THX is a brand synonymous with sound, best known for its eardrumtickle deep note trailer played for movies in theaters. For years, THX has partnered with hardware makers and made its sound expertise available to enhance the audio capabilities of everything smartphones to laptops, and now the company is finally releasing its own consumer product: a small amp that promises to make headphones sound better if you’re willing to give up the convenience of wireless.
Before we dive in, I have to admit I’m not an audiophile in any way. I like to listen to music through a couple lightweight wireless earbuds where the audio has been compressed several times (while streaming and then further compressed so that it can squeeze into the limited wireless bandwidth of the Bluetooth protocol) before it reaches my ears. But I’ve also spent a lot of time behind a mixing console with professional studio headphones pumping live music into my ears, and I can easily hear the difference between the two. Usually I like to prioritize convenience over quality, and have little interest in bankroll and obsess about a home stereo that costs tens of thousands of dollars, but when I work from home and listen to music, I will always turn to over-ear headphones. instead of buttons.
THX’s first consumer product may seem to target audiophiles only, but after trying the $ 200 Onyx for a few weeks, I think it is definitely an upgrade anyone looking to enhance their headphone listening experience should consider this. But to really take advantage of what it has to offer, you’ll also want to consider a serious upgrade to the headphones – and I mean, well north of even the $ 550 Apple spends. AirPods Max
The THX Onyx is a combination amplifier and DAC – digital to audio converter – designed to make the audio coming out of headphones sound as good as possible. The headphone connection on your laptop or (older) smartphone is already working as both an amplifier and a DAC, converting digital audio files or streams to analog signals and then passing them to the drivers in headphones, and for most consumer-grade audio equipment, they do a sufficient job.
But your average laptop and smartphone also uses medium-performing amplification and DAC components to keep prices low, which can result in compromises in sound quality and audio output when converting digital files, and introduce unwanted noise. In fact, it can result in large headphones just not being loud enough because a device’s built-in amplifier simply isn’t sending enough power through the headphone jack.
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The Onyx may not be the first headphone amp available – audiophiles have relied on devices like this for years – but THX has created the sleekest and easiest to use amp / DAC available to consumers. There is one in the thin dongle THX Achromatic audio amplifier (which promises higher sound levels with minimal noise and distortion) combined with a ESS ES9281PRO DAC which contains an ‘integrated hardware MQA renderer’. It all sounds very technical and most consumers don’t really need to know what all that means, but MQA – which stands for Master Quality Authenticated – is a new standard that promises better than CD-quality sound from digital files that are still small enough. . to stream or download, and it is a standard quickly adopted by streaming services that promise hi-fi audio.
In layman’s terms, the THX Onyx is an easy-to-use USB-C dongle (it includes an adapter for old-fashioned USB ports) that provides an alternative place to plug in your headphones for better sound. It gets all the power needed from a computer or mobile device and does everything it can to automatically deliver better sound to headphones. There are no buttons to press, no buttons to turn and nothing to configure. It just works.
As easy as the Onyx is to use, there is one big compromise: you’ll have to hug the wires again. The sound quality improvements it promises are not available through wireless headphones. It gets worse if the smartphone you’re using is an iPhone with an outdated Lightning port (there’s a reason Apple doesn’t use Lightning on its laptops) instead of USB-C. According to THX, you should pair the Onyx with Apple’s $ 29 Lightning to USB Camera Adapter to make it work with iPhones, by adding another dongle to the mix.
Returning to a life with headphone cables and dongles is not easy, but if you regularly listen to music through on-ear or over-ear headphones, you will immediately notice a difference when using the Onyx. I have tested the amp / DAC with a few The excellent WH-1000XM4 headphones from Sony (with an audio cable attached) and I immediately noticed how much louder and fuller the sound is. If I plug it directly into the headphone jack of my MacBook Pro, I can adjust the volume on the Sonys for most tracks without the sound levels being uncomfortable, although near the top levels it starts to sound like the signal is being overwritten. The THX Onyx doesn’t allow me to crank the volume up a bit more than half way before the Sony headphones are too loud for my years, but even at those levels there are no compromises in how good the music sounds, and it doesn’t sound like the amplification is reached limits – only my ears.
It’s not just about being louder, though. A stronger signal helps headphones produce a more nuanced and fuller sound, with a wider dynamic range that brings what you hear closer to what the sound engineers behind a track wanted you to hear.
If you really want to experience the full benefits of the $ 200 THX Onyx, you’ll want to spend a little (or a lot) of moneyStreaming services such as Amazon Music HD and apps such as Audirvana provide access to and playback of higher bitrate audio files, as well as video services such as Disney +, Hulu and Netflix. Apple Music currently does not offer a higher quality streaming option and only Spotify recently announced a hi-fi option, so while testing the THX Onyx, I relied on Tidal HiFi ($ 20 / month subscription with a month’s free preview) which offers a lot of songs with a ‘Master’ level that promises studio-quality audio.
The Onyx itself lets you know the quality of the track you are listening to her set of three color changing LEDs. Blue is CD quality or slightly higher, yellow is high resolution, red is Direct Stream Digital (what Sony and Philips used for Super Audio CDs) and magenta is for MQA certified tracks of maximum quality. I was skeptical that I would hear much of a difference if I swapped the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones between the headphone jack of my MacBook Pro and the THX Onyx while listening to ‘Master’ quality tracks via Tidal, but my ears had no trouble getting distinguish which ones. Music coming through the MBP’s headphone jack was noticeably flatter with less dynamic range than when connected to the Onyx. I’m not sure the difference is big enough to spend $ 20 / month on Tidal HiFi if you’re using $ 350 headphones, but it could be if you’re upgrading.
The other obvious way to take advantage of a device like the THX Onyx is with better headphones, so in addition to the Sonys, I also tested the Onyx with a few $ 1,000 B.eyerdynamic T5 High-quality Tesla headphonesN.oh that my ears have tasted the better life, they will never be happy with wireless earbuds again. Imagine taking a high-performance sports car for a ride after filling the tank with Zippo lighter fluid and then refilling it with jet fuel. The B.eyerdynamics still offer a better listening experience than the $ 350 Sonys when connected directly to my MacBook Pro, but when connected to the THX Onyx, the T5s get everything a $ 1,000 pair of headphones needs to make a hifi audio track sounds incredible.
Audio compression often removes frequencies our ears are less sensitive to to reduce file size, but with a hi-fi digital stream, the Onyx, and $ 1,000 headphones, you’ll hear it all. Destroy the original Star Wars theme by Tidal made me feel like I was on stage with the London Symphony Orchestra, and I now understand the stereotype of the rich old dude sitting in a plush leather chair wearing gigantic expensive headphones. I didn’t want to take the Beyerdynamics also explains.
Like many of you, I often roll my eyes to audiophiles who look down on someone who hasn’t spent tens of thousands of dollars on audio equipment, but the reality is that even if you’re on a much smaller budget, you can still vastly improve your listening experience. experience. T.he THX Onyx is a good first step in that direction. Keep in mind it’s a $ 200 upgrade that could potentially put you on a slippery slope to spend a lot more money. You have been warned.