Verdict
The THX Onyx ’s ability to redeem percipient , detailed sound is its enceinte plus , good for euphony , films and games at home or on - the - go .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
THX has been colligate with sound for nearly forty years , embark on in the land of cinema when it was make by Thomlinson Holman at Lucasfilm before being spun - off into its current incarnation in the other 2000s .
The ship’s company has endorse audio for theatres , estimator Speaker , car audio systems and video games but until recently they ’ve stayed on the professional side of the electronics market .
The Onyx is a DAC / earphone amplifier aimed at those who watch photographic film , stream TV and play secret plan . The spec vocalize impressive on newspaper but despite THX ’s undoubted pedigree , can it repeat its succeeder in the consumer market ?
Design
The Onyx ’s silklike shape lie in of three parting . The DAC is hold within the all - metal CNC - machined body , then there ’s a flexible rubbery part that can in aUSB - Cport with a USB - A adapter that can be slotted on top .
The 3.5mm / USB - A link offer ballyhoo and play connectivity to laptop computer , PCs , earpiece and even screen background talker and stereo amplifiers . USB - C allow the Onyx to connect to Android , Mac and iOS machine with a USB - hundred embrasure . For iOS devices with aLightning port , the USB Lightning to Camera adapter is needed for full compatibility .
The flexible gum elastic part makes the Onyx more heavyset to use when out of the business firm – it can fold back over itself like a snake coiling its organic structure with its magnetic cable .
The master body ( which can run a little warm during use ) has a full colour RGB light system that unveil current playback mode . Blue is received quality ( 44.1 or 48kHz PCM ) , yellow isHigh Resolution audio(greater than 48kHz PCM ) , red is DSD ( Direct Stream Digital ) , and purpleness is MQA ( Tidal Masters ) . It ’s easy to grasp and useful visual feedback when a service is n’t playing at the timber you know it to be .
Only wired headphones and headset with TRS / TRRS jack are patronize , and THX claims the Onyx can improve the audio carrying into action of a headphones ’ confiscate mike , which comes in handy for personal computer gaming . A earphone with a TRRS terminated cable is need for in full functioning microphone support .
Features
The Onyx boasts THX ’s Achromatic Audio Amplifier . This intend to produce the high fidelity possible with low-pitched layer of noise – its THD+N ( Total Harmonic Distortion ) figure is 112dB ( or 0.00025 % ) – and that should avail make euphony hear a less fatiguing and cleaner - sound one .
THX take the AAA-78 ( by its full name ) is also capable of pit the exponent of desktop AAA / DAC / amp , enable maximal output power , improved dynamical image and greater heavy pressure level .
The DAC at its nerve is the ESS ES9281PRO , the first USB product to have consolidation withMaster Quality Authenticated(MQA ) audio . The Onyx has an MQA renderer that performs the 2nd ‘ unfold ’ to unpack all the data point within a file cabinet for the best audio lineament . presently , Tidal ’s premium Hi - Fi tier and US - establish nugs.net are the only medicine pour services that underpin MQA .
Power throughput is compute at 180mW , which THX says can force back headphone resistance from 22 to 1000 Ohms – although headphones seldom peak above 600 Ohms . data file supporting equals PCM up to 32 - bit 384kHz , DSD ( 64 and 128 files ) and MQA cut across up to 384kHz .
Sound Quality
The figures the THX Onyx boast are impressive on paper and in realism , I get hold the Onyx produced an engaging public presentation , though listening to Qobuz on desktop did require tweaking of the context for the best execution .
At first , I would have name the Onyx ’s performance as fatiguing on my Windows laptop , especially over longer listening sessions . Fiddling with the volume calms the Onyx ’s tendencies with its power saving but there are more critical changes to be done by changing the strait modality on Qobuz . flip to Wasapi Exclusive resulted in a less fatiguing listen , and once I ’d done that , I much enjoyed the performance arrive at the Onyx impart about .
Used with theSivga Robin SV021and a Lenovo laptop computer as a mean of equate the laptop computer ’s DAC to the Onyx , the THX betters the laptop ’s DAC in dispensing a more energetic delivery , opening up the soundstage and producing a more self-assertive sea bass performance .
With Okvsho ’s Descrobrir play on Qobuz , the percussive beats that punctuate the track are granted a more defined front within the soundstage . The sound is full-grown and the legal separation between instruments is audibly clearer , with sound definition that lends a more natural and realistic tone to how the trumpet sounds in the track .
move to Bear McCreary ’s soundtrack for Foundation , and the tinkly treble promissory note of the piano that enter the first track are well underline , with more nuance and variation in the tone of the pianoforte , and again the separation between the musical instrument of the track is clearer . The soundstage opens up , provide more detail than I heard by just using the SV021 connected to the laptop .
With the SV021 , the track mat up more of a stereo affair – left and right imaging but not too much in - between . The Onyx organise the soundstage to be more engaging , bigger and with more depth , shuffling sounds into the midriff , which again helps with the horse sense of space .
Bass is strongly punctuate but not at the expense of the data track ’s overall balance , and there ’s more variance to the scummy end relative frequency which sounded a little one - note with headphones . There ’s more dynamic clearance not just in the remainder between quiet and flash Federal Reserve note – which is much starker – but in that there ’s powerfulness to abject end of the frequency range and more brightness at the other remainder .
A play of David Bowie ’s Young Americans and the gains are obvious to pick up . The brake drum sound bigger and hit hard , add together more grain and variation to the track ; the saxophone sounds sweeter , and the cymbal gate-crash with more energy and crispness . It ’s the type of carrying into action that get my fingers tapping on the desk .
Everything sound adult , from the voices to the instruments , although with Young Americans the soundstage did n’t feel as wide , and the financial support vocal music sounded a little cramped as a resolution . Nevertheless , there ’s more detail to be bring out and more to pick up , which is only a good thing in my book .
liken with theEarMen Eagle , a listen of London Grammar ’s California Soil sounds crisper on the EarMen with its more electroneutral feel , but the THX offer a good overall listen by applying more detail and definition to tool along with better depth and breakup with voices too . The dynamic grasp is also more assertively huckster by the THX than it is with the ( cheaper ) Eagle .
Continuing on the equivalence by watch Euphoria on an iPad Pro and the Onyx describes freshwater bass with more weight and digs up more detail with dialogue smoother than it was with the Eagle .
Switching gear to a mobile game – Sayonara Wild Hearts viaApple Arcade – and upon close inspection , there ’s a tinge of more brightness to high oftenness notes and more intensity to the euphony . There ’s a niggling more inflammation and enthusiasm with the THX attached than there was with the EarMen , which tally up its performance in a nutshell .
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Should you buy it?
- : With Qobuz on a desktop its Charles Frederick Worth sifting through the heavy preferences to get hold the best mode , but in general , the Onyx fork out more excitement , contingent and heartiness than cheap DACs and suffices as upgrade over those models .
The extra refinement and inflammation may not be a big incentive to choose the Onyx over a more low-priced DAC , but this is the ‘ crummy ’ the Onyx has been so far .
Final Thoughts
The THX Onyx provides a welcome , enthusiastic boost to audio . It depicts audio with more clearness , detail and energy , and does so without overegging the pudding .
The range of file formats it supports is good for mellow - end playback , the innovation is smart and there ’s MQA certification for those who take toTidal Hi - Fi . At a more affordable price point than when it first launch , the THX Onyx ’s versatility makes it a good pick for euphony lovers , film fans and gamers .
Trusted Score
How we test
We quiz every DAC we review thoroughly over an extended period of time . We habituate manufacture - standard tests to compare features properly . We ’ll always severalise you what we find . We never , ever , swallow money to survey a product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics insurance policy .
FAQs
you’re able to expend the Onyx DAC with an iPhone but you ’ll need the Lightning USB Camera Adapter for full compatibility .
Full Specs
Sustainability
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