it a shot and bought new so I could return it or have a decent warranty.

[@mikeweatherford4375]

Price fluctuation likely has to do with China tariff's. It's unforunate that you compared it to the LYR2 as that device is quite old, and was updated about a year ago to a completely different design with vastly better performance. (LYR 3). Though from what I gather the LP is still better, but the gap narrows. The two devices are quite far apart with regards to utility and features as well, the LP lacking Gain switch and Pre-Amp. It's always high gain is a common complaint with new owners driving low ohm loads. At the end of the day it offers alot of performance for the money, but little else. The cheap switching power supply does not inspire alot of confidence either, with regards to longevity.

[@BasedGhoul]

Thanks for the video Steve. I've just placed an order via amazon. I have a Liquid Carbon and I completely adore Alex Cavalli and his gear.

[@EddyTeetree]

“He’s a brainy guy BUT he loves audio” haha

[@davidmthekidd]

Super interested in the Liquid Platinum, thanks for the review.

[@avocajoe]

I had a chance to here liquid platinum fed from a Yggdrasil next to several 2k$ plus halo tier amps at a recent headphone meet and L.P. really held its own. Even drove my he-6 extremely well, on par with chord tt but with very different flavor. Add's a decent amount of tube fullness (coloration) while still sounding incredibly fast and impact even compared to much more expensive all SS. True end game material

[@tedtimmis8135]

mighty .petrimous “hear”...not “here”.

[@HareDeLune]

Thank you very much, Steve!

[@TD402dd]

Monoprice is much like Kia in the auto world. Both companies have come from cheap to best buy category. The headphone amp is just the tip of the iceberg. They also have some monster subwoofers that are so powerful you must pause to ask why. Now they have a turntable that happens to be sold by Elac Miracord, Yamaha, and Thorens at 2.5 to 4 times the cost.

[@daryjackson8296]

The difference in sound between the higher priced one and the lower priced one may not be worth 7 times as much. But the difference in wattage is. There are some very good headphones that will not sound as good with 1.3 watts as they will with 6 watts. There is a clear difference.

[@RickRoberts_simplyrick]

Nice... The way you describe the guy, it reminds me of Sao Winn (medical genius) and the Electron Kinetics guy (Military Industrial rail gun) and others...

[@sierre00]

You do need 6w for he6se or susvara. They on 12w spl phonitor or ican pro vs on speaker amp is night and day, speaker amp really open up on sound stage on those.

[@1mctous]

The balanced Schiit Mjolnir ($849) would be a more fair comparison, just as the Magni 3 ($99) would be.

[@shkermanshahi]

An then Lyr 2, which is very different from Lyr 3, same price

[@mikeweatherford4375]

@@shkermanshahi LYR3 is Schiits' best amp, better then Mjolnir and even Ragnarok. Schiit commonly does this. Mjolnir 2's pretty old now, and does not hold up so well at it's price point. It has alot of expensive parts and a pretty out-there topology, as we see here LP besting it with a mere switching power supply.

[@shkermanshahi]

@@mikeweatherford4375 I looked at it, and then immediately said $770 + $400 Linear power supply and it is still Monoprice. I could not find any warranty info on it, but I bet it is one year vs LYR 3 5 year warranty

[@mikeweatherford4375]

@@shkermanshahi It's actually a 5 year warranty, and the power supply does not need to be upgraded, the power circuit is not typical and a LPS yields no improvement to it's performance. Many high end designs are moving to Switching power supplies, as seen on Neruochrome HPA1, Soekris 1541, Liquid platinum... there are others. Turns out with proper engineering Linear power supplies are just expensive, hot, and take up a ton of space. Furthermore, mr Cavali is involved in the manufacturing of this product and has strict quality standards that had to be met before he would licence this tech to monoprice.

[@rogercobb3092]

Electro Research preceded Electron Kinetics. Both from the mind of the pioneering Jon Iverson. The ER 1 still has a cult following.

[@marcob.7801]

Its not all analog Steve! I have it and the front end is Dual tubes with the amp (oomph end being solid state)!

[@agm6095]

Thanks Steve. What I would like to know is there really an audible difference using such headphone amps, or just plugging the headphone into the receiver headphone jack. I use my old Sony MDR-V6 headphone.

[@BillBynum]

nice indeed - I own the Liquid Spark Amp. I LOVE IT!

[@koalaizigame4275]

hello , can you recommend me a dac for the Monolith Liquid Spark? , good video thanks!

[@triggertunes6392]

Hey steve, like to see u do the vinyl tag19'🤗🦇

[@BigFarm_ah365]

Hey Steve, I just got a DAC to use with my HiFi, but it also has a wonderful headphone amp, 2 actually, one for phones and one for IEMs. I'm not a huge headphone fan, but I'm trying. I'd like to try some IEMs. I'm wondering if you can recommend a pair that is under, let's say, $1-200 that would work well with an extremely quiet, very low impediance, high quality amp. Under $100 would be better, but I don't want to restrict myself too much. Something good enough if I like using them, cheap enough if I don't.

[@charlesgrubbs2447]

Hi, John: I can heartily recommend the 1more Triple Driver or Quad Driver IEMs.

[@57RickH]

Nice review 👍🏻 Do you have a podcast?

[@EricBrownBey]

I wrote this a few days ago. "Steve, I just thought of something When listening to My Nancy Wilson record from 1976 "My Mother's Daughter", electric records are also partially acoustic records including modern records. Because when the sound goes to the cutter head, the vibrations go to the needle (the needle is acoustic) which is cut to the lacquer or copper, which converts the electric sound into acoustic. Then in play back The stylist which is really just a diamond or sapphire (which are acoustic) Which converts that acoustic sound back until electrical for playback. Just a thought and I also posted this comment on Jack Stanley's page If you have never been to his page check it out, and what are your thoughts on this. @Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac"

[@EricBrownBey]

@Joe Al I don't get your comment. Are you trying to be sarcastic or something?

[@jikenj]

I have the MCTH from Alex also from massdrop have it paired with the Schiit modi multi-bit DAC what is sweet combination.

[@cafe80s]

I've been wondering about all the Monoprice stuff that looks good... I'm curious about they're in-wall THX speakers and the tube hybrid amp they have too.

[@russredfern167]

6X6 , that's a lot of power , danm!

[@pietossing]

At $100 nothing beats the JDS Atom. It's extraordinarily clean and clear with more than enough power for most everything.

[@matthewdavies2057]

Wonder how they compare to the Audio God amps? They are the previous price/quality winners.

[@JonnyInfinite]

I have a £30 pair of Monoprice headphones that are surprisingly good

[@KKTKTube]

How about USB type-c DACs? New laptops sometimes have only Type-C USB connectors. I'm looking for sub 200$ DAC for 3.5mm headphones at work.

[@progressiveguy9959]

Steve is the audio professor for the 99%

[@dalefarris9531]

Occupy a job. Your utopian delusion is showing. Individualism for all.

[@jeremyhyde6151]

@@dalefarris9531 Occupy some Alex Jones videos, or just stuff it and enjoy Steve's videos.

[@bassman4632]

Not all the time. Didn't Steve review a $40,000 speaker in the past month?

[@tpacalypse]

Hey Steve, have you tried the Monoprice thx aaa portable?

[@MrAlecrogers]

My question is whether a headphones amp such as these or a DAC would work best with a phone or tablet and headphones?

[@loshopeful718]

Can I connect a headphone amp to my preamp? If so, how?

[@hifix-man319]

Please please let me know if it is really powerful enough to power Hifiman Susvara!

[@MrAlecrogers]

Do these have a DAC built in and if I'm planning to use it with a Galaxy S9 phone or ASUS tablet should I get a separate DAC?

[@DGardn100]

They're just power amps. They don't have dacs. I think you could use the phone and tablet with them if they sound good enough to you being played through the amp, and more objectively, if they put out enough power to properly drive the amp.

[@JL-qo7cs]

Can those headphone amps be used with bluetooth headphones?

[@tenorman]

What do you mean by "tube-y" sound?

[@thearbitar123]

nice

[@intoitreviews]

Yeah, while these are good, I'm not sure either of these make sense in a world with the THX AAA 789 ($350)and/or the Geshilli Labs, Archel Pro ($100ish)... #justsaying... I mean, I guess if you have to have a built-in tube-pre on the platinum, if that floats your boat.

[@rahulsangal5438]

You certainly have to try out the massdrop x thx aaa 789 amp. everyone says it's the best they've ever tried.

[@alessandrabenz8109]

tanx for a 100$ item

[@JDOGFTW]

Steve I notice the intellectual kinda guys only have a few woman in their lifes because they aren't weak and or picky. I love this channel.

[@JasonDominus]

Check out the JDS Labs Atom amp. It beats the Monoprice at the same price. It also beats the Massdrop THX amp.

[@finnli1664]

In my personal opinion from owning both, the Massdrop is significantly better to a point where a difference in quality is extremely noticeable and stands divisions above the contemporary $100 Amp scene, even the best $100 amp the world has seen to date being the Atom

[@dapster]

You should try the xDuoo X-05 DAC/Amp combo. It'll drive most headphones and has an AKM AK4490 DAC chip. So much better than my old iFi Nano Black Label. Plus it's battery powered so you can take it with you if you want to use it with a DAP or phone.

[@shaun9107]

Z Reviews will have a good go at it

[@kwacker132]

Actually the Liquid Platinum is rated at 3.6 watts per channel.

[@disko.kommando]

You should just post the patreon link in the video description buddy.

[@scottlowell493]

Liquid spark: 1.3w@50 ohms. Ok.. what about useful ratings like 300 ohms? 50ohm cans rarely need an amp. Amps north of 250 ohms do. There needs to be at least 600mw/300 ohms or it's inadequate for those cans. The Monolith does post output which is real-world similar to the valhalla 2 which costs less than 1/2 that. (The v2 exceeds the 800+ mw/300 ohms per Schiit audio) Just tube roll if you really want more romantic tubey gooey. Neither monoprice has any appeal to me for those reasons.

[@mikeweatherford4375]

Valhalla 2 is barely comparable in it's best case scenario, HD650.. Schiit has nothing to compete with LP right now. Not ragnarok or Mjolnir can touch it. LYR 3 is the closest, they really need to update Mjolnir to version 3.

[@vladg5216]

I doubt it. Every monoprice product I've ever purchased is garbage

[@frederickfranchi6408]

Headphone amplifiers are a waste of money if you have efficient headphones!!!!😎✌